DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION PART I REVIEWED
“The Decline of Western Civilization” is the reason that I give a damn about documentaries. I discovered Part II on an old VHS tape and played the tape until it broke apart. Quite literally, the second reel snapped inside the black case and shot through the glass. I guess that the VHS couldn’t handle the rocking of Faster Pussycat or Odin. Hell, I forgot how much London ruled until I revisited this film series.
Let’s take a moment to applaud Penelope Spheeris’ debut and what she did for the various music scenes around the West Coast. Taking a step somewhere between Rolling Stone and National Geographic, Spheeris goes into the wild in three different eras to get a sense of what matters. While Part 1 was more of America discovering the Hardcore Punk scene, Part 2 embraces what would come to color the rest of the series. The sense that fame or achievement is a sour treasure.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Never before seen footage
- Commentaries
A/V QUALITY STATS
- 1.33:1 1080p transfer
- DTS-HD 5.1 and DTS-HD Mono
