Tayloriona
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Kodie Bird
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
Patience Watson
One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.
Cassandra
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
georgegcowell
READ THIS: Quick summary: At the very beginning you may notice its made my "history" something or other. This in away sums up what to expect from this movie, its fun til about half way through and then its just dreary facts about what happened. I watched sunshine makers and think it was 100X better ...just down to how it was directed and presentedI loved seeing the antics that went on with the bus but the overall feel of the movie left me feeling dry and kind of sad.I felt sad because it didn't really go into enough depth on any of the characters or the philosophy of their movement. It was nice to see such rare content but it didn't go into enough depth is any one area. What i mean by this is it didn't focus down on any body or anything. If they focused more on ken and his life and showed us who everyone was in relation to him i might have felt more of a connection with the characters and enjoyed it more.But the worst thing about this movie is it was divorced from the messages that these pioneer's of the 60's propagated.. the fact that the "merry pranksters" were even too excitable and "free" to sit down and get into the complexity's of the psychedelic philosophy with leary was something that was really lost within this movie. It didn't successfully show the excitement and exploration that these people were engaged in... all it did is vaugely show what happened...
gregking4
MAGIC TRIP. Long before Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper headed off on their motorbikes to find America in the ground breaking cult classic Easy Rider, author Ken Kesey (One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, etc) and a group of friends set out on their own epic journey across America in a psychedelic coloured school bus. It was 1964, in the wake of the Kennedy assassination, and Kesey and his friends, known as the Merry Band of Pranksters, headed off from California to visit the World's Fair in New York. Along the way we also meet a number of other notable figures of the time, including poet Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, author Larry McMurtry, and Jack Kerouac, regarded as the father of the Beat movement. The legendary trip (!) was also chronicled by novelist Tom Wolfe in his The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Kesey filmed the journey on his 16mm camera, but the film has never been released because it was too disjointed and unfinished. The footage was found in a barn at Kesey's house after his death in 2001. Veteran Oscar winning director Alex Gibney (Taxi To The Dark Side, Client 9, etc) and his regular collaborator Australian born editor Alison Ellwood have re-edited Kesey's raw footage, giving the freewheeling material structure and context. They have added a number of interviews and incorporated some fascinating archival footage to provide insights into the era. They have also used original recordings made by Kesey himself during the journey, with some additional narration from Stanley Tucci. With a soundtrack of rock music from the era, Magic Trip serves as a fascinating time capsule of America in the mid-60s – Kennedy, Vietnam, civil rights, hippie subculture, LSD, paranoia, disillusionment, youthful rebellion, and a growing air of cynicism. Magic Trip is a well made and entertaining documentary that gives some insights into the burgeoning counter-cultural movement of the 60s.
JvH48
This could have been a movie reminiscent of those often celebrated sixties. However, the people portrayed in this home movie avant la lettre, were far from average. Their ways of living and what we saw thereof was on a safe distance from our own memories of that time.I can understand the attraction of the 100 hour film footage that was left behind. But condensing it into a feature film length, does not work. For starters, we got a super fast intro of characters, leaving unclear who was who, and what tied them together. Secondly, the purpose of the journey was left equally unclear (maybe there wasn't any). Thirdly, it kept us wondering about the vast number of practical aspects for such a journey, like money, groceries, repairs, petrol, and so on. Of course, all this only proves that I wouldn't have blended in with this company, being much too serious and too organized for such a journey to even think about.Anyway, it offered a nice excuse to show TV and movie fragments of that time, and pictures of every-days lives and streets. Also, we saw repeated police checks for no reason, demonstrating that their overall appearance (painted bus, haircut, clothes, etc) was "different". A nice side effect was that we saw and heard VSOP music fragments of that time, working well to refresh our memories. Similarly, it showed us how progressive people dressed in the sixties. Could that be all there is to fill 107 minutes of film, and keep our attention span??All in all, what we saw was kaleidoscopic, to say the least. On one hand, it was interesting for someone who grew up in that time (like me) but nearly forgot all about it (I did). On the other hand, it did not go beyond the family album level with pictures from the past. Leaves us wondering how more than 100 hours of film footage and sound fragments could have survived the continuous chaos these people used to live in. Again, this question proves that it was not my kind of company. Maybe good for us that they existed, important as they may have been as a catalyst for cultural changes, if only to practically demonstrate how to detach yourself from the daily grind and drop all common conventions.
timbermisc
This is a home movie without producer, director, script or a casting director. Originally it was 100 hours long; You read right. Repeat: 100 hours long. Here it is cut down to 90 minutes. It should not be compared in category to professional documentaries in terms of ratings or quality. It has it's own category. It was never meant to be shown in a professional theater. However, it was screened in a professional theater in San Francisco and New York for a short length of time, about 10 days. I saw it in San Francisco in a theater. I liked it. And another viewer I interviewed liked it. She said to me, "I remember THOSE PEOPLE on the campus at Stanford." It was made for Ken Kesey's friends to "goof on" while they took psychedelic drugs, socialized, and stayed overnight at Kesey's home in La Honda, CA. It's a feel-good home movie to be seen on a Sunday afternoon. It will not send you on an LSD trip. The added blues, jazz, rock music with graphics tie this home movie together, and embellish it. It was more than I expected as a result of these additions. Also you will see Martin Luther King, the JFK assassination, and civil rights movie clips. That day JFK was shot certainly evoked the emotions you will see in this film. I know, I was "there" and 16 years old at this time. Please understand that early 1964 was a very sad time, complete with the Russians threatening nuclear war against the U.S. every month. The Vietnam War was beginning. There were civil riots and angry people in the streets. And young people wanted some happiness in their lives, somehow. They wanted to play, be crazy, have some fun before getting married. Many found it with Ken Kesey. This movie has added narration that sometimes reveal a truth, a judgment, about the characters on board the bus named "Further". This message is not always positive; these comments add some depth to these characters of the 60s. And this would be the major reason you would want to see this film. The soundtrack for the voices of the friends in the movie is mostly out of sync. However, remember that "being out of sync" and "tripping on Acid" may be similar. So, it didn't bother me. It just seemed like a variation on a Beat poem. If you look quickly, you will see the first "Flower Girl" seated on the grass. Yes, with flowers in her hair. All this before the Beatles, and hippy-ism. There is no violence, sex, crash-bang action or flaming car crashes. People in the file were given theatrical names like: "Stark Naked". They then traveled across the U.S. like gypsies. You should be interested in history to best enjoy this film. Kesey personally took the first LSD "trips" in a hospital as a volunteer; and he was recorded on tape. Hear those original tapes in this movie. His "trip" is supported with inspired graphics so that the viewer can feel that he/she is also "tripping" for 2 minutes. However, the rest of the movie is not an "LSD trip" for the viewer of this film. The movie poster "The Magic Trip" is more embellished and "tripy" than this movie is. Clearly the "magic" part is happening in the heads of the friends who are depicted in this movie. The viewer of the movie will not reach the "heights" that these people are experiencing. This is a home movie created with (3) 16mm film cameras held by intoxicated adults. The viewing can be shaky, rocky; but it is all in good focus. The film is not grainy. This film does not overtly promote drug usage. The undesirable effects of drugs are also presented in this film. Amazing that they could live film police stopping them on the highways. Not all of the pranksters "made it" to New York. One woman didn't. She's the one who fell in the pond in the middle of nowhere (actually Wikieup, AZ) to immediately find that the water was clearer than before; underwater she could see everywhere farther and clearer on LSD. And she could talk to slim. And all of the slim beings in the pond could finally talk to a human being for the first time. And she found that we can now be friends with slim beings. The pranksters named her "Miss Slim of 1964". This film is a lot of innocent fun played out by adults in short hair styles. This a home movie which belongs in the Smithsonian Institute. It is a very gentle movie with a cast of friends. Just remember: all this happened before the hippies ever were "created". This film was used as entertainment for Ken Kesey's friends who visited him overnight in his home while they played with psychedelic drugs. The film highlights Ken Kesey's novel briefly: "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. It all ends with a pleasant message about the 60s and Ken Kesey's private life and marriage. If you want to complete your knowledge of the 1960's, you must see this film.
