Punks Not Dead

"Punk's Not Dead" gets its point across through interviews with upwards of 100 members of punk bands past and present and lots of footage of punk then and now. The film has three vaguely delineated parts: The first is a whirlwind history of punk from its do-it-yourself birth in the 1970s, through a lull in the 1980s, and moving into the mainstream in the 1990s. The second part focuses on the bands that have been around since the 1970s or early 1980s and are still going strong. The last part of the film is about young punk and punk-influenced bands, including much debate about whether pop-punk is punk and some reassuring evidence that underground punk is still very much alive.

Director Susan Dynner focuses on punk bands and culture in the US and UK, though we get a smattering of international punk at the end of the film. More than 160 people were interviewed for this film, most of whom were or are musicians, but there are some interviews with music critics, producers, tour organizers, and punk historian Alan Parker as well. The first part of the film doesn't say enough about why punk developed or what makes it punk for my taste. There are also no dates until we get to the late 1980s, which is a little bewildering. I have the impression that the film is aimed at punk fans who would already know these things and prefers to focus on the issues of punk's longevity and the fallout of its being co-opted by the mainstream in the past 15 years.

But "Punk's Not Dead" convinced me. Punk is still very much alive and thriving, both in mainstream derivatives and a punk underground that is as gritty and low-budget as ever. It's amazing to see punkers who are still doing it after 3 decades next to the new bands, and those who despise punk's commerciality next to those who embrace it. And -I have to say- these middle-aged guys who are still belting it out on stage are more convincing than the sexagenarian Rolling Stones. Of course, they are 10 years younger. But they still have the spirit behind the music, which is more than I can say for the Stones. "Punk's Not Dead" is a fun tour of the continuity of 30 years of punk rock, what has changed and what has remained the same. As one punk stalwart says, "Punk rock should be appalling!"

The DVD (MVD 2008): There are 18 bonus features on this disc, and I confess to not having watched them all. The features offer a smorgasbord of varying quality. Some are segments left out of the film because they are tangential. "Punk Rock Housing" and "Hair", for example, are about some unique aspects of the punk lifestyle. There is a trailer, some outtakes, and miscellaneous short interviews. A feature called "CBGB/The Roxy/The Masque" (29 min) interviews the founders of these 3 punk clubs in New York, London, and Los Angeles about how the clubs came into being, what they were like and what happened to them. It's very worthwhile if you're interested in history.

First off, as a disclaimer-There is so much that is affiliated with "punk" that it'd be both darn near impossible to include EVERYTHING in one DVD and still do justice to anything without the film being days long; and with so much debate about what is and is not "punk" in general makes the task that much harder. This movie takes the focus more toward the second part of the disclaimer and does a great job with that. This movie probably won't settle many debates, but it will make you think further-one of the things that I've always felt punk is about in the first place. With that being said, through interviews, photos and concert footage the film provides a look into punk rock, from its roots, to the current (as of the films creation several years ago) manifestions and how its been percieved then and now. For the casual punk fan or for someone new to punk rock I'd rate this movie as a definite must see. For Everyone else I'd also put this high on your list, if just for some of the interviews included on here. This film does the best that can be expected with so much ground to cover and does a nice job touching on alot of points and alot of areas. If your looking for a history lesson, this isnt it-American hardcore probably does a better job (if that film is anything like its book-which I've read and have sitting in front of me right now) With that being said, my only real disapointments with this film stems from the fact that I'd like to see and hear more from some of the folks interviewed on here, but I think any existing fan of the genre will feel that way and would probably feel that way about different folks-I might (and do) want to hear more from Ian Mackaye and others may want to hear more from someone like Billy Jo. Again though, given the immense ground that this film has to cover, it does a good job giving examples and hitting on major points-if only briefly, yeah there are some bands/people/scenes/aspects that are left out, but again, I think any fan would probably name a few different bands that they'd have liked to see-I would have liked to hear from the bouncing souls or less than Jake (ska wasnt really touched on) but others may feel that way about the misfits or wanting to hear more from the dead kennedys-who also seemed to get too brief a message, and even though its punk's deservedly ugly stepchild-an examination into the extremist skinhead punk (anti-punk in a way) would have been interesting just to show that side of the story which so many others often neglect

Overall, aside from those inevitable minor dissapointments, the film does an excellent job and would make a great intoduction to punk for someone new to the

This started out looking good, showing brit punk legends like the Subhumans, the Exploited, GBH,the Addicts, and showed snippets of the Damned but then focused on the Addicts for far too long. Then to make it worse, they focused on Sum 41 and Green Day , and talked extensively to these Good Charlotte guys,really? This was less about punk and more about MTV. I purchased this based on the trailer which showed the real punk legends (mentioned in the first line) and found out that what I saw in the trailer was almost the entirety of their appearance in the dvd , I wish I could return it.If you are of the mind that you get pissed to see a CRASS t shirt sold at the mall stay away from this dvd, however if you like Green Day ,and consider them "punk" this is for you. If you want a better documentary go for UK/decay .

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