Can I Get a Good Punk Rock Movie?
I just got done watching ‘What We Do Is Secret’, the movie about one of my favourite bands: the Germs. It kinda blew.
There are many, many great documentaries on bands and music that I love. For some reason whenever they attempt to make a movie about a band they seem to lose the plot. Perhaps musicians and music scenes just aren’t that interesting unless you’re there.
And before anyone shouts about ‘Sid and Nancy’, I challenge you to watch that movie now. It absolutely ruled when I was 13. I watched it again last year and despite Gary Oldman’s creepy and spot-on personification of Sid, the movie sucked.
Is there a good punk rock movie out there that isn’t a documentary? Seriously, I really want to watch one.
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January 29th, 2009 at 12:54 am
Though it is not that serious and moving, what about Rock n’ Roll High School staring the Ramones?
January 30th, 2009 at 9:37 am
What about Romper Stomper its an old one and its not so much about music but there is alot of punks in there.
January 30th, 2009 at 10:12 am
@cohnsey: That’s a good call. I haven’t seen that in years but I remember liking it. Absurd, silly and full of Ramones. That’s good.
@Michael: I saw that movie many years ago. I don’t remember it having much to do with the music scene though, just Australian racists.
February 1st, 2009 at 10:39 pm
SLC Punk! might be fun to watch. I don’t remember it that well, but worth a shot.
February 1st, 2009 at 11:00 pm
@Sweetness: SLC Punk! is a good one. I did like it because it didn’t try to capture everything but rather focused on a very specific scene. It probably is one of the better punk rock movies for doing that. After all, most of us punks weren’t the ones seeing the New York Dolls at Max’s Kansas City.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:31 am
Although it is not really punk… its still rock & roll, “Gimme Shelter”
February 5th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
How bout “Suburbia”?
I have not seen it in forever but that is a great one.
February 8th, 2009 at 12:29 am
What about Punk Rock Holocaust from 2004?
February 9th, 2009 at 10:20 am
@grog: Suburbia was a movie that I thought was amazing when I was a kid. I revisited it recently and I think it’s another one that has aged quite badly.
February 9th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Rock n’ Roll High School, staring the Ramones and music by MC5, Velvet Underground, Chuck Berry, Alice Cooper…
February 11th, 2009 at 9:19 am
You’ll be hard pressed to find non-documentary punk movies. Why? Because every band and their dog released a doc and got the market crowded (or well, that’s my personal take on it, might just be that non-documentaries in this niche don’t cater to their audience, present company excluded).
Here’s a quick overview of some movies and documentaries from wiki, maybe you’ll find something there:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_punk_films
February 11th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
To be honest I’ve never heard of the film Sid and Nancy but I just checked IMDB and it has a rating of 7 so I might just rent it out one day and see what I’ve been missing out on
February 12th, 2009 at 1:40 am
“Burst City” is a little light on plot but still an interesting take on the punk rock community in Japan. It’s actually a pretty popular movie and has performances by The Roosters, The Rockers, and The Stalin. Kinda sci-fi but interesting.
February 13th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Repoman.
February 14th, 2009 at 3:37 am
seriously– the ramones!! go with that one!
February 14th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Ya you are right I think the same but here are some movies you could watch
American Hardcore & Ex Drummer you might like them.
February 15th, 2009 at 3:58 am
Summer Of Sam was a good reflection of the late 70s music trends.
February 16th, 2009 at 7:04 am
You got to try Suburbia its a great movie…
February 18th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Romper stomper is a good film, or the new one rocken roller i fink might have spelt it wrong
February 18th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Rock n’ Roll High School was my favorite. Did not like Burst City at all.
February 20th, 2009 at 3:14 am
I wanna watch some itresting documental video about music bands, but all thas i watched was very bad quality video. I live in Ukraine, and can find good videos at all, but a know good american videos.. but… my english is bad (i think you already understend it) and i can’t understand somting… I wait for the day, whan some guy make a translate for one of those good american documental films about music bands.
February 22nd, 2009 at 8:10 am
For some reason whenever they attempt to make a movie about a band they seem to lose the plot. Perhaps musicians and music scenes just aren’t that interesting unless you’re there.
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:28 pm
What about the “THE PUNK ROCK MOVIE”? As per imdb.com–A revealing look into the bands comprising the 1978 London punk-rock scene, and a peek back-stage at the lives behind the facade. Includes performances by Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Eater, and other concurrent bands.”
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I know what you mean about Sid and nancy was an absolute classic in its time but now its very dated, I don’t really know of any other good ones around at the moment could always give High School Musical a go lol! x
February 24th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
My favorite although not punk is Spinal tap, …brilliant..
February 25th, 2009 at 8:28 am
You know, I didn’t think ‘What We Do Is Secret’ was that bad but I’ll agree with you that most movies about bands, punk rock or otherwise ain’t that good. What can you do?
February 25th, 2009 at 9:57 am
I second Rock n’ Roll High School and Suburbia. Those are great movies. However it’s really hard to make a good “punk rock” movie. There’s just something about mixing punk rock with making big money that just doesn’t sit well with me…
O.
February 28th, 2009 at 3:30 am
dude SLC punk is a classic but I also love Rock n’ Roll High School
February 28th, 2009 at 3:57 am
Well you can always watch Spinal Tap…
This one goes to eleven!
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I agree with you about Sid and Nancy. Garry Aldmen is great but the movie is a little less then entertaining. You just can’t make a good movie about a punk rock band. Heck, the bands are entertaining enough without having to make a movie about em.
March 5th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Nah.. Viewed Rocnrolla - the worst Richie’s movie… Damn, i’m so dissapointed. (
March 7th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
I dont really think anyone would be interested in making an outright punk rock movie as I guess the economics of purpose would not be well served. Surely the guys have put their meninges on this.
March 11th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Even the best movies will fail to capture the essence of punk at its best. I think the best thing on film I’v seen is the great rock and roll swindle, a documentary on the sex pistols. Not a movie as such, but a really good watch.
March 12th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Repo-man
Not quite about punk, but it is punk - great soundtrack and awesome all the way around.
March 15th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
I agree about RepoMan. Great movie. I also remember a very good movie called “Rude Boy” that was part documentary, part fiction, very good in my opinion. Maybe not punk, but still punk in some way is “great balls of fire” about Jerry Lee Lewis, with John Doe from X in a role.
March 17th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Rock n’ Roll High School is the only movie you will ever find fitting those criteria. It’s not easy to make a mainstream movie about the scene that’s supposed to be everything but mainstream.