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End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones
Magnolia Pictures

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones reviews


9.8

based on 25 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 7 votes
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Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Dee Dee Ramone, Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Marky Ramone, and Tommy Ramone

This documentary look at the Ramones traces the history of the band, from its unlikely origins, through its star-crossed career, bitter demise and the sad fates of Joey and Dee Dee. End of the Century is a vibrant, candid document of one of the most influential groups in the history of rock. (Magnolia Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Documentary \| Musical
DIRECTED BY:	Jim Fields Michael Gramaglia
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 15, 2005 Theatrical: August 20, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	95 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Nominated, Grand Jury Prize (Best Documentary), 2003 Slamdance International Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

You can't help but feel conflicted watching this superb documentary about the seminal New York-based punk rock vanguard, the Ramones.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Unearths the expected footage from the crypt -- including a hilarious live video of the band arguing onstage over what to play next. The anecdotes are pungent and revelatory.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

A documentary that digs deep inside this most revolutionary and tortured of punk quartets, it's hard not to feel that the Ramones, who never had a hit record, were the greatest band in 50 years to be stonewalled out of success.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

If you feel, like me, kinship with this essential building block of music, you owe it to yourself -- and to the Ramones -- to see this film.

Empire Will Lawrence

A gripping insight into the problems faced by men trying to sustain interest in playing the music of their youth.

Variety Scott Foundas

At the picture’s best, it recalls Michael Winterbottom's "24 Hour Party People" in its tribute to the music of the times and the way in which that music provided a voice to a generation of social misfits.

Village Voice Robert Christgau

Johnny's analysis and will carry the film. Of course they didn't get along--they were a rock group.

Washington Post Richard Harrington

The interviews with band members, managers, friends and peer fans confirm not only how influential, but how beloved the Ramones were.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Genuinely sad: few bands have burst onto the scene with such a perfectly realized look, sound, and philosophy or been more trapped by their own meatheaded genius.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Offers a fascinating chronicle of the birth, glory days and waning years of a motorcycle-jacketed, bowl-haircutted quartet of middle-class geeks who unwittingly spawned the punk movement.

Chicago Tribune Louis R. Carlozo

Much to their credit, filmmakers Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields leave almost all the talking to band members and their inner circle. That gives this documentary--their first film--a brisk authority, humor and directness true to the band's scrappy story.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

While serving up music so free of thought that the best of it seems to crystallize our thoughtless, tightly wound era.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

A true fan's nirvana.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

A thorough, gutsy and appropriately scuzzy-looking documentary.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason Anderson

It makes for a compelling story and some thrilling music.

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

Details the group's raucous history with humor and a minimum of hero worship.

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

What the books suggest, the movie reveals and revels in--the songs, in other words, those brilliant, backbreakingly fast anthems.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

While End of the Century feels a bit straggly toward the end (the rise of the Ramones is exhilarating; their slow, unfair demise is a downer), and its chronology is sometimes a little vague, the movie captures the spirit of both the band and the era they helped shape.

The Hollywood Reporter Richard James Havis

The first half of the film is a by-the-numbers rock docu. But at the halfway mark, the personalities and psychoses of the performers become as interesting as the history, and the documentary morphs into an involving human drama.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

As for the unfortunates who aren't already in love with The Ramones, End Of The Century should give them a better understanding of what they've been missing, and leave them wondering why they've missed out on it for so long.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

As End of the Century reveals even more starkly than the recent Metallica documentary, "Some Kind of Monster," harmony among band members becomes harder to sustain as the years gather, youthful enthusiasm wanes, and personalities define themselves.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Though occasionally repetitive, Gramaglia and Fields' admirably evenhanded documentary gives the Ramones the respect they deserve: Fans will be grateful and the uninitiated should listen and learn.

LA Weekly Falling James

It does pry much deeper into the band’s unexpectedly complex and contradictory personalities.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

An engaging and emotional documentary.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

A 108-minute film of a two-minute song.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.8 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Rob B. gave it a9:
Exceptional music documentary that was a hell of a long time comming. You'll laugh, you'll cry. I mean that too, as a hardened 'Mones fan, I had a few tears. There isnt much worth knowing that isnt covered here. They even manage to get some honestly touching moments out of Johnny. They were the Jesus Christ of the modern music world they truely took one for the team. All lovers of music have to see this film.

Jakub J. gave it a10:
Great movie.

Mark M. gave it a 10:
Excellent flick. I also reviewed the Metallica doc for this site, and I find this one to be better. Maybe it's because the Ramones never cheesed out the way Metallica has, but more than that, the filmmakers here are less smitten with their subjects than the "Some Kind of Monster" makers. There's an affection for the Ramones and their foibles, most of which are presented with a light humorous touch. At the same time, the pettiness and sad inevitability of the band's final years together isn't glossed over in the least. His right-wing leanings aside, you have to wonder what universe Johnny's living in as the credits roll. The last we see of Dee Dee in the film is a genuinely sad moment given what we learn about his fate. The concert footage in the film is great, and includes a few extended bits where the band's energy and intensity is impossible to ignore. After watching this movie I feel like I know a lot more about the band members, and I wish I had followed them more closely when they were still touring and recording. They deserved better.

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End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones Magnolia Pictures

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones
Magnolia Pictures