From the Sky Down is a 2011 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about rock band U2 and the production of their 1991 album Achtung Baby.

The band were filmed during a return visit to Hansa Studios in Berlin where parts of the album were recorded, and during rehearsals in Winnipeg for the Glastonbury Festival 2011.

The film contains unreleased scenes from the group's 1988 motion picture Rattle and Hum, along with archival footage and stills from the Achtung Baby recording sessions.

The film was bundled with the deluxe editions of Achtung Baby's 20th anniversary reissue and was later released as standalone copies on Blu-ray and DVD on December 12, 2011.

Reviews from critics were mixed; many found the insight into the band's creative process informative, while others judged that the film did not provide adequate in-depth coverage of the album.

[1][2] In addition to the criticism they faced, U2 dealt with internal creative dissatisfaction; lead vocalist Bono believed they were musically unprepared for their success, and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. said, "We were the biggest, but we weren't the best".

[5] Wishing to reinvent themselves and seeking inspiration from German reunification, the group de-camped to Hansa Studios in Berlin in October 1990 with producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno to record Achtung Baby.

The album and the subsequent multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour were central to the group's 1990s reinvention, whereby they abandoned their earnest public image for a more lighthearted and self-deprecating one.

[13] His goal for the film was to explain how U2 managed to remain together for so long, in contrast to other rock groups that have been undone by internal conflict;[14] he described the band's longevity as "fighting against that law of physics".

[30] Standalone copies of the full, 85-minute director's cut of From the Sky Down were released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 12, 2011, with bonus footage of the band performing at Hansa Studios and a question-and-answer session with Bono, The Edge, and Guggenheim from TIFF.

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an enthusiastic review, describing it as "one of the most transcendent close-up looks at the process of creating rock & roll I've ever seen."

"[32] Hank Steuver of The Washington Post called it an "intriguing" documentary that "becomes a revealing and even enlightening meditation on the mystery of why some bands stay together and some don't."

The reviewer said the film is "refreshingly blunt and beautifully assembled" and praised Guggenheim for asking the band tough questions about that period in their history.

[33] Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail gave the film a three-out-of-four star rating, calling it an "essential companion piece" to the reissue of Achtung Baby.

[35] Drew McWeeny of HitFix wrote that the documentary is not a "complete record" of Achtung Baby's conception, but that it "offers fans a rare glimpse at the process behind U2's music, and for non-fans, it attempts to set a context in which they can appreciate what it is that U2 accomplished".

[38] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter pointed out the limited scope of the film, calling it "neither a comprehensive portrait nor one of those tossed-off featurettes that would be at home only as the filler for a commemorative Achtung Baby boxed set".

Commenting on Guggenheim's filmmaking style, DeFore judged that some of his attempts to make the film more "movie-ish" failed to enhance the subject material.

In the reviewer's opinion, this gave the "impression of a filmmaker who can tell this story competently but isn't quite up to making a lasting film about one of rock history's most successful bands".