Customer Reviews

Detroit Rock City (Widescreen)

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The film deserves about 3,5 stars - it's an innocent, goofy, coming-of-age comedy with a certain charm. However, its DVD, in spite of all the extended features, has the most revolting, nauseating, user-unfriendly pseudo-menu I have ever witnessed. To begin with, the menu has NO TEXT (sic!) - all options are described by some soulless voice played in the background. As for the look of the options themselves, this is the most repulsive example of pseudo-innovative pseudo-creativity since those performance "artists" who throw feces on paintings and on themselves... the screen is randomly slashed into awful, ugly figures "illustrated" with blurry, oversaturated snapshots from some of the film's scenes (mostly the bad ones). Of course, there is no text and the graphics are as unrelated to what they're supposed to represent as possible (Example: a cut photo of a screaming guy's torso with gamma set to about 4 means "Main Menu"). Sadly, I could not bear suffering this schizoid "menu" and after pressing some keys at random to access any extras, I found myself back in the main menu after a while...

Well, at least the film plays by default after the disc is put in. Considering how the "mind" of whoever thought of this "menu" worked, I'm surprised that it doesn't for instance start playing a bunch of laxative commercials instead.

Note to studios: employing patients of the locked wards of mental asylums may give you tax breaks, but do NOT have them think up and design any DVD menus next time.

This is a good movie. I've seen it twice. But I thought I would see lots of KISS, when actually they only perform one song at the end of the movie. It's a film about 4 boys who bought tickets to see their favorite band KISS. Then the mom of one of the boys, finds the tickets and destroys them because she claims the band is "SATANIC". Now what are they to do? Will they make it to see the band, or will they have to wait another until another tour? I'm not going to tell you what happens, you have to get the movie and see for yourself. The one thing I like about the film is that it is pretty accurate with the way it was in high school in the 70's (I know, I lived it). The guys remind me of people I went to school with. In that time, there was disco freaks and hardcore rock and roll fans. Rock and roll prevailed. At the first of the movie, you get to see bunches of clips on KISS, but they are brief, plus, you get shots of KISS memorabilia, and KISS fans dressing like band members. The ending of the movie is both inspiring and C-O-O-L!!! It's got strong language, but not like SCARFACE where one four letter word was used over 140 times. If you like movies with a lot of action, suspense, drama, comedy (the part where they go in the girl's bathroom at school is hilarious), and overall great acting, you are sure to love this movie.

This is an awsome movie!! If you haven't seen it go out and rent it or, buy it w/e i don't care, today...it really is one of my all time favorite movies (the others being dazed and confused, almost famous, adn fast times) This movie is kickass! The soundtrack is great too. This movie makes me wish i lived in the 70's. and all the main characters are hotta!! Anyway you don't have to be a kiss fan to watch this movie, but if you are it won't dissapoint you...Ok well um i'm gong to stop writing now...so go out to your local video store and get this movie you won't regret it...well at least if you have any taste in movies you won't.

If you're a Kiss fan -- and I am -- this is a freaking GREAT movie. But as a movie on its own merit it's at best an average attempt at the coming-of-age tale of four boys on their way to capture the Holy Grail. I'll get the bad stuff out of the way first...

The script has a good story, but the dialogue is mediocre most of the time. Having the script polished up by a veteran writer would have made this a fantastic movie. There's not enough character development and too many predictible "Oops-there's-another-easily-avoided-circumstance-bound-to-cause-our-heroes-problems" scenarios. Of course, these circumstances are the basis for the whole movie, but they could have been made a bit more plausible.

The "bad guys" - notably the anti-Kiss mother, twisted schoolmaster and Catholic priest - are cardboard cutouts of the worst possible stereotypes and are almost impossible to watch. Growing up amidst the hieght of the anti-Kiss crusade, I'll be the first to admit there were some pretty strange folks out there picketing concerts. But they were more frightening than funny.

Now the good stuff.

The boys are funny. Their exploits - no matter how stupid - are pretty humorous. The scene with our heroes practicing as a Kiss copy band in the basement will certainly tug at the hearts and minds of any Kiss fan. How many guitars have been purchased and played by no-talent fans just because of Ace Frehley? These guys exemplify that spirit in a wonderfully entertaining manner. The accuracy of the period references is another thing that really "makes" this film. From the opening scene where mom is sifting through vinyl (!) recordings of Manilow, the Carpenters, etc., the film is full of tidbits all too familiar to those of us who grew up in the seventies. My personal favorite is the gold Trans-am full of decked-out disco enthusiasts driving down the highway singing and "acting" to David Naughton's tragic "Makin' It." I laughed out loud and any chiold of the 70's will too.

The final scene, wherein the boys get into the show (hardly a spoiler here) is good if only for the accuracy of the Love Gun stage show. A great deal of attention to detail obviously went into this scene and it pays off. And Peter Criss actually gets a dramatic moment elusive to his bandmates for a change!

The DVD is worth getting for Kiss fans mainly because there's a multi-angle version of the song "Detroit Rock City" in the "Cutting Room" section of special features. With fire-breathing, smoking guitars, and the whole bit compressed into one song, this one special feature does in three minutes what the poorly edited "Kiss Symphony" DVD was unable to do in two hours - capture the magic of a Kiss show from the fans' point of view.

Three stars - one for the special feature multi-angle song, one for capturing the true spirit of the average Kiss fan, one for the tasty pop-culture references.

This movie is really funny, but there is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much swearing and too little KISS.

"Detroit Rock City" is a film that is excellently staged and acted. It captures well the atmosphere of the time period. It also captures excently the true soul of Rock n' Roll, and what it really means for people. With perfect actors for the characters, vivid imagery, and just the right amount of quirkyness, "Detroit Rock City" is a fun movie that you will never get tired of.

Everything about this movie rocks! great plot, great characters,and its very funny. I thought the dvd menus were lacking, but overall it didnt bother me too much, the qaulity of the movie makes up for it, many classic moments in this one. This one goes so well with a spliff, i would reccomend it to rent or even to buy, i purchased and watched it many times, decent amount of extras, has everclear and donnas covering KISS songs , Worth checkin out.

This I find was one of the best movies I've seen all summer. It's witty, exciting, and edgy as Trip, Jam, Lex, and Hawk try to make their way to Detroit, Michigan. The guys are all hyped up about seeing the once in a lifetime KISS concert but are slowed down by Jam's mom burning the tickets, guidos and stellas stopping them on the highway after an unfortunate pizza incident, and having their Volvo stolen. I won't give away the end but if your looking for a carefree movie that's extremely random, Detroit Rock City is a must see.

This has to be my all time favorite movie, along with "Office Space". It's seriously one movie I could watch 3 times in a row and want to watch 3 times more :) I am quite surprised at how under rated it is... probably just because Vin Diesel isn't in it, you know how the critics hate anything that doesn't have him in it... Anyway, here's the plot:

It's 1978, and there are 2 big things in the music world: KISS, and disco(ugh). If you're in high school, you're either a KISS freak or a "stella", ie: a disco lover.. But a certain 4 guys who are together as the band "Mystery", are certainly no "stellas"! They just want to do one thing and one thing only: See their favorite band live, and to no surprise, that band, is KISS! However, seeing them is not an easy task...

Drummer Jerimiah's mother is a very overprotective Christian who states that "KISS is the devil's music!" and will NOT let her son listen to them, have any pictures of them in his room, and NO WAY IN HELL see them live! Of course, Jerimah tries his best to be a KISS fan without his mom knowing(ie: poster on the window blind that his mom doesn't see...), but unfortuantley, she discovers the KISS tickets in his jacket while he is at school.. and that pretty much destroys the boys's chances of going to see them.... That is, until they think of a nice little plan to get him out of the boarding school his mom has taken him to...

But of course it doesn't stop there- from running into a bunch of "stellas" who didn't take kindly to them throwing pizza on their car, to trying to avoid the M.A.T.M.O.K.(Mothers Against the Music of KISS),, these boys will do ANYTHING their little hearts desire to see their favorite rock group.....

If you grew up in the 70s, this movie will be a fun flashback... I didn't, I'm only 20, but it's movies like these that make me wish i DID grow up in the 70s... I mean the 90s had their fun moments don't get me wrong, but this was back in the day of great rock groups like KISS, Thin Lizzy, Blue Oyster Cult, etc.. unlike today where I'm stuck with Linkin Park, Korn, Limp Bizkit, and other crap of the like...

Also, dare I say it, this movie is slightly educational towards the history of rock music/pop culture- it deals with a lot of things that were big in the 70s, especially including overprotective parents who claim that 'heavy metal is the music of Satan!'- You know it's pretty funny,, back in those days they thought KISS and AC/DC were the worst that music could get,, NOW look what we have- Marlyin Manson & etc..

Well anyway back to the movie... The 4 kids all do great jobs acting, and are all very funny (oh and just to let you know- the guy who plays "Trip", the long-haired, loudmouthed stoner, is not Jason Mewes, who plays Jay from Jay & Silent Bob- yes I thought this too at first, but he's not...) Also this movie has a great soundtrack- classic songs from Thin Lizzy and Van Halen, and a great cover of KISS's "Cat Scratch Fever" by Pantera.

I was fortunate enough to be able to see KISS live in the summer of 2003, and I remember how it felt the day before I saw them, when I watched this and thought "That's gonna be ME tomorrow NIGHT!!!!!" ahhh, fun times :)

A must-own for any rock music lover- it'll look great next to Wayne's World and This IS Spinal Tap...

"YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST, THE HOTTEST MOVIE IN THE WORLD, DETROIT ROCK CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

GET UP, everybody's gonna move their feet, GET DOWN, everybody's gonna leave their seat.....

KISS rocks, thats what the 4 band loving boys go to the concert with some disapprovales from some KISS hating parents. along the way they trash a disco loving fan group, they pick up a prostitute. when they arrive at the concert one of their mothers is there, they get beaten up and their tickets stolen but eventually they cleaverly get them back and they see KISS rock the hizouse. of course the main title based on KISS' song "Detroit Rock City" we get Gene Simmons sprouting his tounge out from the tounges point of view. Shannon Tweed, Simmons wife appears also. its a rockin and a rollin, fun, fun, fun.