The director has created a largely a thin and superficial look at the Punk Rock(tm) movement. His interviews are uninspiring, and he often lets stars ramble on too long (please someone shut up Bob Geldolf). So what saves this flick?
1) This documentary was made in 1981, which means there is little revisionism. No one going back now pulling out the later historical importance of certain bands. This means bands like the Secret Affair and Ian Dury get attention that would never be afforded to them in a 75 minute retrospective today.
2) The real joy of this video is not the included tired footage of punk bands like The Clash or The Sex Pistols or even the relatively unseen Boomtown Rats footage -- it's the mod and ska moments. Seeing footage from The Jam, and the aforementioned Secret Affair was great. And the footage of The Specials and Madness was equally compelling.
So if you're in it for the mod or ska footage, it's great, otherwise it's mediocre at best.
1) This documentary was made in 1981, which means there is little revisionism. No one going back now pulling out the later historical importance of certain bands. This means bands like the Secret Affair and Ian Dury get attention that would never be afforded to them in a 75 minute retrospective today.
2) The real joy of this video is not the included tired footage of punk bands like The Clash or The Sex Pistols or even the relatively unseen Boomtown Rats footage -- it's the mod and ska moments. Seeing footage from The Jam, and the aforementioned Secret Affair was great. And the footage of The Specials and Madness was equally compelling.
So if you're in it for the mod or ska footage, it's great, otherwise it's mediocre at best.