An action-packed slog

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

This movie to me was an eye opener. It bares all. Sure Steve Stills was an established name in music by this time, but he is human too. The camera kept on rolling showed it. There are things in my life caught on camera I wish never happened too.Personally, I love was the magical white guitar Still was playing. It had this vague image of a bird on the pick guard. The sound it was making was so different! The musics: What a gathering of folk rockers. It showed what they did off stage too. Crosby group chanting in a swimming pool. Stills guitar playing by a campfire, and stars going through a cafeteria line.This movie is a glimpse in the lives of musicians in the brief time before the mass produced concerts of today. It catches the earthy feel of that time. Music was the event, not showmanship. Folkie, rockers, and gospel singers all playing separately and together. I recommend it to any music lover.Rich, NW Louisiana

If hippies were all about peace and love why did Stills try to whip ass and take names? Amateur camera work and some really bad acts couldn't take away from the coolness of this documentary. I never heard of several of the performers and never cared 2 cents for Baez or Mitchell, but CSN&Y were worth the price of admission. Nice look at the good old days; glad I wasn't there - what a crowd scene. A better film in this genre was '67's Monterrey Pop Festival.

The music isn't exactly my bag, but there's no denying the historical interest of this low budget film about a low budget festival that took place in 1969 at the Esalen Institute, one of the premier psychobabble headquarters of the day. If you enjoy footage of folks flying their freak flag high, this is for you. Fans of folk music will be in heaven, but others will find the sounds pretty thin gruel--and sometimes, especially in the case of Joni Mitchell's caterwauling, the musical equivalent of a high colonic. Neil Young looks and sounds cool, especially on an organ-heavy number early in the film, and the Edwin Hawkins Singers are excellent. The film has a grittiness that sets it apart from Woodstock, and the small nature of the crowd--and the fact that the 'stage' is one side of a swimming pool--make this a valuable record of what seems to have been a genuine communal experience.

This concert film -- a documentary of the 1969 Big Sur Folk Festival -- pales in comparison to "Woodstock" production-wise, but nonetheless features powerful footage of a number of the '60s best, incl. Joan Baez ("Song for David", "Sweet Sir Galahad"), Joni Mitchell ("Woodstock") and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young" ("4 + 20", "Judy Blue Eyes"). Never released on video and sometimes hard to find (it's frequently shown on latenight TV) but well worth the effort.