History of the Eagles

2013 "The Story Of An American Band"
8.2| 3h6m| en
Details

Alison Ellwood’s intimate, meticulously crafted patchwork of rare archival material, concert footage, and unseen home movies explores the evolution and enduring popularity of one of America’s truly defining bands.

Director

Producted By

Jigsaw Productions

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Reviews

GamerTab That was an excellent one.
UnowPriceless hyped garbage
Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated
Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
grantss Great documentary on a great band.Made in 2013, a documentary on the Eagles, from the early days of Glenn Frey and Don Henley to the (then) present day. Includes interviews with the band members at different times in their lives, including in the mid-1970s. No narration, the movie is effectively narrated by the interviews. Not your simple chronological telling of their story either, there is an examination of the impact of their music. Quite emotional at times.Also quite bluntly told too. The frictions within the band are often examined and the truth is not sugar-coated.A wonderful musical and emotional journey.
andrew-r-atwill There was a lot of speculation on the "Why the Eagles split up" and without giving too much away this does answer a lot.Some people have said in musical fields that Glen Frey is an ego- maniacal, glory-seeking, talentless musician. The reality is between Glen Frey, Don Henley, Timothy Schmitt, Randy Meisner, J.D. Souther and Jackson Browne, the Eagles possibly have more hits than most bands could hope for since the Beatles.There is a feeling of an arrogant man in the way Glen Frey presents himself and as the movie clearly states it was not until Frey decided he was ready that The Eagles could reform and play again. The different ventures each went on and the use of musicians in Henley's solo career such as Pino Palladino certainly give Henley more musical kudos in some circles than Frey will ever get, but the reality is together they wrote great songs. The same was said of Lennon and McCartney in other ways.Simply as the title of this summary says, he that writes owns. Any musician ever involved with any label or record company as it used to be known, knew that "He that pays owns". This is no different. So basically,they can do whatever they like. The glue that holds them together is the songs and if I was to pick the most likable person and peacemaking soul that holds the band together, where humanly possible, it would be Timothy B Schmitt who Frey could take some humility lessons from because he comes across as what his critics say in paragraph #2.All that said and done, it is one of the better historical and pedagogical films made and worth watching if you liked the Eagles music which I did. There are sad moments and one cannot help but feel sadness at youthful ignorance and the pitfalls of the industry, but it is a great eye opener and worth the money to buy the DVD. :)
steve-flaunty-770-898945 The reviewers before me have pretty much summed this film up. I would put my money on 80% of the viewing demographic will have grown up with the Eagles and many of them, like myself, would know them first and foremost for their music. All of us have heard snippets of stories and probably read differing opinions as to how they imploded and reassembled and then generally just came and went again at random. Many of us would have been to a concert, possibly more than one and seen them in the flesh, marveling again at their magical ability to blend voices and instruments into some of the best music produced in modern times. This documentary knits it all together. There will be millions of words written online over the coming months and perhaps years critiquing this film for better or for worse.I have adopted the stance that this is a group of musicians that are just as human as all the rest of us, extraordinarily gifted in their chosen fields and were at the intersection of preparation and opportunity just at the right time. The addition of a copious amount of personal home movie footage, some never aired before adds the essential layer to the production and wraps the package up like a tightly constructed wine. I'm sure there are many who will be watching this who will see themselves in the background of some of the footage, even at the third encores and will will be gasping in their living rooms grateful for the fact that the passage of time is the best camouflage for human recognition. Could you just imagine..." OMG Mom, I don't believe you did that ! How am I going to explain this to my friends !! "
Twins65 Remember in THE BIG LEBOWSKI, when Jeff Bridges as "The Dude" complained so much to his cabbie about turning off "Peaceful Easy Feeling" because "he hates the F-ing Eagles, Man"! That rant got him evicted from his cab and earned him a long walk home from Malibu to his crappy apartment. Was it worth it? Well, The Dude just might change his tune if he checks out the new documentary HISTORY OF THE EAGLES currently running on Showtime.I recently watched both parts over two days, and it was well worth the time spent. Even though I never really was a big fan, I can most assuredly say that these guys were truly the biggest American band of the 1970's. Pretty much every album from their 1st through Hotel California was a part of the soundtrack of my teenage years. And as Don Henley mentioned in the beginning of Part 2, with the advent of classic rock radio in the early 80's, they've been constantly with us all the way through 2013. The songs were so good that we just never get tired of them.As far as the movie goes, much like the recent Scorcese long film about George Harrison and P. Bogdanovich's nearly 4-hour marathon on Tom Petty, it's all good. I'm convinced cable TV is the best way to show a rock doc., as you really get to tell and see it all with numerous interviews of those who lived it, without having movie theater time constraints and/or box office totals to worry about. And wow, did the Eagles have a whole bunch of video which I'd never seen. Some of it's great, much of it is "disposable", but almost all of it fascinating for fans.I read some of the comments on the IMDb board bashing Henley and Glenn Frey for coming off as "pompous a-holes". And while they did seem a bit overly protective of their cut of the band's fame and fortune, they have the right to. THEY STARTED THE BAND! Watch this film if you've ever yelled along while driving with the woo-hoo-hoos on "Already Gone", as it will flash you back nicely to the fun of the mid-70's.P.S.-And Dude, I know you once did your wacky dance to The First Edition's "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)", but you may want to skip over the part in the film where Kenny Rogers discusses helping Henley's pre-Eagles band Shiloh try to get started in LA. You will not recognize Kenny and may be a bit frightened with the condition his face's condition is in these days!

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