A documentary about the early punk movement. I treasure this one for the Dead Boys stuff. The live footage is decent for the most part, and there is some good stuff from the Sex Pistols U.S. tour. It’s nice to see some X Ray Spex footage as well. They aren’t as documented as frequently as bands like The Sex Pistols have been over the years.
This film is a good testament to the early punk movement, and it certainly should be treasured for capturing that moment in time. It's worth searching for if not readily available at any on-line outlet. Of course, you can't beat the footage of Stiv and company letting loose, and if anything, get it for that.
UK/DK
This is a documentary about the UK scene in the early and mid-80s. You get the moronic exploits of The Exploited, the Clockwork Orange stylings of The Adicts, some excellent Blitz footage, and some interviews with punk glue sniffers.
I especially enjoy the interviews with several squatters who talk about making homebrew and doing their hair. “You just put some soap on your hands, a little bit of water, and... SLUBBA DUB DUB, spike it right up.” They also consume large amounts of homemade cider, which has visible sediment floating around in it.
This film captures the second wave decently. The Exploited content is pretty annoying, and it basically makes all the "punks" look stupid. There are a lot of music video-type performances with the bands lip synching and acting tough for the camera. It would have been nice to see the footage with the original sound instead of lame over dubs, but it is somewhat visually interesting.
There is also content with music journalists from England discussing the significance of punk rock and the impact it had on Britain's music scene at the time. If anything, it proved it was the proverbial kick in the pants that the music scene needed at the time. But, this film also shows how imitation can turn everything into a fashion scene as well.
Sid and Nancy
Gary Oldman is the perfect Sid Vicious. But, this movie is annoying as it gets. It isn’t very accurate, historically speaking. It is, however, fun at times. I love this movie as much as I hate it. In punk rock terms, that’s saying something.
This has to the most famous punk rock film of them all. It's been knocked by just about everyone who was there for the real thing, so I don't think you can put too much significance on the film in terms of historical accuracy. But, it is entertaining and widely available. You can probably rent it at your local video store.
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