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- Hulu
- Nov 30, 2021
- Hulu
- Nov 30, 2021
Summary The limited series from Danny Boyle about the beginnings of The Sex Pistols is based on the memoir of its guitarist, Steve Jones (Toby Wallace).
Created By: Craig Pearce
- Hulu
- Nov 30, 2021
- Hulu
- Nov 30, 2021
Summary The limited series from Danny Boyle about the beginnings of The Sex Pistols is based on the memoir of its guitarist, Steve Jones (Toby Wallace).
Created By: Craig Pearce
Season Episodes
View All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
60
39% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
61% Mixed
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
60
39% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
61% Mixed
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
While some former band members may be unhappy with Pistol, it is likely for the better. The style and flair is still there, but there is a hidden honesty to the series that makes it worthy of viewing and one that even non-fans of the Sex Pistols could enjoy.
This is Punk Rock 101, designed to widen the audience tent to include viewers whose knowledge of the Sex Pistols is relatively limited. For all the frantic pacing and visual flourishes, for all the rebellious chaos depicted here, “Pistol” is a downright respectable telling of the tale.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 User Ratings
6.8
77% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
15% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
8% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 User Ratings
6.8
77% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
15% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
8% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Amid the chaos of the dance floor, the Sex Pistols yearn to obliterate themselves, each other and their listeners. Even if what’s around these moments doesn’t consistently work, “Pistol” nails the thrill of learning to disappear into sound.
The show’s portrayal of punk rock itself – filtered through the lens of Malcolm’s machinations and even, at times, the vanity of the kids in the band – feels more like an image than a spirit, an escape rather than a way of life. Pistol, unlike the music that inspired it, never grabs you by the throat.
But while “Pistol” amply looks and sounds the part, it struggles with the lyrics. It aims to place the band within the larger context of an economically and culturally stagnant 1970s Britain, but at heart it’s a standard behind-the-music tragedy.
Whenever Boyle manages to tamp down the faux-provocative visual put-ons and let this group work as a group, that’s when “Pistol” gets closest to capturing the energy it’s striving for. ... For most of the rest of the show, “Pistol” tries too hard to make the case for a band that never really needed any help to make an impression.
Constantly hard-cutting between judiciously chosen documentary news footage with snatches of Seventies pop-culture musical and film references and a punchily scripted melodrama presented with a luridly overloaded sense of production period detail, Boyle somehow achieves the opposite of authenticity, winding up with something comically ludicrous that keeps drawing attention to its own artifice.
(Mauro Lanari)
Forget the grotesque irony of "Trainspotting" (1996) and its sequel (2017). Although Lydon appears for the first time on set with the "I Hate Pink Floyd" t-shirt (true fact), Boyle probes the dark side of the moon, of music, of existence, yet another generational, epochal, historical catastrophe. Lydon himself has harshly criticized the miniseries, but sooner or later reality comes out: "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle". By losing the lawsuit against his former bandmates, the director was able to make use of their songs thus shooting the most similar thing to Stone's "The Doors" ('91). The biopic suffers from the narrative lengths of an episodic fiction and could have lasted 1/3, perhaps Chrissie Hynde is right when she tells of having had a single sexual relationship with Steve Jones, perhaps Siouxsie Sioux and Billy Idol were there or not: details. It matters that there is the irrepressible power **** of guys who, precisely because they are unable to play and sing, have recorded only one album with which rock has been reset by bringing it back to its primitive and primordial chords and its lyrics as battle slogans. Stunning to hear the compositional quality they reached, impossible to calculate how many bands were born thanks to their influence, and unthinkable that they could be an exception to "Kill Your Idols".
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SEASON 1
Easily the best part of this show is Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde. She's a fantastic actress, and she brings some empathy and integrity to the proceedings. The rest of the program dips far into the **** of addiction that so many rock docs do. I could give a crap about Syd and Nancy's nonsense. We now need a second series focusing on the Pretenders starring Sydney Chandler as Chrissy Hynde.
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SEASON 1
First episode was a mixed bag, and my first thought was that you can tell who provided the source material. I'd imagine if Johnny Rotten had written the book it was based on, we'd be hearing about how everything was his idea. Still, for dramatized rockumentary, it does have some visual pizazz, and you can't beat the soundtrack. After episode 1, though, I'm left wanting to see the new Bowie doc more than hear more about a band who was really a flash in the pan, and received credit for something they really didn't create. Performances are okay. I'll update when I finish if anyone reads these, lol.
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SEASON 1
