This documentary gets 8 stars purely for the entertainment factor, certainly if you were a fan of Disco music, the dancing, the clubs, the entire era; for which I was. But it lost two stars for a few inaccuracies, some blatant and some not so obvious. This movie attempts to provide the chronological history of Disco from it's birth, throughout the height of its popularity, and eventually ending with its death. The story was told by a director that has likely only read books about the topic and conducted some interviews rather having lived through it; for which I did. The story of Disco's birth and eventual rise to fame was fairly accurate, though failing to mention some key artists. However, the tale of it's 'death' were greatly exaggerated. It did not end as abruptly as it was stated and it did not end because of the Disco Demolition event which took place between double-header games at Chicago's Comiskey Park in 1979. The music genre lost its popularity because of over saturation. The music became too main stream, too formulaic, and contrived. Everyone looked to capitalize on the craze. Music artists were re-releasing almost comical Disco versions of their old songs by just applying a '4-on-the-floor' beat (see Ethel Merman), while Rock-oriented artists such as Kiss, the Rolling Stones, and Rod Stewart, wrote Disco songs, which annoyed their true fans despite the songs becoming big hits. Disco was everywhere; in TV commercials, cartoons, variety shows, advertisements. Well-established TV series, like Chips and Charlie's Angels, even had Disco-themed episodes. The closing of Studio 54, which was a result of ownership tax issues and not due to the music genre, somehow marked a moment in Disco's mythical death. What is most interesting, and inaccurate, is the premise that Disco had died, along with discotheques, and the entire art of getting dressed up and going dancing. It was even stated in the documentary that "all the clubs closed". While this makes for an interesting little docudrama, it was simply not true. What is true, is that Disco was re-branded in the early 80's as 'club music' or 'dance music' of which later evolved into other forms of dance such as 'free-style'. Discos were now referred to as 'clubs', and any 20-something or 30-something person in the 80s can attest that the scene was indeed alive and well, especially in NYC and in Long Island; for where I frequented. These 'clubs' were popular and packed each weekend, and were playing the most popular dance music of the day. Most notably, there was nothing 'underground' about the scene nor the sound which frequented Billboard charts and radio stations. Though clothing styles had changed and the music had evolved (personally I thought the dance music of the 80's, particularly freestyle, was even better than the 70s), it was no different than the Disco craze of the late 70s, except without the over-exposure and, more importantly, without the 'Disco' name label which had become a dirty word and a moniker for a bygone era.
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fgrampone31 October 2020
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RodrigAndrisan12 July 2016Somehow entertaining documentary about the "Disco Revolution" in the '70's. It was something with subversive intentions, a secret political movement? The question makes sense only because mankind was at the top of the Cold War(but nobody mention this in the film). The truth is that everything was about free love and sexual liberation, including women liberation, black people liberation, gay liberation. And, most of all, was about Music, a very unique genre in the history of music. The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Thelma Houston, The Trammps, Chic, Kool And The Gang, etc., they are all heroes of the history of mankind, not only the history of Disco. And, the leader of all this, a guy called Giorgio Moroder, he is not mentioned at all. That's political, because he is not American, he was born in Europe, in Italy. He took what was best in American black music and rearranged everything and created what was called DISCO. He done it since 1970 in Europe, continuing with Donna Summer in Germany... Much the same as did Sergio Leone, reinventing the Western. And, you know what, I don't give a damn s..t about that "Disco Sucks" event, that did not killed anything, just the minds of those gathered there in that American stadium were dead. In what concerns me, DISCO lives on, is alive and healthy. In my mind, heart & soul.
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strong-122-47888513 December 2017"Get down and boogie!!"
This decidedly silly documentary actually has the gall to seriously suggest to the viewer that there's a whole lot more to the 1970's disco dance-craze than meets the eye.
Believe it, or not - This ding-dong presentation actually goes so far out on a limb as to say that (are you ready for this?) the roots of disco can be traced all the way back to Nazi Germany. (Spare me!)
Yes. Indeed. I do admit that there were some very entertaining moments spattered throughout "Disco's" 85-minute running time.
But, generally speaking - This is a pretty laughable and decidedly dumb documentary for the most part - Arrogantly suggesting that disco actually improved the world (Oh? Really?) - And, that its invention was, of all things, masterminded. (Ha! Give me a break, already!) -
This movie sucks. If you have a basic knowledge of the Disco era, this movie offers no new information but alludes to a new perspective which it fails to demonstrate and eventually abandons.
The movie offers less info than a Wikipedia article about the origins of Disco, the first Disco hit, major disco DJs, producers, etc. It's like watching an infomercial for piles of Disco CDs. Skimming the surface of interesting information. with a twist. A weird framing device.
The whole premise is that Disco was revolutionary for gays, blacks and women. So they have a gay, a black, and a woman acting as "the masterminds" while a kitschy voice-over explains their actions as though they were gods with a Disco based agenda.
These are annoying characters and their purpose seems to be to support the claims made in Alice Echols' book "Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture." But the scholar Alice Echols is presented as a joke, with heavy focus on unsubstantiated academic over-reaching.
It seems possible that the Disco era had a social impact, but calling it a "Disco Revolution" and adding that bullshit framing device is the filmmaker's cute way of saying, he's not sure he believes it.
Highlight of the movie: interviews with Ronald Kool Bell and Nicky Siano. -
What's with the narrator voice from every science film that you saw in high school?
The "Disco Mastermind" wrap-arounds are cringe-worthy.
This feels like a Masters Thesis.
I do disagree with The Village People. Those songs were DEFINITELY "double-entendres." Please.
The "disco years" were my high school era. I owned all of the 45s.
And "Can't Stop the Music" was left out?????? The death knell of disco, by far.
Back to The Village People. Weren't there all kinds of issues with that group. In-fighting, etc. That's not even dealt with. Thus, the band members come across somewhat poorly, when interviewed.
This "documentary" is really bad. -
ch-m-davis28 May 2013Honestly, if you have an appreciation of the 70s, than you'll be very thankful for this documentary as much as I was. My parents grew up in this time period, so I grew up with them telling me stories and playing songs from that era. Writer and director, Jamie Kastner, did a great job in explaining how the American 70s was revolutionary. He explains how disco was the starting point to rock, techno and just about any other genre in today's society. After seeing this movie, it definitely makes me wish I could go back in time just to visit this music era and come back because first it's a quick turn around and secondly, it was all about anything goes, which is how I live my life!