this had to be the biggest waste of time in a long while. I still struggle to understand why this film was made. it was all over the place adding nothing new to the story. i know the makers probably wanted to capture the mood of the era and how the killings affected everyday life in the Bronx, but the characters in the film all had zero redeeming qualities and it was impossible to like, let alone sympathize with any of them. Avoid like the plague. i only voted 1 cos there is no zero/negative rating.

This movie is a complete waste of time and effort. It's nothing more than a superficial story of a few tacky, obnoxious kids arguing with each other over their trivial lives. So far (about halfway through the movie), I have yet to see anything meaningful about the actual case. For me, it is a total waste of time. I wasn't interested in seeing a trivial storyline about a few New Yorkers. I wanted to see how the case developed, which so far hasn't happened. Maybe it will change and I'll be surprised by an actual plot, but so far I've seen nothing worthwhile. Who cares about"The Perils of Pauline" as told by a handful of punks?

Summer of Sam has a couple different meanings. It's not quite Son of Sam, the nickname of the serial killer the movie is ostensibly about. It's also an abbreviation for SOS, as in mayday. These are on purpose. Spike Lee centers a movie about paranoia, changing times, metaphorical dog collars, war, post trauma, stress, sexual revolutions, disco vs punk and scapegoats into one electric, charged, throbbing explosion of a movie. It's a bit indulgent, maybe doesn't completely add up, and isn't quite perfect in its period detail (enough about this particular punk scene being a year or two off, this is art!).The film revolves around these murders because they represent another movement in American history. One in which the hangover from Vietnam is finally fading, and what's left is the feeling that we have been used and abused. Like dogs, wearing the collar. Adrien Brody's punk rocker represents this rebellion against the collar, against the causeless wars and manipulation. Punk, gay and uninterested in conformity. John Leguizamo (with a performance that questions how he never quite became the star he should have been), still wears the collar, refuses to treat his wife properly and sleeps around. He treats her as an object to be on a pedestal, not one to be shamed and used like all those other "free love" types.This PTSD serial killer is hearing orders from a dog wearing its collar (literally, in one of a couple surreal sequences that clearly establish this film as metaphor and fever dream), just like Nam' and he can't stop killing. So blame the punks, the gays, the unorthodox priests, anyone but the master. You gotta fight the powers that be.

This film says little about David Berkowitz, other than to repeat as the truth his lies about the supposed insanity that drove him to kill. In reality he was in full control of his faculties, and just got a sexual thrill out of his crimes. Instead, the film tells us uninteresting stories about various repulsive characters about whom we care nothing. The movie meanders boringly for over two hours, with not enough material for even forty minutes. It is hard to imagine how this film got made: who was it aimed at? Who could possibly enjoy it? If Berkowitz had turned up and shot some of the main characters early in the film it would have been a relief!