End of the Century - The Story of the Ramones

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Starring: Ramones
Rated: Unrated
Type: DVD
Directed By: Jim Fields
Studio: Rhino / Wea
Release Date: 2005-03-15
Running Time: 110 minutes
In 1974 the New York City music scene was shocked into consiousness by a band of misfits from Queens called the Ramones. Playing in seedy Bowery bar to a small group of fellow struggling musicians, the band struck a chord of disharmony that rocked the foundation of the '70s music scene. Tracing the history of the band, from its unlikely origins through its star-crossed career, bitter demise and the sad fates of Joey and Dee Dee, End of the Century is a vibrant, candid document of one of the most influential groups in the history of rock.

the story of the Ramones
I didn't know too much about the story of the Ramones until I saw this documentary which is one of the best rock 'n roll documentaries--or just best documentaries period--I've seen. Anybody interested in just seeing an interesting film should check it out, but if you've loved the band you can't miss it. Like I said I didn't know much about the personal inside history of the band and so I had no idea how bad things got between Joey and Johnny as well as some of the other problems of other members. What the hell?? One reviewer proclaims the Ramones lived the punk rock lifesyle and that their story is not depressing. That's bulls###. Sorry their story IS depressing. And it's great and inspirational too. I wish for the Ramones they had found more happiness. Maybe the film's focus on the darker times and life on the road paints a somewhat misleading picture, but I doubt it. The film includes lots of great footage and interviews. Rob Zombie or someone remarks that over the years they looked exactly the same and seeing them you'd be like wondering what year it is. And god bless 'em for it. Needless to say they were one of a kind and it's too bad America failed to appreciate that more and, imo, it's too bad they cared.

End of the Century - The Story of the Ramones - Great Topic, OK Delivery
Among music documententaries, End of the Century - The Story of the Ramones fits squarely in the middle. On the one hand, for any fan of the Ramones it's hard to criticize it. On the other hand, the *VH1* treatment of the band seems like a *one size fits all* type of approach that could have been greatly improved upon. It's still very good, but the Ramones deserved a documentary that was great.

Like most rockumentary fare, the vast majority of this one is made up of cut and paste interview segments of most of the major players. The interviews are sliced and diced to fit chronologically and create drama in the movie. On the one hand, they did a very good job in editing these various clips. On the other hand, the final result seems at times to be incomplete and sometimes even misleading.

The performance clips are also sparsely sprinkled throughout, leaving much to be desired. The extras give you some more, but still leave you wanting more than you've gotten.

If you're a Ramone's fan or have to have every rock movie (like me) then you're going to get this anyway. But if you are a stickler for accuracy, you may be disappointed with the portrayals of some of the key members.

Check it out and see for yourself.

Enjoy.

A bit unfair, I think...
...to Johnny, who was portrayed as the Bob Knight of the Ramones. Sure he was a bit heavy handed, but gee, to keep those nimrods together for as long as he did must have been quite the task. When it was time to retire, I'm sure he was more than ready.

Still, it was a shame that he and Joey weren't men enough to patch up their differences before they both passed away.

As a drummer, I enjoyed the Marc Bell feature on what it took to play Ramones music. Simplistic as it may be, it took a great deal of speed and stamina.

End of the Century
The Ramones were a band which started a rvolution in popular muisc; yet, as many revolutionaries have done in the past, they never really got credit for what they had achieved. In Brazil, they played soccer stadiums; in the US, they played clubs and small theaters. The "End of the Century" is a story of a band-their lives, their loves, and their ultimate heartbreak. Any music should sit down and but the DVD.

If only it had been called Teenage News
Just how different would things have been for The Ramones without the burden of semantics and association? Alas, that's the way it happened and this is the main point of this documentary. It's an autopsy-like examination of why this band who should have had it all ended up like it did. From their own estimation, that wasn't a good place. What separates The Ramones from almost every other band is that in these circumstances most others would have either drastically changed their approach or broken up long before they did. They did neither.

Between 1974 and 1979, The Ramones had EVERY ingredient for success. The 70s was a time of great nostalgia for the 1950s and it remained that way during the entire decade. They had a 50s kitsch look and sound which fit right in with the current tastes (this is the era of "American Graffitti", "Happy Days", and Sha Na Na) along with clever insider-y lyrics which would have pleased both underground and overground audiences. Let's NOT forget to mention a killer stage show and the sort of John-Paul-George-Ringo dream team lineup of distinctly identifiable personalities with the paradox of a uniform. The Ramones even had far less problems with drugs/alcohol than most other groups of their era, in any genre. Last but not least, the novel "family" concept of The Bruddas Ramone. This became a major point of relating to their audiences. With all this good stuff in place, how come they woke up at 40 playing backwater bars, wearing the same clothes/hairdos, and playing the same stuff they did in 1976? This film answers these questions I (and many others, I suspect) had.

I've seen many roc-docs in my day, but this is the most unique by far...if hardly the most enjoyable. This is a band and "their people" brutally deconstructing their myth to find out why they didn't achieve the level of success in their active years that they and others thought they deserved. When one considers when this was being made that one had already died, one was soon to die, and another KNEW they were dying that makes this even all the more pointed and uncomfortable. Viewing this with 75% of the original Ramones and even Joe Strummer gone was strange. However, it's is very effective.

This film will be troublesome for fans who have to believe in the idea of living and dying "punk rawk". This doc isn't about The Ramones as a performing band as much as it's about the music industry and how they experienced it. These are old, sick, and dying men you see here....many regrets and lots of bitterness asking themselves 'was it worth it' is the focus. With the exception of Joey and his (real) brother, almost all of the commentary is extremely bitter. Joey has his share too, but the others are just so much more so. Johnny Ramone is by far the most bitter and intense. His "unpleasantness", to quote Dee Dee, is painfully and annoyingly evident yet it's a key to understanding the whats and whys of this group's path. Dee Dee is simply Dee Dee, yet even being THE JUNKIE of the group, surprisingly he seems far less problematic than other members of the group for many reasons. Tommy, the original drummer and only surviving original member, left around 1977 yet stayed involved behind-the-scenes, says much along with the revolving-door lineup of post Tommy drummers. Everyone has their say. These men are not merely portrayed as their personae here, they are human and real. Their feelings of bitterness were not assuaged by the props they were getting around this time either, if anything it only deepened them.

They mostly blame the label "punk" and the events surrounding the 76-79 (much younger and vastly different) UK punk scene. The label "punk" for these bands came about because a magazine dedicated to covering the NYC underground scene was named that. Their beat was CBGB, Max's Kansas City, Mother's, The Clubb Mudd, etc...and the sorts of acts who played there. Many of these extremely diverse acts had nothing in common with each other style or musicwise, but they became "punk" by virtue of appearing IN "Punk". (Today, few would call most of those then labeled "punk" punk). The UK punk scene's antics are also to blame, says this doc. I have no doubt that the response to the UK scene and specifically the Sex Pistol's had a disastrous effect for the NYC (and beyond) underground....basically "New Wave" came about as a way to escape the punk backlash. Most of the commercially successful NYC bands had to adopt it for any chance at the mainstream. The semantics run deep in this scene. For me, that's part of the answer.....however, The Ramones never seemed to consider that THEIR rigidity was the main problem. That I found frustrating. Only Tommy and later Dee Dee seemed to get it.

I came away from this thinking of another great rock band who never got the love they deserved when it mattered. Moby Grape, the greatest San Fransisco band that almost was, but wasn't is what I thought of. Though the hows/whys were drastically different, the result was the same. Two great bands and music lovers everywhere denied seeing something worthy flower to full potential.

After reading the above, one wonders why I give this depressfest 5 stars? Simple, it's well done if you're willing to accept a doc about a band where music isn't the focus. Anybody who was ever in a band or thinking of joining one should see this.

In case you were wondering, Teenage News was the proposed title of the mag that became "Punk". The reference comes from a New York Doll's cut.