famam I know because of copyright issues the misfits and the Dead Kennedys were not able to b put in but then honestly they shouldn't of done the movie those r the 2 most popular, most influential bands from that scene and era and to make a history about the hardcore punk scene without them is just plain stupid, movie wasn't very good anyways. They talked about some great legendary band but leaving out the 2 greatest legendary bands very bad. Just plain and simple if you want to make a movie about the history of hardcore punk it is 100% necessary that the misfits and the dead kennedys be involved and if you can't get them it's a stupid idea to make the film

movedout The documentary contains all the cheeky references and attitude of the American hardcore punk scene of the early 1980s but none of the primitive, wild man spirit of its greatest performers. Obnoxious talking heads interspersed with a tandem of epileptic audio-visual assaults induce more migraine than actual biting barbs against the conservatism of Reagan's 80s. Paul Rachman's obtuse but energetic approach to "American Hardcore" does abrasively attribute the era's barren politicking as the genesis for punk. His beloved subculture erroneously comes off as a social disillusionment bordering on one massive circle jerk that has to staunchly defy the recidivism of that old, tired order belonging to its subjects' parents in order to be relevant. But instead of edifying its esoteric appeal, it gives reason to punk philosophy's own vain aggressiveness and inadvertently lays out the groundwork for to become just another anachronistic casualty.

wyattej2000 "Ameican Hardcore," is a pretty good documentary for those even a bit interested in the genre. Personally I found it heavily lacking in a number of departments. The film itself was put together pretty well over all and moves along at a good pace. What is lacking though is the appreciation of the entire other side of the West Coast scene. Most of the bands from San Francisco, or who centered themselves from S.F. were not covered at all. Obviously someone did not want to include Jello Biafra and DK, but whatever, they were there and they were important to the scene. Those from the mid-west probably felt a bit slighted by the fact that the Crucif*cks were not included as well. Way to many major bands were not even mentioned and it was very irritating. Overall this documentary was just okay. I was expecting much more considering that the book "American Hardcore" was quite a bit more thorough overall.

Tecun_Uman Growing up in the early 1980s in one of the punk hot spots (Austin), I just had to see this film the first day it was out. I can remember like yesterday seeing the Big Boys, the Dicks, DK and Black Flag at Club Foot, the punk venue. It was a great and unique time. I have aged, but still consider myself a punk at heart. However, I was rather letdown by this film. It seems like the guy wanted to make this definitive documentary over the punk scene in the early '80s, but half the people he asked to interview turned him down. The most glaring flaw with this film is the omission of the Dead Kennedys. Yes, Black Flag and the Circle Jerks were huge during that time, but NOBODY came close to rivaling DK, they were it. Yet, there is nothing in the film about them, nothing. Fear is also ignored and so many other greats are just barely touched on. Yet, we get a ton of stuff on the Cro Mags and TSOL? Look, I know that a documentary filmmaker can only use the sources available to him, but it seems that the sources that were available to him (minus Henry Rollins and Keith Morris) were rather small in comparison to other giants like Jello Biafra and Lee Ving. Moreover, there was not enough music in the film. It opens with a nice Bad Brains' cut and montage and then they kind of go away from anymore montages. As someone that experienced the scene firsthand, I just kind of felt it was a rather thin and sloppy look at a very interesting time. Moreover, they drop Husker Du's name a lot, but then never explore anything about them. The guy could have made a better documentary, a much better one. And he could have shown how the punk scene influenced the creation of future bands like Social Distortion, the Replacments, etc.. And how about a shout-out to the freaking Ramones!?