Freebird: The Movie (1996)

I was in the 9th grade when "Pronounced" came out. It was a shot over the bough. A new harder southern rock that didn't forget earthy country influences at the same time. An hour away from Birmingham, Alabama me, and my friends, listened to progressive rock station WJLN for the manna that top 40 radio ignored. This new band with the funny name of Lynyrd Skynyrd was a kind of manna to my ears. The hooky, and slightly novelty tune, "Gimme Three Steps" caught my ear. But it was Free Bird that seared my brain with it's incendiary final guitar triple assault trio. How could a rock and roll lover not stand up and salute? The entire album was every bit as good I soon learned. Wow! Before this southern rock was titled toward the blues and R&B, now there was a full-tilt rock southern sound. I was in.Free Bird, The Movie is a worthy remembrance of how great Skynyrd was and that the world, besides me, noticed. While there is so much more that could be said this movie speaks volumes. Without overly analyzing the bands lineage we get a nice cursory history. Keying on live performances, the bulk of which is from the triumphant Knebworth British festival, one can get more than just a glance at how powerful a Skynyrd performance with Ronnie Van Zant & Skynyrd could be. I must admit I was fortunate enough to see Lynyrd Skynyrd at their first proper Birmingham, Alabama concert at Boutwell Auditorium opening for Capricorn Recording Artists Wet Willie. It was something special because their MCA album was breaking early in Birmingham and the band was aware of it. This was when for a short time Wet Willie was a rock and roll unknown juggernaut of a band and Skynyrd blew an otherwise typically great Wet Willie show away. I think this memorial film captures some of that rare alchemy making it a truly special rock and roll documentary.Many folks have wondered if the later day Skynyrd was anything other than a money grab. I'd be pre-disposed to say yes...But, there was something that literally wouldn't die First, it was the music itself. After that is was the high strangeness of that sis-degrees of separation Skynyrd had tentacles that stretched out even before the first album was released. They had previous and future musicians in their orbit as a result. The sheer strength of this made the latter day Skynyrd more than a tribute band. It was actually connected and not only by surviving members. To get the gist of how this legacy continues I highly recommend watching Free Bird. It's a rare truly triumphant, and satisfying, rock and roll band documentary. Sure it's bittersweet, but ultimately it's uplifting because the music lives on. Against all odds if there is a top ten list of post sixties rock bands Lynyrd Skynyrd is undoubtedly in that ten and this movie is one of our only documents of what it was all about. See it if you love real rock and roll.

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".

Even though I only saw the last forty-five minutes of this movie on CMT, I absolutely loved it! Lynyrd Skynyrd is my all time favorite band, even though I was born eleven years after the 1977 plane crash. I was never lucky enough to see my idols Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Steve Gaines and Leon Wilkeson live, but this movie gave me the next best thing. My mother said that it is not as good as the live concerts, but she was amazed at how well kept the records were. If you are a true fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd, you will love this movie as I did. *this next one might be a spoiler* You will cry during "Freebird". You can see how inter-connected they all are. I cried for a whole half hour after I saw them play that song. You might be a little disturbed at the end, where the camera-man shows the band in the plane that took Ronnie and Steve's lives. They show the plane actually taking off on it's last flight.This is a very touching tribute to our fallen frynds.R.I.P Ronnie Van Zant*Steve Gaines*Cassie Gaines*Allen Collins*Leon Wilkeson

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.