Rating: 
Summary: too bad Gene Simmons killed a potentally great comedy...
Review: When I first heard about Detroit Rock City, the movie was still in its developing stages. It sounded promising...well, at first, anyway. Then I heard that Gene Simmons got his meathooks involved with the project (simply appearing in the film wasn't enough for his ego, I guess), and suddenly my hopes were dashed...if you've seen Gene Simmons' credentials outside of being a member of Kiss, you might understand my expectations taking a turn for the worse. Not suprisingly, what I got was an average teen comedy appealing to the lowest common denominator. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against low-brow humor, but let's just say the Farrelly brothers aren't losing one minute of sleep over Detroit Rock City. There's a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, but overall you might want to rent it instead of blowing your hard-earned money on it. What's funnier than the movie is listening to blowhard Simmons stroke his ego on the commentary...THAT might be worth listening to for s**ts and giggles. Too bad Adam Rifkin didn't get to make this flick without Simmons' intervention (or interference, perhaps)...coulda been much better IMO...
Rating: 
Summary: I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!
Review: I'm actually watching this movie as I type. I got it for Xmas and watch it on literaly a daily basis. The actors are perfect for the roles, the cinematography is amazing and the script is hilarious. I completely recommend this movie. There's alot of profanity but this just makes the movie seem more real because a bunch of teens wouldn't just be saying things like "golly". The special features are practically endless. It's more than just four teens trying to get in a KISS concert, it's four teens on a quest. Plus, Sam Huntington is a cutie ;)
-Jessie
Rating:
Summary: Party on dudes!!!!
Review: OH MY GOD!!! This film rocks man, as soon as i saw i rewound it and watched it again. I borried it off my brother but wanted a copy of it myself so i totally went out and bought one this morning. I only saw it last night with my mates and i can't stop telling people about it in work today. When the music parts came on we jumped all around the room dancing, it was deadly. It was a bit hard to follow at times though because i'm a bit slow, but i used some of my fancy paper and a crayon to take notes and that did it for me. Anyways i'll quit gabbing on about it but all i can say is its totally safe to go out and buy this before watching it or my name isn't Claire Kennedy!!! Keep it real people ;o)
Rating:
Summary: The Soul Of Rock n' Roll
Review: "Detroit Rock City" is a film that is excellently staged and acted. It captures well the atmosphere of the time period. It also captures excently the true soul of Rock n' Roll, and what it really means for people. With perfect actors for the characters, vivid imagery, and just the right amount of quirkyness, "Detroit Rock City" is a fun movie that you will never get tired of.
Rating: 
Summary: Nostalgic and average, but enjoyable
Review: If you're a Kiss fan -- and I am -- this is a freaking GREAT movie. But as a movie on its own merit it's at best an average attempt at the coming-of-age tale of four boys on their way to capture the Holy Grail. I'll get the bad stuff out of the way first...The script has a good story, but the dialogue is mediocre most of the time. Having the script polished up by a veteran writer would have made this a fantastic movie. There's not enough character development and too many predictible "Oops-there's-another-easily-avoided-circumstance-bound-to-cause-our-heroes-problems" scenarios. Of course, these circumstances are the basis for the whole movie, but they could have been made a bit more plausible. The "bad guys" - notably the anti-Kiss mother, twisted schoolmaster and Catholic priest - are cardboard cutouts of the worst possible stereotypes and are almost impossible to watch. Growing up amidst the hieght of the anti-Kiss crusade, I'll be the first to admit there were some pretty strange folks out there picketing concerts. But they were more frightening than funny. Now the good stuff. The boys are funny. Their exploits - no matter how stupid - are pretty humorous. The scene with our heroes practicing as a Kiss copy band in the basement will certainly tug at the hearts and minds of any Kiss fan. How many guitars have been purchased and played by no-talent fans just because of Ace Frehley? These guys exemplify that spirit in a wonderfully entertaining manner. The accuracy of the period references is another thing that really "makes" this film. From the opening scene where mom is sifting through vinyl (!) recordings of Manilow, the Carpenters, etc., the film is full of tidbits all too familiar to those of us who grew up in the seventies. My personal favorite is the gold Trans-am full of decked-out disco enthusiasts driving down the highway singing and "acting" to David Naughton's tragic "Makin' It." I laughed out loud and any chiold of the 70's will too. The final scene, wherein the boys get into the show (hardly a spoiler here) is good if only for the accuracy of the Love Gun stage show. A great deal of attention to detail obviously went into this scene and it pays off. And Peter Criss actually gets a dramatic moment elusive to his bandmates for a change! The DVD is worth getting for Kiss fans mainly because there's a multi-angle version of the song "Detroit Rock City" in the "Cutting Room" section of special features. With fire-breathing, smoking guitars, and the whole bit compressed into one song, this one special feature does in three minutes what the poorly edited "Kiss Symphony" DVD was unable to do in two hours - capture the magic of a Kiss show from the fans' point of view. Three stars - one for the special feature multi-angle song, one for capturing the true spirit of the average Kiss fan, one for the tasty pop-culture references.
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