The Decline of Western Civilization Collection (Blu-Ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

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Intriguing. Haven't thought about those films in a long time. And, yes, it does appear they were sourced from film originally. I had first thought "made for TV" video.


Now if "Dudes" was included, it might be worth the asking price.

Well, it is a three film, four disc set, with supposedly a fair amount of outtakes included. So a $60 MSRP isn't that bad, especially since the cost of some of the music licensing was probably a factor.

Wait...there was a THIRD film?? I had no idea.

Jeff Robertson said:

Wait...there was a THIRD film?? I had no idea.

Click to expand...

From 1998. Never had a video release I believe.

https://sneakpeek.shoutfactory.com/film/documentary/the-decline-of-western-civilization-collection


"Now for the first time, all three films are available in one deluxe box set. And while all three films have been restored in high definition, they are in keeping with the feel of the rebellious times in which they were shot. Here's an immersive tour of in-your-face filmmaking and music.
Bonus Features

• 
  New 2K Scan Of Each Film Supervised By Director Penelope Spheeris
• Commentary By Dave Grohl
• Tawn Mastrey Of KNAC Interviews Penelope Spheeris
• Never-Before-Seen Original Footage, Performances and Interviews
• Mark Toscano Of The Academy Film Archive Interviews Penelope Spheeris
• Theatrical Trailers
• 40-Page Booklet Featuring Rare Stills And Text By Domenic Priore
• And More…"

A lot of 1-disc Shout Factory! titles retail for $30 and are actually worth that if you're a fan of the film so three (or four) discs for $54 isn't too bad and I'm sure that price might fall a little. Normally I'd stay away from a high price but with Shout they're always an exception because they really do great work and provide some great extras. I'm willing to bet this release will be worth the extra money.

I've been fan of Penelope Spheeris' films for years, but I only saw the Decline of Western Civilization documentaries for the first time last Fall, on the Blu set. I missed them completely during the VHS days, so I'm glad they finally made their way to DVD/Blu. Excellent docs! Here are my reviews, that I first wrote up after seeing all three docs:

First of all, I am not a punk rock fan. I was in high school back in the mid-late '80's & remember the popularity of punk among a certain group of people, and never thought the music sounded that interesting or great; nor was I a big fan of the punk "look".

However, as I got older I did enjoy the song "Anarchy in the UK" by the S@$ Pistols, and I also enjoyed the punk rock flicks Suburbia (1983) and Sid and Nancy (1986).

So, I finally saw TDOWC I (1981) recently. Interesting film that rises above the subject matter to a great extent. I.e., I found it more fascinating for capturing an era/certain group of disaffected youth than for the music itself. Though, the anger against society in general was obviously reflected in the music - so there was an obvious connection there.

Some of my favorite scenes:

-When Spheeris was interviewing one of the bands, and the lead singer mentioned that his credit was so bad (i.e., he had many bills he hadn't paid off & creditors were after him, etc.) that he could only afford a $17 a month?! bed in a building that looked like it was on the verge of being condemned (if it wasn't already) - LOL.

-One of the guys being interviewed (a lead singer with a French?! accent) said that he enjoyed getting hate mail from people & that he enjoyed pi$$ing people off, etc.

-At the end of the doc., the scene(s) when the lead singer (Lee Ving) of FEAR gleefully insulted all of the audience members who had paid to see them, which was designed to get a negative reaction(s) - which obviously worked - ha ha. And, yes, I know all of this was intentional - but, talk about biting the hand that feeds you - LOL.

On a more serious note - as was seen in the unscripted?! interviews with the kids "off the street", a lot of them were drawn to the punk "movement" due to having non-existent parents/home lives & no structure in their lives. I suspect some/all?! of these kids were homeless as well. Sad.

Going along with this, it seems obvious that this first TDOWC doc. inspired Spheeris' Suburbia to a great extent, which I still think is her best non-documentary film.

Interesting side-note: I recently saw the Cameron Crowe-written The Wild Life (1984) for the first time recently, and LV of FEAR actually had a cameo in this film as a drunken cable TV installer - LOL.

After seeing TDOWC I, I decided to skip ahead to Part III (1998). This seems to be the logical follow-up to I, since it's re-visiting the LA Punk scene almost 20 years after I & does feature a lot of similar elements.

Part III was very depressing, and was much more of a sociological look at the homeless runaways who were drawn to punk rock. Though the music was explored to some extent as well, I felt the real focus was on these street kids. Spheeris really captured them very well, and the interviews with them were quite heartbreaking & disturbing. I see the homeless around me all the time, though they're usually not punk teenagers (I don't live in LA, however). The reasons for these kids leaving home was horrific, i.e. physical & mental abuse, being forced into alcohol/drug addiction by family members, absent/uncaring parents, etc. It's easy to say that these kids should just clean themselves up & get a job, etc. - but, easier said than done. These kids were/are really physically/emotionally damaged. And, without access to money, education, and a strong support system - it's obvious that most/all of them will just fall through the cracks.

There were several unintentionally?! funny scenes in the film, notably the interview with the red-haired (dyed) older, emaciated punk rocker who gave his opinion on "gutterpunks". It was funny how he somewhat disparagingly talked about them not getting enough to eat, staying up late, doing drugs, etc. - when he could obviously have been talking about himself. Scary - the guy looked like he was about to drop dead any second; I was surprised he could string two coherent sentences together. Wow.

Going along with the above, I saw this film as being an anti-drug movie of sorts, though I know that wasn't the intent.

The deleted scenes for III were fantastic; I felt many/most of them should have been edited back into the film - they were that good.

Given that III was filmed/produced 20+ years ago, if Spheeris (or her daughter, etc.) are up to it, it would be nice to see a TFOWC IV - which could follow up what was seen in III. I would like to see how the L.A. punk rock scene has changed in 20 years. I'm sure there are still punks & punk rock music out there, but I would venture to guess it's less prevalent than what was seen in the '80's & '90's - though I could be very wrong.

Side-note: The reason I wanted to see I & III in a row (before II), was because I know II has a completely different tone & vibe than the other two. I.e., though I enjoyed II (especially since I used to be somewhat of a metal head back in the '80's), the idea of rock artists/bands becoming filthy rich & sleeping with groupies, etc. doesn't jive with the completely opposite aesthetic of not wanting to "sell out" and living hand to mouth - as seen in I & III.

Lastly, I saw TDOWC Part II (1988). Interesting, but was much more self-indulgent than Parts I & III. While the punk musicians in I & III seemed to be against "selling out" (for the most part) in order to become famous/popular, the heavy metal 'artists' (and I use the term loosely - LOL) had no problem at least wanting to be famous & making $.

That being said, as was obvious in many of these cases, the majority of these metal groups never become rich & famous - and, in the case of one of those interviewed - were barely breaking even re: the money it took to go on tour vs. the money they made from the shows.

I was amused that in the interviews with Ozzy Osbourne, he spent all of his time making breakfast - the scene when he spilled orange juice all over the place was hilarious, but not surprising - LOL. I am surprised he was able to speak even halfway-coherently, based on everything he'd subjected himself to over the years - ha ha.

I also thought it was hilarious how that one rock star (can't remember who it was) was getting seriously drunk in his pool & talked openly about screwing around....while his mother looked on stoically from a beach chair, without displaying much - if any - obvious disapproval. Very funny.

Not a big Aerosmith fan - but, the interview with Joe Perry & Steve Tyler was interesting - the interview took place before the release of their huge '89 hit "come-back" album "Pump" which was being subtly referenced here (also, didn't realize before this that Perry has an obvious Boston/Massachusetts accent). In any case, not a big fan of the album, but you couldn't listen to the radio in Fall '89 & early '90 without hearing Love in an Elevator, Janie's got a Gun, and some other singles being played multiple times. In fact, I've never been a big fan of their music since - to me - it was never hardcore enough to really be considered metal & wasn't really hard rock either. That being said, I do like Dream on, and also enjoyed Pump's The Other Side - especially as it was used in the Tarantino-penned True Romance (1993).

I was & still am a huge fan of Guns n' Roses, but they weren't referenced too much in this 1988 doc. The Gunners' iconic album Appetite For Destruction came out in '87, but IIRC wasn't really a huge hit until '88.