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This movie is probably more enjoyable for Pistols fans than for others; plus Pistols fans will be able to tell when Malcolm McLaren is, er, stretching the truth a bit: “But my greatest invention was what they called ‘the Punk Rock’” he hisses from behind a leather S&M mask in the opening sequence. There’s some sharp, funny stuff here, as many of McLaren’s “commandments” for rock’n'roll stardom can be seen today in pop: the cynicisms of executives and marketers who have no real interest in music; the “pre-fabricated” band; the commodification of rebellion.
Thing is, the Sex Pistols were greater than even McLaren could have ever imagined. Compare the cheesy, corny sequences, many with McLaren, to those in which Johnny Rotten is on-screen: Rotten’s intent is so gleefully mad, so mesmerizing and ferocious, that it completely undercuts Malcolm’s prancing about, his art-school theories, and his impresario pretensions. Watching Johnny, Sid, Steve and Paul in rehearsal (singing “No Feelings”) or in a “video” (”God Save the Queen” and “Pretty Vacant”) or live on-stage in Dallas and San Francisco (their last ever gig) is a real thrill–equal parts subversion (Johnny) and stupidity (Sid). Really, these are the best parts of the film….
Except for the classic scenes of Sid Vicious, all filmed less than a year before he died. Here Sid stalks Paris, clad in spiked leathers, engineer boots, and a bright-red swastika T-shirt, mocking the populace and stealing sweets. He kisses a poster of Clint Eastwood. He attacks a prostitute. And later that night he appears to a sell-out crowd, clad in tuxes and ball gowns, and astonishes them with his immortal trashing of “My Way.”
Wisely, the film ends after that. I mean really, what could have topped it!
It’s good to see this film finally out on DVD, but the movie deserved a better DVD release than this one — not because it’s an accurate telling of the Sex Pistols’ story (it’s not) or because it’s even particularly coherent (it’s not), but because it’s an extremely entertaining and bizarre period piece.
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First of all, this sorta (some might say “pseudo”) documentary tells the story from the perspective of the band’s manager Malcolm McLaren, who is a BS artist of the highest order. Other reviewers have already laid out all the claims he makes — he created the Sex Pistols solely for the purpose of swindling the record companies, the Pistols were not meant to have any talent, blah blah. Of course I don’t believe what he says, and I’m not sure even he believes it, but it still makes for a great story nonetheless. Putting aside the veracity of McLaren’s story, this movie isn’t really even a proper documentary, but a random and bizarre mish-mash of archive footage of various Sex Pistols performances mixed in with McLaren’s own self-indulgent babblings, animated skits, fictional re-enactments, an extended portion which follows ex-Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook to Brazil to hook up with notorious train robber Ronnie Biggs, and some truly weird scenes (such as the masked man who bursts into a room with a talking Rottweiler). No, it’s not accurate or even a conventional documentary, but if you appreciate bizarre stuff like I do, it’s quite entertaining and often hilarious.
Too bad the DVD release isn’t particularly good. As other people have already said, the film transfer is lame (and at least on my DVD, there are some really annoying black dots at the right edge of the screen), and there’s not a whole lot in the way of DVD extra goodies. And the director’s commentary track by Julien Temple is all but useless. Most directors use the commentary tracks to tell interesting stories about the film’s making and to give insight on the making on the movie, but Temple babbles on incoherently more than he gives any kind of useful or interesting information.
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I’d recommend this DVD for people who’ve already seen this movie, are hardcore Sex Pistols completists, or just like the kind of bizarre underground cult films that the ’70s produced scads of (other films of this ilk would include John Waters’ early films or another punksploitation film “Jubilee”). Casual Sex Pistols fans might want to save their money, though. If you’re looking for an informative and accurate movie about the Sex Pistols, watch “The Filth and the Fury,” the 2000 documentary that was also directed by Julien Temple.