This is How Movies Should Be Made

Masterful Movie

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

The 1980's heavy metal scene proves to be a gloriously ludicrous array of hideously overpermed hairspray-soaked coiffures, skintight leather pants, silly and immature macho grandstanding, slutty groupies with varying degrees of attractiveness, bands with equally erratic musical aptitude (it's no wonder that neither Odin nor London ever made it big, while Megadeath distinguish themselves as one of the few groups featured herein with considerable chops), appalling misogyny, and, of course, a dazzling surplus of decadence and hedonistic excess cranked to eleven. Yet somehow director Penelope Spheeris manages to still capture the humanity behind all the blatant posturing: Whether it's Steven Tyler admitting that millions of dollars of cocaine went up his nose, Ozzy Osborne candidly discussing the drab reality of rehab (Ozzy is a hoot to watch as he makes breakfast in his kitchen while clad in a bathrobe), Joe Perry remarking that at some point one gets sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, or, most memorably, guitarist Chris Holmes in a swimming pool drinking himself into oblivion while his mother sits poolside watching in silent disgust, Spheeris reveals that there's a definite dark side to the heavy metal lifestyle. It's also pretty sad and sobering to hear members of the lesser known unsigned bands admit that they are bound and determined to succeed no matter what; this speaks volumes about the tremendous pressure American society puts on people in show business to achieve a certain level of fame and fortune. So for all of the more garish aspects found throughout (for example, the clearly staged Paul Stanley interview with Stanley lying in bed surrounded by fawning hot babes), there's a good deal of pathos to be found that in turn makes this documentary worthwhile viewing.

Penelope Spheeris blows the framework off Hollywood with this in-depth look at the cost of Rock and Roll in this perfect companion to the original Decline. The topic is metal and right from the moment go the movie starts addressing what is metal, why these people like it, and what it does exactly. Lizzey Bordin opens the film quite splendidly with a roaring version of the often copied "born to be wild". This is about one million times better then the original i might say. The singer laments on how full of bands the L.A. scene is and how hard it is to make it, a point/counterpoint exchange begins with bands like the moderately popular LB, to the slightly more popular Faster Pussycat, to well established rockers like Aerosmith and Megadeth. Im in a rock band and anyone who's in one or thinking about it should see and study this film, even if your not a rocker its an amazing time capsule. The interviews are mostly done on a small stage with a table and a single hanging light-bulb. The other half of interviews comes anywhere from couches to beds strewn with scantily clad woman, and yes this is a documentary so its all real as were reminded by Paul Stanley of Kiss. There's a colorful group of characters in this film from struttin stars like Faster Pussycat to the the more stripped down Megadeth the movie shows either end of the rock image of the late eighties. What should really be done is a "where are they now" with all the kids featured in this movie. I grew up in the nineties so grunge was more of the fashion mold, and it didn't change my style to much, but some of these kids are just unreal. Most interviewed don't have jobs (at least thats what they say) and they live off rock babes. Their dreams, and passion to be involved in the game are unmatched by todays standards. I love the clip of the kid with all the make-up and hair saying "my mom thinks this is just a phase" wow, like to see if he's still poofin up his hair and putting on lipstick before he hits the clubs. This movie is a terribly interesting depth into what being in a full time band and trying to make it was like at a time before the internet, before cellphones, this was a time when even video was scarce, you were putting up flyer's and hustling every hoochie mama you could swindle to get by. Its real its raw, its metal, and if you haven't seen the original Decline, you should its equally if not more mind blowin. So iron your Mohawk and bust out moms makeup its time to rock...80's style. Ten thumbs up, utterly amazing.

This is for 'timsd', You wanted to know where Teri Weigel is in this movie.......When Odin plays the two songs.......during the hot tub scene, Teri is one of the girls in the hot tub.......you cannot miss her.......if you know what Teri looks like........anyway, I guess I need to have 10 lines of bs here before I can post it, so I'll just keep going...........best parts about this movie...........Gene Simmons, Odin being bigger than Zeppelin or the Stones, Gazzarri's pageant, Chris Holmes drinking himself into an early grave while his mother sat by watching.....I remember this movie being right up there with Headbanger's Ball for those of us in the 80s

Obviously with a screen name like "MetalGeek," I was bound to get around to reviewing this movie sooner or later. :)THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION II: THE METAL YEARS (1988) is an fascinating, occasionally hilarious study of the "Glam Metal" scene that was raging in Los Angeles during the late 1980s. If you lived through this period (like I did) and loved the music, then you will find much to enjoy here, from the live performances by L.A. staples Lizzy Borden and young (at the time) hopefuls Odin and Seduce, to the words of wisdom from hard rock royalty like Gene (Kiss) Simmons, Lemmy of Motorhead, and Ozzy Osbourne. The scenes of bikini contests at L.A.'s infamous Gazzari's night club will also provide necessary eye candy. :) The reason I call this an "incomplete" documentary is that for the most part it mainly focuses on the "hair metal" scene and many of the participants are unknown rockers who (righfully) remained unknown after this movie was released. There is no exploration of the history of the genre, nor is there any talk about some of the other trends in metal (thrash, crossover, death metal) that were also making noise in the scene around this same period of time. In addition, many of the younger band members interviewed here come off as delusional, chortling, sex-crazed dorks who are sure that HUGE success is right around the corner for them. Looking at this movie nearly 20 years later you wonder how many of them wound up asking "Would you like fries with that, sir?" when the grunge movement came along in the early '90s and wiped hair metal off of the musical map. In addition to the unintentionally hilarious interviews with the many band members and assorted hangers-on, the film is worth seeing for two things: the absolutely harrowing scene featuring Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P., who floats in his swimming pool, drunk as a skunk, telling the world "I drink because I'm not happy," and the scenes featuring Megadeth in the studio working on the song "In My Darkest Hour." In their interview scenes, Megadeth seem to be the most "together" and lucid band in the entire film, which is kind of ironic now because that short-lived Megadeth lineup eventually dissolved due to massive drug use. In short, headbangers and hair metallers will love the trip down memory lane that this movie provides, but those looking for a documentary about metal that looks beyond the hairspray may be disappointed. I don't believe the film has been released on DVD (probably too many hassles with music publishing rights) but if you can find it on VHS in an out of the way video store it's well worth your while.