Rating: 
Summary: Swill
Review: I don't even know why I'm bothering to acknowledge the existence of this film. I thought that if I just ignored it I could at least be thought of as not endorsing it at all, but no, I really need to get up on my soapbox about this one. This is swill. This is the most vile, mean-spirited, heartless, unerotic, homophobic, cowardly piece of trash to come down the pike in a long while. I think the thing that really offends me the most about garbage like this is that there is not ONE STITCH of a plot. AT ALL. How does spew like this get money from backers? All the script (and I use that term loosely) consists of is a litany of slang and swearing where each character tries to top each other with how clever their put-downs can be. The audience this film is pitched to is the guy in fourth grade who comes up to you and tells you that his older brother and sister slept with each other the night before. All you have are three bored kids going from mini mart to motel to burger joint to motel. Unspeakable things happen to the characters. And why? Well, like, just because it's, like, rilly, rilly cool and stuff. No doubt. Gnarly action. Wicked biscuits. The press kit has some BS about this being the logical extension in the tradition of "rebellious" films like Rebel Without A Cause and Badlands. Absolute bollocks. After this is over all you want to do is have a shower, curl up in front of the TV set with a blankey and watch Barney, and I NEVER thought I'd say that. All I know about Gregg Araki, the idiot behind this mess, is that he's 25, gay, and that The Doom Generation is his "heterosexual" film. If this is his "statement" on heterosexual relations in the 90's, I really wonder if he knows any straight people at all. These aren't characters, they're not even caricatures: they're big neon signs saying White Trash. What's his point? He doesn't have one. What he's created is pornography. There is no difference between this film and your average anonymous X-rated video down at the Champ Arcade: Nothing but sex; no plot; no acting talent (with the possible exception of Rose McGowan, but she's surrounded by so much drek that I'd have to see her in something else to really be able to evaluate her acting skills.) It's funny, because the only people I know who really get off on White Trash Road Movies like this are from suburban backgrounds so poisoned with protection that they actually believe that films like these are hip and exciting. And from the looks of it, my bet is that Gregg Araki has been working behind the counter at a Hello Kitty! since before he was toilet trained.
Rating: 
Summary: Fake art
Review: Don't judge a film by the bands on its soundtrack. Doom Generation includes songs by early-90's art-rock giants like Lush, Cocteau Twins and Jesus and Mary Chain, but the film has little else to recommend it. Boring, arch and unfunny, it's the sort of movie you might keep watching because you think it HAS to get better. It doesn't. I'm a big fan of subversive cinema, and this aint it.The 3 principal actors give fine performances, considering the godawful material. The DVD edition contains no bonus material, is not widescreen; sound and image quality are comparable to VHS.
Rating:
Summary: non-pan and non-scan
Review: I found this DVD very difficult to watch - and not because of its violent content. The manufacturers have chosen not to present it in widescreen - fair enough - but their idea of pan-and-scan seems to be to point whatever it is they point at the middle of the frame and keep it there without moving, so a lot of dialogue comes from characters who are off the edges, and it's basically a matter of luck as to whether or not important action ends up in frame.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect Medicine For Filmgoers Who Need To Be Spoonfed Art
Review: Only people who are open-minded and not oblivious to what is actually going on in America will respond to Gregg Araki's satiric expose of today's youth. People must understand that "Kids" was a rather straightforward version of the doomed generation. "The Doom Generation" is purposely over-the-top in covering the same ground, as evident by the cartoonish violence and outrageously and obviously written (not natural) dialogue. Also note the running 666 gag and the celebrity cameos (including Heidi Fleiss and Christopher Knight, aka Peter Brady) which make it clear that Araki is going for a distancing effect so that he can entertain AND shock. Some may feel that is a cop-out, but if that's how he can send his message to the masses, good for him. Many people won't even sit through this film. Others will only be entertained. However, some will realize how truly depressing a portrait Araki was trying to paint. A person who watches Hollywood action flicks is more likely to be warped by their depiction of violence as entertaining spectacle, because they don't shock at all. At least Araki's film creates an emotional response from people, especially those who hate it. I think that people who don't even have an open mind when it comes to films (such as the people who blast controversial films publicly without having even seen them) should be forced to watch "The Doom Generation" strapped to a chair with their eyelids held open like Alex in "A Clockwork Orange".
Rating:
Summary: More enjoyment licking urinals
Review: First off, web reviews are innately biased, as the only people who vote are those who care enough to bother. They either love it, or hate it. It's the same for any product reviewed here. Going on to the movie, it's not intelligent. It's not witty, insightful, or over the top to prove it's greater point. It's over the top to be naughty, so much that the director and his defenders can claim that those who don't get the movie are either idiots, close minded, or sheep. I've seen this movie three times, and every time it got worse. I've now hated this movie on a visceral level, on an intellectual level, and on a pure level of how it was constructed. Basically, this is brainless pap, that oozes it's awfulness from every level I can think of. It's a movie so in love with it's edginess, that it becomes self mockery. And for those who say that's the point of the movie, I've tried to give Greg Arraki a chance. From what I've seen, he's not even intelligent enough to work one level of meaning into a movie, much less making a movie that's entirely satire.
Rating:
Summary: Juvinility for the Modern Intelectual
Review: For all of the people who mock Gregg Araki's dialogue, his poor, home-video-esque directing and his sloppy editing, I have one thing to say: you're all correct. His dialogue is not realistic, it makes you cringe in embarassment at the poor actors who are forced to say these lines, and some would even say it was ineffective. However, we must realize that most every writer does EVERYTHING for a reason, and his motives are pure. The film is a mockery. It's not a mockery of youth, though. It mocks the way that society sees young people. So, effectively, Araki is spitting sarcastically in the faces of those who dislike his film . . . those who have contempt for the Doom Generation are the guinnea pigs for which the film was created. Although it may be (advertently) obvious, there is sarcasm and, believe it or not, a deeper meaning. See also NOWHERE, and reassess your thoughts on this modern noir masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Active viewers only
Review: The thing I think that says the most about this movie is the ratings I've seen so far- while browsing and looking at the ratings and comments, it is apparent that Gregg Araki has done his job well. 95% or more of the ratings are 5 stars or 1- which is quite telling- Anything people either love or hate certainly affects them. I'd personally hate to make a movie everyone agreed was okay. I'd rather have some people loathe it and others adore it. In any case, this violent movie is an examination at catharsis, self discovery, and is perhaps best for people who are educated yet able to think for themselves. Teens will love it- although perhaps many won't "get it," and most open-minded analysts will be provoked to.... thought. Perhaps that's what scares so many people off. Not a movie for people who don't like violence and/or wish to be entertained whilst sitting and picking their nose.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmm.I don't think my granny would like this...
Review: I'd summarise the plot, but there isn't one.In fact there's virtually no semblance of a story at all.What there is though, is a string of scenarios that seem to be there with the sole intention of shocking people.But who are they trying to shock? Not me, I found it quite funny, maybe a little borderline on bad taste, but if it didn't have that it wouldn't have anything except the sex and violence, and it needs more than that to sustain a movie for 90 minutes. The most shocking thing about this is the acting, if the kid playing Jorden has a method, that method is sitting in a forrest and really "becoming one with the wood".So no prizes for him. The sex quickly becomes boring and repetitive (though I feel this is intentional) which only really leaves the violence to save this film, which it does.The bloody, comical violence is so OTT you can't help but laugh at its results, which often mean someone loses a body part. If this is a statement on teen life in the nineties, then all it's saying is that it's going nowhere, boring, with only the odd gem to spice it up a little.Actually that's a bit harsh.I found it quite entertaining in a mindless sort of way, even though Greg Araki's style seems to steal from other directors (John Waters,David Lynch,Tim Burton etc) rather than develop a style of his own, but if it works for Tarrantino...
Rating:
Summary: .
Review: A film that will primarily appeal to the less intelligent and more emotionally disturbed fans of Tank Girl. There is such a thing as good "depraved" art, but this is not an example of it. It's just silly. The cinematic equivalent of a spoiled, yappy, 15-year-old riot "grrl" with an IQ of 63 on heroin.
Rating:
Summary: An empty piece of trash
Review: I know why some people like this film. It's because it has an attitude. It's violent. It has a trio of sexual outlaws. Etc. But it's missing a few things all good films contain. Good acting. Good directing. Good writing. Good cinematography. A clue. In case it hasn't been figured out yet, Gregg Araki couldn't direct his way out of an Old Navy ad. I've never seen a more incompetent or soulless director coast so long on shock value, which is all he has. There's no heart to his films, and the philosophy can be found done in much more subtle ways in much better films. Araki has such contempt for his audience that he feels the need to dispense with any subtlety and hit everyone over the head with his shallow philosophy. And someone said this was superior to "Kids" and "Natural Born Killers"? Hey, those movies were pretty lame. But this is one of the worst films in existence. I'd rather sit through "The Rage: Carrie 2" again. At least that film has a couple of great money shots in the climax.
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