I absolutely love this documentary. I was told about it on the unfortunate day that Tom left us here on Earth. I've watched it several times and it has renewed my love for his/their music. I thought I was very familiar with most of their music and members but I was sadly mistaken. This was expertly put together by Peter Bogdnovich and it tells the story of the band from inception; essentially in a friends house, all the way through the early 2000's. It shows the band members as they changed, improved, and entertained millions of people worldwide. Tom was a phenomenal writer and the rest of the guys, including Tom, are world class musicians. I never had the privilege of seeing them live and I kick myself for not taking advantage of the times I could have. At close to 4 hours in length it left me hungering for more. What an amazing life they've had. It appears that these guys love working together and truly love each other. The title, "Runnin' down a dream" seems to accurately portray Tom's life because he didn't ever, "...Back Down". As a Hoosier teenager in the '70's, we needed a true rocker to answer to the onslaught of "Disco-mania" that was rolling through the country like an infectious plague. The Heartbreakers were a good solid solution. They became a big part of the soundtrack of our lives. Tom, you are missed by millions of adoring fans. Your impact on our lives will forever be felt in our love of all music. There are tons of other videos on the web but this is definitely on the top of my list.

Runnin' Down a Dream is a great rock and roll documentary for anyone who likes rock and roll. If you like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, even better. As you watch it, you can see it was done with that purpose, and by people who share the love for great songs, electric guitars, kick ass solos, stunning drums: What rock and roll is all about.Even being big as it is (almost 4 hours long), the story isn't dragged around and when you realize it will be already over and you'll be wanting to see even more of the incredible story of this great band and especially Tom Petty, a singular creature in a world full of schmucks. You can see the great mojo that was cooked between the band along the years, the good and bad things that happened on the way to success, but you will mostly hear about the music, which is what many of documentaries of bands seem to put in the background. The director let Mike Campbell's guitar solos play until the end, unlike other documentaries that the solo is faded out. The worst thing in the world is to start hearing a great solo and have it cut in the best part. Anyway, it's a wonderful film, really impressed me. Go watch it!

there aren't many great rock and roll documentaries out and when considering the at-best inconsistent career of Bogdanovich combined with a four-hour running time, even the most devout fan should be apprehensive ... Tom Petty became great only after touring with Dylan and then working as his backup band ... somehow hanging around and playing behind Dylan night-after-night flipped a switch in Petty and suddenly he was writing albums filled with great material ...when Petty first started hitting the airwaves, he was nothing special, just part of the 'new wave' along with Blondie and The Pretenders and The Cars and they are really the only ones worth mentioning ... while they just sound like rock and roll these days back then it was a new path and a great change from the maelstrom that was punk ... but aside from 'American Girl' Petty really didn't have much to offer, just middle-of-the-road material and a Plain Jane band sound that was less-than-special especially next to the finely-honed chops of James Honeyman Scott, the standout 'new' guitarist in those years ... one could shrug one's shoulders, put 'American Girl' on a jam tape and be satisfied with covering Petty's contribution so far ... frankly, those years displayed so much mediocrity among 'top' bands that one could only think of the infamous 'payola years' and wonder if they indeed ever went away ... 1979's huge hit 'Damn the Torpedoes' was chock full of annoying little tunes that only seemed capable of reaching the Top Ten by virtue of a gram of coke in each album sleeve delivered daily to DJs across the country ... his 'tough guy' persona delivered in every other song was a joke ... but then following the now famous backup tour with Dylan (including dates with the Grateful Dead and probably plenty of jam sessions off stage with both), the 'Let Me Up' album surfaced and the lead track was 'Jammin' Me' co-written by Dylan and suddenly Petty jumps up a big rung on the quality ladder ... with several other quality tunes on the album Petty was becoming a consideration in music ... during the intervening four years he spent what was his most important post-Dylan tour time with the legends that made up the Travellin' Wilburys ... a result of which obviously was Jeff Lynne producing the long-time-coming follow-up, 'Full Moon Fever', and now Petty has a complete album of fine tunes, well written and perfectly presented ... Petty stood out as a serious tune-smith and you could see the need for him in the rock world ... you could also see the benefit of hanging out with legends as Petty obviously kept his eyes and ears open and absorbed what made them great talents and let it simmer in his soul until it was the boiled-down stew that finally provided a filling meal instead of the slapdash fast-food he'd been serving up before ... the early years sounded like he was trying to get into the Top 40; but after his 'school years', he sounded like he was trying to write great songs ... there's a big difference and one can hear it ... if not for the adenoid-laden vocals, you could chalk up the first decade of his recording career to most any major label top 40 production of the era ... but after taking the name 'Wilbury' he was intent on living up to the name and didn't settle for inane ditties that would turn a recently post-pubescent girl's head ...Bogdanovich takes all this and turns it into a fleeting four hour documentary ... fleeting in that it felt far more like an hour when it was all said and done and left me wanting more ... so i watched it twice in a day ... Bogdanovich is an occasionally great director who frankly has been wasting his time in TV for more than a decade including appearing in and directing episodes of the vastly overrated 'Sopranos' and other typically weak efforts, even on cable channels where you can use the 'f' word (ohmuhgosh) ... let's face it, TV weakens everything ... it waters it down and churns it into the least-offensive slop people can swallow night-after-night as part of their self-medication regimen ... this is Bogdanovich's best effort by far since his other documentary, 'directed by john ford' ... thus 'picture show' is the definitive film for Bogdanovich ... other efforts seem to be half-attentive work that either goes for the after-school-special feeling of 'mask' or the sitcom pap of 'noises off' ... for a 'great' director, he doesn't have many great efforts ... but this is one ... as good a rock and roll documentary as one will ever see

I recently saw Amazing Journey about The Who and thought that was a very good doc. I resisted this one because of the running time (nearly 4 hours) but I sat down this afternoon and watched it. I'm about the same age as Petty so I kind of "grew up" with his music but I forget sometimes how great he is--how profound yet simple his lyrics are. This doc shows his long journey from a kid who just played a little music with his friends to the giant Rock & Roll hall of famer he became. I'll agree with some here who said he appears to be a laid back, go with the flow type of guy. However, there is something just underneath the surface shows how dedicated and driven he is as an artist. Band members came and went but none of them seemed bitter--just grateful to have been part of the experience until separate interests drove them to pursue other things. Even though it's a long film, it moves along and engages the viewer (it probably would help if you're a fan of the music.) All I can say is that toward the end of the movie, I was willing to break my long standing POV that I would never go to another concert. I want to see them in concert now. I probably won't but it did bring back a lot of memories and good feelings about a really great man and his music.