American Hardcore (film)

Infobox_Film
name=American Hardcore


caption = The movie poster for "American Hardcore".
imdb_id=0419434
writer=Steven Blush
starring= Various musicians, entertainment executives, etc.
director=Paul Rachman
music= | distributor=Sony Pictures |yo released=September 22, 2006
runtime=
language=English
movie_series=
awards=
producer=Steven Blush
Paul Rachman
budget=|

"American Hardcore" is a documentary directed by Paul Rachman and written by Steven Blush. It is based on the book "" also written by Blush. It was released on September 22, 2006 on a limited basis. The film features some early pioneers of the hardcore punk music scene including Black Flag, Bad Brains, D.O.A., Minor Threat, The Minutemen, SS Decontrol, and others. It was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on February 20, 2007.

Plot

This documentary film addresses the birth and evolution of hardcore punk rock from 1979 to 1986 (although the packaging says 1980-1986). The documentary boasts extensive underground footage shot during the height of the hardcore movement. It features exclusive interviews with early hardcore punk music artists from bands such as Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and many more.

The structure of the film concentrates on the regional nature of the scenes in the United States and Canada, with special attention given to Los Angeles, New York, Washington, and Boston. Other scenes were barely mentioned or completely ignored, including Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The directors emphasized the views of those witnesses who believe that the American hardcore scene was over by 1985, but glossed over the fact that it was getting stronger in certain areas. For instance, members of the Cro-Mags were interviewed extensively for the film, but the directors neglected to ask or include a discussion of the fact that the band's seminal release, Age of Quarrel, took place in 1986, and influenced a new generation of New York-based hardcore bands in the late 1980s.

Production

The film was shot and edited for 5 years with many clips of 80s hardcore bands being sent in by the bands themselves. Some of the footage was shot by director Paul Rachman in the 80s with the most notable piece of footage being the final show of Negative FX which spawned a riot after the power was cut mid-song.

Many of the interviews were actually done in both Paul Rachman's and Steven Blush's apartments in different areas to make it seem like they were done in different locations.

Interviewees

Interviewees include:
*Jonathan Anastas formerly of D.Y.S. and Slapshot
*Phil Anselmo formerly of Pantera and Superjoint Ritual
*Brian Baker of Bad Religion, formerly of Minor Threat and Dag Nasty
*Vic Bondi formerly of Articles of Faith (band)
*Dave Brockie of Death Piggy (which would later form into the band GWAR), formerly of X-Cops, and the Dave Brockie Experience
*Brandon Cruz of Dr. Know (band), formerly of the Dead Kennedys
*Bob Cenci of Gang Green and Jerry's Kids
*Mike Dean of Corrosion of Conformity
*Dave Dictor of MDC
*Chris Doherty of Gang Green, formerly of Jerry's Kids
*Harley Flanagan of the Cro-Mags
*Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, formerly of Fear
*Greg Ginn formerly of Black Flag
*Jack Grisham formerly of T.S.O.L.
*Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion
*H.R., Dr. Know and Darryl Jenifer of Bad Brains
*Greg Hetson of Bad Religion and the Circle Jerks
*John Joseph formerly of the Cro-Mags
*Joe Keithley of D.O.A.
*Alec Mackaye formerly of The Faith
*Ian MacKaye of Fugazi, formerly of The Teen Idles and Minor Threat
*Paul Mahern of Zero Boys
*Moby formerly of the Vatican Commandos and, briefly, Flippercite video|title = 1 |url =http://youtube.com/watch?v=9sI-6v0Ryco
*Keith Morris of the Circle Jerks, formerly of Black Flag
*Reed Mullin formerly of Corrosion of Conformity
*Kira Roessler formerly of Black Flag
*Henry Rollins of Rollins Band, formerly of Black Flag and State of Alert
*Dave Smalley of Down by Law, formerly of D.Y.S. and Dag Nasty
*Bobby Steele of The Undead and The Misfits
*Springa formerly of SS Decontrol
*Vinnie Stigma of Agnostic Front
*Mike Watt formerly of the Minutemen and fIREHOSE
*Todd Youth of The Chelsea Smiles, formerly of Agnostic Front, Warzone and Murphy's Law
*Dicky Barrett of Mighty Mighty Bosstones, formerly of Impact Unit anf The Cheapskates
*Bruce Loose, Ted Falconi and Steve DePace of Flipper

External links

* [http://www.sonyclassics.com/americanhardcore/ Official Movie Site]
* [http://www.readjunk.com/interview.php?rv=129 An Interview with director Paul Rachman]
* [http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/americanhardcore American Hardcore Reviews] at Metacritic.com
* [http://smallworldpodcast.com/?p=466 American Hardcore interview]
* [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001807212 Billboard.com article about movie]
* [http://www.truepunk.com/interviews/american_hardcore/ Interview with Edward Colver on truepunk.com]