AllMovie

Ten years after exploding onto the international music scene with their debut album Boy, in 1990 U2 were struggling to reinvent themselves and find a new direction. The 1988 concert film Rattle and Hum and its accompanying soundtrack album didn't please fans or critics, and the group's attempts to fuse American roots music with their trademark style clearly wasn't working. The four members of the group -- vocalist Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. -- were at odds with one another and uncertain about their musical future. The group responded to their dilemma by throwing out their self-imposed rule book and making the album Achtung, Baby, in which the group faced down their uncertainties and responded with the most stylistically ambitious music they'd ever created. Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim offers a rare glimpse into U2's creative process with the documentary From The Sky On Down, in which the band discusses the making of Achtung, Baby and opens up about the issues within the band and in the outside world that inspired its creation. The film also includes rare audio and video of U2 in rehearsal and in the studio while the album was in production. From The Sky Down received its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.