Freebird: The Movie

This movie will show the musicial strenghts of Lynyrd Skynyrd. During an era which bands depended on glitzy stage props and exotic gimmicks to attract an audience, Lynyrd Skynyrd's no frill approach to their craft was refreshing and pure. Freebird the Movie captures what true American Rock and Roll is all about

A very good look into the original lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd, or now known as "The Encore From Hell" by Spin magazine. Anyways, this shows some scenes of the last performances done by the band before their plane crash in 1977. As well as some of their older performances. The band recalls events while they were touring, and recording albums. This has some pretty classic performances in it, but it's not really anything to get excited about. The ending is a little sad, showing moments caught on camera of the take off just an hour or 2 before their 1977 plane crash, that killed Steve and Cassie Gaines, and Ronnie Van Zant.

Very good rockumentary showing some interviews but mostly footage of various concerts, most in color but some in b&w. All the bands' big hits were performed and I liked the way the camera made use of the close-up lens which allowed the viewer to catch all the action as though sitting in a front row seat. See this if you get a chance, it is hot.

The movie isn't much ... some nice home movie footage, and lots of fine performances by the band (esp. "Freebird," of course), but for whatever reason (original footage or eventual editing) the choice of camera shots is v.frustrating. Whichever guitarist is playing a solo, the camera inevitably shows someone else; even "Freebird" has as many shots of the crowd as it does of the band. I'd give it a six on a scale of ten; play a CD, you'll be just as happy.

The original Freebird was an excellent collection of live performances but did not explain much in the way of the band's history. The new double-movie DVD redresses this by adding the 1987 Tribute Tour movie to Freebird: this second movie describes the early history of the band and its members and also details the present (1987 at least) situation with the surviving and newly-added members. In all, the double movie DVD serves as a reminder of just how great this band was, and to a lesser extent, still is.

"You say you will be alright tomorrow, but tomorrow may not be here for you".