Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Tockinit not horrible nor great

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

cordless801 This documentary is greatness. All of those who wonder where the present day hot rod culture is from need to see this film. Those of you who need to pay homage to the rodder Gods need to watch this film. Those of you who need to learn that hot rod culture is not a fashion statement need to watch this film. Thank you for letting all the punks who think that street racing is a right know that your little world isn't crap without people like American auto makers and Ed Roth. Thank you to good people like John Goodman, Jay Leno and most of all, the hard working artists and Ilene Roth who work their tails off every day to keep Big Daddy's work alive. If you think REAL Hot Rodding is dead, just take a ride up to Manti Utah and go to the Rat Fink reunion, or go to the Blackhawk Museum in California. You'll see that ALL car culture is because of people like Ed. LONG LIVE BIG DADDY!!!

woody0023 This won't make me the most popular poster here, but things have got to be said.Right off the top, I want to make it clear that I am a fan of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth as much as I am a fan of any of the other pioneers and artisans involved in the evolution of the art form. But I gotta say I was disappointed in this film. I really expected more from the guy who gave us Comic Book Confidential, which is a well done documentary, but this film is weak in comparison.While Big Daddy was a pioneer, he wasn't the be-all and end-all of the kulture movement, as this film would have us believe. Other than Ed, there is a brief mention of Robert Williams, one quick shot of Baron Crozier, a short clip of Von Dutch and that's about it. The history of the movement seems to exist as an afterthought.I know this is supposed to be a film about Big Daddy, but the fact is, he had help from others in doing what he did (Ed Newton was one glaring omission), yet the screenwriter and director make it sound like Roth was the only guy behind it all, and the average viewer would have no idea otherwise.Unfortunately, this film is self-serving in that it perpetuates the myth of Roth as the Father of the Gods. His greatest claim to fame (besides inventing the message t-shirt) is that he had an uncanny knack for marketing. That he achieved his fame with the help of others and yet never fully publicly recognized them, was testament to his understanding that the public needed a figurehead to idolize. Not that there's anything intrinsically wrong with that, but it would be nice to give a little credit where credit is due.Typifying this irreverence, there is a "dig" at George Barris near the end of the film. Barris was customizing vehicles when Roth was in knee-pants, and yet Mann & Co. give the impression that Roth invented kustoms. How are Barris' later TV/Hollywood-mobiles a less valid contribution to the kulture movement than Roth's studio-designed model kits? What makes Roth's Rotar any less ridiculous than Barris' Drag-u-la? (At least Drag-u-la was a car). The film seems to suggest here that the Golden Age of Kustoms ended when Roth said it ended. Maybe that was the screenwriter's and director's way of tying things up, but as with most of this film, they are essentially giving an inaccurate view of history.Something more like an actual documentary would have been nice. For instance, you never hear about Ed's conversion to Mormonism. I can understand them not wanting to trumpet that fact, but it happened, and it affected Roth's career, so it should have at least been mentioned. Some interviews with contemporaries would have helped, might even have got this thing up to the 90 minute mark.I guess I should have known better when I bought the DVD, that instead of an introspective, objective look at Ed Roth's career it would be nothing more than a love letter to Big Daddy (at which it wildly succeeds), but I was hoping that Mann would at least try to expand upon how his overall contributions fit into the big picture.Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was a cultural icon, and this film leaves little doubt of that fact. But if you are looking for a comprehensive history of the kulture movement, you will have to look elsewhere.

Mike White 'm a shameful Detroiter. I grew up on the outskirts of the Motor City sheltered from the automotive world by my mechanic stepfather. He was determined to keep me out of the garage and following in his greasy footsteps. Through luck (and hard work), I managed to find employment at a string of jobs that had little-to-nothing to do with the auto industry (a feat in Motown). And, even after several years of attending the Woodward Cruise, I couldn't tell a kit car from a custom. I'm an automotive idiot.I confess to these sins in order to give my complete "outsider perspective" when it came to seeing this Canadian documentary on artistic motorhead Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. I might have more knowledge of Rene Descartes than the Rat Fink.I can say without hesitation after seeing Ron Mann's film that I now possess a good understanding not only of Roth and his accomplishments but also his impact on popular culture. Little did I know that my beloved "wacky packages" stemmed from such auspicious beginnings. Roth managed to warp the minds of millions via his custom cars, t-shirts, artwork, and glue used to piece together his series of model cars.Narrated by John Goodman as Roth (who passed during production) and sporting some nifty animation/photo manipulation, there are some weak moments in the film (the anthropomorphic talking cars) but overall TALES OF THE RAT FINK does a terrific job of avoiding staid talking head interviews while providing a comprehensive, organized portrait of a wonderfully multifaceted media pioneer.

Peter Wintonick The creator of Rat Fink was one of my graphic heroes when I was younger, I tried to emulate his style, and now, because of the movie, he still is. Rat Fink rules, and so does the director of this Documentary, Ron Mann, who has given us rockin'docs about comic books, the twist and poetry in motion. Ron is one of the rare filmmakers who manage to preserve and capture important sections of American Popular Culture. He does so with wit, incredible attention to detail, music tracks, graphic presentation and engaging editing. He also seems to capture the zeitgeist in a way that no one else does in documentaryland. Who would've guessed that a film about Rat Fink could be an artful metaphor for many of the issues that define America today? I say 10 outta 10.