The 125-Plus People, Places and Things Ruling the Rock & Roll Universe : Rolling Stone

BEST ROCK MOVIES

U2 3D
The Irish superstars have released concert films for every tour they've done back to 1987. So when U2 hit the road in 2005, they were determined to do something different. What they wound up with — the first 3-D concert movie ever — is a technical and artistic feat unlike any other rock-concert film before it. Shot over eight nights during the group's March 2006 South American leg, U2 3D is a 360-degree immersion into a perfectly realized concert — one minute you're shoulder to shoulder with the Edge, the next you're dropped into the thick of the frenzied pit.

"When we come into town, Rattle and Hum is often playing the night before the show," says U2 manager Paul McGuinness. "Twenty years on, it'll be U2 3D — I'd rather they saw that anyway."

Runnin' Down a Dream
Despite the four-hour running time, this Peter Bogdanovich-directed doc never bores. Using old home movies, archival concert clips and interviews with the likes of Eddie Vedder and Roger McGuinn, it's the definitive account of Tom Petty's life, from his Florida childhood to his thirtieth-anniversary tour with the Heartbreakers in '06.

Control
Sam Riley's portrayal of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis is so spookily dead-on that this biopic almost feels like a documentary. Director Anton Corbijn — who shot the post-punkers during their career — filmed parts of the movie in Curtis' hometown of Macclesfield, England, for added realism. Little footage of the real Curtis exists, but this is the next-best thing.

Shine a Light
After years of scoring scenes to "Gimme Shelter," Martin Scorsese finally went out and made a movie about his favorite band. Filmed over two nights at New York's Beacon Theatre in 2006, the masterfully shot film captures the Rolling Stones unearthing rarities like "She Was Hot" and jamming with Buddy Guy, Jack White and Christina Aguilera.