RainDogJr
I just finished watching RAMONES RAW. And two weeks ago I watched for the very first time the Ramones documentary END OF THE CENTURY. The two are the ONLY stuff I have seen from this band, and the two are, thankfully, completely different from each other; "Raw" is much more in the "for the hard-core fan" vein, and while it does inform you (for instance, I didn't know about the Paul McCartney-inspired origin of the band's name!), it ain't a documentary. It could be easily part of the bonus material of END OF THE CENTURY, I mean, like a minor and really nice companion piece.At one point of "Raw", near the ending, there's footage of a TV host talking about the band. He says something like "those home movie-making Ramones". Yes, the guys filmed a lot during their tours. And of course some of it is pure gold. Let me be clear: "Raw" is mostly a collection of footage of the band while on tour and many live performances. We see different kind of stuff, from the band warming-up prior a show to the band visiting a zoo! The negative things of "Raw" mostly come from the live performances. Don't get me wrong, the band is doing perfectly their thing, but sometimes the sound quality is not the best (like in "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World"). Also, I didn't particularly like is all the TV stuff. I mean, is great that we have footage of all kind, but is also inevitable that I was like "poor Ramones! What are they doing there?" once I got to see the s***** shows in which they appeared… the fifth Ramone? What the heck was that?But aside of that, this is always entertaining. Terry Gilliam once made a reference to what Stanley Kubrick once said about SCHINDLER'S LIST. Kubrick's quote was something like this: "Spielberg's film is about success. The holocaust was about failure". While this has NOTHING to do with the Ramones, I just wanted to sort of use that quote and point out that while END OF THE CENTURY was more about cult-following and, at the same time, lack of recognition (just like I wrote in my comment for it), "Raw" is more about success. I mean, just the thing with the album "Mondo Bizarro" is quite interesting: while in "Century" it is barely mentioned (aside of having Johnny being like "I don't like it at all"), in "Raw" we have celebration towards it (thanks to its gold certification). What doesn't change is that thing about South America; here there's a lot of footage of the impressive reaction that fans in Argentina, Chile and Brazil had when the Ramones went there. I can relate to those fans waiting outside of the Ramones' hotel, hoping for an autograph or a photo, as I have done the same here in my city for Roger Waters and Pearl Jam! But obviously what we see here is something else, just f****** crazy. Also there are great images of lucky Japanese fans! I really enjoyed RAMONES RAW. I could forget the stuff I didn't like with, for instance, footage of the Ramones playing "Take It As It Comes" by the Doors with *ROBBY KRIEGER*! So enjoy, there's plenty of material, there's the always-hilarious Dee Dee (he can be also a unintentionally funny rapper!), sound-checks and Lemmy f****** Kilmister! Oh, there's also some of the Ramones in the toilet, so you have been warned. *Watched it on February 06, 2012
jts0405
The band that began Punk music was definitely the Ramones. They were usually a 4 man band, but different people would join in at different times. This documentary was the greatest film about the Ramones ever. It really showed, their gigs and the releasing of Rock 'N' Roll High School that they starred in. This was a great film for everyone to see who really invented the brand of Punk music. Punk music is only 4 chords you play over and over with no long chorus and then you say what you have to and end the song. The Ramones are my favorite band and one of the best bands ever. Sadly now almost all but one of the originals is dead. They all are dead now and it does really stink badly. We will miss them always.
Nameless_Numberhead_Man
Hadn't listened to the Ramones in 10 years, but caught this on Trio -- definitely made for Ramones fetishists. To call Ramones Raw "well-edited" is awfully generous ... aside from the endearing sequence dealing with Joey's death, it's a formless cut-and-splice collage. Home video footage was given a sham MTV-treatment; scenes seem to average about five seconds each. I wished they'd let more clips ride for a while, get some context for the scenes (exception -- the many mob scenes where they're trying to ditch manic fans last forever). Raw seems stingy with the performances too -- twenty-five years of touring and we see songs from only about five concerts? But if this is what Marky wanted to make, so be it -- more power to him. You definitely get to cozy up to the band.
Mike Bobbitt
Even though I consider myself a pretty big Ramones fan, this movie fell short of what I was hoping it would be. It is in no way a documentary on the band. Instead it is merely a collection of Marky's home movies intercut with rare television appearances. There's no narative at all. About half way through, we decided to watch it with the optional commentary from Marky and Johnny. At least that gave it a little bit of clarity.All in all, I don't think I would recommend this one to anyone other than a real die-hard completist Ramones fanatic.Mike
