Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

MartinHafer The story of The Clash is rather incredible. They went from a fringe punk band who often sounded cacophonous in the beginning to a stadium filling mega band in the 80s...and almost immediately imploded and were no more. It's rather well documented in the recent documentary "The Rise and Fall of the Clash". While I am not a lover of most punk (aside from the Ramones, who were brilliant), I was intrigued enough after seeing this documentary to want to learn more. A friend of mine had a cope of "Westway to the World" and suggested I give it a look. Unfortunately, it bored me to tears much of the time--mostly because of the style of the film.Now there are some very good things about the film. There is a lot of excellent film footage that's almost completely in color and in great condition--not the usual grainy stuff you expect in 70s and early 80s footage. But the film also lacked any sort of narration or coherent direction and just consisted of the band members (and no one else) talking about the band. They are all very talented folks...but they also were way out of their element and came off as a bunch of amateurs, as does the film. So, instead of a document showing the band's creation, rise and fall, it's more a bunch of guys remembering their past...somewhat. Not my cup of tea. Perhaps it might have been better and more professional looking had I not watched the director's cut- -20 minutes or so longer than the original film.

billjsw The Clash may have been one of the most interesting, important and best rock bands to have ever existed. And this documentary does in fact support that theory. However, the selectiveness of the subjects leaves much to be desired. Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20 - and in the case of the people responsible for this documentary - it's also very selective. There's absolutely no mention of the post-Mick Jones Clash that existed from 1983-1986. Four years of a bands history is an awful lot of time to simply not feel like mentioning. Sure the album this band produced (1985's Cut The Cr*p) may not have been on par with say London Calling but few albums are. To completely fail to not mention it makes me wonder why the filmmakers would simply choose to re-write history as if it never existed. All this does is support the fact that documentaries edit history any way they want. The unmentioned band (Simonon/Stummer/Pete Howard/Vince White/Nick Sheppard) toured the US in 1984 and also did a busking tour of England in 1985. By not mentioning them at all does no favors for any new young fan who actually wants to know about The Clash's history (and not just what was graciously selected for them).Then there is the issue of obtaining great rare footage only to have seconds of it peppered throughout the documentary! This seems to be the biggest complaint from everyone I know who has seen it. To not add any of this footage (i.e The Clash playing both songs on SNL/Their appearance on Friday's/Tom Snyder/US festive footage/etc) is simply not caring about the band or it's fans. All this does is give bootleggers even more viable footage to sell. Real smart.Having said all that it is a welcome documentary. And there is the bonus footage of all the existing footage for The Clash On Broadway. Footage that I should add the reason why so little exists is because Topper took out an injunction so that film never be released. Since it was never finished (because of the injunction) most of it was thrown away or deteriorated since it would never see the light of day anyway. Gee thanks Topper, now we really see you in a positive light!

briangonzales Its amazing to me how well this documentary was made with absolutely no narration whatsoever outside the band members or key people involved with the clash. In that respect its truly unique and innovative.For anyone that wants to learn more about what empowered The Clash early on until the implosion and ultimate end of the band this is the movie for you. Great live footage and interviews with all the band members chalk full of interesting stories and facts about the early punk scene and music in general. Loads of extras also on the DVD version including a full catalog of all recorded music.4 out of 4 stars, I highly recommend this anyone with avid music enthusiasm.

nycalling A great film, if you read the last gang in town along with watching this you get a great overview of this excellent band. Watching it one sees how they tried thier best, even if it was misguided at times. The music is great, and seeing some of their live perfomances makes you realize what we lost when joe strummer died. Not as good as the filth and the fury, as there was so much more to cover in this film, whereas the filth and the fury could cover a much smaller more concise time. I like The clash more then the pistols though, so of course i love this film.