Wattstax (2000)
90%RT Audience Score: 85%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 1 nomination
From the stage to the street, Wattstax brilliantly captures a musical moment — and a poignantly passionate response to painful social upheaval.
WATTSTAX is a documentary that captures the essence of a music festival and the social mood of the time. It’s got everything from smooth soulful performances to funky chicken dance-offs. Isaac Hayes belts out Shaft, Rufus Thomas does the Funky Chicken, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson sings I Am Somebody. It’s a great watch for anyone who wants to experience the energy and excitement of a music festival from the comfort of their own home. Plus, who doesn’t want to chant “I am somebody” along with the crowd?
Production Company(ies)
House Productions, Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, London Wing Nut Films,
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – 3911 S. Figueroa Street, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1973
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 38m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 4, 1973 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 7, 2004
Genre(s)
Documentary/Music
Keyword(s)
documentary, music, R rating, directed by Mel Stuart, produced by Mel Stuart and Larry Shaw, starring James Alexander, Raymond Allen, Isaac Hayes, Luther Ingram, Jesse Jackson, Albert King, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Ann Guarino, Gene Siskel, Dennis Hunt, Candice Russell, Jack Lloyd, John Weisman, Philip Elwood, Jonathan Takiff, Dick Banks, Alan Jones, Rob Nelson, TV Guide Staff, MPAA rating, Stax Records, Watts Summer Festival, Watts Riots, Richard Pryor, The Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, The Funky Chicken, God Is On Our Side, blaxploitation, historical time capsule, Memphis sound, Stax Records, Motown, Kim Weston, The Emotions, The Soul Children, The Dramatics, Johnnie Taylor, Carla Thomas, The Bar-Kays, Lift Every Voice and Sing, social commentary, Rev Jesse Jackson, Richard Pryor
Worldwide gross: $16,000
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $119,169
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,009
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 12,995
US/Canada gross: $16,000
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $119,169
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,642
US/Canada opening weekend: $16,000
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $119,169
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,869
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Raymond Allen – Self
Isaac Hayes – Self
Luther Ingram – Self
Jesse Jackson – Self
Albert King – Self
Mel Stuart – Director, Producer
Larry Shaw – Producer
Director(s)
Mel Stuart
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Mel Stuart, Larry Shaw
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 1 nomination
Academy Awards
All Critics (40) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (4)
All [the performers] draw lively reactions from the crowd who get to chant, “I am somebody.” And isn’t that all what we want to be?
December 18, 2020 | Rating: 3/4
Ann Guarino
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
It is a fine documentary in that it does, better than any popular music film with the possible exception of Woodstock, document a group of people, their music, how it came to be, and why they like it.
December 18, 2020
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
This is a fragmented, skittery film that does not have enough moments of interest and hilarity to offset the stretches of boredom.
December 18, 2020
Dennis Hunt
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Simply as a means of recording the fruition of hope among a centuries-maligned minority Wattstax can stand proud.
December 18, 2020
Candice Russell
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
Just when you figure that the film industry has exhausted every possible avenue of exploration in the quest to present still another music festival documentary, along comes something with a nice, fresh twist. Such is the case with Wattstax.
December 18, 2020
Jack Lloyd
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
Once In a while, a muslc-oriented film can transcend the ordinary and become a chronicle of a social mood instead of an on-film record of a concert. It was that way with Monterey Pop and Woodstock; it Is that way with WATTSTAX.
December 18, 2020
John Weisman
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
Wattstax is always moving from the Coliseum stage to restaurant and barber shop comments; from street and alley scenes to night club episodes and church fronts and what goes on inside.
December 18, 2020
Philip Elwood
San Francisco Examiner
[Wattstax] does contain the usual elements, but also much more.
December 18, 2020
Jonathan Takiff
Philadelphia Daily News
Big moments musically include the smooth sensitivity of the Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas in pink tropical shorts and cape leading the coliseum in “The Funky Chicken,” and Isaac Hayes with very little voice but great presence singing “God Is On Our Side.”
December 18, 2020
Dick Banks
Charlotte Observer
The highlights are Isaac Hayes belting out Shaft, Rufus Thomas doing the Funky Chicken and the Reverend Jesse Jackson singing I Am Somebody.
December 18, 2020 | Rating: 3/5
Alan Jones
Radio Times
Whether or not you call it “blaxploitation,” there was something like a riot goin’ on in the American cinema of 1973.
August 21, 2009
Rob Nelson
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
It’s a resonant and evocative historical time capsule.
January 26, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/5
TV Guide Staff
TV Guide…
Plot
Documentary with a selection from a non-stop 7-hour musical event at Watts, the Los Angeles Coliseum, August 20, 1972. It’s a sort of Woodstock event but with black artists, namely the groups Dramatics, Staple Singers, Rance Allen Group, Emotions, Bar Kays, Mel & Tim.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Rufus Thomas performs in a hot pink leisure suit and leads the crowd in “The Funky Chicken.”
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