Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who

After the flood of Who-DVDs we've seen lately and the fact that "The Kids Are Alright" is a pretty definite document not only on the story of The Who but on Rock 'N' Roll as a whole, I was more than skeptical whether this new documentary on Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon was really necessary. Well, I'm a fan so I picked the DVD up anyway and having just watched it I'm more than glad that I did.

I didn't learn anything completely new, but the "Amazing Journey" of The Who is so entertaining and peppered with such a great number of fantastic songs that it's just a real joy to watch it all being told once again. Besides, previous Who-films like "The Kids Are Alright" or "30 Years Of Maximum R&B" didn't really contain that many facts, but concentrated more on live performances. "Amazing Journey" takes a different approach and features lots of statements by the band, their producers, managers and folks who accompanied them along the way, as well as a few fans (Eddie Vedder, Noel Gallagher, Sting, The Edge, Steve Jones). The movie also features lots of amazing and previously unseen footage of live appearances, recording sessions and historic interviews. At 120 minutes running time the makers did a fine job touching most of the cornerstones in the band's career - just why didn't "Live At Leeds" get a mention? - while still keeping the pacing tight.

Yep, this is definitely recommendable for any The Who fan, even those who already have like 20 DVDs by that band on the shelf. "Amazing Journey" definitely inspires to dig them all up again and remember why Pete Townshend and the other three loons were one of the greatest bands that ever existed.

Just saw Amazing Journey at the Toronto International Film Festival. I must admit that this was not a first pick as I was looking for something different for my closing day film.

Amazing Journey will be an orgasmic experience for Who devotees. The band went through several tragedies, including the deaths of Keith Moon and John Entwhistle. There were many violent fights between Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend. Daltrey might have been the pretty boy frontman but Townsend was the artist, one who was deeply insecure about never being able to surpass the artistic merits of either Tommy or Quadrophenia.

In the end, what emerges is a portrait of young men who let music permeate their lives. It's really about one's passion towards one's craft. Yes, there are lots of indulgences along the way: expensive toys, women, sycophants, and drugs. But as we see with the maturing of the Daltrey and Townsend friendship, the journey is a tough but essential part of aging gracefully into the elder statesmen of rock.

The loss of Entwhistle was devastating for both men who already carried much guilt over the death of Keith Moon. They just didn't see the signs of Entwhistle's flirtations with drugs. He dies on the eve of a reunion tour and they go on because it's important to keep the memory alive.

It is great to know that such a testimony to this band is available. What a shame it would be for younger generations to only know them as the band that made theme songs for the CSI franchise.

I'm a huge fan of the who for only being 15. i stayed up until 3 o clock in the morning yesterday just to watch this film because i wanted to see it so bad. by the end of the film i was very pleased and i loved it! it was definitely worth staying up for and was not, i repeat, was not a movie just for the die hard fans as some would say. you don't have to like the who, know anything about music, or even have been born in that era to know that this movie was an absolute work of art. amazing journey was exciting, happy, and it was sad. but i guess thats the who's journey and it was true. i loved the way their story was told by the surviving members (pete and roger) along with some others. they told their story how it happened to them and how they remembered it. there were good times and there were bad times, but either way, the directors did an excellent job in helping to tell this amazing tale of the who's journey.....hats off.

Great documentary on one of rock's most influential bands. Includes interviews with band members and personnel, and artists who have been influenced by The Who. Also contains some fantastic concert footage, some of it pretty rare.

WOW!!! Just saw a screening of the film at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was a great documentary. The directors and producers were on hand to answer questions.

The film follows the careers and lives of the members of The Who from the start of there musical careers till death or present day.

The directors and producers commented that they did not include much of the same footage as the Kids Are Alright because they wanted a different film not just an update of the other. They filtered through thousands of clips of footage and fixed up a large majority of it to be used in the film. Also an intense search for footage was done through an online website were fans could submit any bootlegged films they had.

An interesting side note, a section of the 2nd bonus disc to be released has a never before seen concert of The Who when they were the High Numbers. I grandson of a film maker found a canister of film at his grandfathers chalet and recognized the band playing in the film as an early performance by The Who. That is just amazing that this kind of footage is out there.

Overall it was truly and "Amazing Journey."