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