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Whistle Stopper - The Decline of Western Civilization
![The Decline of Western Civilization]()
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List Price: $25.00
Our Price:
Your Save: $ 25.00 ( 100% )
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Starring: Lee Ving, Craig Lee (III), Roger Rogerson, Keith Morris, Don Bolles
Directed By: Penelope Spheeris
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 0014381604665
Format: NTSC
Number Of Items: 1
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "i'm an X-head....get it?"
Comment: love love love this movie... was living in or near LA during this era and it was alive! ..Billy Zoom looking like Mr. Clean or some guy from a larger than life 30's socialist propaganda poster come to life against the originally grungy background... the beauty of Darby Crash...even if he is the later-arriving, less talented poorer-man's Iggy Pop
you see the list of bands... it was amazing and is so well documented.. when it is out and legit i will pay... i have seen it 9 times... i showed it 8 times while in college and was lucky enough to be at a friend's friend's house once since.. i will be buying a few copies for some of my younger true punk friends too.. not the corporate punk numbskulls who dont even know what they dont know, but some young folks who want something genuine and with artistic integrity, even if that is all it has
this truly rocks... part of the history of the day the music undied... the zombie living dead rebirth (okay, Iggy and Ramones and NY Dolls,LA . et al maybe rebirth... this is the zombie toddler stage ;-D) of American Music...
Customer Rating:
Summary: Decline of Western Civilization is Crucial!
Comment: I first saw the Decline of Western Civilization about a year or so ago and it was extremely hard to rent or buy in video stores around my area and still is. This video shows both the rough parts and more comedic parts of the early punk movement in the early 80's. It made me wish that I had lived through those days and I became very jealous of anyone who had. I think it's essential to watch this even if you really aren't very big into the punk scene. Music was about having fun and doing what you love back then and when you watch Darby Crash of The Germs or Greg Ginn of Black Flag or Exene Cervenka of X on stage you become amazed at their ability to totally imerse themselves in their own music and let themselves go into the loud and chaotic scene that was punk rock.
Though the performances are great to watch, it is almost more amusing to see how the mucisians interact while the camera is on them offstage. Seeing Black Flag's cramped living quarters and Darby Crash being unphased as a huge tarachala (sp?) walks up his arm helps you see how much of the musicians' efforts went into this lifestyle as well as the hairstyles, tattoos, and drugs that passed through along the way.
While watching this, it is hard not to be somewhat sad about the way the music industry seems to work these days. Yeah, money would have been nice but it is clearly evident that they weren't doing these gigs for the money.
Not only are the artists featured on the video classics, but the random bunch of kids that the director picks to interview are great. They say exactly what comes out of their head and exactly what they are feeling about politics, religion, their music, or their parents. It definately makes young and angry teens feel like they aren't alone... when I watched this for the first time I just wanted to jump in the pit and blow off my stress. I reccomend this video to any music conosuier. Have a good time!
Customer Rating:
Summary: It is on DVD
Comment: Uh, its out on DVD, 17.95 where i am. So i dont know what you guys are talking about. It is a great movie, good intro to real punk if you dont already know what that is. These are all good bands, they give you something, over-produced , rich new age punk bands can't. and any of you that think greenday or blink 182 is punk your clueless
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent Punk Documentary & Concert Footage
Comment: I first saw the Decline of Western Civilization back in the early 90s. I then was able to buy it from Blockbuster Video for under 5 dollars. I can't believe someone is trying to sell it here for almost 600 dollars. That's crazy. It is an excellent documentary and has some really good concert footage of early 80s punk. I would highly recommend this if you like punk of the early 1980s.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Cure for Curiosity
Comment: I recently found a bootleg of this documentary, and right away I was drawn into it. This really shows us (rather than telling us) what the hardcore punk scene was like in L.A. in the late '70s- early '80s. We get to see live performances of The Germs, FEAR, Catholic Discipline, X, Alice Bag Band, Circle Jerks, and Black Flag. In addition, we see shots of the crowd, which is pretty cool. The parts that I found the most interesting were when Penelope Spheeris would talk to the kids individually.
If you can't find this anywhere, and don't want to pay $50+ for it, don't fret. Penelope Spheeris recently bought the rights back for all three Decline movies, and plans to release them as a DVD box set.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Centered on the early '80s punk movement, this remains the best of Penelope Spheeris's three attempts to chronicle the musical and angst-ridden subculture of urban Los Angeles. The film's style, like the music, is abrasive, frank, and packed with energy, as it moves swiftly from hilarious band and fan interviews to the loud, raucous shows inside seedy L.A. nightclubs. Despite its tongue-in-cheek title, Spheeris neither condemns, nor glamorizes, the movement, though she definitely has an eye for talent and thankfully plays favorites. Lesser acts like Alice Bag Band and Catholic Discipline are given minimal screen time (enough so we understand why they've been forgotten) in favor of bands that either possess off- stage charisma (Circle Jerks) or onstage potency (Fear's finale, winding their audience up with insults, is punk in its purest form). And, then there are X and Germs lead singer, Darby Crash. These two subjects comprise the majority of the film, as Spheeris hangs around their houses, captures numerous performances, and presents the movement's peak performers. While X does it mostly onstage--their mix of thrash and rockabilly are the most enjoyable of the live performances--Crash's stage is everywhere. A walking disaster, the singer candidly details--with simultaneously self-mocking humor and sadness--his drug abuse, miserable life, and the places that no longer let him play. The fact that he died shortly after production stamps Spheeris's brazen time capsule with a morbid, though appropriate, epitaph. --Dave McCoy
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