This film puts you on the stage with (almost) all the protagonists of the scene. Now, I saw the efforts in the production: many interviews, many concerts, however, in the end, I cannot hide that it's remained in me a feeling of disappointment. There are many, too many bands ignored in this documentary that, according to its presentation, should talk about history of hardcore in the USA. Well, for example, I haven't heard of the Dead Kennedys even once. This is only one of the many absences (for me, the worst) that have petrified me. It's a good film and everyone who like this musical genre should watch it in my opinion, but what a pity.

This was really bad and this was not a documentary. The directors/creators must have watched a 24-hour marathon of "I love the (insert decade here)" on VH1 and decided it was a good model for this waste of an hour and forty some-odd minutes.American Hardcore watches more like a diary about growing up angry with other angry numb-skulls in a time that remains intentionally forgotten and willfully deserted by the founders themselves and also misunderstood by the idiots who try to replicate these bands today.One of the interviewees said it best, that for the kids in HC in the 70s-80s, it was all about the current time period, and everything was all about "living in the moment". That is the entire thesis of HC and this "movie". It was in the moment, so anyone who lived outside of this moment could either care less or not fully understand why HC is what it is (was).This movie puts up no-name bands on a pedestal as if they somehow mattered or inspired the progression of the HC scene or that they were these "innovators" of music. No, they were not. Only Bad Brains deserve any sort of credit and then yeah, Minor Threat, but I think it is important to note that Minor Threat was significant ONLY because of Ian and nothing else. All these other bands were mentioned that either did not matter or were so local that they were only added for the producers own personal enjoyment or they were actually being interviewed in the film (see the band "Fartz").The interviewer was obviously some guy who was all intimidated by these interviewees and the questions he asked were obviously safe, boring, lame and along the lines of "so...uh, how was being in (insert band name) and what show did you have fun at..?" Bad director, bad momentum, bad graphics, bad music, bad everything.In a nutshell, DO NOT waste your time on this unless you are: a) one of the people being interviewed in the movie or the director himself or b) went to at least five of the shows mentioned in the movie Otherwise, you will not care. People who know nothing about hardcore will understand hardcore even less after watching this and people who like hardcore post-86 will just be all starry-eyed wishing they were around to see all these bands at their "first shows" (and then they broke up a week later).No reference to time frame, no reference to what happened after 86, no reference to um...what the hell all these people are doing...I see some hanging out in front of computers....soo...I assume they are working with something involving the possession of a computer?? It was pretty funny to see Henry Rollins start of using big words that he himself could not even pronounce correctly, and then dumb down to how he really is....just another "dumb jock" who tries to act like he is an intellectual and some sort of commentator on current society.This movie spells out exactly how stupid this entire scene was and shows how it eventually fell apart by HC's own self inflicted "code of conduct". They thought it was fun to punch and kick at first, then other people started doing it other than people in the band or the band's crew, and uh-oh...that's "too much". As Ian said, "I am done with this". TAKE A HINT HC BANDS OF TODAY, GIVE IT UP AND STOP WASTING THE YOUTH'S TIME like somehow being a HC kid will benefit them any more than 2 years from the ages of 15-17.

I think American Hardcore is a good movie to show to people that doesn't have a clue about the roots of hardcore. Mainly here in Brazil, where emocore is kinda dominating the punk/hc scene and the youngest guys thinks Green Day invented hardcore (no joke, I'm serious) and a great injustice was repaired, giving Bad Brains the status they always deserved: one of the most influent bands and co-founders of the style.These were the pro's, now the con's: WHERE IS DK, DRI, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES ON THIS DOCUMENTARY??????? Three of the most seminal bands of the scene (these three between the few ones that stills in activity today) were poorly mentioned, the rising of Bay Area Thrash Metal (heavily influenced by HC) was also ignored and the European bands (that also influenced American bands) were neglected. As far as I know, the scene wasn't just restricted to LA-DC-Boston, and the documentary just ended in a blank note... For those who doesn't know hardcore history, looks like it disappeared in 1986 and had no influence at all on the music produced today.About the political side, sincerely I don't believe 15/16 years old junkies (as the people describe themselves on the documentary) have such political consciousness as they proudly stated; it looked more like angry kids having fun with music, celebrating/living their own lifestyle than a left-wing organized movement (of course there were exceptions)...The chronology looked chaotic to me, although the good footage and some good stories of the past.The veredict is: good, but not that good...PS: I watched American Hardcore right after Dogtown and Z-Boys (a documentary that should be used as template by filmmakers), and I was wandering that Stacy Peralta, Craig Stecyk and Glen Friedman should have been the producers/directors of AHC. Not only for their skills as filmmakers, but because of the involvement of them with the scene (check the book "Fuck You Heroes" produced by Glen Friedman, where he portraits the birth of modern skateboarding at Dogtown, in parallel with the LA hardcore - i.e. Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies first gigs and rehearsals), back when hardcore punk and skateboarding were very closer.

I remember reading a review of American Hardcore in one of the weeklies in Portland. It stated something to the extent that if you know hardcore, you will not learn anything and if you know nothing about hardcore, you won't learn much. I can't agree more.As someone that has a fair amount of knowledge of the history of the American Hardcore movement, I don't feel like I learned much new about hardcore. And, I have talked to others that know little about hardcore and they had a hard time tracking.I was also surprised about some of the things that were missing. How could Maximum Rock n' Roll be left out? Maybe the Dead Kennedys were left out because of all the legal stuff going on with them now or maybe because a lot of old punks don't like them now. I know there is only so much room and info someone can squeeze into two hours, but it is hard to see how certain things were left out of it.I think it was a good attempt. The director should have made a better decision and either make it a movie for someone that knew nothing or a movie for the more advanced viewer. Still, if you are a fan of hardcore or you are perhaps a younger viewer that has some interest in the hardcore punk movement of the early 80's, it is worth renting.