American Hardcore
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Metascore
69 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 17 Ratings

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  • Starring: Ian MacKaye
  • Summary: Generally unheralded at the time, the early 1980s hardcore punk rock scene gave birth to much of the rock music and culture that followed. Hardcore was more than music -- it was a social movement created by Reagan-era misfit kids. The participants constituted a tribe unto themselves -- some finding a voiced, others an escape in the hard-edged music. Ans while some sought a better world, others were just angry and wanted to raise hell. American Hardcore traces this lost subculture, from its early roots in 1980 to its initial flameout in 1986. (Sony Pictures Classics)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Variety
    Reviewed by: Dennis Harvey
    90
    Excellent documentary American Hardcore chronicles the short-lived but influential musical moment when a defiantly anti-commercial underground put a distinctive U.S. stamp on the hitherto Brit-driven punk movement.
  2. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    80
    Stands as a valuable chronicle of a brief and snarling musical movement.
  3. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Rob Nelson
    80
    The story of American punk rock (1980–1986) isn't a lot easier to summarize than that of any other major war, but it's quite a bit funnier, as this belated documentary overview--based on Steven Blush's like-titled tome--proves in each of its 90 exuberantly irritable minutes.
  4. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    60
    Fans will dig the abundant performance video and commentary from Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye; everyone else should steer clear of the mosh pit.

See all 21 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. caporegime
    10
    Perfectly explained and documented.
  2. KeithM.
    7
    I cant believe how out of touch some of the big media reviewers are.. This was first wave hardcore after punk hit the US. This film just scratched the surface on what many people consider an important part of their lives today or yesteryear.. Its interesting how few judgments were made.. either about sexist & rapist remarkst. Things were just stated and that was it. For better or for worse its an after math of decline of western civilization part 1.. Just not quite as psychoanalytic (unfortunately). I for one would've liked some more explanation of why people were so overtly violent.. "We were just f* ups" seems to be lacking. And who said the skinhead thing had anything to do with racists? Theres more variety in race of skinheads than their are white power skins.. but thats a whole other movie.… Expand
  3. ChadS.
    7
    Punk rock never quite made it to Hawaii. We had Frank Orrall, whose first band was called Hat Makes the Man. Orrall, of course, is the brainchild behind Poi Dog Pondering, Hawaii's sole contribution to the "alternative" music scene during college radio's heyday. What Blue Oyster Cult did for the cowbell("Don't Fear the Reaper"), Poi Dog Pondering did for the tin whistle("Living with the Dreaming Body"). Needless to say, I was listening to Gary Numan at the start of the hardcore movement("Here in my car, I feel safest of all"), and moved on to China Crisis("Difficult Shapes and Passive Rhythms" is underrated, man!) when Black Flag called it quits. "American Hardcore" is only as good as the music they're covering, and since this documentary insists on being a comprehensive one, the film drags a bit when the film shines the spotlight on the midwest. Things pick up again when the film covers the advent of SST Records, because Henry Rollins and Ian McKaye are brought back as testifiers to this, yes, ancedotal, but entertaining oral history. On IFC, Rollins talks about his renewed love for ELO, and all things classic rock, but his contemporaries are diehards, apparently, still ragging on those dinosaur acts like Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles. Foghat? Why pick on Foghat? I'd love to hear Vic Bondi(Articles of Faith) comment about Jack Johnson. According to the British, hardcore never existed. After The Sex Pistols disbanded, the era between 1978-1984 is commonly labeled as post-punk. You can probably play "Holiday in the Sun" to a mixed audience with a minimal amount of agitation from the MOR-jetset, but that's not the case with Bad Brains' "Pay to Cum". So, is punk rock dead? Don't tell that to Les Savy Fav, who kicked everybody's ass on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" during the writers' strike. I've lived in Hawaii my entire life and I had no idea Dan Inouye's son played in Marginal Man.… Expand
  4. RemiS.
    4
    Lacks focus. They don't even try to explain "hardcore" let alone "american hardcore". Movie should have been titled "My life in the 80s". You are presented a loose collection of a narrow recollection of a select few of the "punk" music scene of the early 80s. No analysis, no introspection- just anecdotes.… Expand

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