Sunset Strip (2012) User Reviews

Starts out very promising

[somf · 7/10 · 18 September 2013]

You won't be bored at all watching this film. It is full of interesting nuggets about the Strip but it is so disjointed in its telling. Some of the important people in the history of the Strip tell some great old stories, but many of them have little relevant stories to tell. I have a certain nostalgic feeling for the Strip myself where I probably spent over a hundred nights in the 70's being a bad boy and seeing some remarkable music.

Rodney Binginheimer who should be able to tell great stories about the glam era on the Strip has surprisingly little to add. Mickey Rourke whom I admire as an actor and some tattoo artist guy have a lot of screen time but add little to the proceedings other than the viewer wanting to figure out if Rourke is still using after all these years or not. On the plus side you have some great comedians telling stories, STeve Jones from the Sex Pistols and Johnny Depp and some other nice story tellers, but there are just as many folks involved that probably should not have been. I am sorry, but Kelly Osbourne is just too young to be nostalgic about anything. It is a really disjointed film, but always interesting in spite of itself.

Loads of good stuff in this film.

[snoozee11 · 9/10 · 5 November 2013]

I thought this was a really interesting film about the Sunset Strip. I loved all the footage from all the different eras on the strip. For example, there is footage in there from when it was just a road but nothing on either side of it but dirt, just emptiness. This original strip (not the Vegas one) has so much history. It's great hearing celebrities (like Johnny Depp, Ozzy and Sharon Osborne, Peter Fonda) telling their stories as they re-live their personal memories from famous hotels and clubs. Also in the film, there's footage and recollections of both River Phoenix and John Belushi's deaths on this famous strip. It's an awesome strip so you've got to have both happy times and sad times to go along with it. There's just a lot of good stuff in this film.

Great History of an Iconic Strip!

[hender1188 · 10/10 · 5 November 2013]

I've always been fascinated by Hollywood, and the Sunset Strip. I remember leafing through magazines and dreaming about walking up and down the strip, catching great music and meeting some interesting people. I haven't been able to make it out there yet, but this doc is the next best thing. The film covers the Sunset Strip from its inception as a no man's land between the studios in Hollywood and Beverly Hill up until present day. Throughout you learn that the Sunset Strip has been instrumental in shaping from the speakeasies of the 20s, to the hair metal bands of the 80s. I had no idea how many famous and interesting people have been through this little strip of land.

What a ride!

[Jjax889 · 10/10 · 6 November 2013]

The Sunset Strip started out as a strip of land that connected Beverly Hills to the studios of Hollywood, but feel out of the jurisdiction of both. That pretty much sums up the history of this iconic strip of land. Whether it was the speakeasies of the 20s or the counter culture of 60s the sunset strip as always had an intriguing outlaw vibe that has attracted people from all over the world. "Sunset Strip" tells the story of the strip through interviews with the people who lived it. Anecdotes are shared and the viewer learns that the sunset strip has mirrored and also influenced society. As a music fan I found myself engrossed from start to finish. Maybe someday I'll buy a ticket and head to the strip, but until then this doc will keep my daydreams alive!

From the Garden of Allah to the Viper Room: Hollywood's Sunset Strip both glows and dims

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 23 September 2013]

Interesting documentary (and an overdue one) chronicling the history of the infamous Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, extending from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood to its western border with Beverly Hills. Lots of celebrities pop up to tell their own personal histories of life on the Strip, but the textbook facts are more interesting. Beginning with silent star Alla Nazimova's hotel, the decadent, sex-saturated Garden of Allah, the Strip quickly became the haven for Hollywood's elite (and their imitators) who wanted to party their nights away. Smelling easy money and opportunity, gangsters and gamblers invaded in the 1940s, but the rise in popularity of night-life in Las Vegas seemed to zap the spirit of the Strip. With the Big Band sound on the way out, teenagers ruled the territory throughout the 1960s, with rock and roll evolving into protest music, which then brought in the riot police. The film is a nice mix of stills, recent interviews, vintage home-movie footage and movie clips--but nothing here really sticks in the memory (with the possible exception of Peter Fonda's recollection of being arrested and calling for help from passing actor Bob Denver of TV's "Gilligan's Island"!). The 2006 closing of Tower Records music store (a Strip-staple) could well be the death knell for a generation of partyers, yet time inevitably brings a wave of new faces and personalities to the scene...and the Strip lives on. ** from ****

Must see if you like celebrity stuff, great history too!

[simplyshirleys · 10/10 · 13 November 2013]

Really loved this film. Not from California, but love all the history of Hollywood. It's great to have a film that tells the story of the Sunset Strip, which is a big part of the LA/Hollywood world. This film is filled with celebrities, musicians, comedians, and actors. They tell their stories from the past and stories from more recent times. There's also interviews from what I think were groupies from the 70's and 80's. I like all the sex and drug stories, maybe not politically correct for today, but entertaining none the less. Hey it's all part of history. Some of the interviews include Johnny Depp, Sharon Stone (she said she escaped to the Penthouse of The Château Marmont for a bit), Sharon Osborne (shares stories of how Led Zeppelin treated their groupies, apparently not very nicely).

I would recommend this film if you like music, celebrity stuff, Hollywood life and history buffs. Very interesting.

A Great Retropspective of the Sunset Strip

[Mrobinson8609 · 10/10 · 7 November 2013]

Like many other people past and present I was drawn to Los Angeles attracted by the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown, and like many other people the first thing I did when I arrived was drive down the Sunset Strip. I remember seeing the billboards and feeling the energy of knowing that amazing things were happening, and that I was far removed from my mountain roots. Although I was fascinated by the strip I always wanted to learn more about its history. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard about this documentary. I rushed to my computer, bought the film and screened it that moment on my laptop and let me say I was not disappointed! The history of the strip from its formation to the speakeasies of the 20s up through present day is covered through interviews with the people who lived it. You really see how the sunset strip was shaped by, but also influenced culture and the personalities! A great film and I will make sure to watch it again soon!

The irony of listening to old stars reminiscing about old stars

[tashalyn · 9/10 · 1 July 2022]

Watching this documentary in 2022, post pandemic hysteria, post hyperinflation, post RvW, post EA & J6, post George Floyd & BLM, post Elliott Page, post Weinstein, post Matrix, post JDvAH, post *everything*...is a trip.

2012, the year this documentary was filmed, feels like a hundred years ago. The heydays of the previous century feel virtually ancient.

But man, what an era! And it's captured so explicitly. This is a must watch. Oh, the scenes you will see when you take a cruise down the Sunset Strip!

"Bad attempt at LA History!

[CentralStateProductions · 3/10 · 18 August 2013]

"Fragmented Hell" "I have never started a Review with -Closing Credits, but I will do so here! An several minute animated sequence that runs for the Principal Closing Credits is much better done than the Movie I just screened. As a matter of fact, if this Filmmaker would stick to animation.. wonderful stuff.

But lets get on with it.. this Fragmented hell and Chronological nightmare is a big mess. You don't know what the date is anyone is referring to, switching in seconds from the 1960's to the 1980's and then its Today! And the testimonials don't help you get there either. The biggest problem is the management of the time periods discussed. There is plenty of content biased as it is. And most of that content I found to be very interesting. But the order everything is makes this film a one time event for me.

The Sunset Strip is much more than the History this Doc tells. I suppose one must think of George Hickenlooper's "Mayor of The Sunset Strip" to see one of the most thought provoking Docs on this subject. But this "Sunset Strip" does not even deserve to be named such a film. A handful of mostly has-been actors and burned out rock stars tell you their stories with lovely graphic details such as Blowjobs under the tables of the bars they preformed in. What I really hated is that this film glorified drugs, sex and rock & roll to the point of a comical display. "Only in America can woman be tortured by members of the Band Led Zepellin and dig it! Seeing Peter Fonda being thrown into a paddy wagon basically sums up that era.. and then there is Pryor and the cocaine jokes throughout the film which made me physically sick as if I was on a week long binge myself. I actually did not think I was watching real people any more but a facsimile or empty shell of people that once were actually artistic in their lives. When they were funny, I cried, and when they were serious.. I laughed out-loud. Is this really what the Filmmaker wanted?

"Sunset Strip" strips you of your own identity and throws in your face just how cool it was to be so stoned you could not even remember going to the gig let alone playing it! I was not surprised that every stoner and x-stoner you can think of came out for this show. It was a who's who of; "Wow, can't believe that guy is not dead! The stars of Sunset Strip are the buildings, the clubs and that horrible ugly Tower Records where deals were made in the parking lot. That, I won't take away from this Filmmaker.. which he Documents well. But the never-ending jump cuts and complete schizophrenic time-lapses was like a bad LSD Trip in the Editing Room.

I suppose this was one stoned out wrap party, but my first screening went straight to hell! JEV / CSPS-MEDIA

Very informative and entertaining

[magnumnash · 9/10 · 8 November 2013]

Fun from start to finish, and a history lesson as well. It does not get much better than this as far as biographical documentaries go. Pop culture in the Unite States has for a long time centered on the happening of the Sunset Strip, and now we have a chance to hear what it was like, from the people who lived it. Stories from speakeasies, night clubs, hotels, brothels, and comedy clubs make for great laughs and insight.

I really enjoyed hearing about the change in musical genres, and how it affeceted the people who frequented the strip from decade to decade, especially the change from the 1950'2 to 1960's. It was also quite interesting to hear first hand about the drug use, and death of certain stars. A must see for sure.

Reliving great memories of the Sunset Strip

[samsmom0407 · 9/10 · 11 November 2013]

I like how this film documents all eras of the Sunset Strip. From the beginning of it's creation (dirt road surrounded by Poinsettias) to now. I wish I would have been around to experience Sammy Davis Jr. performing at Ciro, to have been there while history was being made. Wow! I also liked hearing the stories being told by the celebrities themselves who experienced these memorable times. There are stories of sex, drugs and rock and roll in this film as you would expect. Since it's a documentary, it's explaining the lifestyle of how things were on the Sunset Strip during those times. You will hear some great stories about this famous strip of road, from the celebrities, to the buildings and even about the energy of the strip.

Holy crap

[FreeAveryJack · 22 November 2013]

I knew musicians and movie stars went hard, but dang. Some of these guys got down with some crazy partying. If the walls could talk they would have the most killer party stories ever. I had no idea some old school bands, and movie stars made it big here too man, all kinds of history happened here. Movie stars partied here in the 1920's, and you know the clubs were banging in the 40's. Those mafia style gangsters kind of messed stuff up in the 50's, but by the 60's dudes like the Beatles were making people go crazy for guitars and hippie music. The punk bands of the 1970's seriously partied like maniacs, as well as the 80's hair bands. Watch this documentary, it is incredible fun.