# the Great Rock Music films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 22, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427 "2002-12-22T21:48:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/21 "2003-01-01T03:00:00Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > I notice that The Song Remains the Same has been completely forgotten. No wonder. Even for Led Zep fans, it kind of sucked, you have to admit. Circa 1990, I happened to catch TSRtS on TV, and it was a vertiginous feeling to realize how in a few short years, how obsolete it had become. How completely and quickly British Hard Rock, which ruled the '70s, had died out. I blame Culture Club for that._ Eh, I don’t think the reason _The Song Remains The Same_ isn’t remembered fondly has anything to do with Led Zeppelin not being relevant anymore; I think they are. It’s just a _bad_ film: a poorly filmed, less-than-medicore performance from a normally stellar-live band, with cheesy, silly interstituals. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/22 "2003-01-01T03:29:17Z")
That’s what I meant. The movie sucked, not the band. I was always a Zeppelin fan too. But my other point was today how completely British Hard Rock is an extinct species, vanished from the earth. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/23 "2003-01-01T03:33:55Z")
How can I possibly be the first person to name “A Hard Day’s Night”? As Roger Ebert puts it: > [@](#): > > The film is so tightly cut, there’s hardly a down moment, but even with so many riches, it’s easy to pick the best scene: The concert footage as the Beatles sing "She Loves You.’’ This is one of the most sustained orgasmic sequences in the movies. Great movie, and a great back-story to it as well. Not-bad acting (of course they were playing themselves), decent story, and of course terrific music. ---
**Author:** ![moonchilde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@moonchilde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonchilde)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/24 "2003-01-01T03:54:55Z")
Montery Pop…better than Woodstock IMHO. It was the only one of my faves not mentioned (unless you want to add in “The Commitments” which is not a “rock movie” but a movie with some kick a\*\* rock/rhythm and blues). mc ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/25 "2003-01-01T04:11:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*That’s what I meant. The movie sucked, not the band. I was always a Zeppelin fan too. But my other point was today how completely British Hard Rock is an extinct species, vanished from the earth. \*\* Ah. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/26 "2003-01-01T06:26:41Z")
I count myself lucky for having actually been to one of the concerts on the _Stop Making Sense_ tour — at Red Rocks Amphitheater, 1983 — and it definitely was the concert of a lifetime. The movie was a chance to relive a terrific experience, therefore doubly welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/27 "2003-01-01T16:55:30Z")
AC/DC: Let There Be Rock. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/28 "2003-01-01T16:57:02Z")
_Quadrophenia_ (The Who) and _True Stories_ (Talking Heads). ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/29 "2003-01-01T23:59:24Z")
Frank Zappa’s **200 Motels** or **Baby Snakes** (Which is a slight parody of The Song Remains the Same) **The Wall** is a god movie, but I not as good as **Pink Floyd at Pompei** ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/30 "2003-01-02T12:20:16Z")
I have seen a rough cut of the Led Zeppelin live DVD coming out later this year. If you are a Zep fan you will be in 7th heaven. If you are not a Zep fan you will be by the end of the DVD. It has performances from 68-79, all of which are incendiary. Forget TSRTS, even Zep have, they didn’t remaster it. ---
**Author:** ![wikkidpis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@wikkidpis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wikkidpis)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/31 "2003-01-02T14:52:51Z")
No one’s going to say anything about Rock and Roll High School with the Ramones but it was better than all the above movies, save Gimme Shelter and possibly Don’t Look Back. Towards the end they’ve got The Ramones, circa '79, playing like 6 or 7 songs live. Just don’t get better than that, friends. But even better than R&RHS, perhaps the most underrated movie ever: Roadie. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/32 "2003-01-02T20:24:26Z")
You’ve GOT to check out [_ **The T.A.M.I. Show** _](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0058631)! How does Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, the Beach Boys, James Brown, Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones sound for a line up? And others (Jan and Dean, Leslie Gore, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, etc). But at the end, when Mick Jagger and Diana Ross bump and grind with each other to (I think) “I Used to Love Her,” it’s priceless! ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/33 "2003-01-02T20:28:45Z")
:smack: The song is called “It’s All Over Now,” not “I Used to Love Her.” ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/34 "2003-01-02T21:35:26Z")
**1991: The Year Punk Broke** is a must for fans of Nirvana and Sonic Youth. “I’m so hungry I could eat a pig’s head. Does anybody have a pigs head?” - _Thurston Moore_ ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/35 "2003-01-02T22:20:50Z")
**Crusoe** , _True Stories_ was a cool, fun movie, but it wasn’t a Talking Heads movie (it wasn’t even really a rock movie, for that matter). It was a David Byrne thing, and Byrne certainly brought the same artistic whackyness to writing and directing it that he infused in Talking Heads music all right… but… mutated gospel songs like “Puzzling Evidence,” voodoo songs like “Papa Legba”, and country songs like “People Like Us” take it well outside the boundaries of rock-‘n’-roll. Preacher: _Texas is still paying for the assassination of President Kennedy!_ Lying Woman: _I had an affair with him!_ ---
**Author:** ![yawndave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/43a26b/32.png) [@yawndave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawndave)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/36 "2003-01-04T15:51:47Z")
‘The Filth and the Fury’ is a great examination of the Sex Pistols saga. Oh, and 'That’ll Be The Day"/‘Stardust’: a pair of films portraying the rise and fall of a rock star-with Ringo, Moonie, and Dave Edmunds, among others. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/37 "2003-01-04T16:44:24Z")
[Yessongs](http://www.mydvdsource.com/product/dvd/movie.asp?ID=1174) comes to mind. It’s the 1973 **Close To The Edge** tour film by Richard Ellman. Not only was it a great moment in the band’s history, BUT it features animation by [Roger Dean](http://www.rogerdean.com/), the artist whose style defined the pre-90125 YES look. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/38 "2003-01-04T16:46:00Z")
To respond as an aside, I’m not sure it’s fair to lump **Gimme Shelter** and **Woodstock** in with pure performance films. In those ( and many other )cases, the film is more about a social event that included many fine and lovely musical perfomances. I understand the O.P., and don’t mean to nitpick too much here. It just seems to me that a good solid rock film is one thing, a larger canvassed documentary is another. My two cents. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/39 "2003-01-04T16:50:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > **Crusoe, _True Stories_ was a cool, fun movie, but it wasn’t a Talking Heads movie (it wasn’t even really a rock movie, for that matter). It was a David Byrne thing, and Byrne certainly brought the same artistic whackyness to writing and directing it that he infused in Talking Heads music all right… but… mutated gospel songs like “Puzzling Evidence,” voodoo songs like “Papa Legba”, and country songs like “People Like Us” take it well outside the boundaries of rock-‘n’-roll.** What definition are we using? If _Quadrophenia_ is acceptable, why not _True Stories_? ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427/40 "2003-01-05T01:36:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cartooniverse \* > \*\*To respond as an aside, I’m not sure it’s fair to lump **Gimme Shelter** and **Woodstock** in with pure performance films. In those ( and many other )cases, the film is more about a social event that included many fine and lovely musical perfomances. > > I understand the O.P., and don’t mean to nitpick too much here. It just seems to me that a good solid rock film is one thing, a larger canvassed documentary is another. > > My two cents. \*\* The main thing I meant to ask was if there were films that were not only good as films (production values, cinematography, sound), but also showcased a group so expertly that it would force a viewer to take a second look at the band. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-rock-music-films/144427.md?page=3)