For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Fantastic!

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I think that Woody Guthrie came along at the right time for his music to be played and become popular. The 30s, the years of the Depression of economic want and deprivation, Guthrie was a voice for the homeless and dispossessed, for those just wanting a small slice of the American dream. Guthrie would not go over in the Reagan years and surely not in the age of Trump. One really should see Bound For Glory back to back with A Face In The Crowd. The real Woody Guthrie is not all that far apart from the fictional Lonesome Rhodes whom Andy Griffith played in that latter picture. Both represent differing strains of American populism just that Griffith's character Lonesome Rhodes represents the dark side. And we've recently seen the dark side triumph.Guthrie didn't want people to just feel good, he wanted for them to be healthy and happy and prosperous. It's not enough as I think people who voted for Donald Trump in the last election will find out soon to deprive those 'others' whomever they be of what you think they're stealing from you. Subsisting isn't living. Enough to pay your rent or buy home, see your kids get educated with the hope they'll do even better than you, that's what it's about. And you get it by organizing. Putting the sweat of the working man on an equal footing with the buying power of the bosses. An ethic that's being challenged now.David Carradine plays the rambling and rebellious Guthrie who got the cook's helper's tour of America via the freight trains and the migrant labor camps. It would have been the easiest thing for Guthrie to just pack it in and just become a hillbilly entertainer on country music stations. He was after far more than that with his songs. Carradine captures Guthrie's rebellious spirit perfectly and gets great support from Melinda Dillon as his loving wife who is also concerned the next meal for their growing family.Bound For Glory got an Oscar for Best Adapted Musical score and when you have Woody Guthrie's voluminous writings to work with it must have been a labor of love. It was up for Best Picture and a flock technical awards as well.Woody Guthrie's most famous song was This Land Is Your Land and listen to the words carefully. It's not just patriotic pablum the benefits and responsibilities of this land called America is for all of us to take care of and leave in good condition for the next generation.After all this land was made for you, me, all of us.

This slow-moving film isn't bad, but it feels rather formless, interested in giving you a sense of what Guthrie saw (even though it turns out it's entirely fictionalized) more than what he did. Perhaps you get a better sense of Guthrie in the second half of the film, but I had trouble keeping with it. I could have kept watching without minding it, but I wasn't remotely invested in it. It didn't help that Guthrie turned out to be pretty selfish early on, and yes, a lot of famous people are flawed, but if you were to watch the first half of this movie without knowing who Guthrie is, you would wonder what the movie was about besides some random guy living through the dust bowl days. And the movie isn't an interesting enough version of that sort of movie.

Till I saw this movie, I always viewed 'folk music' as tree hugging save the world hippy happy tunes. But from this movie I now understand the emphasis on 'folk'. And really it's not too different from 'punk'. Woody sang about the people he was singing to. Hardships and hopes. Decency before profit. And how great America is, even when America wasn't doing so great. Hal Ashby put's a 'grit' not only into, but onto the film. I could literally feel the dust and grime on me as I watched. And say what you will about David Carradine being a cantankerous S.O.B., but he was cast and played Woody perfectly. To steal a line from Dr. Strangelove - "Woody is a man of the people. But he's also a 'man', if you follow my meaning..." And Ronny Cox I thought was stellar in his performance. All in all, the movie gives me great appreciation for the depiction of Woody, the depression era, and the unsung brilliance of Hal Ashby and the cast. A must have for anyone that's into music, sociology, history, and/or just great film making!

"Bound For Glory" is a great deal more than the story of Woody Guthrie. It is a virtual experience of living through the Great Depression.This is the ultimate historical-based re-creation of life in America in the 1930s. From the unemployment to the box car hopping, dust storms, soup kitchens, migrant workers and their union organizing, the film takes you into the eye of the Great Depression hurricane that devastated life in America.It provides a first-person perspective as the story builds upon the life of folk music legend Woody Guthrie.Teachers from 5th grade through college can use this as a valuable instructional tool, and not even have to worry about any bad language or erotic scenes.Where "Grapes of Wrath" was once used as Hollywood's contribution to showing the Great Depression, "Bound For Glory" surpasses it with a compelling storyline that keeps you riveted, production design and sets that are as stimulating as they are accurate, and superb acting and cinematography.If you somehow missed this film because most of the attention that year was going to "Rocky," "Network," "All the President's Men" and "Taxi Driver," find out for yourself why this was the "other" film nominated for Best Picture.