Woodstock: 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition (2009)

Image credit: Henry Diltz/Corbis

EXPERIENCE MATTERS: Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock

Let's start with the packaging. A hulking, three-disc box 
upholstered in groovy suede fringe. If David Crosby is ever reincarnated as an over-the-top DVD gift set, you're looking at it. But get past the silly boomer chintz and director Michael Wadleigh's amazing documentary remains rock & roll bliss four decades after the fact. Despite the Who's ''We're Not Gonna Take It'' and Jimi Hendrix's ''The Star-Spangled 
Banner,'' the music is the least interesting part of the film. More impressive are the 400,000 young faces, stoned and smiling in their muddy hippie Eden, who spread the good vibes and let their freak flags fly while avoiding the brown acid. EXTRAS include never-seen performances cut from Woodstock (Canned Heat's ''On the Road Again'' is a standout) and interviews with the filmmakers, including editor Martin Scorsese. A