punk rock originally had almost no impact in the usa. it was a mostly british phenomenom brought on by very difficult economic times in england. the punk band that had the biggest impact on england was the sex pistols. the sex pistols viciously attacked (with words, music and outrageous publicity stunts) their society's traditions, morality and self image. in return they were throughly hated, physically attacked, beat up and knifed right on the streets of london. the british people hated them and wanted to kill them. all this makes for a very compelling true story. told as this flim is from the sex pistols point of view it makes their anger and resentment at their class divided society understandable and sympathetic. at the time 99.9% of the american people had never heard of the sex pistols. their usa tour was barely mentioned in the usa press. they never played nyc (media capital of the world). the people at the atlanta show (in the film) seemed to think that the sex pistols were some kind of glitter band. any suggestion that the sex pistols (or puck rock in general) was some kind of mighty force sweeping the country is revisionist wishfull thinking by people who were not around back then. punk rock never had much impact in america. still this story of the sex pistols is a weird, compelling slice of true life. highly recommended.Well no, I wasn't at the 100 Club that night either; I was far too young but nomatter when you got into the Pistols, this offering will be of interest to you. Documenting the rise and fall of the band, we flit from 1976 London to 1978 San Francisco in what seemed like no time.Contrasting with The Great Rock 'n Roll Swindle, this punkumentary is told by the band members (including Sid) as opposed to McLaren. It would have been nice to have heard his reaction to the way Jones, Cook and expecially Lydon tell it but I suppose they would not have participated if McLaren was involved at all.You have to look past Temple's style of documentary: it appeared to be a 'yoof' orientated aural and visual assualt on the senses or maybe this is the 'punk' way of making documentaries. The silhouettes of the Pistols was annoying, I can see no real reason for it. And unless I'm mistaken, a lot of the dialogue was out of sync with the pictures; was this deliberate? Again, I see no reason for it to be.The above notwithstanding, I enjoyed this slice of punk. Poor Sid.I loved the movie THE FILTH AND THE FURY but when I turned on the special feature documentary UN-DEFINING PUNK, I literally could not get to the stop button on my computer fast enough. I was cleaning a spot in the corner of the room while I started watching UN-DEFINING PUNK and realized how stupid the documentary was. It's an interview of nobodies babbling on about the American punk scene. So I couldn't wait to get my fat butt out of the corner of the room I was cleaning to actually shut this stupid documentary off. What a waste of time!BUT my review of the actual main feature THE FILTH AND THE FURY is that I loved it!!I had the privilege of seeing this on the big screen when it came out when I was living in Chicago and had friends that ran a theatre and the boss was never around. It is an excellently produced documentary. It does a sublime job of illustrating each person's perspective and the stock footage they have is unbelievable. I loved the decision to do the talking head interviews in the shadows. It was a very cool stylistic choice and it made it so it didn't allow the viewer to see them any different then they were before. I love hearing Lydon's reactions to McClaron and how much he grew to despise him.Altogether, I honestly don't think this film could have been better than it is, which is why I'm giving it five stars.Far superior to "The Great Rock & Roll Swindle," "The Filth and the Fury" is a well-rounded, honest look at the history and aftermath of the most influential rock band of the last quarter of the twentieth century. (Will they be making documentaries about N'Sync or Kid Rock or Eminem or Creed in 25 years? Please. I somehow doubt it.) This documentary isn't afraid to be honest, and the result is the utter humanization of a very misunderstood band. Johnny Rotten even sheds tears over the tragic waste that was his friend, Sid Vicious, and he is touching with his sentiment and candor.This movie is always fun, and it certainly provokes nostalgia for anyone who grew up as a punk while educating those who kept their distance.Punk may very well be quite dead, but the spirit is still alive in those who keep the faith.Wow, it was great to take a trip back to the 1970's! Those TV clips really took me back. I've been to London, so I could appreciate the historical references as well. There is commentary from Malcolm, John, Steve, Glen, Sid, and Paul but mostly the group. The Bromley Contingent is shown, and you can see Billy Idol, Sue Catwoman, and Siouxsi Sioux amongst the crowd. There are video clips and past audio of Sid, and really, the only thing missing is Sid appearing in person like the rest of them. Sad. No one understood the heroin situation at all or even proper treatment.There are clips of Nancy too, and her murder is also discussed.Lots of great footage!If you are a fan of The Sex Pistols or Punk Rock in general, this documentary is a must watch! It's one of the most insightful looks you'll get into The Sex Pistols out there and features some great interviews and all the wonderful music the band is known for. As much as I enjoyed it, the only reason I give this 4 stars instead of 5 is because it doesn't offer any insight or input on the story other than the band's own. Other than that small complaint, it's still a great rockumentry and certainly worth watching!I came to this film having recently read Vivienne Westwood's (with Ian Kenny)2014 autobiography, in itself a vivid and absorbing account of the genesis of punkculture and the major players in the drama which unfolded in and around herand Malcolm McClaren's chaotic World's End shop in the gloom of 1970's Britain.Julian Temple's 2007 work about the rise and fall of The Sex Pistols is set againsta backdrop of national political turmoil and its impact on socially and emotionallydisaffected youth is an engaging and powerful masterclass in documentary making.The recollections of surviving band members are shot in shadow, an at timesdisconcerting technique which nonetheless serves to amplify the tawdry story.Mr Rotten's narrative, in particular, is both articulate and curiously affecting.Live footage of the band in their mercurial but damned ascendency capturesa real sense of what it must have been like to be trapped in a room with them!Although by no means a fan at the time I find myself drawn to them in my dotage.Highly Recommended.I personally love this film!!NO SPOILERS IN MY REVIEW FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN IT!!I love The Sex Pistols and this is a great insight into them not only as a band but as how they formed and you learn about them as individuals.If you want to know a bit more about them, are skeptical of what The Sex Pistols were about or even Punk itself and the how it was for them at that time when Punk in general was viewed very differently back then, or if you just want to know about the members of the band (people bad mouth them only because they know nothing about them- sorry but that does annoy me very much) - Then this is the dvd for you! You learn so much and it's a very interesting film filled with laughs, tears and facts from the members themselves and real footage of them and interviews that include some that are hard to come by.I would definitely recommend this!!This documentary is very good. No, really great. No, scratch that. It's mandatory!If you ever thought you knew anything about popular music, rock 'n' roll or punk, you haven't seen nothin' yet until you see this movie. It proves what a lot of people don't seem to understand; namely that just because you're a "punk" does not mean that you're some "filthy" slacker who is desperate for other people's attention. Most people, no matter who you are or what music you play, just want to have fun and go nuts. Through their lyrics they tell the world how they feel about society and about themselves. We learn that in the late 70's there was a darn good reason why a lot of people, especially people from the working class, were angry about the state of Great Britain at the time and they felt that something must be done.If you think that everything about punk is "filthy lucre", you might be shocked to find that John Lydon is a very intelligent person. I already knew it, because any interview with him proves it. Sid seems to have been a nice guy who just tried to be tougher than he actually was. He then fell victim to the drug swamp and was eventually sucked in so deep that he drowned. He didn't deserve to die and I don't believe he killed Nancy, but that's mostly based on other sources.To sum up this movie, I will borrow a quote from John Lydon, with some slight adjustments to fit this text (but keeping the core intact):"In every documentary about any band ever, everybody's busy tellin' you how great everything is. That's not true at all. It's hell, it's hard; it's enjoyable to a certain extent, but it's the work at the end of the day that makes it worth it."This is a great documentary which follows the spit-laden trajectory of a band who changed everything. All of the band members speak honestly and openly (but with their own agendas) - the anecdotes are hilarious and they capture that horrible mid-late seventies squalor and the feeling that music had disappeared up its own progressive or glittery fundament. John Lydon is particularly interesting on the politics of the time and the feelings of alienation and anger that were welling up amongst many people. Anarchy in the UK was a great, noisy, spittle flecked hammer blow against complacency and the establishment. As for God Save The Queen....!Lydon is a fascinating, articulate, sensitive and humorous man who looks back on that time in wonderment at the level of media-driven hostility towards a bunch of lads raging against the machine. The visceral hatred is hard to comprehend but I remember it very well at the time. The brief time they were together was a great wonder and it is sad that old friends ended up either dead, ostracised or driven apart. The film of the final gig in the USA is deeply depressing, as is the narrative around the self-destruction of Sid.Malcolm McLaren does not come out of it well, nor does Nancy Spungen. There is a huge amount of sympathy for the lost soul Sid, particularly from Lydon, who laments the fact that he did not do more to save Sid from oblivion - difficult to see how that circle could have been squared.Want to know what the Sex Pistols were all about? Start with the music (Never Mind The Bollocks) and then watch this outstanding film by an excellent director (Julien Temple).I grew up during the punk period, just starting my teenage years when it broke. I don't know if it was because of this stage of life, or if it was the music itself, but for me, it was a time that defined how I think to this day. All of sudden there was a question mark over how all the accepted conventions, 'why must I be like you'. Like a lot of my friends, I picked up a guitar for the first time, and I produced a wail of absolute rubbish. But to say that punk was a period of destruction is only half the story. It was period that broke down walls and released creativity, individualism and imagination. It was brief, but it's effects have rippled through the decades. The death of Malcolm McClaren made me want to dig out this DVD again. I always thought that he was much more a showman than a Svengali, but he played a part, and he played it very well. So for what it's worth, RIP Malcolm. The tragic tale of Sid, casts a very real cloud over the story. Despite this, how ironic that at the end of the day, all that rebellion made the Pistols so revered, released so much creativity and free-thinking that they have become an institution in themselves. Pure art. I can't help look back and smile.