This film is a great reflection of London and the British scene in the 1960's, dated for 1967, with authentic film footage of Pink Floyd with brilliant Syd Barrett heading them. Some people say it is boring, but should not leave reviews if they feel so strongly to negate a film which requires patience and culture, perhaps a more enlightened perspective. It features cameos by Lee Marvin parading about, as well as Eric Burdon, another legend. The reason why some do not understand it is because it is'nt filled with gimmickery or special effecst or some ellaborate script that fits into some conventional genre. But it is an experimental film, a time-capsule with rare raw footage that Floyd fans or any British scene enthusiast would love. I personally was thrilled and would reccomend the film to anyone with interest or the I.Q. to comprehend the film's inherent idea. If you are looking for some passionate drama or an Arnold S. gore-fest, go elsewhere. Dig this film!
11 Reviews
A good find for Pink Floyd fans
wwe32 March 2001
If you in no way enjoy Pink Floyd music, then do not buy/rent/steal this video. You will not like it.
However, if you really like Pink Floyd and really get into their early stuff, this video is a real find. Peter Whithead directed this as a dedication to Syd Barrett and to capture the mood of swinging London. It includes the greatest version of 'Interstellar Overdrive' ever recorded. And a song called 'Nick's Boggie' which is a very hard to find Pink Floyd track. See this film for no other reason than to hear the music and enjoy the scenery.
If you like the film, another good video to get is the Pink Floyd London '66-'67 video. It is 30 minutes long and was used as a Promotional trailer for 'Tonite, Let's all Make Love in London'. The film 'More' is also an interesting film with a soundtrack by Pink Floyd, that features their earlier work.
However, if you really like Pink Floyd and really get into their early stuff, this video is a real find. Peter Whithead directed this as a dedication to Syd Barrett and to capture the mood of swinging London. It includes the greatest version of 'Interstellar Overdrive' ever recorded. And a song called 'Nick's Boggie' which is a very hard to find Pink Floyd track. See this film for no other reason than to hear the music and enjoy the scenery.
If you like the film, another good video to get is the Pink Floyd London '66-'67 video. It is 30 minutes long and was used as a Promotional trailer for 'Tonite, Let's all Make Love in London'. The film 'More' is also an interesting film with a soundtrack by Pink Floyd, that features their earlier work.
Swinging London in a nutshell
slabihoud24 October 2006
Encapsulated in 67 minutes of blown-up 16mm color film is Swinging London at its best! Everything is there: the music, the protests, the stars, the fashion, the artists. Presented in the style of the sixties, odd camera movements, psychedelic color effects and complicated montages of stock footage combined with new material. Organised in chapters, we see some interviews of then and sometimes still famous people talking about what is going on in their lives and in London particularly.
Sadly the color of the film faded into brownish red mostly, every trace of blue completely gone. It is obviously the work of someone new to the medium, because he does not hesitate to try out various effects, using the music to its best advantage.
I just saw the film yesterday at Vienna"s International Film Festival and Peter Whitehead was there and talked about it. Great guy!
P.S. I don't understand why so many reviewers write about Pink Floyd in this film. They are there but don't play an important role. Some reviewers definitely refer to a different film.
Sadly the color of the film faded into brownish red mostly, every trace of blue completely gone. It is obviously the work of someone new to the medium, because he does not hesitate to try out various effects, using the music to its best advantage.
I just saw the film yesterday at Vienna"s International Film Festival and Peter Whitehead was there and talked about it. Great guy!
P.S. I don't understand why so many reviewers write about Pink Floyd in this film. They are there but don't play an important role. Some reviewers definitely refer to a different film.
Of some historical note
matlock-619 August 2001
Tonight Lets All... is not a flashy hollywood movie, designed for today's Attention Deficit Disorder type of filmgoers. What it is is a unique and well crafted look at London in the swinging 60's. Peter Whitehead made this film inspired by the London underground scene of 1966-67, which included such bands as Pink Floyd (who perform the great bulk of the films music), The Soft Machine, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and others. This is probably not the kind of thing that would be well recieved in theatres. There aren't any computer generated insects flaying people alive and being shot to bits in return, nor is there any gratuitous sexuality or repeated foul language use. As a documentary of the underground scene in 1967 London, Whitehead's film is a testament to vision, creativity, and the spirit of the day. There are film clips of Pink Floyd in the recording studio and performing at the 14 hour Technicolor Dream (a huge music and art festival) along with original guitarist, singer, songwriter Syd Barrett. If you like historical documentaries, give this one a try.
Peep show
Bribaba15 August 2012
Tonite Let's All Make Love In London - Yes, lets. A much better idea than making a documentary on the subject, especially one like this. Peter Whitehead's 1967 film is at least narration-free, though I soon found myself pining for something, anything other than the contributions of Mick Jagger ("in the future we'll only be working four hours a day"), or Michael Caine, giving a hint of the old reactionary he was soon to become ("short skirts cause a loss of moral fibre").
On the plus side there's Julie Christie keeping it delightfully unreal and David Hockney ("what I find really sexy is footballers kicking their legs up in the air"). In between times there's a shaky home movie going on, purporting to be about the club scene. Strange, then, that the camera, which never lies, spends an inordinate amount of time being pointed at girl's legs. Pink Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive provides the aural backdrop while Eric Burdon and the Animals are shown recording When I was Young, but it's another song of theirs that this film may bring to mind: We Gotta Get Out of This Place.
On the plus side there's Julie Christie keeping it delightfully unreal and David Hockney ("what I find really sexy is footballers kicking their legs up in the air"). In between times there's a shaky home movie going on, purporting to be about the club scene. Strange, then, that the camera, which never lies, spends an inordinate amount of time being pointed at girl's legs. Pink Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive provides the aural backdrop while Eric Burdon and the Animals are shown recording When I was Young, but it's another song of theirs that this film may bring to mind: We Gotta Get Out of This Place.
less than the sum of its parts
Muswellmedia19 October 2012
Director Peter Whitehead was something of a one man band as a film maker making news items and what we now call pop promos. So what we get here is a number of the kind of films he was producing at the time joined together, collage like, rather than a rounded supposedly complete vision. But hey thats what it was like, there was no simple straight line narrative knitting it all together. Personally I think this makes it more honest and valuable as a document of the time and the reason why TV programmes are still using this material to illustrate programmes about the period.
My favourite moment features the Stones playing the Royal Albert Hall and whipping the audience up into a rioting mob that flood the stage with Brian Jones laughing his head off at the chaos. Also Lee Marvin and Michael Caine define cool while Vanessa Redgrave sings out of tune.
My favourite moment features the Stones playing the Royal Albert Hall and whipping the audience up into a rioting mob that flood the stage with Brian Jones laughing his head off at the chaos. Also Lee Marvin and Michael Caine define cool while Vanessa Redgrave sings out of tune.
What is this crap!
Monster-1722 August 1999
I swear to God this is one piece of cinematic filth that should be burned, it's soooooooo boring.
1: Don't rent it.
2) Don't buy it.
3) Heaven's forbid, if you find yourself enjoying it do make sure you get some much needed help.
1: Don't rent it.
2) Don't buy it.
3) Heaven's forbid, if you find yourself enjoying it do make sure you get some much needed help.
A time-capsule from the London Psychedelic Underground
ChristerThor25 October 2003
For die-hard fans of Pink Floyd only. This is a history-lesson into the psychedelic London underground of the mid-60's, where light-shows, "Happenings", Beat-poetry, and spacey music were all the rage. This film is mainly several pieces of concert-footage of Pink Floyd in its original incarnation, when Syd Barret was still in the band, prior to him loosing his marbles and being replaced by David Gilmour. You see Syd and the band playing some long sets of "Interstellar Overdrive" on stage under strobe-lights, a piece of music that true fans love and which the uninitiated often find meandering and boring due to the modern short-attention span. This is Space-Rock, it ain't Britney Spears.
You get to hear Allen Ginsburg recite poetry over images of the London night-life. You see John Lennon attending one of Yoko Ono's famous performance-art pieces, prior to them having met. You see Eric Burdon walking around. It's basically a slice-of-life in the heart of what's now called "the Swinging 60's". View it, if you can find it, for the history, if nothing else. For Floyd fans it's one of very few opportunities to see Syd Barret playing with the band, which is reason enough to seek it out.
You get to hear Allen Ginsburg recite poetry over images of the London night-life. You see John Lennon attending one of Yoko Ono's famous performance-art pieces, prior to them having met. You see Eric Burdon walking around. It's basically a slice-of-life in the heart of what's now called "the Swinging 60's". View it, if you can find it, for the history, if nothing else. For Floyd fans it's one of very few opportunities to see Syd Barret playing with the band, which is reason enough to seek it out.
Pure Enjoyment For Syd Barrett Fans
Phantom Moonhead12 March 2000
This is basically a short film focusing on Pink Floyd. It was shot at the UFO club in London if I am not mistaken. There is some footage of John Lennon being introduced to Yoko Ono so this is very important to Beatle fans as well. The rest is Pink Floyd in the studio recording the films soundtrack, "Interstellar Overdrive". This is a 16 minute version of the song and a wonderful little look in to the early career of Pink Floyd and their brilliant founder,Syd Barrett. This is the most common footage of Syd because it has been released to the public,a great place to start for anyone interested in "The Madcap".
A vital historical footnote, or not as the case maybe
kavanagh18 July 2000
I agree. This film is total and utter rubbish. But so were the times in which it was shot. Sex had only been invented in 1963 (pace P Larkin) and by 1967, London was revelling in this new discovery. However, this piece of unmitigated nonsense has one valuable asset: if any of the younger generation wonder where Mike Myers got the concept for Austin Powers then this is the lodestone. True, Myers drew inspiration from some truly dreadful TV series of the 60s but this film will give junior cineasts great help in understanding the lingo and the background to Mr Powers. Watch it once by all means for the sake of reference. And then as Monster 17 says, get help!
Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett - Interstellar Experience
ThePrinceofPeas6 November 1999
It's worth a viewing, just to say you've seen it. Sadly, it's dull and they picked my least favourite floyd tune 'Interstellar' to focus on. Still, it's a time-piece and you should have a wee look at it. Regards as the madcap laughs... Drop me a line Floyd/Syd fans:
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