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Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9780800198770 Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC ISBN: 0800198778 Label: Sony Pictures Languages: Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Sony Pictures Release Date: March 31, 1998 Running Time: 95 minutes Studio: Sony Pictures Theatrical Release Date: February 13, 1981 Editorial Review: Amazon.com: Animator-director-screenwriter Ralph Bakshi audaciously tries to chronicle the history of 20th-century American popular music, while also placing each period into historical and social context--all in 97 minutes! Its animated, episodic narrative follows four generations of Jewish-American musicians as each painfully seeks fame through changing musical eras. Starting at the turn of the century with a piano-playing immigrant in New York, the film moves swiftly, following his offspring through such movements as Gershwin-era pop, jazz, folk music, '60s psychedelia, and punk--and only pauses for elaborate, energized musical numbers designed to showcase the work of Benny Goodman, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Lou Reed, the Jefferson Airplane, and numerous others. However, these electric set pieces provide brief dynamism in a relatively bleak film filled with hard-luck protagonists suffering through clichéd drug addiction, death, and alienation. While the film's scope is admirably ambitious, and Bakshi's stylized use of rotoscoping (tracing animation from live action) makes for fluid and often eye-popping visuals, his treatment also feels heavy handed and cuts numerous corners. And, when Baskshi ends his epic by mocking punk, and celebrating the future of rock & roll through the music of Bob Seger, one wonders whether or not he a knowledgeable grasp of his topic at all. The DVD version presents the film in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. --Dave McCoy Average Rating:
 Rating:  - An American classic by an American master...An honest look at American pop music and the roots of it's pain and suffering buried beneath the commercial glitz of mass-media marketing. I've seen the film mistakenly reviewed as a condemnation of punk music and a glorification of top forty hit makers and nothing is further from the truth. Bakshi takes us through the roots of American music and the suffering of the people it has always masked. We sing because we seek relief from our daily suffering. As the pain gets worse the music gets angrier ... Read More Rating: - Happy with productAmerican pop came in a timely manner. The item was packed well and the dvd plays wonderful. I'm very happy with my product. Sphinx Rating: - A CLASSIC I GREW UP WITH!!!I first saw this movie on cable TV when I was 11 years old in 1982. Having loved music since I could remember, I was immediately drawn to this film. While the premise of the movie seems a little flimsy at times to some people, you have to ask: Has this ever been done before or since? I think if you give this film a chance you won't be dissapointed. 5 stars all around!!!!! Rating: - A music history classic Baski at his bestFor a lead in to the history of 40's to 80's musick this is a must have. Not for children but a reall good production with great animation. Enjoy. Rating: - Great Animated FilmI'm not a fan of animation, but I really liked this movie that spans several generations of one family in the music world. |
