Customer Ratings & Reviews

This is a Blu-ray box set of the three "Decline of Western Civilization" documentaries by Penelope Spheeris. I had been looking for this collection for a few years. I had seen the second movie (The Metal Years) on cable TV a couple times, but had always wanted to see the original movie. So when I saw that these movies were available on Blu-ray I had to pick them up. The first movie was filmed in 1979-1980 and is about the punk rock music scene in southern California (Los Angeles area). This first film is mostly about some of the bands that were part of the punk scene in southern CA, many of whom are recognized today as pioneers of punk music in America. This film was obviously made on a very limited budget which is apparent in the finished product. The second movie was filmed in 1987-1988 and covers the hard rock/heavy metal scene in the Los Angeles area. This film features interviews with some of the biggest names in hard rock as well as interviews with the fans of this music. I found it interesting to watch the artist interviews in this movie, mostly because of the groups that were not interviewed for this film. The third installment was filmed in 1998 and returns to the subject of the punk rock scene in southern CA. But this film focuses on the fans of the music and the lives they are living. This movie paints an honest portrayal of the lifestyle of these fans, and their story is very disheartening. The film tells a sad story, so don't expect to be smiling and happy after watching it. I would highly recommend these films to anyone who is a music lover and is familiar with punk rock and hard rock/heavy metal.

An excellent portrait of a bygone era. When rock stars still acted like rock stars and (for the most part) were able to get away with it. The best scene is in part 2 where Chris Holmes is guzzling vodka in his swimming pool

these films are classics, everyone should watch them as they capture the culture of music at different time periods, this lifestyle was important to so many of us

I'm a huge fan of these movies so I was quite surprised to find them bundles together.

At long last, an "official" version of The Decline series. I've never seen the first or the third installments. In fact, I never even knew there was a third until this set was announced a year or so back. The transfer is very clean and sharp on my TV and the audio is clear and crisp. So nice to finally be able to watch this on anything but a bootlegged copy!

Such a wonderful documentary! Punk and Metal fans should definitely watch this! Packaging on this collection is great! :)