plex I am rating this high merely due to the rare nature of its accuracy. There's still an element of Hollywood cliche's of the record industry included, but the studio scenes and some of the management scenes are compelling. Some of the things are over the top; like Bert Parks singing, and Earth Wind and Fire performing in a roller rink and the staged ghetto-talk by the brothers. Even with some of the bloated soap-opera elements,there still is this aura of docudrama about it. I don't know of a film that portrays the recording/arranging process better. This accuracy may be some or most of its undoing, people often don't acre about the ingredients of the cake they are eating, just the flavor. The "how" it got there is unimportant, only the finished product. Napster being a prime example. So with that, this film may only appeal to Earth Wind and Fire fans as well as those who have a curious nature.

john.foulks I was told about this motion picture from my good friend Rick, and he has always told me to look up this movie from the Web Site and view it, after all of the comments that I have read, I am surely excited about getting this motion picture and seeing it, it is about the group Earth, Wind and Fire, they was one of my favorite singers during the 1970's, right after I came back from Viet-Nam, the motion picture depicts about them coming into the spot light, there many songs and encounters with other groups has made this movie something special to see I was told by Rick, I am looking forward to seeing this motion picture, and I hope many of you are also wondering about this movie.

lambiepie-2 Okay...it's 2005 and when you finally get to look at this film, you will probably exclaim that it is dated. But here's the thing, the screenplay was bold, the exposure of the music industry at that time was as bold as well...and it took some time for this to get music that was created by African Americans to be promoted on the same level as white acts. In some cases it still is - but back in the 70's this film addressed some of the "background" many never knew. Now we've got "American Idol" - "Pop Idol" and other such things that allow us into the minds of the "record execs" and how they think they should market something that sells and not market talent.When I was a kid, I loved the Earth, Wind and Fire release of "That's the Way of the World" which contained some of their biggest hits: "Shining Star", "Reasons", "Yeanin', Learnin'" and the title. Little did I know this was a SOUNDTRACK of a MOVIE...until I moved to Los Angeles and got the wonderful "Z" Channel.The "Z" Channel showed this film as part of a "Harvey Keitel" retrospective. Gee, I had no idea Harvey Keitel DID so many movies -- and when I saw this one, I was surprised. This movie is not a cinematic masterpiece, but it does deserve more merit than it got. It's a nice little film. More than a "vanity piece" for Earth, Wind and Fire, Harvey Keitel does a great job as a torn record executive trying "to fight the system". There are a lot of lessons to be drawn from this, and a lot of "insider" trade that was exposed.If you can find this uncut...it's worth a look.

cfc_can This is an often amusing insider look at the music business. Keitel plays a producer who is saddled with a G-rated group and is expected to make them popular with the public. There are lots of satirical in-jokes about the egos of recording stars, their managers and the people who run the studios. It has a lot of 70s nostalgia value and many of the philosophies spouted by the characters are still en vogue with the music biz today. All in all, a good job by all involved.