The Punk Rock Movie (1978)

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

I caught this online at google vids at this web address if you want to see it http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4101813390428941237, I couldn't sit through the whole thing in one take to be honest, a LOT of the material is really bad at least in this format. To give you a reference on where I was personally in 77, I was in NYC Greenwich Village, lived a couple of blocks from where Sid died, remember seeing a couple of curiosity seekers, punk was not at all big in NYC in 77. I was into Led Zep, I saw them in concert that year and it was pretty good, punks were really weird to me then (I guess still are even though I love the music). You were either into disco (losers), Classic Rock (WPLJ radio), or "punk" and not many punk rockers were around at least in 77. Oh, I was all of 13, my first concert was Peter Frampton the year before some dude offered me a joint but I was next to my chaperons and had to refuse, that was a cool concert. Music to me was all about trying to score with a chick, classic rock helped that out a lot, the punks I saw in the Village at first looked like leather gays to me, and probably were. If you look at the scene in this movie what I found really missing was SEX, there's no sex at all here, not even kissing. There's a chick in the first minute who flashes herself but nothing else. I'm just trying to make an observation, I went to a couple of punk concerts, at Max's Kansas City (Johnny Rotten after the Pistols, really small crowd), The Misfits at a place in Chinatown I think, The Ramones in central park (they were sooo drugged out at least Joey was, he was just slurring the simple lyrics, it was really bad), TSOL in Milwakee (about 5 people for that crowd, partied with them after the show, that was fun), and did some shows on the west coast, but in all that stuff, no chicks for me. So I moved on from punk as did the more successful bands here, like the Clash and Billy Idol. So instead of saying who was really horrible in this raw footage (most) let me just say who I thought was decent. The Pistols and The Clash were both good, and unfortunately thats all I can say was good. Video and audio quality is really bad, watch this as a history time piece, I'm glad the dude made it, the filmmaker would later join the band B.A.D. (with Mick Jones of Clash Lead singer fame) I still listen to them every now and then. 7 of 10 to see some of the original punk scene and some good Pistols footage. Wish it had some punk chicks making out with each other, lol. Oh also let me say I saw the Selector live in NYC around 1979, great time, I didn't see them in this movie like another reviewer said, I don't think they were formed in 77 either and they only lasted a year or so before breaking up (I think they reformed as a revival thing now, we all got to pay the bills). Check this out, it's free and you can fast forward to the end and see the Pistols if you get tired of the other stuff.

There's no doubt about it. Punk was a sorely needed antidote to the pathetic drivel that made up (most of)the music of the mid to late 70's. Okay, I know you're going to bellyache about the rampant self destructive behavior of both the bands, as well as their audience, but the music (which in itself was born of boredom,anger,disillusionment,as well as rampant unemployment in the U.K. in the mid to late 70's)acted as an call to arms to a generation that was sick to death of the hyper slick,over produced dreck of the era. This film captures the spirit of the time with performances of some of the best (or worst,depending on your view of this kind of music & sub culture)talent that was out there (The Sex Pistols,The Clash,Generation X,with Billy Idol,Alternative TV, etc.). Besides the music,it also manages to capture a cinema verite window into the culture of the era,as well (there is some footage shot in Malcolm McLaren's shop,Sex). This film is a classic example of the whole kitchen sink, do it yourself (D.I.Y.) approach of the whole punk phenomena (it was shot on the old school Super 8 film stock, giving it a grainy,gritty look that does service to the films raw punk texture). This film is/was made available some years back on VHS (on an equally cheap & cheesy video stock quality that was sold in cut rate department stores for about five bucks). Perhaps it will one day resurface on DVD for a generation of punks who were not around back in the day.

I had bought The Punk Rock Movie on video tape in 1994 and was amazed at seeing video footage of the British punk rock bands: The clash, Eater, Billy Idol and Generation X, The slits, Siousxie & the Banshees, of course, the Sex Pistols, just so amazed. Seeing footage of the band members in their tour bus (The clash and the slits) just messing around and joking, footage of musical performances: X-ray spex, Selecter (Wow), the clash (1977) with J. Strummer looking ferocious and snarling and M. Jones handling that e.g. like a machine gun (F@#$ing Great!) Johnny Rotten doing a crazy dance, it just opened my eyes to what was a taste of what was going on in England at that time. I had no idea. Very shocking, because I had previously not known about the movement, this 'punk rock' Oh, I had heard the term but I was unaware, for example, I clearly remember seeing the clash perform on Saturday Night Live but that was it. I knew that they were the ones who sand "Should I stay or should I go" but that was it. I never knew that they had years behind them. NEver knew that about them and the rest of the others. I made the COLOSSAL mistake of lending it to a 'friend'. I never lend to anyone now. I hope to get a copy of the Punk Rock Movie again. I love it!!!!

Don Lett's Punk Rock Movie is just like the music it captures, crude but effective. Lett's (who would later become a member of Big Audio Dynamite) shot this movie on Super8mm. He was friends with many of the punk bands because he was their reggae connection (there was an interesting punk/reggae connection in London during that time). The footage of the Sex Pistols is priceless and worth the price of the tape itself. The Clash and the other major players are featured in this documentary. An interesting watch. I also recommend U.K. Decay as a follow up.Be on the look out for a young Shane Mac Gowan (The Pogues). He was a huge punk back in the late seventies before he re-invented himself as a hard edged Irish folk musician. He went on to combine the two elements and create a new sound.Highly recommended!