Rating: 
Summary: Superb
Review: This movie, part stage show and part local color with a good bit of nostalgia thrown in, is breathtaking, riveting, spellbinding, transcendent. It begins with a night tour of Nashville's exciting places; from the limo window we see Tootsie's, the Ryman Auditorium, Second Avenue, Lower Broadway. We share our ride with Ralph Stanley, who has "come down from the mountain." We spend time backstage at the Ryman while the performers are waiting their turns, and eavesdrop on John Hartford as he spins a tale about wanting to be a librarian. We listen to a couple of blues players talk about their work and discover that Emmylou Harris is a baseball fan. The show itself is country at its best. Rock and roll doesn't show its face; there are no gyrations or big hats or shrill voices. Just country, with memories of the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and a plethora of old time musicians who sang of hard times and death and endurance. We will always remember Emmylou Harris's sweet, true voice, Allison Krause's melodic outpouring, and Gillian Welch's beautiful harmony. We'll remember the Peasall sisters and the Fairfield Four and Ralph Stanley; but most of all, we'll remember the magic moment when John Hartford began to sing "Big Rock Candy Mountain." It was one of his last performances before he succumbed to cancer, but his voice was steady and strong, and his hands sure on the violin. This was old time music as it should be, and even the newer songs sounded old. It reminds us of how far modern country music has strayed from its roots, and how easy and pleasant it is to go back to them again.
Rating: 
Summary: Glorious Heartland Sounds, But...
Review: Down from the Mountain opens with the inimitable, keening tenor of Ralph Stanley, over a photomontage that takes us, literally, down from the mountain with the Stanley Brothers. The filmmakers and their sound recorders have captured the grace, beauty, and power of the music T-Bone Burnett assembled for the Coen Brothers picture. Although this is primarily a concert film, the performers offer some insights into the music, including Dr. Stanley's by now well-known comments on the roots of "bluegrass" and his general preference for other terminology to describe just what it is he sees himself as performing up there on the stage. It's also interesting to hear the great "high tenor" observe that this is music one is born into--the solitariness of life in the deep backwoods, that Stanley credits for his "lonesome" sound--rather than a thing easily acquired by outsiders. The movie then jumps to a variety of outsiders, who discovered "bluegrass" in collegetown record bins, and their less appealing ruminations on the music. Here we have Gillian Welch, for example, who has a lovely voice and writes pretty songs, revealing herself as precisely the kind of artist with whom Stanley, elsewhere (in a New Yorker profile, of all things), has said he'd rather not play. (And he does look distinctly uncomfortable in their midst.) The filmmakers capture Welch--inadvertently, I think--in what struck me an entirely too condescending a disposition. As a result, her time on screen seems much too long, particularly when there are Allison Krausses and Emmy Lou Harrises in the house. Once the concert gets rolling, the performances all sparkle, with those by The Fairfield Four, Krauss and her Union Station band (with Dan Tyminski), and Stanley (again, his hair-raising "Oh, Death") sparkling and then some. The courageousness of concert host, fiddler, raconteur, and riverboat pilot extraordinaire John Hartford, who would soon die of cancer, is most moving, quite apart from the conviction and emotional power of his music. And the picture and sound quality of this particular DVD is superior. (Spot the celebrities in the audience and win a cigar...) I docked this DVD a full star for its failure to include a single performance by the film's heralded "Soggy Bottom Boys," and in particular for excluding "A Man of Constant Sorrow" as performed by the film's band, with Tyminski in the lead. (The version over which the title credits roll, with Stanley singing his own song, is exquisite, but a Soggy Bottom reprise would have been the cherry on top.) A major letdown. But I nevertheless recommend this DVD highly. There is sufficient variation between the playlist of this concert and the movie soundtrack to warrant the purchase of both. Both indeed comprise "greatest hits" lists for America's great and glorious "down-home old-time mountain music" (pace Dr. Stanley and his terminological exactitude).
Rating:
Summary: Enhances the movie and the soundtrack
Review: If your looking for a film that captures the magic of the music of the movie then this is where you'll find it. All the performances in this concert are powerful and moving. The Fairfield four begin the concert with an excellent rendition of Po Lazarus. And the concert gets better and better after that. The best part about seeing this film is that you can see the emotion with which the performers sing in this concert. Emmy Lou Harris steals the show when she sang Green Pastures. At first I was dissapointed when I didn't see The Soggy Bottom Boys (D.Taminski and others) perform "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow", but the fact that there were other songs performed that were not on the original soundtrack only strengthened this already strong concert. The behind the scenes aspect of this documentary/concert film makes the show better as well. This a great film I am sure anyone who loved the soundtrack won't be disappointed by it. It exceeded my expectations and I am usually speculative of great reviews of any kind of film.
Rating: 
Summary: A rich tradition reduced to cliche
Review: I couldn't get past the first 15 minutes of this film. For starters, Ralph Stanley is no mountain hick. He's a headliner who's been all over the world! An unworldly man coming "down from the mountain" for a special concert was misleading and ridiculous, considering that this man is a legend. In other words, a marketing trick for the unsuspecting. The rest of the musicians assembled, with the exception of The Whites, The Cox Family and John Hartford (and some of the background musicians) totally dumbed-down the quality which would have been amazing had those I've mentioned just been on the stage alone, letting it rip. And I really mean no disrespect to the amazing Emmylou, just, she's no master of the style... Alas! Such is the world of money and marketing. As for the direction, it was filmed like standard news coverage of an event -- all in all, not an exciting film.
Rating:
Summary: the best of our nations real mountain music history
Review: I,ve been for the great portion of my life a hard rocker but when I saw this dvd of our basic history of mountain music which is a history of american music and life it stuck a cord in me that went very deep it lifted me up and made me feel good about our life in this the u.s.a. this music and the performers have a hold on our hearts and our souls that I never thought I would feel. even if you never like country music this concert will lift you up and set you free to enjoy our heritage
Rating: 
Summary: down from the mountain
Review: "Down from the Mountain" is as bad as "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" is good. Don't buy it!
Rating:
Summary: What Bliss!
Review: The music on this DVD is exquisite. It is so nice to see John Hartford one last time. His dry witty humor was well in tact on this release. When he sings about "the jerk who invented work" on "Big Rock Candy Mountain," I started to howl with laughter. Canadian Colin Linden isn't very well known in the USA, but he's been a favorite of mine since I discovered his "Raised By Wolves" CD. It's nice to have a bit of blues with the bluegrass; and he teams with Chris Thomas King on "John Law Burned Down the Liquor Sto'." Both the Whites and the Cox Family do great little sets, very endearing. The Peasall Sisters are real scene-stealers with "Highways & the Hedges." Alison Krauss is in great voice, perhaps a bit shy on stage, but sings so beautifully. Emmylou Harris is a delight, and funny backstage as the baseball enthusiast. David Rawlings was visually very interesting as his face contorts to wrench emotion as he plays and sings. Gillian Welch does a good job and gets a lot of screen time in this cut. The Fairfield 4's harmonies are classic. Of course, Ralph Stanley is a timeless treasure. Like others, I would have preferred to have the whole concert with the backstage antics as part of a bonus section on the CD; but T-Bone Burnett did an excellent job bringing this music together. I also enjoyed Holly Hunter's humorous opening introduction about John Hartford & the FBI. The DVD is well worth celebrating these artists and this blissful music. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A True Masterpiece
Review: An amazing piece of work. i would have watched this one simply for Emmylou and Ralph, the rest were just chocolate-and, my oh my, what sweet chocolate they were. IF you are looking for the "popular" songs from the movie, you will be very disappointed. However, if you want to hear the real music- a sweet piece of old time Americana- then pull up a chair. You are in for a treat.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this DVD
Review: It's a great idea but many of the performances are interupted by inconsequential backstage chatter. They frequently cut away from the performance on stage and show you twenty seconds of someone talking backstage. It's really irritating. It's too bad too, because what you do see is nicely recorded and photographed. I think the producers want you to also buy the CD so you can hear the full version of these songs. They really ruined a good recording.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I should have learned from Joseph Shocky's review at the top of this list. All the songs aren't there.
I've searched in vain for "Man of Constant Sorrow" as done in the movie by the "Soggy Bottom Boys" and can't find it.
Is that one of the missing ones or am I just not finding it?
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