Product Description
-------------------
The Definitive Punk Movie - Finally on DVD!
The Sex Pistols star in director Julien Temples bizarre and
hilarious fictional documentary that charts the rise and fall of
punks most notorious band through the eyes of its calculating
manager, Malcolm McLaren. Mixing animation and midgets with
footage of some of The Pistols most electrifying live
performances, the 1980 film presents the bands success as an
elaborate scam perpetrated by McLaren to make "a million pounds"
at the expense of record companies, outraged moralists, the
British Royal Familyand even the fans and band members
themselves.
The Great Rock Rock n Roll Swindle was called "a parable of our
times" by the Guardian (UK), but most music fans simply consider
it one of the best rock films ever. More than 25 years after
their breakup, The Sex Pistols music continues to influence punk
and post-punk bands the world over. The Great Rock n Roll
Swindle shows why.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Interview and commentary with director Julien Temple by Chris
Salewicz
5.1 Surround Sound
.com
----
Cheeky and chaotic, the 1980 The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle
began life as a Russ Meyer project (co-written by Roger Ebert)
called Who Killed Bambi?. Julien Temple (Earth Girls Are Easy)
took over, working closely with the Pistols' former manager,
Malcolm McClaren, and overhauled the script to focus almost
exclusively on McClaren's self-serving recollections of turning
an unknown band into a success through poor musicianship, crafty
bookings, and well-publicized bad manners at pivotal moments.
Temple's rococo approach evokes an 18th century riot (in which
effigies of the Pistols are burned), noir-like passages featuring
guitarist Steve Jones as a thief, and the unholy of
McClaren taking a bath in palatial surroundings. There's little
footage of the Pistols themselves, though what exists is choice:
the band's infamous Jubilee Day performance on the Thames, their
last gig in San Francisco. Years later, McClaren's contention
that he pulled one over on us because the Pistols couldn't play
is patently absurd. --Tom Keogh
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Review
------
Cheeky and chaotic, the 1980
The Great Rock 'N' Roll
Swindle began life as a Russ Meyer project (co-written by
Roger Ebert) called
Who Killed Bambi?. Julien Temple
(
Earth Girls Are Easy) took over, working closely with the
Pistols' former manager, Malcolm McClaren, and overhauled the
script to focus almost exclusively on McClaren's self-serving
recollections of turning an unknown band into a success through
poor musicianship, crafty bookings, and well-publicized bad
manners at pivotal moments. Temple's rococo approach evokes an
18th century riot (in which effigies of the Pistols are burned),
noir-like passages featuring guitarist Steve Jones as a thief,
and the unholy of McClaren taking a bath in palatial
surroundings. There's little footage of the Pistols themselves,
though what exists is choice: the band's infamous Jubilee Day
performance on the Thames, their last gig in San Francisco. Years
later, McClaren's contention that he pulled one over on us
because the Pistols couldn't play is patently absurd.
--Tom
Keogh --.com
"The Citizen Kane of rock n roll pictures." --Variety
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