Punk: Attitude is a documentary directed by Don Letts. An important figure in the punk explosion in England circa 1976, Letts has always held the subject of punk rock close to his heart. Here he explores the "punk" revolution, its roots and its impact on modern rock music. The cast features the likes of David Johansen, Thurston Moore, Tommy Ramone, Chrissie Hynde, Henry Rollins, Captain Sensible, Jim Jarmusch, Mick Jones, Jello Biafra, Howard Devoto and Glen Matlock. To name but a few!As the title suggests, this is about the attitude that is essential to the make up of the punk rock genre. This is not a film that is telling you lies about its time-lines or an attempt to ensure the viewers know how important punk was in the pantheon of music. It's refreshingly honest, in fact what is the most striking thing about Letts' movie is that this is no stroll down a rose tinted glassy memory lane. For sure there's warmth in recollections from many of the big shakers, while some of the old footage clips of the bands are sure to stir strong emotions in fans, but nobody is trying to hide the genre limitations of punk. Letts threads it nicely as a triple bill of birth, death and revival. Starting out with an attitude nod of acknowledgement to Jerry Lee Lewis and other more daring 50s & 60s acts, the film starts gaining its worth with some well spent time in the company of The New York Dolls, Velvet Undeground, MC5 and of course Iggy Pop & his Stooges. The influence of such luminaries of course comes as no surprise to any old punker such as I, but for new parties interested in punk this serves as an essential piece of film.Into the mid 70s where of course things got serious and both America and England witnessed what in all essence was "thee" punk rock explosion. Again the principals don't hold back, telling it as it was and even debunking some myths. There's even some resentment in there, but Letts is canny enough to not let this become another boorish America Vs England who started punk section of his film. He also widens the scope to involve many artists who never get a look in when the topic is covered on the page or on the screen. Rest assured this is not a Sex Pistols, Clash, Damned and Ramones retread overkill, time is rightly afforded to Poly Styrene (X Ray Spex), Howard Devoto & Pete Shelley (The Buzzcocks), Siouxsie Sioux (Siouxsie & The Banshees) & Ari Up (The Slits). Important movers with important and interesting things to say. And so it proves as the story arc moves forward to post 70s punk; New Wave/ No Wave, Hardcore et al, all given thought and time with the likes of Henry Rollins (Black Flag), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) and Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), who not only link the narrative, but expand it further too.Obviously in a film such as this it's inevitable that not every genre fan will be happy. For every ten bands featured, there is another twenty bands who many will believe should have been put in for acknowledgement and opinion. As is the case for some of the offshoots of punk such as the Oi! movement or the British second and third waves that encompassed street and speed punk. In truth the 80s does get a little passed over due to the time afforded the 70s, but that's forgivable surely since that was the prominent time and the time when music got a kick up the backside. Besides which, to cover everything appertaining to punk we would need a film of Lord Of The Rings Trilogy type excess! 8/10

When you see a documentary film with the word "Punk" in the title, you really can't have high expectations. It's tempting to watch but you know you are going to miss a lot when a film tries to strip down a huge movement and make it so concise. Granted, the film is about attitude as it states in the title but somewhere along the film, it feels as though the point gets a bit lost. We know early on that being punk was about being different and being able to express yourself without any current influence. There is only one documentary I know of that makes this point clear and that is the Sex Pistols documentary film "PIST". "Punk: Attitude" seems to focus chronologically on the New York scene, The British scene and then the L.A. scene which is fine but the problem is that we only see the punk artists that fit the status quo (which is totally contradictory of what punk was all about.) What the film should have done was emphasize more closely the importance of being different and how that idea transcended new directions and movements in the world of punk. The film suggests that punk seemed to die in the 1980's as far as the mainstream was concerned but this is absolutely false. It is also a bad direction from the point of being different which had nothing to do with catching on to the mainstream. As one of the interviewees said, "you only need 5% to really get people to think in a new way". But as far as popularity is concerned, there were a good number of punk musicians that were visible at least within the margins of the mainstream during the 1980's. There was Devo, Brian Eno, Elvis Costello, Fishbone, the Pogues, Dinosaur Jr., The Cure, The Butthole Surfers, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Waits and Jonathan Richman among countless others. (Yes, Jonathan Richman, former Modern Lover who influenced the Sex Pistols with his infamous song "Road Runner".) (I'm sure there are plenty of people who would challenge me on some of these artists as being labeled punk but punk is really only a paradime of many styles of music like hardcore, new wave, no wave, grunge and my favorite "alternative".)Despite the overemphasis of punk on the mainstream culture, the film does include some artists that are probably not so well known to the average punk fan. Bands like "Suicide" and "Slit" were a delightful surprise. But as far as bigger bands were concerned, why was X never mentioned or the Descendents or the Minutemen? Or Fugazi or Husker Du? I guess the film would just have to be a bit longer. I didn't really appreciate the bands that were mentioned in the end like Rancid and Limp Bizkit. That really gave a blow to the authenticity of punk. However, I was happy to hear the interviews with Legs McNeil author of "Please Kill Me" and Bob Gruen as well as Mary Harron, former Punk magazine writer and current independent filmmaker (I Shot Andy Warhol) as well as filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. These guys helped us to see the world of punk in a bigger light that has more to do with just the music. Its the ability to change ideas and keep things new and different in a postmodern world.

Yeaaaars ago, at the Vancouver International Film Festival, I saw a movie there called 'Hype!' which was all about the rise and fall of grunge music. It was loud, it was informative, and it was great, it was my favorite movie that year in the film festival. For some odd reason, I'm always interested in music docs (except maybe classical and Jazz (though that's sometimes not true)), and I've been searching for some time for a movie like Hype! ('The Filth and The Fury" was, to me, disappointing), and this year at the VIFF, there was a movie called Punk Attitude which looked great, had all the icons, from Henry Rollins to Chrissy Hyde, so how could I go wrong? Punk Attitude essentially follows Hyped's narrative path, following the history of Punk from it's early years (the filmmakers contend, and I agree, that Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry were 50's punk) in the US, the British Invasion (namely The Sex Pistols) and then back into the U.S. Much of this stuff I didn't know, as I really don't follow punk that much, so all of this was really new to me, and nearly all of it was fascinating. Was really interested in the history of the New York Dolls and the Stooges, bands I'd had heard about, but that's about it. (Watch for a hideous looking David Johansen in this by the way). Rollins is great as usual, with plenty to say. Actually, everyone in this doc seems quite passionate about Punk's place in history. Funny how in the present, Punk is now represented by such artists as Green Day and Blink-182, artists that don't appear in the film at all. Wonder if this in part with the studio labels now taking Punk into the radio mainstream and of course with it, copyrights, copyrights, copyrights. Good thing Rollins is still there to cause noise. So, is this better then 'hyped'? You know, the one big problem I have with this, is that I wish 'Punk Attitude was on film, rather then on video. On video, it seems to take back it's rawness and it's urgentness. If it was on film, it would be, well, punk.

A great Documentary!!! Very informative. I only wish Devo, Wire, and The Minutemen were more represented. I'm very pleased with this film. Damn, they have finally done a great job documenting punk rock! 10 stars! Thank you Don Letts! This is a two-disc DVD that features over 17 extras including a 30 minute LA punk scene featurette produced exclusively for the US DVD. Other extras include, Where are they Now and Punk Family Tree, California Screamin' "Behind the Masque" article, Henry Rollins interview, Dave Goodman feature, Fanzines, Fashion, Women in Punk, Record Companies, The Attitude/Spirit of Punk, The Influences/Origins of Punk, Punk on Culture and the Arts, UK versus US, Punk Evolution, The Gigs/Performance and The Punk Sound.