Product Description

Its 1978 and four midwestern high school students are on an unstoppable mission to score kiss concert tickets. The quartet faces obstacles along the way from authoritarian nightmares and parental hypocrisy to trials of conscience and the ever present influence of disco in their pursuit of a rock-n-roll fantasy. Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 04/05/2005 Starring: Edward Furlong Line Shaye Run time: 95 minutes Rating: R Director: Adam Rifkin

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5963 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-12-21
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.com
It's hard to call Detroit Rock City a "coming of age" movie--since it's hard to argue that any of the characters do any genuine growing up. But even though it's about four young metalheads trying to get to a KISS concert, the movie actually has more in common with sincere portraits of adolescence than it does with raucous teen comedies. The four heroes are members of a teen metal band called Mystery (the s is written in the same font as the letters of KISS, lest anyone mistake their source of inspiration). After the drummer's religiously zealous mother burns their tickets to a long-awaited concert in nearby Detroit, the boys go anyway and try to get tickets through theft, skullduggery, and entering a male stripper contest. The jokes are broad and the movie culminates in an orgy of male adolescent wish-fulfillment, but here and there some loving attention is paid to the details of 1970s teenage life--the haircuts, clothes, and toys the filmmakers probably had when they were kids. Edward Furlong, as the band's singer, is his usual scruffy self and exudes his particular lopsided charm; the rest of the cast play their parts with similar high spirits. Though Detroit Rock City was probably meant to be a no-holds-barred comedy in the vein of American Pie, the end result is curiously wistful; no one's going to mistake it for The Last Picture Show, but something sincere and elegiac lurks in those bang-covered eyes. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON't MISS IT THIS TIME AROUND!!!!!
Darth Maul, Austin Powers,John Travolta, and killer sharks... What else would summer 1999 require? KISS. That's what we needed. Recalling "Dazed And Confused" and channeling "Rock N' Roll High School", "Detroit Rock City" is a heaping portion of good fun. Filled to the brim with energy and acted by a cast of clever actors who probably can't even shave yet, this music-packed comedy is just be what the doctor (Dr. Love, that is) ordered. KISS fans might not be too happy to hear that the band isn't in the film for more than 5 minutes, but the DVD extra scenes will more than make up for it. Director Adam Rifkin has made a film not about KISS, but about four teenagers from 1978 Cleveland who drive to Detroit to see the band in concert. Everything from religiously fanatic mothers (The great Lin Shaye), to money-stealing bullies, and even some Disco lowlifes try to stop our heroes as they trek to see the world's greatest band. Once in Detroit, the friends split up to find opportunities to scam their way into the show. It is also in Detroit where each teen learns a very important lesson about life, and just how much KISS rocks. Leading the group is Edward Furlong, who gives his best performance to date. I've never seen him so loose on-screen before. Working with James DeBello, Giuseppe Andrews, and probably the most expressive teenage actor working today, Sam Huntington, they each deliver just the right amount of teenage apathy. You don't come around such a young cast that works so well together too often. It's quite obvious from the brilliant opening credits that Director Rifkin is out to have some fun. He brings back the 1970's with wonderful widescreen lensing, a dab of split-screen, and a soundtrack crammed with classic rock hits. (Go buy the CD!) One after another, the music fills each scene with such vibrant energy. The camera swings and moves with alarming speed. The colors pop and squeak. The era is evoked gently and without(much) sarcasm. "Detroit Rock City" is one of the few films that seems to be the product of genuine love for the era and the music. It's a bright film with an enormous amount of good will. "Detroit Rock City" is often sharp, always silly, slightly tasteless, but a seriously rocking late summer film that made up for the usual garbage that litters August. You wanted the best, you got the best. Don't miss it on DVD!

Detroit Rock City - movie review
Detroit Rock City is a classic teenage rebellion movie. It has a mixture of comedy, teenage pranks, sexual situations, drug use and just plain rock and roll. Even though I didn't grow up in the '70s, this movie will definintely take you back to that time period. Great acting by Edward Furlong and the supporting cast. This movie is a must for KISS fans. The story is of a group of friends, who are in a band and want to goto a KISS concert, but something terrible happens to their tickets, and after that the adventure begins. A very good movie. I am surprised it didn't do that well at the box office. I recommend it highly. If you like teenage rebellion movies or movies set in a different era you will love this film.

You gotta lose your mind in Detroit Rock City!
Ah, the '70s. What a cool time that must've been... it was before Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Hillary Duff, et cetera, were even BORN. Even though I'm only 19, I'd take bell bottoms and mood rings over South Pole and Tamagotchis any day of the week. (Of course, it's always entertaining to starve a Tamagotchi, but that's neither here nor there.)

They want the best, but do they get the best? This movie deals with four teenaged KISS fans in 1978, whose sole purpose on one fateful day is to see their beloved KISS - LIVE in Detroit. However, when Jeremiah "Jam" Bruce's (one of the four) bible-thumping mother burns the tickets (all I can say while watching the movie is geez, I'm sure glad I don't have a mother like that), the foursome decide that it's up to them to see the concert anyway, despite the numerous obstacles - hilarity ensues. Great, enjoyable, funny romp that is worth watching again and again.

Today, watching it, something hit me: this is me and my friends in high school! Jam, Hawk, Lex and Trip are me and three of my best friends (except none of us had a mother like that, thank god)! We wore the black rock shirts to school, and hated/made fun of rap (our generation's disco). We hated the [white suburban "thug"] jocks (our generation's guidos). (Please note I don't hate all jocks, just the jerks.) Because of that, to me, this movie's actually truer to (my) adolescent life than Dazed And Confused (another great movie, some of which I can relate to, but not as much as DRC). Oh yeah, and the kickin' soundtrack doesn't hurt either!

Anyway, if you love the '70s and rock 'n' roll, you can't go wrong with the one-two punch of "Detroit Rock City" and "Dazed And Confused"! It's the perfect movie to slap "You Got Served" in the face with!

"LORD HAVE MERCY!!!"