...captures the gritty charisma of Detroit as it informed the quirky and colorful personalities of a band that many fans still remember today.
MC5 * A True Testimonial (2004)
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Reviews Counted:15
Fresh:14
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.2/10
Theatrical Release:Apr 23, 2004 Limited
Synopsis: One of the most electrifying acts to ever storm a Rock'n'Roll stage, the MC5's Detroit performances in the late 60s are legend. Their debut album, Kick Out the Jams, set a high-energy sonic... One of the most electrifying acts to ever storm a Rock'n'Roll stage, the MC5's Detroit performances in the late 60s are legend. Their debut album, Kick Out the Jams, set a high-energy sonic standard rarely matched in the thirty years since its release. The MC5's uncompromising stance and radical affiliations placed them, briefly, at the musical forefront of a generation bent on political and cultural change. In the midst of the most turbulent years in our nation's history, the MC5 embraced the promise and embodied the possibilities of a real American Revolution. For their efforts the MC5 were rewarded with critical indifference, broken contracts, police hassles and the censorship and suppression of their music. The MC5 became, in their own words, "perfect targets for the double-cross." Relegated to some dark and forgotten corner of rock history, they have become little more than a curiosity, a footnote, victims of the American Ruse. But their legend has lived on, and while the influence of the MC5 continues to resurface in Punk, in Heavy Metal, in Grunge, entire generations know little of their actual story. ...Right Now, ...it's time to Get Down With It, ...it's time to Testify, ...it's time to tell the true story of one of the most unique and influential American Rock'n'Roll bands: ...the MC5, their place in rock history, and their place in American History. Through rare film and television footage, still photographs and interviews, the whole story of the MC5 will come to life again. This is a story of stars and bars and dragstrips and riots; Panthers and pot-busts; Art and Revolution and the FBI; this is the real story of five genuine American heroes. This is the story of a revolution fueled by twin guitars and decked out in sequined suits; this is a story of the fire and of the smoke behind the American Dream. [More]
Starring: Michael Davis, John Sinclair, Dennis Thompson, Becky Tyner
Starring: Michael Davis, John Sinclair, Dennis Thompson, Becky Tyner, Sigrid Dobat Smith, Wayne Kramer
Director: David C. Thomas
Director: David C. Thomas
Producer: Laurel M. Legler
Studio: Avatar Films
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Reviews for MC5 * A True Testimonial
Though raw and sometimes slapdash, MC5: A True Testimonial goes a long way in explaining why that happened, most notably through the raw power of the band's music and the fiery passion that was bound with its image.
Like the band itself, the movie is loud and noisy and undeniably eye-catching. But like them, too, it fatally can't see beyond the immediate to realize there's a better way of making its point then simply shouting louder than anyone else.
MC5: A True Testimonial should please die-hard fans as well as viewers who have never heard the band and its anthem, 'Kick Out the Jams.'
A riveting, all-elbows- and-knuckles documentary about the proto-punk warriors known as the MC5.
A vivid evocation of a moment when even the ugliest guitar feedback could be taken as a serious political statement.
Bassist Michael Davis, way Lynchian on his desert land, and drummer Dennis Thompson, who brandishes a rifle at one point, provide jolts of pathos and aggression that remind us these were never art-school pretenders to the skids.
The film is a touching, detailed portrait of an important and often overlooked band.
Intelligently combines rarely shown film, TV news, home footage, stills and interviews in a complete package.
Like other commercial flops such as the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, the band's influence continues. This definitive documentary shows us why.
Thompson has lassoed the short, wild, luminous life of a rock band that crystallized a mirror-image cultural moment.
Thomas unearths fabulous TV and home-movie footage of the group, and his interviews with the band capture the sense of loss.
the story of the MC5 is one that is trapped between art and politics... just like they were
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