Wattstax

Wattstax (1973)

  • 86% of critics liked it
    (22 reviews)

  • 90% of users liked it
    (693 ratings)

The climactic concert of the seventh annual Watts Summer Festival, commemorating the 1965 riots, and featuring performances by Isaac Hayes, Luther Ingram, Richard Pryor, and many more.

R, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By
Mel Stuart
Genres
Documentary, Musical & Performing Arts, Special Interest
In Theaters
May 5, 2000 Limited
On DVD
Sep 7, 2004
Columbia Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

    The restored rerelease is a time capsule of Afros, anger and attitude.

  • Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

    A time when not only a single record company could put together a day like this, but could then give every dollar made to charity.

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times

    It just has the air of something too carefully laid out in advance. It's so busy being glossy and optimistic that it doesn't even allow its performers time to create on screen a measure of the excitement they might have created in person.

  • Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

    A candid, colorful and deeply meaningful sociocultural time capsule.

  • Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

    A disorienting and ironic moviegoing experience.

Read all 14 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Mister C


    Released in 1973,the classic documentary masterpiece was the Woodstock of Stax. Directed by Mel Stuart(of Willa Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)this was a grand event which the climatic concert of the seventh annual Watts Summer Festival that was held at the Los Angeles Coliseum… More

  • Ping C


    This is some of the best footage you'll ever see of Rufus Thomas doing the Chicken Strut in a hot pink leisure suit. f'in amazing performances by some of the most influential soul artists of the early 70s. And hilarious yet pithy dialog and narration by Richard Pryor gives… More

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