VividSimon Simply Perfect

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Jakoba 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.

mike dewey Yes, I have read some of the reviews of this docu-fest and some seem to try to make more out of this movie than they need to. The late '60's was a remarkably joyous time for me and millions of other quasi-hippies: people filled with idealistic dreams of a peaceful, environmentally sound world where we shared the wealth (and our pot!) with our brothers and sisters and disdained the corporate ladder syndrome and all its trappings! This movie is a microcosm of what was going on in '69, good or bad. Esalen was trying to do its own thing to try to help people make sense of the world and happened to throw a nice party by inviting the likes of Joni Collins, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills, Nash etc., the Combs Sisters, et al to perform. What ensues is somewhat less than spectacular camera work and some disjointed editing, but hey, it's a concert and all kinds of things are happening here that happen at 3-4 day gigs like this. This crew wasn't going for Academy Awards: they wanted to capture the festival not only in all its glory, but also in its shortcomings and inconsistencies.You see average Joe hippies ramble on at the mouth when interviewed, smoke pot, drink wine, frolic about in hot water spas and so on and so forth: much like any number of concerts in that era, whether in Denver/Boulder, Taos, Mt. Shasta, Vermont, etc. In my humble opinion, this particular concert film was a real delight. Crosby, Stills,etc. jamming on "Down by the River", uncut and turned loose was awesome; Joan Baez's endearing ballads with her wistfully vibrato vocal renderings were sheer delight. Other acts as well (like Joni Mitchell) were also a joy to watch.But the "creme de la creme" of the whole shindig was the glorious, climactic rendition of "Oh Happy Day". The initial collaboration between Joan Baez and the Combs Sisters group ultimately extended to every musician in the house getting onto the stage for one of the most naturally rousing and spiritually uplifting live performance I have ever seen. Everyone in a 3 mile radius seemed to be lifting up his/her voice to the gospel strains of this most joyous hymn. It was an admixture of all sorts of people and races: Carefully coiffed urban Soul Sisters; long-haired hippies, folk singers and whatever from rural and communal enclaves; straight-type promoters, producers, etc. from the business world. The spontaneous and uplifting music totally united this diverse and energetic group, kind of reminiscent of Ravi Shankar at Monterey in '67. For a short time, at least, peace was amongst us.

sqeztite 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

kev37 HI! I am from the UK and I have read the other reviews posted about this film and I want to add my piece to some of the comments already posted here.I agree that Celebration at Big Sur is probably not the definitive music documentary of this era, nonetheless it is a fascinating view into this period with some great musical performances, and in a much more intimate setting than the big festivals as conveyed in Woodstock and Monterey Pop. I wish this film was shown more often late night in UK as it apparently is in US ? I caught it only once on TV in the UK as part of a series about the era on TV over here way back in the 80's. I managed to capture it on VHS at the time along with Monterey Pop and Woodstock and have viewed it many times since,but the VHS quality was not so good and I don't have a VCR or the tape anymore. For people who didn't grow up in this period I think this a great watch if you want to get a feeling for that period. I was quite young when all this great music was happening, so for me it was very much an education to see this film and get a feel for the period it was composed in. I would love for someone to master this to DVD so it was available more widely and with better quality, because I found it captivating to see this time capsule of the sixties. In my opinion this film has a different feel to the era than the larger scale offerings of Woodstock and Monterey Pop and deserves its place on the DVD racks alongside them.I for one would love to see it there.Kev, London UK

helpless_dancer 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.