Customer Reviews

Refused: Refused Are F*cking Dead

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In a sense, this a DVD that has had a long time coming for many fans of the punk/hardcore band Refused. It tells of how everything blew up between the band and the differences they had, it seems like they aren't telling us the ENTIRE story. Though I must say I do enjoy the classical music soundtrack for the document, it does add to the effect of "something is not right" to the viewer.

The bad part? Well, it is only about 40 minutes tops and about 3 live performances in the documentary. The third one being their final show being shown in a night vision shot kind of effect, but not much else to what could have been a perfect ending but fails to impress. And the live performances of their album "The Shape Of Punk To Come" has some pretty poor audio there. You can barely make out what Lyxzen is saying in almost all the songs, and it is missing "The Apollo Mission Was a Hoax" though which is a let down.

But besides all that, this is a must have for all fans of Refused and those who are just getting into the band. Though flawed in some points here and there, it is definitely worth picking up and watching how such a powerful band like Refused imploded on itself and what would inevitably be the downfall of one of the greatest bands ever.

nicely shot artsy fartsy documentary that unfortunately lacks in content and, uh, information. if you're actually interested in learning about refused, google can be searched for free with much better results. the final months of the band are told way too melodramatically. sorry, but it's just a band, man. at times, the members can come off as cocky and arrogant and a little too aware of how great they were. it's also worth a mention that this dvd, which refused fans have been waiting for for years, is only about 35 minutes long. the three pro-shot live clips are this dvd's sole saving graces, though with the exception of 'new noise', the song selection is pretty poor.

for extras, you'll get two music videos, which is fine... though no really big deal as they both aired on mtv or can be found on other dvd video comps.

then there's the much hyped "the shape of punk to come live" footage. for the most part, this stuff just plain sucks. it's all hand held camcorder stuff - full of shakes, obstructed views... same camcorder quality sound (ranging from below average to terrible). i honestly skipped over 90% of it. i couldn't even force myself to sit through it. i've got better footage of my band.

even for the biggest refused fan, i'd suggest buying this used or at least on sale. this is nowhere close to being worth full price and it definately doesn't live up to all the hype and expectation.

i've walked away from this experience with a new opinion of refused. they weren't the god-like punk band i thought they were. instead, i realized they were just an ok hardcore band that happened to make one amazing album.

So here's the thing. The DVD is short and the story is not very satisfying. That's why I think it achieves exactly what it sets out to. It illustrates the worst fear/reality of anyone who has been a part of something wonderful that fell short of it's potential, or ended much too soon.

The band's story IS very depressing. We all wanted to see this band go so much further than they did. They still remain an extremely influential force in hardcore music despite their relatively short tenure.

The whole point of the story the documentary tells, is that sometimes things just don't work out. And it SUCKS. But hey, that's what happened. Now we just have to deal with it and move on.

Now it does have some flaws. Yes there is some artsy over dramatic shots of band members moping during some of the interviews. And the bonus footage is rather low quality. Also overpriced for the amount of content on the DVD.

But the overall story is right-on. There's no exaggeration. You feel like you're learning what really happened.

It's a shame that the truth was so unsatisfying. But such is life sometimes.

Since I'm sure my story of being a fan of Refused fan is boring, I'll keep it short before going into this review. Refused is THE band that introduced me to hardcore rock and roll (at the late age of 20, even), and "New Noise" is still one of my favorite songs of all time. There.

This documentary isn't exactly what I was expecting when I picked it up, but I don't regret the purchase at all. Yes, as others have mentioned, the docu footage is a little over-the-top. The interviews with the members, unfortunately done years after the breakup show more about each individual's perception of what happened rather than form a definitive answer.

And that's what'll kill the fans the most. It would be wonderful if Refused went out in a blaze of nobility, but as the movie shows, they were some guys with ideas and the ability to create a few exciting albums who simply burned out. Is it glamorous? No. But it's probably true.

This reality unfortunately leads to the movie compensating for it, which is problematic. Do we really need to see Jon having a hard time falling asleep as he talks about his disillusionment with the band? No. Sadly, that's the kind of filler the filmmakers chose to patch up the empty spots. Personally, I was too heartbroken by the bored audience during Refused's electrifying performance of "New Noise" to pay the artsiness too much mind.

Instead, with its decent coverage and descriptive voice-overs of the final days, I found this movie to be a short but satisfying peek into the band I was unlucky enough to never see live.

From the other reviews I've read, it seems as if people were expecting a produced, live concert video. This is not. Being a punk band on an indie label, Refused weren't afforded the luxury of having thousands of dollars at their disposal to make such a video.
If Refused had the same widespread acclaim when they were active as they do today, maybe there would have been some better video footage. But unfortunately, Refused had already broken up by the time most people started to realize how great they were becoming.

With that said, I still think the footage they do have here is great, and I'm glad there is any at all. Of course it could be better. But if you really know music, you should be able to see though bad recordings and lackluster production to see what a band is really doing. I will agree that the documentary portion is a little self-indulgent, but I can let that slide.

I've always wished Refused was around long enough to come out with a follow-up to "The Shape of Punk to Come." Were Refused just at the beginning of their potential, or did they reach the height of their potential? Watching this only makes you wonder what could have been.

When I ordered this, I expected a DVD packed with a documentary, tons of video footage of concerts, and most of all just substance. What I got was a very short documentary that is so melodramatic and pretentious that it almost changes the way I view the band.

The story is about their last show and them as a band and the end of the band, but you never get a real feeling for who the band is or what they stand for. It also kind of sucks that they felt that they are as important, if not more than what I always viewed them as. I love the band, and I think they were very important for rock music, but their lack of medesty kind of turns me off. I watch a lot of music documentaries, and this is by far the worst one that I have seen.

The live footage is from hand held cameras and the sound quality is horrible. Refused was a pretty successful band before they broke up. You would think that their label could have found a better way to document their tours (I'm pretty sure that Victory Records or Burning Heart/Epitaph Records could afford a nice camera to record them). Heck, there are local bands without labels that make better DVDs than this.

The was going to turn it off, but it was over before it got any worse. We waited how many years for this overhyped coaster?

I bought this DVD used not expecting much based on other reviews. I first watched the Shape of Punk to Come footage. It sucks. Poor audio and video quality. Not even worth a watch. Plus it's missing two songs: Protest Song '68 and The Appolo Programme Was A Hoax. Better footage on the internet. Then I watched the documentary. It wasn't that bad. It's not really a documentary about the band's entire career, just when they started to break up. In between the documentary are three video clips: Circle Pit, Rather Be Dead, and New Noise. Decent quality. I was at least able to watch them over again. Why couldn't the Shape of Punk to Come footage have this kind of quality, I don't know. There are also 2 music videos: New Noise and Rather Be Dead. They're Alright... If you're going to buy this DVD, buy it for the documentary which proably means you actually have to like Refused's other albums, not just the Shape of Punk to Come. Otherwise, don't even buy it.

This documentary was worth the purchase to understand the lifestyle, trials, and tribulation faced with this type of intensity of music. However I was expecting a little bit more concert footage due to my understanding after watching, that Refused had performed over 400 shows within the bands short career. This is a dvd worth having in your music library all together though.

I came late to the Refused experience, only coming on board for The Shape of Punk to Come (and then not really loving that album until I got smart about a year later). I never got the chance to see them live and was hoping this DVD would fill in the blanks.

To be sure there are some outstanding moments on this DVD (that the band was actually able to capture the final moment of its final concert -- in a crappy basement somewhere in Virginia is amazing), and some of the other live performances standout but....

The documentary portion of the DVD covers the death throes of the band but never really explains why tensions were escalating so rapidly, which I found to be slightly disappointing. Also, the plethora of live footage is nice, but I'd say over 50 percent of it is basically unwatchable because the video and/or sound quality is atrocious. The band's two videos are included -- the only downside being it never made more, which makes Rather Be Dead and New Noise the best (the videos are pretty sweet) and worst (they go by too quickly) part of the DVD.

Fans will find enough to stay interested for a while, but newbies and cursory fans will probably be put off.

Bad as Hell. I really love Refused but - honestly - this melodramatic documentary really su**s.