Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29778 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-08-05
• Rating: NC-17
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 85 minutes

Amazon.com
Made for a fraction of the cost of Oliver Stone's similarly themed Natural Born Killers, Gregg Araki's The Doom Generation is more persuasively outragous in its cultural satire, scarier in its violence, and more profound in its vision of a hate-fueled, media-drunk America seemingly determined to eat its young and dwell stupidly on their vengeance. Rose McGowan (Scream), James Duval (Nowhere), and Johnathon Schaech (That Thing You Do!) star as a trio of friends (Schaech's character actually being a complete stranger who steps into their car and into their lives one club-hopping night) who end up on a sex-and-crime spree that draws the fixed stare of television coverage. Araki makes a case for their continuing innocence in a society whose anti-outsider malevolence is barely disguised in the media but is quite naked out in the heartland, where a punishing level of bigotry is not unknown. Araki's jokes and techniques are crude yet forceful, and his anger is absolutely clear where Stone's was obscured and overreaching. The climax is among the most shattering and enraged scenes of '90s cinema. The DVD includes cast information, a theatrical trailer, and French and Spanish subtitles. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker
Gregg Araki's aimless road movie is chicly anarchic-and a bore. The grunged-down teen-age characters (named Xavier Red, Jordan White, and Amy Blue) are pretty, and they talk like foul-mouthed Lolitas, but only when they leave the violent roadway for a motel bed does the film develop any snap. Araki has made a punk-rock movie, all dirty fingernails and spit, but it's no fun-he's forgotten the mosh pit. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Ambitious and Amazing but not for Everyone
Few films on have elicited anywhere near the disparity of comments that "The Doom Generation" has received, along with an extreme bi-model vote distribution on the IMDb. While I hate to prattle on about hidden meanings and messages that do not exist or that are not intended, Araki (unlike most film makers) is sophisticated enough to actually put such elements in his films. And he does not strike me as so full of himself that he would do this with no purpose other than mind games. Therefore, I will elaborate on my own interpretation of what he is trying to convey with this film.

McGowen's character, Amy Blue seems to be symbolic of the concept of pure beauty, which could be considered our closest relation to a world that exists outside ordinary life. An idea that psychologists like Jung (influenced by Eastern religion) have imagined as involving a sort of "collective unconscious" that persists through time while actual generations of human beings are born and die. Making beauty our proof while we live that there is "something higher" than ordinary existence. Like when a composer creates a melody and attributes it to a higher authority because they can't believe themselves capable of bringing something that perfect into the world.

Some do not recognize beauty when they see it and some are inspired when they see beauty, but most must possess beauty-or failing to gain possession destroy it rather than share it with others. Protecting beauty from those who would possess it or destroy it is the focus of this film. Although Amy is able to disguise herself from most people (and from most viewers) behind a façade of bad language and grim 'attitude', she is occasionally recognized by those who would possess or destroy-illustrated by the characters that go into violent rapture when they see her.

(SPOILERS AHEAD) My guess is that Jordan White is a too pure angel sent to protect Amy, and that Xavier Red is an evolving Jordan as his purity is replaced with protective survival skills. This is why the police agency can only find Amy's fingerprints on file. Like Charlie Kaufman and his twin brother Donald in 'Adaptation', death of one part of the dual identity is necessary for an integration of the two personalities. Akai likes to leave his involved audience members with the feeling that they were dreaming while riding a roller coaster.

There are a lot of God-Devil images in this film, with '666' presaging another attempt to destroy beauty or the evidence of 'something higher'.

Araki films are often about things not being what they appear to be; and they require the viewer to sort out complexity and revelation in what appear to be one-dimensional characters undergoing no real change. For example the sex scenes in this film, which initially seem crude and graphic, actually have a strange sort of innocence if you get past your own preconceptions.

This film is ambitious and amazing but not for everyone.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Juvinility for the Modern Intelectual
For all of the people who mock Gregg Araki's dialogue, his poor, home-video-esque directing and his sloppy editing, I have one thing to say: you're all correct. His dialogue is not realistic, it makes you cringe in embarassment at the poor actors who are forced to say these lines, and some would even say it was ineffective. However, we must realize that most every writer does EVERYTHING for a reason, and his motives are pure. The film is a mockery. It's not a mockery of youth, though. It mocks the way that society sees young people. So, effectively, Araki is spitting sarcastically in the faces of those who dislike his film . . . those who have contempt for the Doom Generation are the guinnea pigs for which the film was created. Although it may be (advertently) obvious, there is sarcasm and, believe it or not, a deeper meaning. See also NOWHERE, and reassess your thoughts on this modern noir masterpiece.

Strong on visual, weak script
"The Doom Generation" is an intense, violent and erotic [hetero and homo] movie about teenage angst and alienation. It doesn't work on many levels because the focus seems to be more on style than on substance. Writer/director Greg Araki, who created a sensation a few years back with his ultra-low budget film, "The Living End", is both talented and original. The problem is that, since "The Living End", he has yet to find a project that suits his talents. His themes are dark and nihilistic. These are well worth exploring artistically, but he needs to find scripts that come close to matching the power of his visuals.

Jordon [James Duval] and Amy [Rose McGowan] are a couple of spaced-out druggies in love. She's an extremely angry young woman who finds comfort in his sweet and passive nature. I'm not sure what he sees in her, for she is almost invariably unpleasant and often mean-spirited. Maybe he's so lost that any port in the storm will do. One night they meet the mad, charismatic and sexy Xavier [Jonathan Schaech], who leads them on a bizarre journey of sex, murder and mayhem. This trip is part horror, part dark comedy.

This movie has a following and a cult status. I can understand this, but, frankly, there are other movies about youth alienation I would recommend before I would this one. These include "Kalifornia", "Fight Club", and a delightful dark comedy from thirty years ago called "Harold and Maude". [NOTE: The thing that cost "The Doom Generation" the most points in my opinion was the ending. It's quite cruel and, if it has a message, I didn't get it. The fault my lie in me or it may be in the way it was edited.]