Urgh! A Music War is a decent enough snapshot of punk, new wave, and rock bands of the early ‘80s. Since Stewart Copeland’s brothers Ian and Miles produced it, The Police are featured more than any other band. (They’re still pretty good though.) Other highlights include Wall of Voodoo (“Back in Flesh”), Oingo Boingo (“Ain’t This the Life?”), Echo and the Bunnymen (“The Puppet”), The Dead Kennedys (“Bleed for Me”), DEVO (“Uncontrollable Urge”), and Gary Numan singing “Down in the Park” while riding around in a remote controlled throne on a stage that looks like it could’ve come out of Tron.
Much of the concert footage leaves something to be desired as it is presented in a rather generic fashion. The uninspired editing likewise causes many of the performances to run together without allowing the audience time to catch their breath. Also, since the bands were captured on different stages throughout the world, there is very little cohesion from one performance to the next. It is interesting to see some of the lesser-known bands singing obscure songs alongside Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and their all-time classics. For example, Athletico Spizz 80’s “Where’s Captain Kirk?” is followed by The Go-Go’s singing “We Got the Beat” and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (“Bad Reputation”) plays right before Magazine (“Model Worker”).
It’s not bad or anything. It’s just that there’s way too much filler in between the good stuff. (Apparently there’s an alternate version that leaves some of the lesser-known bands on the cutting room floor.)
For me though the footage of The Cramps singing “Tear it Up” makes up for a lot of the criticisms. The camera is right in front of Lux Interior’s mug during all his sweaty, microphone-swallowing antics. There was a moment there when I actually thought he was going to jump out of his skintight leather pants. I may be a little biased because I’m a huge fan of The Cramps, but it’s totally worth owning the movie just for their performance alone.
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