Customer Reviews

Rude Boy [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you're a longtime Clash fan, this video will make you salivate. It has all of the ringing tones of the Clash's lyrical content in the plot, as well as numerous live performances and casual footage. For instance, it shows the late, great, Joe Strummer curled up into an inhuman ball on the stage, moaning to the audience, yelling at and dispersing bouncers during "Janie Jones," and playing the piano while chatting with the main character, Ray. It shows Paul Simonon relaxing and enjoying some reggae music, and being collected after his arrest for shooting pigeons. It shows Topper Headon hitting and kicking a punching bag while dressed in a yellow excersize suit. And it shows Mick Jones singing into the microphone, snapping at our slightly bigoted main charcater, and showing up late to rehearsals. All this comes on top of the life and times of Clash fan/roadie/sex shop employee Ray Gange, and the plight of two young black men in the chaotic year of 1978 in Britain. I'd say that for all of this, this film is definitely worth watching, if not owning.

This is a rather interesting piece. It does follow a fictional alcoholic young man who quits his lame job as a clerk for a shop that sells pornography to equally sad customers, and joins the Clash as an apprentice roadie. Intermixed with the fiction is excellent concert footage of the Clash before they made it big in the States, just not enough of it. Also, it provides an accurate snapshot of pre-Thatcher Britain. The Brixton race riots contrasted with that of neo-nazi demostrations, provides a background to Ray Gange's narrative as the man with no future. His only solace in the Stalinist Tower Block Flats is playing the Clash's first album on his very cheap turntable. Even the rather stark sex scene in the women's bathroom in some club doesn't provide relief, since she runs off while he is cashing in his unemployment check at some streetside bank.

The minuses: The story and the acting is pretty lame at times.

The plusses: Excellent concert footage, what there is of it, gives a great idea of the Clash's performance at the time. Police and Thieves performed live here is, I believe, superior to the album cut. Plus, the producers of the movie included a clip of the original song, which I wished was complete, being a reggae fan. Another plus is the 100% accuracy of what England, especially London, was like during that time. It was a wasteland in the city, a concrete jungle. It is not much surprise, with hindsight, that the Clash and the Sex Pistols became so popular back then. Unfortunately, it seemed to have brought about Thatcher's election, also documented in the movie, which frankly doesn't make much sense to me, but I will leave politics out of this. Let's just say it made things worse for much of the very people the Clash appealed to.

I've had this sort of strange fascination with "Rude Boy" ever since first seeing it on a double bill with "The Kids Are Alright" at the Punch & Judy Theater in Grosse Pointe, MI in 1981. It's not just the live footage of one of the greatest bands ever to plug into an amplifier, although said footage is probably some of the greatest filmed of any band ever, albeit brief. It's almost as if you can smell the stale beer and splif smoke in many of the scenes, which follow the exploits and misadventures of Clash-fan-turned-roadie Ray Gange. Shot in and around a constantly grey and dismal London, it must have been a heady time nonetheless to have been present at what many of us then viewed as a revolution. This is pre-American breakout era Clash and includes studio footage of them recording "Give 'Em Enough Rope" and a priceless scene involving Joe Strummer tickling the ivories and croaking "Let The Good Times Roll." One of the crown jewels in any Clash collection, "Rude Boy" captures a period of musical innocence and hope we'll never see again in this age of Britney Spears, boy bands, shiny shirts, and goatees. Come back Mick Jones, all is forgiven!

This movie is definitely for hard core Clash fans. The movie is a pseudo-documentary about a young punk on the road to no where fast. The story deals with him getting a job as a roadie for the only band that matters. The plot can be a bit corny at times, but the concert scenes make the movie worthwhile.

A superb punk pseudo-documentary. It shows the Clash from a roadie's viewpoint; an occaisional glimpse into the creative and behavioral quirks of the band. The character Ray, an erstwhile roadie for the band, is a perfect reflection of the environment that spawned the punk movement of the late 70s in the UK. He is as feckless, dirty and spent as the horrific architecture that dominates the London skyline. This aspect of the film is particularly depressing-boredom instigating everything.The political subplot is needless and a poor cariacture of the already simplified Joe Strummer worldvision. The live scenes are brilliant, though. The second tour shots with the European invasion motif is the best footage of the era. The band members reveal themselves to be very talented, yet generally an unsophisticated, alcoholic bunch of surly louts. Don't expect your preconceptions of the group or the era to be intact after viewing.

Ray Gange's character may be an irritating doofus, the plot may be pretty weak, but the live footage in this movie is some of the most electrifying ever put to film. I'm just waiting for this to be re-released on DVD in North America (pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease Mick, please) so I can just sit down and watch all the Clash performances. The performance of "Police and Thieves" adds Strummer to rock and roll's immortals.

If you love The Clash, you will love this. Great concert footage, lame story. But who cares, its The Clash!!!!

I first saw this film in 1980 and not again until now, 28 years later. I loved it! The concert footage is fantastic and there is a lot more of it than I remembered. What struck me was the accurate rendition of 1970s Britain, mostly forgotten nowadays. Young people today have no idea of how easy things have been for them in their lives, in comparison to the youth of that era. Watching the film puts the songs of The Clash into perspective. If you are a Clash fan, or just curious about this time, this is a must-have film for your collection!

I'm writing this review more as a response to an earlier review, that I felt was inaccurate. I felt compelled to clarify, especially as someone who's seen the movie more recently than the 1980's. I did not buy the movie (but rather chose to rent it) based on the claim there was "only 15-20 minutes of Clash footage and therefore it was not worth the price of the movie" First off, the movie IS worth the price because of the Clash footage alone, EVEN in this age of YouTube. There is a beautiful, moving scene with Mick Jones singing "Stay Free". He's in the studio, wearing headphones, and all you hear is his cracking voice. (a similar scene with Joe as well) and scenes of Joe Strummer singing at the piano, alone, as well as amazing live Clash footage. Lots of it. The movie isn't great, it's a bit depressing in spots, a bit of a mess, really, but the Clash footage came around often enough, and hung around long enough and was amazing enough, to make me want to go out and get the DVD afterall. And if you're a Clash fan, then I can't see you being disappointed with the footage either.

This movie has been a favorite of mine since I first saw it almost 20 years ago. It's a great look at the roots of the punk rock movement and how politics affected the music. Great music and great footage of the Clash at work and play. Recommended if you enjoyed The Filth and the Fury.