Super Human. Super Music. Super Magic.

July 26, 2006 1:57 PM

STUNT ROCK.
posted by glenwood (38 comments total)

The live show is practically Spinal Tap.
posted by Dr-Baa at 2:02 PM on July 26, 2006

2 merlins. TWO!
posted by glenwood at 2:05 PM on July 26, 2006

Jackass - The Original

hey Bam, 1978 called and said that you are derivative.
posted by isopraxis at 2:08 PM on July 26, 2006

There are some who call me... 'Tim'?
posted by bob sarabia at 2:12 PM on July 26, 2006

RUNT STOCK.

also, aaaw!


posted by sergeant sandwich at 2:17 PM on July 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

I was alive in 1978, but even being there I still have no answer as to why wizards on a stage sounded cool? Aside from the fact I was ten, so duh rock and roll wizards were cool, but what about people that were older, why'd they think Stunt Rock and Wizards and devil metal and custom vans were cool? We need an explanation of the seventies from someone.
posted by Keith Talent at 2:18 PM on July 26, 2006

why'd they think Stunt Rock and Wizards and devil metal and custom vans were cool?

Prolly for the same reason we* think jackasses wearing sports jerseys and too much cheap, flashy platinum jewellery in low-rider cars are cool now.

(* 'we' in the sense of the pop culture masses.)
posted by docgonzo at 2:24 PM on July 26, 2006

This is amazing, thank you.

Oh, and it seems this Stunt Rock just retired.
posted by Monstrous Moonshine at 2:24 PM on July 26, 2006

I bought the DVD from the band. I live it. I love it. Stunt Rock forever. Over and out.
posted by ktoad at 2:28 PM on July 26, 2006

why'd they think Stunt Rock and Wizards and devil metal and custom vans were cool?

If you don't know then I don't have any idea how to explain it to you.
posted by glenwood at 2:30 PM on July 26, 2006

ktoad, did you just NOW buy it? Or have you actually watched the whole thing? Do tell! What's it like? Should we drop 15 bones on it?
posted by glenwood at 2:31 PM on July 26, 2006

Exactly, glennwood.
posted by brundlefly at 2:31 PM on July 26, 2006

Strongbad approves.
posted by bardic at 2:35 PM on July 26, 2006

At least 3 of the stunt-tastic car crashes in this video were lifted from gone in 60 seconds.
posted by freq at 2:48 PM on July 26, 2006

The stage show looks more like something ripped off from Alice Cooper than from Kiss.
posted by mischief at 3:05 PM on July 26, 2006

Which in turn used some stock footage as well, if I remember correctly...
posted by stenseng at 3:07 PM on July 26, 2006

"It's a death wish... at 120 decibels!"

But can they put it up to eleven?
posted by bokeh at 3:10 PM on July 26, 2006

Did someone say wizards on a stage?
posted by aaronetc at 3:11 PM on July 26, 2006

Hello 1979? 1973 just called, they want their Uriah Heep album back.
posted by NoMich at 3:23 PM on July 26, 2006

It sounds like it's narrated by Frank Drebbin.
Judging by the driving, and acting, it may very well have been.
posted by NinjaTadpole at 3:24 PM on July 26, 2006

Bjork24--I think you know what to do.
posted by sourwookie at 3:46 PM on July 26, 2006

Keith Talent, there's a one-word explanation for the 70s: drugs.
posted by Malor at 4:18 PM on July 26, 2006

I caught a showing of this film last year, here in San Francisco. It trod the fine line between so-bad-it's-good and so-bad-it's-just-bad. Unfortunately for us in the audience, it stepped on the wrong side of that line for waaaay too much of the time.
posted by ooga_booga at 5:02 PM on July 26, 2006

I thought for a second it was this but then i realized it wasn't a parody. then my head exploded in awe.
posted by ambulance blues at 5:03 PM on July 26, 2006

I don't get what that film is. Just a cavalcade of stunts and rawk, or is there a plot and actual acting? I have to say, some of those stunts were fucking outrageous.
posted by zardoz at 5:07 PM on July 26, 2006

glenwood - An exellent question! It IS cheesy and over-the-top, but that's what makes it great. The probability of you enjoying it hangs on the amount of enjoyment you get from pyrotechnics, crazy vehicular stunts, and a thin plot used to advance the movie to the next explosion or insane musical number that makes KISS look like amateurs. Truly, this is a cinematic feast for those of us who want to relive a very specific, very hairy moment in time. Yeah, recommend it highly.
posted by ktoad at 5:09 PM on July 26, 2006

When I show this to my kids they're going to look at me like I just farted; both amused and disgusted. The '70s, so fun and yet so incredibly embarrassing.
posted by snsranch at 5:16 PM on July 26, 2006

there is a fine line between brilliant, and stupid.
posted by nola at 5:42 PM on July 26, 2006

Somehow I missed this theatrical masterpiece. Back in '78 this would have been right up my alley.
posted by parm=serial at 6:37 PM on July 26, 2006

there is a fine line between brilliant, and stupid.

Nah. Thick actually. And white. On a mirror.
posted by hal9k at 6:48 PM on July 26, 2006

I wasn't convinced until I saw the triple screen. Now, I'd marry this film. In fact, my next film is going to be a constant triple screen. None of this barely watchable, misguidedly experimental, Mike Figgis-style, four-different-screens simultaneously stuff. Just the same shot, thrice visible.

And Peter Greenaway's skull will implode.
posted by gramschmidt at 7:32 PM on July 26, 2006

There's a fine line between stupid and clever.
posted by sharksandwich at 9:31 PM on July 26, 2006

I saw this. Last year. In the theater. At butt-numb-a-thon 7. A beautiful 35mm print.

It.

Is.

Terrible.

I could barely stay awake. It was like the 4 AM movie. Pain! THE PAIN! IT TASTED LIKE BURNING!

The thing is, the trailer makes it seem like "Holy shit... this could possibly be the best undiscovered movie in the WORLD!" But it's not. The trailer is the best part of it. The fantasy that the shit kickingest 70s movie in the world is out there, then destroyed, and never seen, and now we only have the trailer as the relic, THAT is what's great. (In fact, Stunt Rock was reaching mythological status at Butt-numb-a-thon. Every year Harry played the trailer, and the crowd reached fever pitch. And in a soprano voice someone in the audience in their best Sorcery voice would sing... "STUNT ROCK!" - Sometimes things are better as myths.) There's just nothing cool about this movie at all. Not the stunts. Not the wizards. Not anything. It's the most boring stunt movie ever made. The stunt-to-boredom ratio will never again be achieved in our lifetime.

The movie sucks. Outright. Sorry.
posted by smallerdemon at 9:53 PM on July 26, 2006

Now when my kids ask, "Dad, how come you like Rock'n'Roll High School so much?" I'll be able to show them Stunt Rock and say, "Because the Ramones were necessary to kill the evil wizards who made THIS crap."
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:09 PM on July 26, 2006

I almost got excited because I thought the post was about this Stunt Rock...
posted by j-urb at 12:03 AM on July 27, 2006

The voiceover in the trailer is just begging to be sampled and "recontextualized". But then that's true of most trailers from the 70s.

We need an explanation of the seventies from someone.

I think That 70s Show did a good job of explaining everything.
posted by oncogenesis at 12:57 AM on July 27, 2006

Indeed, sir.

*shaves yak*
posted by gramschmidt at 1:13 AM on July 27, 2006

That sounded like something out of Kentucky Fried Movie, only moreso.
posted by Eideteker at 1:00 AM on July 28, 2006