Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock

"Forget about the ""Rage"" in the DVD title because this is actually a surprisingly affectionate documentary on the history of West Coast hardcore punk rock. The DVD contains a clean transfer of the hour-long documentary and adds many extras, including a commentary track, extra video and concert footage, music-only tracks, and even extra interview subjects. The director commentary track details some of the travails of making this low-budget movie and shows that the ""do it yourself"" punk philosophy influenced the making of the picture. The theatrical documentary focuses on six well-selected interviewees (Jello Biafra being the most well-known), who illustrate different aspects of the punk scene that started in the late '70s. While these six range from highly intelligent to practically brain-dead, and from bright-eyed to somewhat pathetic, all were eccentrics who felt out of touch with the ""hot tub & Quaaludes"" aspects of 1970s California culture and many name the Eagles as creating the kind of rock & roll they distained. Instead of being hardcore purists, many of the subjects view hip-hop culture as taking the place of the punk underground they helped create. While these interviews offer some new insight into punk, some of the extra DVD footage is with homeless street punks and it sadly illustrates how a scene that once attracted an array of people from all walks of life is now a meeting place for unwanted druggies."