On the edge of the 30th anniversary of punk rock, Punk's Not Dead takes you into the sweaty underground clubs, backyard parties, recording studios, and yes, shopping malls and stadium shows where punk rock music and culture continue to thrive. Thirty years after bands like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols infamously shocked the system with their hard, fast, status-quo-killing rock, the longest-running punk band in history is drawing bigger crowds than ever, "pop-punk" bands have found success on MTV, and kids too young to drive are forming bands that carry the torch for punk's raw, immediate sound. Meanwhile, "punk" has become a marketing concept to sell everything from cars to vodka, and dyed hair and piercings mark a rite of passage for thousands of kids.
About as in-your-face and raggedy as its subject, Dynner's film is really less of a history than a psychological profile, rooting around for the meat of what makes punk so resilient, cross-generational and communal.
– Kevin Thomas,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jul 2007
fresh:
The movie covers a lot of time and territory, and some of its questions are great ones. (The biggest, for true punks: Is getting a big record deal a sign of ultimate success, or final defeat?)
– Stephen Whitty,
Newark Star-Ledger,
27 Jul 2007
rotten:
Poor punk. Such a bundle of complexes, most of them encapsulated in the needlessly defensive title of Susan Dynner's documentary Punk's Not Dead.
– Neil Genzlinger,
New York Times,
27 Jul 2007
fresh:
Susan Dynner's documentary about the past 30 years of punk music doesn't exactly break any new ground. But it does offer an entertaining overview that is leavened with humorous philosophical digressions.
– Frank Scheck,
Hollywood Reporter,
10 Aug 2007
rotten:
Even the title sounds like a hardheaded comeback to a proclamation nobody made.