American Hardcore

Review 1 of 2

hestheone writes:

3of 4 Stars

Forget what that tool says. He's apparently got some ax to grind. It is a pretty decent documentary that features some period video, some great still photography and a good number of current interviews with many of the major players in the Hardcore scene. I was there, and I knew some of the people interviewed. It is not a big budget work, and no one had camcorders back in the day so don't expect a National Geographic retrospective. It's a factual (not like that piece of crap SLC Punk) attempt at 'showing it like it was'. If any of you asshats who are disappointed and are expecting to relive the days by watching YouTube really want the full effect, I'll be glad to come over with my engineer boots and kick you in the head a few times.

Jul 27, 2007 00:14:10

Review 2 of 2

iwasthere writes:

1of 4 Stars

<b> The movie American Hardcore was dreadful!</b>

it SUCKED so bad we thought it did a disservice to the forms
of hardcore punk and documentary film making. (No, it was
not cool that the look was sloppy "DIY." Only a major media
critic would be so ignorant and insulting to say so. Since when
does DIY mean SHIT Quality? Playing records over live
performance footage instead of live sound and trying to lip-
synch it up is just the beginning of where this video falls on
it's ugly ugly face).

No matter what, don't PAY to see this crap. We would not even
recommend buying a boot-leg, stealing the dvd, sneaking
into the theater, or downloading the bit-torrent, because it
really is a waste of your time.

The makers are probably nice people but the book was
horrible and this film is even worse! Don't kid yourself.

In fact, everyone is entitled to their opinion and each has their
own perspective, but the agenda of these filmmakers is so
skewed from the reality, it was practically depressing to watch
for people who were really there and involved at the time this
was all going down, or for those who are really into this
period of music and it's incredible culture.

It's not bad the video was made, it's good that some one
tried, but this is a feeble attempt, it's really really bad. it's a
shame that Sony pictures classics is distributing it because #1
it will give it some credibility it does not deserve, and #2 it
goes against the entire DIY ethic the whole movie goes so into
promoting. And yes there are some great heroes of hardcore
in this film and most of all the greatest bands of the time are
at least name-checked, and some of the great individuals
interviewed and some even said some good things, but
anything good in the film (maybe 5-7 minutes total) you've
heard before and can see or hear better in other places. (The
trailer actually does make it look pretty cool too, but it's all
downhill from there).

Check this out: A younger friend of ours, who did not live
through the period, but who loves listening to Bad Brains,
Minor Threat, Black Flag, etc. saw the film and said it turned
them OFF to hardcore punk as a culture!

Here's another opinion we heard from a person at a popular
magazine, they had an advance copy in their office, saw it and
said:
"Totally lame. Sub-par footage and absolutely aimless."
We'd have to agree 100%.

you can find better footage and sound and interviews on
YOU-TUBE if you look for it.

If you wasted your time or money seeing this, don't hesitate in
sharing your views so no one else has to waste their hard
earned cash or valuable time on this garbage. it's your
responsibility as a fan of hardcore music and culture to
discredit this video to the point where it has no credibility
with anyone.

Sep 28, 2006 21:51:56