Festival Express
THINKFilm | Release Date: July 30, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
85
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatPhil Hall
Rich with wonderful music and images. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
Festival Express should rightfully take its place in rock history as one of the great performance films of all time. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleJoel Selvin
Must-see cinema for any serious rock fan. Read full review
100
VarietyEddie Cockrell
An instant ancillary classic for music fan. Read full review
100
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Ultimate geezerfest and rock-doc holy grail. Read full review
100
Washington PostRichard Harrington
Most of Festival Express resonates with the power and passion, even the innocence, of the era. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
The real attraction is watching all these guys and gals on the train, so young, so dedicated to their music, so unconcerned about almost everything else. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
The sociological angle of Festival Express is a narrow one--perhaps too narrow--and doesn't overwhelm the film's real selling point, which is some of the best-looking and best-sounding footage of counterculture icons ever screened. Read full review
90
The New York TimesDave Kehr
To watch the biggest stars of their time in casual conversation, trading riffs and passing bottles, without benefit of publicists, handlers and security goons is to relive an innocent, anarchic time in the entertainment business when music, not marketing, was at the center of the enterprise. Read full review
90
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A delirious piece of pop ephemera. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
It was the greatest rock & roll party you never heard of. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
A raucous, riveting account of the greatest party you were never invited to. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The results are spine-tingling. There's only one thing to say about this movie and its rescuers, recovered from the dead--and the Dead: Rock on. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Slight on personality but long on music; Janis Joplin elevates it to near-great concert-film status. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn Dumpert
To watch Joplin, Rick Danko, Jerry Garcia and Mickey Hart, all massively wasted, giggling and jamming, is a delight tempered by the knowledge that Joplin would be dead just months later, with the rest but one following after. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
There were greater rock festivals and there are greater rock movies, but nothing existed quite like this mobile bacchanal, nicely preserved in Festival Express. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Full of bright colors, offbeat people, tuneful sounds. Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
As this Woodstock-on-wheels careens through the countryside, stopping only to play for thousands of hirsute revelers -- and, once, to stock up on booze in Saskatoon -- its famous passengers celebrate with delirious joy the pure, unadulterated magic of music. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The film is not about the audience's shared experience, and a lot more about how cool it is to have a backstage pass. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Both a concert film and a more intimate thing: a fascinating, fly-on-the-wall (or fly-in-the-dining-car) glimpse of some clearly blotto rock legends talking, singing, hanging out. The fact that a good number of them are now dead makes it doubly memorable. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
With the exception of some minor glitches in the sound synchronization and a nighttime performance of The Band's "The Weight" that is uncharacteristically grainy, the film looks and sounds great. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
A hard and hilariously ironic look at the bottom line. As it turns out, love was not all you needed; hard cash came in handy, too.
75
Boston GlobeSteve Morse
Extraordinary. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderHank Sartin
The concert footage is generally quite good, and Joplin is astonishing, but with so many hours of footage you'd think there would be more unexpected moments. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverMelissa Levine
A piece of rock-and-roll history--but it isn't perfect. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The result is a vivid record of live acts whose rough-edged immediacy is an integral part of their appeal. Read full review
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