Customer Reviews

Detroit Rock City [VHS]

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Darth Maul, Austin Powers,John Travolta, and killer sharks... What else would summer 1999 require? KISS. That's what we needed. Recalling "Dazed And Confused" and channeling "Rock N' Roll High School", "Detroit Rock City" is a heaping portion of good fun. Filled to the brim with energy and acted by a cast of clever actors who probably can't even shave yet, this music-packed comedy is just be what the doctor (Dr. Love, that is) ordered. KISS fans might not be too happy to hear that the band isn't in the film for more than 5 minutes, but the DVD extra scenes will more than make up for it. Director Adam Rifkin has made a film not about KISS, but about four teenagers from 1978 Cleveland who drive to Detroit to see the band in concert. Everything from religiously fanatic mothers (The great Lin Shaye), to money-stealing bullies, and even some Disco lowlifes try to stop our heroes as they trek to see the world's greatest band. Once in Detroit, the friends split up to find opportunities to scam their way into the show. It is also in Detroit where each teen learns a very important lesson about life, and just how much KISS rocks. Leading the group is Edward Furlong, who gives his best performance to date. I've never seen him so loose on-screen before. Working with James DeBello, Giuseppe Andrews, and probably the most expressive teenage actor working today, Sam Huntington, they each deliver just the right amount of teenage apathy. You don't come around such a young cast that works so well together too often. It's quite obvious from the brilliant opening credits that Director Rifkin is out to have some fun. He brings back the 1970's with wonderful widescreen lensing, a dab of split-screen, and a soundtrack crammed with classic rock hits. (Go buy the CD!) One after another, the music fills each scene with such vibrant energy. The camera swings and moves with alarming speed. The colors pop and squeak. The era is evoked gently and without(much) sarcasm. "Detroit Rock City" is one of the few films that seems to be the product of genuine love for the era and the music. It's a bright film with an enormous amount of good will. "Detroit Rock City" is often sharp, always silly, slightly tasteless, but a seriously rocking late summer film that made up for the usual garbage that litters August. You wanted the best, you got the best. Don't miss it on DVD!

Detroit Rock City is a classic teenage rebellion movie. It has a mixture of comedy, teenage pranks, sexual situations, drug use and just plain rock and roll. Even though I didn't grow up in the '70s, this movie will definintely take you back to that time period. Great acting by Edward Furlong and the supporting cast. This movie is a must for KISS fans. The story is of a group of friends, who are in a band and want to goto a KISS concert, but something terrible happens to their tickets, and after that the adventure begins. A very good movie. I am surprised it didn't do that well at the box office. I recommend it highly. If you like teenage rebellion movies or movies set in a different era you will love this film.

Ah, the '70s. What a cool time that must've been... it was before Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Hillary Duff, et cetera, were even BORN. Even though I'm only 19, I'd take bell bottoms and mood rings over South Pole and Tamagotchis any day of the week. (Of course, it's always entertaining to starve a Tamagotchi, but that's neither here nor there.)

They want the best, but do they get the best? This movie deals with four teenaged KISS fans in 1978, whose sole purpose on one fateful day is to see their beloved KISS - LIVE in Detroit. However, when Jeremiah "Jam" Bruce's (one of the four) bible-thumping mother burns the tickets (all I can say while watching the movie is geez, I'm sure glad I don't have a mother like that), the foursome decide that it's up to them to see the concert anyway, despite the numerous obstacles - hilarity ensues. Great, enjoyable, funny romp that is worth watching again and again.

Today, watching it, something hit me: this is me and my friends in high school! Jam, Hawk, Lex and Trip are me and three of my best friends (except none of us had a mother like that, thank god)! We wore the black rock shirts to school, and hated/made fun of rap (our generation's disco). We hated the [white suburban "thug"] jocks (our generation's guidos). (Please note I don't hate all jocks, just the jerks.) Because of that, to me, this movie's actually truer to (my) adolescent life than Dazed And Confused (another great movie, some of which I can relate to, but not as much as DRC). Oh yeah, and the kickin' soundtrack doesn't hurt either!

Anyway, if you love the '70s and rock 'n' roll, you can't go wrong with the one-two punch of "Detroit Rock City" and "Dazed And Confused"! It's the perfect movie to slap "You Got Served" in the face with!

"LORD HAVE MERCY!!!"

On it's own, DETROIT ROCK CITY is an excellent film, and this DVD edition is equally incredible .... The film features three of the today's most interesting and unique young actors: Edward Furlong, Natasha Lyonne and Giuseppe Andrews ... Each bring an individuality and passion to every role I've see them in, and DRC is no exception .... And that's NOT to say the other actors don't shine: THEY DO... Each character plays their part to perfection, from the sleazy ticket scalper to the loonie Father McNulty to the "Stellas and Guidos", this film has not one frame where there isn't someone cast to perfection bringing some odd character to life ... And the 1970's feel is done to perfection: from the vocabulary to the clothes to the music, everything is dead-on ... The extras to this DVD are PLENTY: Multiple commentary tracks, behind the scenes with screen tests, multiple interviews with the cast and crew, an additional "making of" documentary, clips of Edward Furlong recording his vocals to the KISS classic "Rock and Roll All Nite", and my favorites, videos from The Donnas ( Strutter ) and Everclear ( Boys Are Back In Town ) ... And there's even more ... I am a very jaded film viewer, especially when it comes to new films ... But DETROIT ROCK CITY has earned a place in my collection, and has become a favorite of mine .... For this genre, it's a total classic ...

Detriot Rock City is about four teens in a band who are going to see their favorite band Kiss. It is full of laughs! But when they get their tickets one of the teen's mother finds the tickets and burns them. They have to find another way to see the concert. Along the way to the city lots of comedy takes place! If you like when teens go crazy and have fun this is your type of movie!

This movie really takes you back to the late 70's, when Rock-n-Roll clashed with Disco! The movie is about 4 friends who go through great lengths to see their favorite band.........KISS! I loved it (I graduated in 1977) and my 25 year old son loved it! Need I say more?

I'm a little surprised at how many people seem to be missing some fundamental points about this movie.

First: It's a movie set in the early 1970s. It's NOT set in the world of today. If you weren't around back then, you're just going to have to trust what you see. I grew up then as did a number of people who have seen the movie with me. That's exactly how we remember it being. The world was a very different place back then

Second: There was not the "all good" feeling towards music back then that there is today. You listened to a particular style of music, and that was that. You didn't listen to anything else (not publicly, at least), and you got in fights defending your favorite band. That was life. Interestingly KISS was one of the first bands of the 70s to crossover to another genre (hence the comments in the car about KISS never making a disco album, that was a joke). Religious groups were lobbying hard to get KISS banned. The stuff with Marilyn Manson today is a joke by comparison. Bands like MM are directly descended from KISS, and the acceptance that they get (along with the self-promotional negative publicity) was won by hard-fought battles from the likes of KISS. Again, it was a different world back then.

Third: This movie is NOT, repeat NOT, a realistic portrayal of events as they happened on that night. It is a glorified *remembrence* of events as told to other people... It's sitting around behind the gym smoking cigarettes embellishing stories to the kids who couldn't make it to the show...

I recently viewed DRC again on late night cable and decided that this is a DVD I should add to the collection. The film vividly recreates the genuine excitement that KISS brought to the late 70s and how this legendary band struck a such a deep bond with its' fans. I still remember my first KISS show (Destroyer Tour) in the Seattle Colisseum and watched so many people literally giving each other "fives" after passing the gates; there was a sense of anticipation that a spectacle awaited us. And I can still remember two long haired dudes getting rowdy cheers after walking around the arena with a huge "Disco Sucks" sign. This film captures the essence of those times. The excellent camera work, crisp editing, and attention to detail make this is a professionally made film all around. There's a good combination of sweet homage to the era mixed with enough over the top humor to keep the film moving at its' frenetic pace. The four lead actors (who seem to mirror their KISS idols in character) and supporting cast (including a surprisingly sweet turn by Shannon Tweed) are all excellent and interact with great chemistry. And after all BS that the kids endure throughout their hilarious saga it all beautifully pays off in the end for the four dudes with a hot KISS concert, just a great way to cap the film. While it's not film perfection (Edward Furlong ending up with superbabe Shannon Tweed? No way!) it's still a lot of fun from start to finish. The DVD is packed with tons of goodies. The deleted scenes are complete sections, not the typical fragments you would normally find on other discs. The commentary tracks (three of them!) were interesting; the disc is bulging at the seams with other extras too numerous to list. My favorite extra was the multi-angle option for the KISS concert sequence; crank up the speakers and let the show take over as you direct your view, very cool. All in all, I think the major studios should take a long look at this disc and take notes on how to put together a DVD package that will keep the movie fan entertained long after the film has ended.

This movie rocks, go rent/buy/watch, whatever. Now for the good stuff, this DVD is loaded to the brim. It has cut scenes, music video's, 4 diff feature length comentaries, learn to play 'rock and roll all night' on guitar, 2 music video's with 6 multi-angles, DVD-ROM features, like the entire website, the scripts, and tons more. If you want to see the full capabilities of DVD, this disc will show you.

Here's a high energy teen flick from 1978 about four slackers from Cleveland with tickets to a KISS concert in Detroit and the machinations they go through to overcome parental obstinance, lost tickets, an adventurous good night in the Motor City, and the concert itself.

While the plot is hardly the same, this movie has all the same energy and food good qualities of Jack Black's more recent "School of Rock" but with all the elements that give it an R rating -- lots of four letter words, breasts, gross out scenes and obscene comedy.

But this movie overcomes all these shortcomings to be a howling good time for anyone that lived through the late 1970s or wants to understand what really went on then that they can't see on "That 70s Show".

A very funny subplot to the film is unveiled almost from the beginning when the hero has to fight with his religious mother, who thinks KISS is the devil reincarnated. The goings on between mom and son are pretty funny throughout as, at one point, she tears up his KISS tickets and sends him to a religious retreat to repent.

I think this movie is one of the most involving and funny films I've seen in quite a while. It not only has the energy of "School of Rock", it also reminded me of the way I felt while watching "Blues Brothers", another great film from the 1970s. To top it off, this movie contains great song after great song representing all styles from the 1970s -- disco, MOR and rock.

If you are young or if you like having a good time, you better rent, borrow or buy this movie tonight and get set to have a good time.