Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42713 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-05-27
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 87 minutes

Amazon.com
This documentary by Academy Award winner Chuck Workman does a fine job of capturing the life and legend of Andy Warhol. News coverage of his untimely death, as seen on television stations in his hometown of Pittsburgh, sets the stage for interviews with the artist's brother and cousins, who show off vintage family photos and talk wistfully of Andy's early life as Andrew Warhola. People who worked with him throughout his career as commercial artist, pop art superstar, underground filmmaker, and celebrity about town appear and provide interviews that are honest, insightful, and frequently hilarious. In a wry aside, Campbell's Soup executives comment on Warhol's famous paintings of the soup cans, which puzzled everyone but came to be regarded as art. The film is brilliantly put together so that the atmosphere of Warhol's life is deftly captured. Though he relentlessly threw himself into the public spotlight (he's even seen appearing in an episode of The Love Boat), Warhol was always something of a mystery. Was he a great artist or a great con man? People who saw him on a daily basis talk about how they were both fascinated and baffled by him. This is an intelligent and witty look at Warhol's unlikely life. The DVD features a "director's commentary" soundtrack that can be turned on to hear Workman speak about some of the material in the film. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

All Tomorrows Parties.
Very interesting documentary of the "Father Of Pop Art", a title which some dispute. But, as shy as he was, he was surely it's most visible and successful creator, who was as well known for his social life of the fabulous 1970's and '80's New York, as for his art. I don't know how interesting this film would be to non-Warhol fans, other than a one - look history lesson. But, to me, a bored dreamer in upstate New York in the 1970's and '80's, Andy Warhol represented all that was glittering, creative, and exciting, and this film brought back a now gone time. His life did seem like a non-stop 24 hour creative/ social frenzy, but there was much more to him than that. The sickly, ugly duckling who was at the " beautiful peoples " epi-center, if Andy wasn't there, it just wasn't an event... it's all here in this film. The underground movies, the "Superstars", the Campbell soup cans, The Factory, his 1968 shooting, Studio 54,... He had many detractors,(envy does that), and many accused him of turning art into crass commercialism, but this film also talks about the good son and brother, and the generous mentor to young, then on- the- rise artists like Keith Haring and Jean Michele Basquiat. And the man who attended mass every Sunday, and spent almost all holidays feeding the homeless at Church Of The Heavenly Rest, something he told few about. He died much too young, and unnecessarily, leaving an estate of multi-millions, and the auction of his beloved, hoarded belongings, held by Sothebys, was the media event of the year, bringing in an incredible twenty-six million dollars. For someone who's been accused of being a charlatan, talentless, manipulator..., he was incredibly successful, and according to many, the New York City nightlife and culture was never the same. Whatever he was, the little nobody who started out with none of the things that make one popular, became one of the twentieth centuries most well known artists and figures. This film is an informative visit to anyone who wants to know his phenomenon, anyone who wants to relive it, or if you just want to get to better know of the unique, talented man, who was no better nor worse than any of us.

Silver and Bold
I found "Superstar - The Life & Times of Andy Warhol" to be highly entertaining. It is a definite must-have for anyone who is fascinated with the people Warhol surrounded himself with during his 1960s heyday - that eccentric menagerie of Factory denizens, many of whom are featured in "Superstar." Rare interviews and film footage abound in this visually delightful, cleverly edited, and ultimately informative documentary.

A Must for any Warhol Fan.
This video although along the same lines as the Portrait series on Warhol seems to take a more personal approach to this very unique man. I was pleased with the family interviews and looks into his life as a young man, it helps to reason why Warhol although very sociable was actually a shy and mysterious person. The film takes info on the person and gradually moves into his art, there are quite a few clips of Warhol being interviewed about his work which do nothing for the novice because he does not say much of anything but they do add to the mystique of the artist. I was pleased with the input of some of his "Posse", they seem to give a candid representation of their relationships with Warhol and along with video footage of the artist in action and in routine living help to put this video as a top documentary into the life of an artist. Warhol as many artists of the period seems to poke fun at himself and not take what he does very seriously although we know what he did was seriously important in history. I think regardless whether you like his art or not, he has to be one of the most influential & innovative artists ever.