Cynthia I saw this movie many years ago at a private studio screening. It was so terribly bad and self-indulgent that I remember well just how horrible it was. In scenes set in a junkyard, Neil Young imparts his "wisdom" in rambling bits of nonsense. Thinking that he had something of import to say showed both his arrogance and his shallowness. I remember being appalled that Carrie Snodgress, freshly off the very good "Diary of a Mad Housewife," thought he was worth spending time with. Even in the hippie era, when people were prone to blathering on about their philosophy of life, this was insufferable. Clearly the studio thought it was pretty bad because it didn't get a theatrical release until two years after I saw it.I feel obligated to write this review to save people from thinking this is worth watching, which the current 7.1 rating might lead them to believe.

pwoods1 Given how brilliant this film could have been, Neil - as Bernard Shaky - is about as exciting as watching Bob Dylan tune a guitar (which doesn't want to be tuned) between songs and, eventually, Mr Dylan in/with/directing one of his own movies."Greendale", the DVD of Neil in Ireland presenting his acoustic interpretation of the work/text, shows just how amazing his talent is. However, brilliance aside, being stoned and self-congratulatory about CSN&Y (which at the time wasn't happening) does not forgive this almost illusive, unintelligible, allusion (for so it is) to the South that he hates - "Alabama" is a paeon to this. All must be forgiven when Lynyrd Skynyrd reply most sincerely to his claims.And yet, one wonders what would have happened had Jimi Hendrix taken Neil and the boys through the same landscape. Even with Stephen Stills as escort, the geography of the "Chitlin' Circuit" would have been alien to say the least. Still, long-haired hippies and weird musicians wasn't the way to go. There is a sense that the whole thing was set up as a battleground that really didn't happen.Bernard has done much better things than this. Consider, for instance, the soundtrack to "Deadman". Then, perhaps, listen to the soundtrack and watch "Journey Into The Past" at the same time. It's surely better than watching paint dry. Hmmm... almost. 'Course I love Neil and Johnny both. Next!

hemnao Yes, about 30 years since I've seen this film but some images from that night in Knoxville, Tennessee are crystal clear. My crowd and I had driven the 3.5 hours to Knoxville from Nashville (on other business) and had partied all the way. So, when somebody suggested we go check out this flick, the group was rather pliant.If memory serves, it opens oddly enough with CSNY doing an in-studio, call-in interview at, I believe, WMC in Nashville. Trippy. Other random images, drawn through the years from a night of robust teenage drug experimentation:Neil and somebody else sitting on the fender of an old, old car deep in the woods on a summer night right in front of an ancient country bridge. I seem to recall they were drinking moonshine from a jug and the headlights of the car were on, providing the only illumination. Looked like a good way to spend some time.A close-up of a man's feet walking on a sidewalk, which went on interminably. Then, the film reverses and the feet walk backwards for a long time. THEN, the camera inverts and we see the feet walking backwards and upside down. Not good visual stimulation for anyone under the influence of hallucinogens. I remember we almost cried.All these years I've wondered what it would be like to see the film again and with a clear mind. If you're a CSNY fan like me, it would be worth it. But, at the time, it was rather hard to stay awake, as I really had no business even attempting to watch anything that required something more than infantile concentration. The film turbocharged our stupor.

Zen Bones It's been almost 30 years since I've seen this, so my memories are very foggy. It's comprised of lots of footage of Neil Young and band members (including Crosby, Stills and Nash) in concert and rehearsing (I can clearly remember them rehearsing the song "Alabama" in a barn somewhere in Alabama). But the film is mostly a cornucopia of Neil Young's eye view of the rural South circa 1972. Lots of rainy footage from the band's bus: that sort of thing. There's footage of an American Legion meeting with a rather healthy, corn-fed, white audience singing "God Bless America". That's interspersed with footage of the poverty-ridden conditions of the neighboring black towns (the South was still very segregated, and there were still significant numbers of people living in what was akin to Third World living conditions). There are two other scenes that I can recall. One is a scene with Neil and his wife (girlfriend?) eating strawberries, which is only memorable because it's so lonnnnng! The other scene is a very trippy one, with guys dressed up as Ku Klux Klan members riding on horses on a beach, while the soundtrack from "King of Kings" is playing. Outrageous and fantastic! As memory serves, I don't think it was a great film, but it was a rare opportunity to see glimpses of America not shown by Hollywood or on television. And if you're a fan of Neil Young, it's a chance to see him performing relatively early in his career. I think the film would be more essential to audiences today, because while the new young generation is always putting down on the "hippie" generation of the sixties, they've no idea what it REALLY was like, and how much it has changed - thanks to activists who fought the system and demanded change.I had the soundtrack record to this back in the seventies. It was quite good! It's a shame it was never released on CD. A CD of that, and a DVD of this film is long overdue!