Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50546 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-04-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 179 minutes

Amazon.com
He's been called "the angriest man in Los Angeles," but Henry Rollins is a good deal more than that. Although best known as a singer-songwriter with seminal punk rockers Black Flag and later his own Rollins Band, he is actually something of a Renaissance man, with experience as a film actor (The Chase, Heat, and others), published author and poet, and, as this two-disc set evidences, spoken-word artist. Each disc contains a single performance, both of them essentially unscripted monologues; the hourlong Talking from the Box comes from a 1992 gig at the Henry Fonda Theater in L.A., while the nearly two-hour Goes to London was filmed in that city the following year.

There's no music here, and precious little in the way of artifice--no special effects (notwithstanding some subtle editing and the use of both color and black and white), no production numbers, no props--just Rollins and his audience, which listens raptly as he rants, reads a little verse, tells some stories, and reminisces about his childhood, his life on the road, and so on. Sure, the anger is there, and the profanity flows freely. But Rollins also reveals himself to be surprisingly smart and literate, amusingly self-deprecating, generous, even vulnerable--especially during the "Two Boys" portion of Talking from the Box, when he recounts the horrific but riveting tale of the death of his best friend. Powerful stuff. --Sam Graham

Additional features
Bonus DVD features are the same on both discs, and include a complete discography, some biographical material, a photo gallery, Rollins's notes about the shows, and a selectable menu for moving from section to section within each performance.

From the Back Cover
This double DVD set includes two separate spoken work performances: the Talking from the Box video and is follow up Henry Rollins Goes to London, which was taped at the Astoria Theater in London on February 14 - 15, 1993. The popular video Talking from the Box has been unavailable for the past several years and the previously unreleased Henry Rollins Goes to London tape sat in storage since 1993 and is now finally seeing release on this DVD. Included on this DVD are photos, discography information and, of course, almost three hours of your favorite all American Boy, Henry Rollins.

Includes: 2 spoken word theater performances on 2 DVD Discs, pictures from Henry's personal photo archive, a complete discography, biography and Henry's notes about each show.

Customer Reviews

It's not all fun and games...
To my knowledge, this video is the only piece of audio or video media that contains Rollins talking about his best friend Joe Cole and what it was like to have him murdered in front of him. Rollins has kept this subject pretty closely guarded, and if you know his history, you understand why.

"Talking.." contains some funny stuff (Tales of his pet store days about "Bun-Bun the Rabbit", Henry's observations on and experiences in the LA Riots in 1992), as well as some more intense stuff; descriptions of his father's abuse, and the story about himself and Joe Cole.

It's an intense tape, and a good one. I highly recommend it for all fans, and even some of the non-fans may find it compelling and excellent, as I do.

Powerful and Amusing...typical Hank
Contrary to a certain previous review, Henry Rollins' spoken word is not about Henry whining about his past....his point isn't to prove his punk cred at all. Instead, Henry's stories are often filled with empathy towards those with a kind of strength not recognized by an anti-intellectual society that is raised on beer and football, and sees life on a one-dimensional level. His more personal moments occasionally bear the purpose of poking fun at himself, something that gives him more credibility as a thinking and searching human being than as a punk icon. As a musician, he can move a handfull of us, and exorcise his rawest angst. As a person, as a human, he can move mountains.

Hank bears his soul and his weight on DVD...
This two-fer for Rollins fans is an easter egg. Half the stories he tells on both discs are tales told already on his spoken albums, but now have a nice visual touch added in for an even more intense view of Rollins' wonderfully twisted psyche. From travel stories, to personal enlightenment, to the death of friends..., Rollins has a superb gift for making the most mundane experiences we all share, to tight and personal stories you were miles away from, into events the audience can take away as a present, feel they were walking with him, laugh and hate, and feel good overall. Very good, very funny, very touching. A must for anyone who likes to hear a good story.