Summary
Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 is about what you expect it to be, which is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. I would still check this one out.
Netflix documentary series Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 was released on August 3rd, 2022.
We all remember Woodstock of ’69 as one of the greatest music festivals of all time, but have you heard of the ’99 Woodstock? Well, Netflix released a three-part docuseries called Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99. Is it worth checking it out? Let’s dive in.
The three-part docuseries opens with some original footage of the aftermath of the ’99 Woodstock. It looked like a complete DISASTER with cars flipped over, trash everywhere, and fences down, and it was ugly. It followed with a montage of people talking about the festival while simultaneously watching raw footage of people destroying Woodstock. I’ve never seen this footage, and I am BLOWN AWAY.
Next, we get a collective of stories told by some attendees who were excited to participate in the modern-day Woodstock. Again, this is a brilliant tactic by the directors here because the blend of people there and us seeing the footage from it puts us smack dab in the middle of this entire story.
You have some fun stories about the musicians, including James Brown’s people holding out for more money before he hit the stage. One of the promoters refused to budge. After a big back and forth, Brown eventually hit the stage, and all in the world was fine again. Followed by some fun stories about all the nudity and drugs that went on during the festival. I mean, drugs, nudity, musicians, what could go wrong? I am not in the slightest bit shocked at this entire thing being a disaster.
Alright, everyone knows that I hate when documentaries decide to be all over the place. Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 is the title of the show, and “trainwreck” is also the word for the editing of this docuseries. It was all over the place, we went from drugs to how they created the layout for the festival to nudity, and I hated it. Like tell the story in a structured way that makes us build to the big disaster, how hard is it?
The docuseries suffers from being far too long. There is no reason this needed to be three episodes long. We have three hours of a series that could’ve been an hour and a half movie. I get them trying to drag things out because of “content.” However, this was all over the place, which made the three episodes feel like ten. So a message to all future docuseries, make it a movie, please.
Despite all the negativity, most of the docuseries lived up to the name, Trainwreck. When you hear about what happened behind the scenes, it is no shock that this was a complete disaster. You can’t put this many people together with the idea of being on TV sprinkled with drugs and music and not expect it to blow up in your face. I was in awe during certain parts of this and what happened.
Overall, while the docuseries overstays its welcome, you can’t help but be in awe of this entire event. I appreciated the storytelling from the people who attended the show, whether it was the people who put it together or those who attended or covered it. It made the experience more authentic and not a complete waste of our time.
What do you think of the Netflix documentary series Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99? Comment below.
