Penelope Spheeris’ brilliant Decline of Western Civilization is an infamous document of the early ‘80s LA punk scene featuring interviews and mind-blowing performance footage of The Germs, X, Fear, Circle Jerks, and Black Flag, among others. Her follow-up, Decline of Western Civilization Part II - The Metal Years, follows the mid-‘80s LA glam metal scene and features Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Mustaine and Paul Stanley along with some amusing lesser-known hair-bands. It also famously features one of the most depressing interviews ever caught on film - a brutally pathetic poolside chat with alcoholic WASP guitarist, Chris Holmes. The third film in Spheeris’ trilogy, The Decline of Western Civilization III, is lesser known, but a fascinating look at the crusty squatter-punk scene of the mid-‘90s featuring musical performances by Final Conflict, Litmus Green, Naked Aggression and The Resistance.
Spheeris’ Decline of Western Civilization trilogy has been at the top of countless fans most-wanted DVD lists forever. I’ve personally been trying to replace my well-worn VHS copy since the dawn of the DVD format. Over the years there have been many hints that the films would get a proper digital video release. As far back as the late 90’s there was a website promising an “upcoming” release of the trilogy. As these films, particularly the first installment, have been at the tip-top of my must-have-list, I’ve followed the progress with an eagle eye. Spheeris has dropped hints on her Facebook page for years—at times promising a deluxe set loaded with extras. There were rumors that Black Flag’s notoriously difficult Greg Ginn was holding up the process. Though those rumors are unconfirmed and were never actually put forward by the Spheeris camp, it’s well known that Ginn has prevented film maker Dave Markey from releasing the Black Flag documentary Reality 86’d, as well as forcing him to remove the Black Flag footage from Markey’s other film The Slog Movie—which is itself sort of a low-rent version of the first Decline movie.
A lot of punk and metalhead DVD prayers got answered when a box set of the Decline trilogy recently showed up for preorder on Amazon.
Click image for pre-order page.
This announcement has caused great rejoicing in various online DVD and Blu-ray collectors forums. The set’s release date is June 30th on the Shout Factory label. An earlier version of this article speculated on what the bonus features might be. Well, we’re happy to finally have a list of these DVD extras, and they promise to be absolutely incredible. We’re talking extra musical performances and interviews. Most exciting of all, is footage of The Gears which was not included in the original first film!
Here’s the rundown of special features included in this set:
The Decline of Western Civilization:
• Audio Commentary with director Penelope Spheeris and box set producer Anna Fox
• Audio Commentary by musician/filmmaker Dave Grohl
• Extended interviews with the Bands – Black Flag, Germs, X
• Additional band performances – Fear, Germs, The Gears
• Additional interviews with the Light Bulb Kids
• Henry Rollins interviews Penelope Spheeris
• Extended interview Brendan Mullen, owner of The Masque
• Extended interview with Germs Manager, Nicole
• Theatrical Trailer
And more
The Decline of Western Civilization Part 2 - The Metal Years:
• Audio Commentary director Penelope Spheeris and Nadir D’Priest (London)
• Extended interviews – Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Lemmy, Chris Holmes, Ozzy Osbourne, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and more
• Theatrical Trailer
The Decline of Western Civilization 3:
• Extended interviews with Flea, Leonard Phillips (The Dickies), Keith Morris, Rick Wilder
• Additional interviews with the Light Bulb Kids
• Sundance Film Festival interview with Penelope Spheeris
• LA County Museum of Art Panel - Decline I and III
• Behind the Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer
And more
Bonus Disc:
• Extended interviews with the bands from Decline II – Megadeth, London, Odin
• Decline I news report
• Decline II cruising the strip
• Decline III panel
• LA County Museum of Art Panel – Decline II
• Tawn Mastrey interviews Penelope Spheeris
• Nadir and Lizzie interview
• Theatrical Trailer for Penelope Spheeris’ Suburbia
• Mark Toscano interviews Penelope Spheeris
• And more
Yes, we are beyond stoked.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of viewing any of the series, here’s a proper taste: