Search - Festival Express on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Profanity, Substance Abuse Movie Release: 2003 DVD Release: 11/02/2004 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 2 Number of Discs: 2 Run Time: 1 hrs 30 mins Studio: New Line Home Video Members Wishing: 5 Genres: Music, Concerts, Music History

In 1970, with seemingly every North American city of any size holding a rock festival after the success of Woodstock, Ken Walker and Thor Eaton, a pair of Canadian entrepreneurs and music buffs, had an idea: instead of setting up one massive show with a bunch of top-name acts, why not stage a series of them across the country? With this in mind, Walker (then only 22 years old) and Eaton (whose family owned one of Canada's most successful department store chains) signed up Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, the Band, Buddy Guy, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and several others and hired out a private train that would carry the musicians in high style for a string of five shows from Toronto to Calgary. The jaunt was called "The Festival Express," and a camera crew tagged along to capture the shows on film, as well as the constant party that took place en route. The tour proved to be a financial bust and, as a result, the footage sat on the shelf for over thirty years until director Bob Smeaton recut the material into Festival Express, which not only documents the glorious folly of the tour, but offers a hindsight look at the events from some of the surviving participants. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Band
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
The Flying Burrito Brothers
The Grateful Dead
Buddy Guy Blues Band

The concert documentary Festival Express debuts on DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround. English and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a making-of featurette, extended interviews with some of the performers, a still photo gallery, and the theatrical trailer. This is an outstanding presentation of an enjoyable film. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide