Henry Fields Penelope Spehhers' "Suburbia" is just like "The Goonies", but so boring and typical, and instead of a bunch of mid-class kids we got a bunch of homeless punk kids playing the neighborhood's bad guys. Maybe Sphheris wanted to make sort of a denounce of all those kids who live in the streets, but she just idealizes that way of life. Come on, this has nothing to do with REAL margination and poverty. The movie is just an excuse to show some punk rock bands playing and some scenes of street vandalism... and that's OK only if you do it in style, but this is not the case.*My rate: 3/10

Grosik_Stim Okay, punks. If you grew up on punk icons Good Charlotte, if you call Green Day's Dookie or Offspring's Smash "old school", if you paint your leather because you saw it on VH1, if you think the term "hardcore" relates to Ozzfest somehow, if you think skinheads originated in America as a racist gang, if you think tagging cars and brick walls started with hip-hop, if you call slam dancing "moshing"... here's a little history lesson:1. Good Charlotte is a mainstream pop-rock band2. Green Day released great records called 39 Smooth and Kerplunk on Lookout. Offspring's debut (if you can find an original copy) is fast, sloppy, out of tune and pretty cool. But if you're really looking for old school, The Damned can give you a good glimpse into where T.S.O.L (with two songs in the movie) and even Brit-pop come from.3. Four offset bars are required on all leather jackets. Thank Greg Ginn. 4. Hardcore is, well, without explaining American post-punk and straight edge, Dead Kennedys, SNFU, 7 Seconds, Agnostic Front, Crucifucks, Youth of Today, Judge, Gorrila Biscuits and thousands more, not Slipknot. Go listen to Propaghandi. 5. Violent, young, maybe confused in their politics, but ignore the news stories and find a 4-Skins or Sham 69 record. Then look up S.H.A.R.P. on the internet. 6. Look for the Exploited's mantra "Punks Not Dead" on the walls of your local alleys, it's probably still there somewhere. 7. There's a way to do it, look at a Circle Jerks shirt. Stage diving used to be legal... honest.AND... if you needed to be told any of that, go rent Suburbia and you'll take your first step toward enlightenment. Oi, Oi That's yer lot.

reg-71 I recently rediscovered this movie in a bargain bin. When I was growing up in Dublin this was the movie we all watched when one of our parents went out and we could sneak in some beer. One night I couldn't afford beer and bought a jar of coffee instead . I watched the movie 5 times that night!!I was nervous putting on the movie. (I had found Sid And Nancy a few weeks previously and found it absolutely awful.) But it was like a trip down a familiar path. This movie is Quality. The acting is awful, the message is non-existent and did I mention the acting is awful, but it doesn't matter .Its a perfect snapshot of what it was like to be a young punk anywhere in the eighties and pre Nirvana nineties. The fact that not one band gets to finish a set was true a lot of the time, (usually because of idiots like the TR kids!!!) The kids are not meant to be role models they are meant to be lost kids who lash out as kids are wont to do.This movie isn't meant to be over analised . For anyone who's in their mid 30's and had any interest in Hardcore/Punk during their teens should own this movie. Reg

orlanthrex Suburbia is one of my favourite films. Its cheap in places with tacky sounds, however that only adds to its charm. The characters have appeal and the situations seem real. There is nothing pretentious about it, the protagonists are not made out to be either good or evil, just drifting teenagers who don't think through what they do. The director draws us along with some sympathy for the TR even when they are up to no good, as its clear that deep down they don't actually mean any harm to anyone. A lot of people have rated this film with 10's, I can't see that (and gave it a 7) as it is still basically a cheap B movie. But definitely a good one.