My whole idea of them, is they work when it isn't something that was covered heavily on film as it happend. Why would I watch this, or Queens movie, or Elton's when everything they're showing is out there for real.
Probably. As a typical example, as Andy McCoy said about the Motley Crue fictional movie: Just pure bollocks and lies again! And I'm sure Jake E. Lee for one agrees since he's said the Crue with Ozzy snorting ants story is BS - it was in truth a tiny spider by the pool. If some rockers like Crue and Ozzy as a rule tell lies, what can one expect from someone making his name and some bucks from a story? Nothing better anyway. Few are as honest as John Lydon for example. It's sad really. Reality isn't uninteresting, it is uninteresting people who can't extract the interesting nuances and flavors out of the seemingly mundane.
If anyone should like this (and I admit I did), it should be Johnny. It’s such an obvious apology and admission from Steve that Johnny was right, Johnny was what made the band special, Johnny was the moral compass in the midst of madness... I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character in a biopic shown so much respect and reverence.
I agree, people get too hung up on what Johnny has said in the years following, and forget how much he loved the Pistols, or how he tried to save them from McLaren's influence.
In the early 2000s I worked at a record store in LA (Amoeba) that Steve Jones would come into at least once a week. So over the course of four years I talked to him a lot. When I saw the ad’s for Pistol I just assumed I would hate it with a fiery passion, the same way I had hated CBGB and Bohemian Rhapsody and practically every other biopic I’ve ever seen. So I was kind of stunned when I not only didn’t hate it, but I actually felt it was about as good as any ‘Biopic’ of a band or music scene was ever likely to get. And because of my acquaintance with Jones, I thought, “I don’t know about all of the characters being portrayed. But the guy playing Steve is nailing his personality perfectly”. I felt like I was back at Amoeba talking to him. And as others in this thread have already said, it felt as though it was Steve’s apology to Johnny. Lydon comes off as the only member of the band to really understand what was going on. And considering that this was based on Jones memoir, that’s a pretty honest thing for him to acknowledge.
Like all biopics this was 'loosely' based on someone's autobiography, in this case Steve Jones. It was never going to be 100% accurate and it was always going to have it's fair share of fiction. I have been a fan for over 40 years and found it entertaining and it also helped to keep the Pistols legend alive for a younger generation. The court case etc was well John just being John, no one would really expect anything less to be honest.
@@ScoopedMids I think the quote “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” rings true for John. it’s sad to see him going down this path. he’s become everything he hated during his youth
@@michaelmac1798 - You've hit the nail on the head there mate. John has tried for years to get his book optioned for a film & then Steve (someone often depicted as illiterate) leapfrogs over him. They all did very well out of this, including John. As for them leaving him out of discussions, John was ok with re-recording Vacant/Anarchy for 'Guitar Hero3 game' in 2008 & leaving Glen out of it, he just doesnt like it when it's his turn to have to go along with the majority rules agreement they all signed when they reformed.
As a massive pistols fan I genuinely loved it, what do you expect from Hollywood? This was miles ahead of most biopics especially recent ones like bohemian rhapsody and The dirt.
@@lionhartd138 It’s mainly just people who dislike Mötley Crüe who shit on the film, it’s got a few inaccuracies, but I think the film from the POV of a film is actually quite good. People should think about whether the film itself is good first and foremost.
Just watching the series, hats off to the cast and Danny Boyle for an excellent effort in "trying" to recreate the Sex Pistols story. As a big fan in the 1970s i have watched this with a critical eye but have actually been enjoying it and chuckling at some scenes. So the biopic isn't accurate, well what historical re-enactment ever is, but it at least provides a flavour of how this great band came about. Well done Steve Jones with his book Lonely Boy and getting this mini series out there. Should have been a film though. cheers m dears!
I saw a interview with Chrissie Hynde and she stated she was going to marry Sid to stay in the country. He didn’t show up so she ask John. This whole thing with Steve is news to me. Go figure.
I found it weird that they fabricated a love affair between Steve and Chrissy to make things "more interesting", but their scenes together were the most boring of the entire series, I even skipped a few
The series looks and feels incredible, the set accuracy is excellent, the acting is good, the band playing is, maybe, too good. I doubt the Pistols ever sounded that good live. If you can disband any notion you know better than the people who were there and ride out the fictional liberties, it's a really good series. I grew up in Islington, same as Lydon, went to the same school (SWoY), and worked in Soho in the early 80's. Doesn't make me an expert on the Pistols but, it does give me a knowledge of the environment. So yeh, worth a watch for the nostalgia alone.
I thought it sounded too polished live and like it was made to clap along to. I've seen it once and enjoyed it, but don't think I could stomach it twice, after I read Steve Jones book, which it's based on!
Even if it was inaccurate like Johnny said this show got me into the Sex Pistols (I did look into them more after the fact so it’s where all my knowledge of the band comes from) made me like punk rock more than I already did. Also it was shot incredibly well and I think the casting was great.
250 items in my collection, met glen,and John, love the band seen them six times live,not seen pistol yet mixed feelings about it.ive bought the mini album today great demos from matlock period he was a decent bass player.
It really felt like the producers were like "Uhh it's English so who can we get to direct it? Who's English and edgy?? Who has done a movie about British music in the last decade?? Danny Boyle??? Fine bring him in!" No love and no guts. Plus we really don't need another Sex Pistols anything. Nothing says punk like obsessing over one band from 40 years ago that have shirts you can buy in department stores.
Like all good myths, there is always an element of truth. It this case, there really was a band called The Sex Pistols, and they were in Britain in the late-70s.
You have to give The Sex Pistols there due. Johnny Rotten was only 17 when he was writting classic songs. His lyrics for that age and the sound that band made was just unbelievable. Didnt like the series myself to be honest but love the band. But im more into the New York scene.
La serie contó sólo un 20% de lo que realmente pasó, el 80% fue pura ficción, pero está a bien porque esto no es un documental. sin dudas el capitulo 3, la historia de bodies, fue el mejor desarrollado, hasta me pareció excelente, hacía tiempo que no veía algo dramático tan bien hecho. John lydon no se puede quejar, el chico que lo interpretó lo hizo con mucho respeto, en las escenas de los recitales logro la esencia de rotten, y si bien físicamente no era muy parecido , la voz y la gestualidad lo hizo genial. El guión también lo dejo bien parado, ya que el único personaje creativo y con inteligencia emocional fue rotten. El actor que hizo a sid estuvo muy bien, nunca lo van a reconocer pero este sid fue mucho mejor actuado que el sid de Gary oldman. Lo único que puedo criticar es el final. Coincido con tu criterio ; hubiera sido genial que el final sea con rotten grabando el single debut de PIL y el nuevo riff que traía Levene. Era madurar y dejar atrás el punk, para dar pasó a otro nuevo fenómeno como lo fue el post punk.
A really great critique....I found myself agreeing with so many points you raise, which surprised me, I mean, what does a yank know! but you really seem to understand the era and the whole concept of the Pistols. I was 15 in 1977 and the punk "movement" filled my soul at the time and still lingers in my psyche when I see clips of the time.
I liked it. Whatever historical inconsistencies and how much fairytale it was... It had really good actors, i,liked Boon, Partridge and the guy playing Maclaren. It was entertaining for what it was... "Inspired by real events" as the show credits took it.
I got into punk rock in 1978 in junior high school in Orange County, California. I was never able to see the original Sex Pistols live with Sid, but I have seen PIL a couple times which has Johnny Lydon on vocals. The first time I saw them I thought it was just a scam to get money off his name. I have also seen The Professionals a few times, with Steve Jones and Paul Cook. I honestly like The Professionals better musically then I did PIL. But that just might be because they played more Sex Pistols songs along with their own. Sid Vicious had a great future, it is too bad that he OD'd and died. He did not kill Nancy! It was probably a drug dealer.
do you still think that about PiL? as much as I love the sex pistols stuff for being good straightforward early punk the first three PiL albums (especially the first two) are far more interesting to me. John sings far better there and the band was fantastic. dubby, experimental post punk/rock
@@md244-w6v Roberta Bayley Judy Vermorel UA-cam Sid Vicious - The Vermorel Interview Sid Vicious - Roberta Bayley Telephone Conversation - January 20th 1978 Sid Vicious Telephone Conversation With Roberta Bayley. 20/02/78 The Gospel According To PISTOL - The Rise And Fall Of The Sex Pistols Beyond Fiction - Ziggy & Iggy In Velvet Goldmine The Real Velvet Goldmine
@willquigg8265 Roberta Bayley Judy Vermorel UA-cam Sid Vicious - The Vermorel Interview Sid Vicious - Roberta Bayley Telephone Conversation - January 20th 1978 Sid Vicious Telephone Conversation With Roberta Bayley. 20/02/78 The Gospel According To PISTOL - The Rise And Fall Of The Sex Pistols Beyond Fiction - Ziggy & Iggy In Velvet Goldmine The Real Velvet Goldmine
"What about the word 'punk'? It means worthless, nasty. Johnny Rotten are you happy with this word?" "No, the press gave us it, it's their problem not ours, we never called ourselves punk." John Lydon Nationwide interview 1976
I also find Sex Pistols documentaries work better than movies for them. As well as Filth and the Fury, Julien Temple made another Sex Pistols documentary for TV, Never Mind The Baubles about a Christmas benefit show The Sex Pistols gave in Huddersfield. The DVD of the Classic Albums episode on Never Mind The Bullocks is also great as is a bonus feature on the DVD of the reunion concert film They'll Always Be an England where The Sex Pistols give a guided tour of London.
The series is fantastic, a lot of the facts in there are correct and the acting is superb. Lydon doesn't like anything the Pistols release these days. But the series itself holds up.
There does seem to be a strange belief among many in the USA that the Sex Pistols were an industry plant, backed by EMI, to capitalise on punk's popularity. The fact that the story doesn't remotely stack up doesn't seem to deter them. I'm guessing it comes from US Hardcore 'elitists' for whom the US Hardcore scene is the only 'true punk', so naturally, hating the most well-known punk band ever is lesson No.2 is being a true punk (lesson one is obviously hating Green Day). I do find it interesting that there's always been such an interest in the history of punk, but not in other genres, particularly given the niche status its always had. Maybe that's the appeal.
The reason they kept Lydon out of it is simple: he would have taken it over and made it about him. He would have moaned and complained and thrown his toys out of the pram until he got his own way. We've had Lydon's story (had meningitis - single-handedly invented punk - the other members of the Pistols were wankers) so it was refreshing to have another point of view from a different Pistol. It's not entirely accurate but it's close enough and very entertaining.
Eh, maybe. But, I think they could've at least sent him a script to show that he wasn't shown in too bad of a light. It likely would have lessened the controversy. But, then again, they were probably banking on Johnny running his mouth on the series.
I would be angry if i was portrayed in some tv show and was played by somebody and i wouldn't have a word to say about it. Plus he write all their lyrics!
Great job as always the pistols lasted 2-3 years made one album there story has been told many times. The pistols are still alive and I would go see them anywhere on planet and pay any amount that won’t ever happen but I still have hope
david Ramone - I really struggle to understand why you say you would pay any amount of money to see The Pistols as they are today. I remember in 96 when they announced they were reforming. My friend got 2 tickets to see them and his bird backed out and he offered the ticket to me for nothing. I didn't entertain it because even then I knew how bad it would be and sure enough it was. I was so annoyed at John for being so stupid. He swore blind in his first book he would never embarrass himself by reforming but then he did it anyway. All those gigs from 96 onwards don't even sound anything like The Sex Pistols or look anything like The Sex Pistols. He doesn't even sing the songs in the same voice. It's like he hasn't got that voice anymore. That tribute band The Sex Pistols experience sound more like The Pistols than the real reformed Pistols do. What they had the first time round was magical. They totally ruined the legend of it all by making fools of themselves as old men. Ok they got shit loads of money but is that worth ruining everything??
@@BillyJango I guess they made almost nothing the first time round, because McLaren wasted it all, so why not cash in? Lydon said that he only did it to finance PiL. Lydon really is the problem though, as he seems to have set up this personal caricature for himself, where he has to hate absolutely everything and be obnoxious on cue.
@@BillyJango the fuck are you talking about? it bothers you they didn’t look or sound the same 20 years later? i would have loved to have seen them on that tour, regardless of how cynical a cash-in it may have been. nostalgia acts are always a bit weird, but if you love a band, its fun to see them years later, even if they dress or perform their material a bit differently
Gotta have the fake love interest in any edgy biopic nowadays. My personal favorite was the blonde chick and euronymous in lords of chaos, they make it seem like playing the most celibate form of extreme metal turns dudes into a pussy magnet. Can't wait until Gwar gets a biopic
Just found your channel through this video and absolutely love it! Great video on the show it perfectly describes my feelings towards it. PS Please do a video on what we do is secret or any other punk biopics!!
Is it impossible for an actor to portray John Lydon with any degree of accuracy? Andre Schofield phoned it in for Sid and Nancy and Anson Boon went way over the top with this.
I watched the filth and the fury many times now, love listening to it while I paint and feel like every time i come back to it I discover something new, such an amazing fun documentary. The pistols was fun to watch however I couldn’t help but cringe every time vivian westwood and the side character teenagers would go on about "revolution" it is so simplified for TV almost like with the amazing set and scenery of the series they still needed to tell us instead of showing us what the time was like, does it make sense 😅
I have to agree with you about Westwood activism. I adore her tho. I loved The Sex Pistols, and I feel tehy should be regarded a bit more respectfully, the album Never Mind The Bollocks is a total classic and played so well.
I agree! Lots of things in Pistol were very simplified, like things that we would work out without them having to say. Both other than that and it being inaccurate which didn't bother me too much, Pistol was a great series and I will 100% watch it again
I watched it with my Grand-dad, who is 89, and he loved it. Afterwards he said "I thought they were supposed to be controversial." He also told me he didn't remember them.
A comprehensive review with many clips, and this series does not look very good atall. Some of it is utterly cringe-worthy, but I agree that the script looks like the main (big) problem.
Full disclosure, I have not finished this review as of yet but halfway through I have to say I find the narrator really nitpicking. It's been a long time since Sid and Nancy came out and to see something from the perspective of Steve Jones directed by Danny Boyle is a gift. Why not accept it as such? And to answer your question which is it Danny boyle..... I think the answer is Danny Boyle was trying to say that it is Johnny rotten's persona to dislike and criticize, hence Rotten and not Lydon. I think boil is trying to say it's fine for him to criticize it publicly but he hopes privately Johnny will like it. I loved the series. And even though I'm critical I enjoyed this critique as well. 😊
Probably Mclaren was largely responsible for the Sex Pistols and Punk. He was a Mentor to Steve Jones and his shop gave a base from which the punk scene developed. His friend was Bernie Rhodes manager of the Clash. And though the Damned claim the 1st punk LP release, they were all influenced when they saw the Pistols play live.
Absolutely not. Mclaren should be proud of his accomplishments, but to say that he is responsible for the Sex Pistols, let alone punk, is fucking laughable. The Ramones would probably have something to say about that. I always knew there were people who bought the Mclaren narrative, but this is actually the first time I’ve ever encountered a believer.
You got a Lot of 'facts' wrong but you also got enough right. Overall though, you got enough of the relevant points right that I enjoyed your video. Keep en coming, I like shouting at the tv 👍🏻
I discovered this channel around a week ago,now I'm in love watching almost every video. Subbed! Hope you make a Scorpions ranking video (My Favourite Band) 💙🤘
Rotten is right … apparently these actors are walking around London like they went through the hostility and adversity that the pistols did!! Hahahaha. Ever felt like you’ve been cheated!! 🙄
Great review! I have always found it intolerable to witness those blank expressions of such actors as they try to act out the soul of a culture, the punk culture, they have no comprehension of. They end up looking like morons or condescending brats when they sing and talk. I could never bring myself to watch this involuntary ridicule of my culture, but I think your expression of opinions is excellent, and I agree with your take on it. However, I'm not nearly as lenient as you are in judging the level of the performance.
13:06 Sorry to turn the comments into a blog (my last one!) I almost didn't bother watching after this, so weird and pointless. I don't remember this in the book at all. (Read it a few years ago.)
Contrary to popular beliefs. Punk Rock actually started and was born in the United States of America!!! Any music historian will absolutely verify that!!
I'm still waiting for that NOFX biopic, but this got my attention just enough. I was entertained by this show. Not a Pistols fan to start with. I do enjoy biopics that tell a coherent story. I still haven't seen the movie about Zlatan Ibrahimovics rise as a football player, but I did watch Blonde on Netflix which was a straight up disaster and a complete cluster fuck of moving images that made an otherwise interesting story unbearable to follow. Anyway, I did enjoy this. As a non Pistols fan.
Halfway through this video I kept thinking that it all looks familiar. Then I realized I'd seen this a while back. This isnt new. Maybe they just changed the name of it.
It's silly. The writing is definitely the worst bit about it by a long way. But it was really really fun. Like genuinely a good time while being atleast somewhat accurate so like I'm glad it exists and glad I watched it. Didn't expect John to be the kindest portrayal considering how he slammed it
I heartliy agree;I hated a skinny white woman playing the venerable Poly Styrene/Marion Elliot.X-Ray Spex,as well as the early Banshees,were my favorite '77 UK bands.None could emulate Styrene-least of all her voice-but they could have come much closer.
You're obviously smart but if I could give one piece of advice from one know it all to another: Research. Always remember to do your research. And ask your dad if you're not sure about some of the facts. If you had read, or better yet, listened to "Lonely Boy", you would know that Steve Jones is being completely honest, especially about the sex origin stuff in the first episode. Here's a lil bit of Hollywood knowledge: They didn't tell Rotten bout "Pistol" until it was done because Mr Jones- the smart and sober one-was sick of John fucking up the money. Two examples are: Mr Lydon got mad at The Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame because they wouldn't give him a free table at the awards ceremony so he got "pissed" and wrote a nasty open letter on the band's website bashing-n-slaggin' the hallowed institution and refusing to go. He spoke for the rest of the band without asking them first. From what I heard, that costs the Sex Pistols millions of "Filthy Lucre." More recently, when "The Crown" offered to do a sync license of "God Save The Queen" for the "25th Jubilee Episode", Rotten said no because people were throwing bricks at her carriage and John said "we never threw bricks at her!" Oh well, $80,000 quid down the drain. For those of you that think the Damned were influenced by The Pistols and that they invented the look and attitude on stage: Watch "Gimme Danger", the brilliant Jim Jarmusch documentary about The Stooges, any footage of The New York Dolls and or Johnny Thunders/The Heartbreakers, and of course The Ramones. Finally, I totally agree with Rotten writing "I Hate" on his Pink Floyd T-Shirt. I was so inspired that I did the same thing to my Journey Jersey in 7th Grade. That real corporate rock bs that preceded all of Punk Rock, Danny Boyle and company nailed in "Pistol!" Funny that after recently re-falling in love with Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd and realizing that he was the first rock/pop star ever to say, " fuck it, this is bullshit, I won't be your Corporate Plant," that Rotten's "Punk Rock, fuck the Pop Star Machine Attitude" was and is just a cheap imitation of the Madcap (minus the acid but plenty boozed up.) And that good people was the dawn of Punk Rock. Along with a bit of those other corporate, or shall we say? Andy Warhol's Factory Made Favorite Plants, VU. Google it if you don't believe me.
I had the fortune to attend the infamous Sex Pistol's 'Shoot out in Texas' at the Longhorn ... I would like to put in my two cents relating to one of the more popular bits of Pistols' misinformation ... Sid Vicious never played bass ... just "air guitar" ... well ... I could plainly hear all three of the band's instruments playing ... including the bass ... Sid certainly, was nowhere near a Tal Wilkenfeld, John Entwhistle. Bill Whyman, John Paul Jones or even Glenn Matlock ... but I must admit he was doing a respectable job that evening of keeping time with Paul Cook ... Steve Jones was doing a great job of feeding off the two of them ... while John Lyden was doing Johnny Rotten ... Sid could play bass ... barely ... (:))
@@ScoopedMids ... that is fair ... keeping time is only the bottom of playing bass ... that night Sid was still along ways from getting the handle "thunder fingers" ... apparently they only played one more gig after that together, so he was not likely to have gotten much better ... (:)) I saw the Pistols again almost twenty years later Aug 12, 1996 in Toronto and will say that based on the album and early videos, right from the start, I was more a fan of Matlock than Sid ... for both stage presence and playing ability ...
I must say as an old punk,the tv series is a total load of old bollox,I was thinking of having a look at it but having seen loads of clips in another documentary recently 😱 pile of 💩 so glad I didn't waste my time.
You need to reqd Steve's book and then watch it. I did it like that accidentally and had a better experience, it's more atmospheric. I liked it, it was alright, considering that we don't get much for punk in a sense of a show. A movie here and there, nothing new. So it was fun for me.
Have Biopics gone too far?
Depends for me some are great some are crap
General problem with ALL historical movies, do never expect reality or even history, justbstory.
My whole idea of them, is they work when it isn't something that was covered heavily on film as it happend. Why would I watch this, or Queens movie, or Elton's when everything they're showing is out there for real.
Probably. As a typical example, as Andy McCoy said about the Motley Crue fictional movie: Just pure bollocks and lies again! And I'm sure Jake E. Lee for one agrees since he's said the Crue with Ozzy snorting ants story is BS - it was in truth a tiny spider by the pool. If some rockers like Crue and Ozzy as a rule tell lies, what can one expect from someone making his name and some bucks from a story? Nothing better anyway. Few are as honest as John Lydon for example. It's sad really. Reality isn't uninteresting, it is uninteresting people who can't extract the interesting nuances and flavors out of the seemingly mundane.
Uve gone too far ya gimp mask
If anyone should like this (and I admit I did), it should be Johnny. It’s such an obvious apology and admission from Steve that Johnny was right, Johnny was what made the band special, Johnny was the moral compass in the midst of madness... I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character in a biopic shown so much respect and reverence.
I agree, people get too hung up on what Johnny has said in the years following, and forget how much he loved the Pistols, or how he tried to save them from McLaren's influence.
He hates it lmao, he ranted about it live at a concert
you made sex pistols special
I thought they kind of made him out to be too much of a loser
@@killerinstinctstudios9065 Yeah. I could see that. He was much more confident and cocky, I think, in real life. Good point!
In the early 2000s I worked at a record store in LA (Amoeba) that Steve Jones would come into at least once a week. So over the course of four years I talked to him a lot. When I saw the ad’s for Pistol I just assumed I would hate it with a fiery passion, the same way I had hated CBGB and Bohemian Rhapsody and practically every other biopic I’ve ever seen. So I was kind of stunned when I not only didn’t hate it, but I actually felt it was about as good as any ‘Biopic’ of a band or music scene was ever likely to get. And because of my acquaintance with Jones, I thought, “I don’t know about all of the characters being portrayed. But the guy playing Steve is nailing his personality perfectly”. I felt like I was back at Amoeba talking to him. And as others in this thread have already said, it felt as though it was Steve’s apology to Johnny. Lydon comes off as the only member of the band to really understand what was going on. And considering that this was based on Jones memoir, that’s a pretty honest thing for him to acknowledge.
Did steve jones seem like a nice chap?
Like all biopics this was 'loosely' based on someone's autobiography, in this case Steve Jones. It was never going to be 100% accurate and it was always going to have it's fair share of fiction. I have been a fan for over 40 years and found it entertaining and it also helped to keep the Pistols legend alive for a younger generation. The court case etc was well John just being John, no one would really expect anything less to be honest.
Yeah, it's quite unfortunate to see the grumpy old man John has become. I mean, Steve Jones is still a chill dude all these years later.
@@ScoopedMids I think the quote “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” rings true for John. it’s sad to see him going down this path. he’s become everything he hated during his youth
The series isn't that bad, it's quite realistic in some of the issues it covers. Maybe John is upset because he's not the centre of attention!
@@michaelmac1798 - You've hit the nail on the head there mate. John has tried for years to get his book optioned for a film & then Steve (someone often depicted as illiterate) leapfrogs over him. They all did very well out of this, including John. As for them leaving him out of discussions, John was ok with re-recording Vacant/Anarchy for 'Guitar Hero3 game' in 2008 & leaving Glen out of it, he just doesnt like it when it's his turn to have to go along with the majority rules agreement they all signed when they reformed.
@@daviddonley3978 they probably didn't want him as an advisor because they knew he'd be argumentative and disagree too much - nothing would get done!
As a massive pistols fan I genuinely loved it, what do you expect from Hollywood?
This was miles ahead of most biopics especially recent ones like bohemian rhapsody and The dirt.
"The dirt" was not far off. And it 4th wall explains where it wasn't accurate. I don't see how that compares with the thrown together lie about Queen.
@@lionhartd138 It’s mainly just people who dislike Mötley Crüe who shit on the film, it’s got a few inaccuracies, but I think the film from the POV of a film is actually quite good. People should think about whether the film itself is good first and foremost.
I really love the way the show was filmed with that grainy hazy filter to give it that look from tv in the 70s looks so good
Just watching the series, hats off to the cast and Danny Boyle for an excellent effort in "trying" to recreate the Sex Pistols story.
As a big fan in the 1970s i have watched this with a critical eye but have actually been enjoying it and chuckling at some scenes.
So the biopic isn't accurate, well what historical re-enactment ever is, but it at least provides a flavour of how this great band came about.
Well done Steve Jones with his book Lonely Boy and getting this mini series out there.
Should have been a film though. cheers m dears!
I saw a interview with Chrissie Hynde and she stated she was going to marry Sid to stay in the country. He didn’t show up so she ask John. This whole thing with Steve is news to me. Go figure.
I found it weird that they fabricated a love affair between Steve and Chrissy to make things "more interesting", but their scenes together were the most boring of the entire series, I even skipped a few
The series looks and feels incredible, the set accuracy is excellent, the acting is good, the band playing is, maybe, too good. I doubt the Pistols ever sounded that good live. If you can disband any notion you know better than the people who were there and ride out the fictional liberties, it's a really good series. I grew up in Islington, same as Lydon, went to the same school (SWoY), and worked in Soho in the early 80's. Doesn't make me an expert on the Pistols but, it does give me a knowledge of the environment. So yeh, worth a watch for the nostalgia alone.
I thought it sounded too polished live and like it was made to clap along to. I've seen it once and enjoyed it, but don't think I could stomach it twice, after I read Steve Jones book, which it's based on!
hahah this was funny, safe to say there was love and hate for this mini-series but liked it overall. loved Toby Wallace!!!!
Even if it was inaccurate like Johnny said this show got me into the Sex Pistols (I did look into them more after the fact so it’s where all my knowledge of the band comes from) made me like punk rock more than I already did. Also it was shot incredibly well and I think the casting was great.
250 items in my collection, met glen,and John, love the band seen them six times live,not seen pistol yet mixed feelings about it.ive bought the mini album today great demos from matlock period he was a decent bass player.
I loved it especially the 3rd episode about the Bodies song.
It really felt like the producers were like "Uhh it's English so who can we get to direct it? Who's English and edgy?? Who has done a movie about British music in the last decade?? Danny Boyle??? Fine bring him in!" No love and no guts.
Plus we really don't need another Sex Pistols anything. Nothing says punk like obsessing over one band from 40 years ago that have shirts you can buy in department stores.
It's am industry, obviously every band is manufactured one way or another. Malcolm does deserve a lot of credit.
Like all good myths, there is always an element of truth. It this case, there really was a band called The Sex Pistols, and they were in Britain in the late-70s.
You have to give The Sex Pistols there due. Johnny Rotten was only 17 when he was writting classic songs. His lyrics for that age and the sound that band made was just unbelievable. Didnt like the series myself to be honest but love the band. But im more into the New York scene.
They didn’t stop him from seeing the script. He didn’t wish to see it.
La serie contó sólo un 20% de lo que realmente pasó, el 80% fue pura ficción, pero está a bien porque esto no es un documental.
sin dudas el capitulo 3, la historia de bodies, fue el mejor desarrollado, hasta me pareció excelente, hacía tiempo que no veía algo dramático tan bien hecho.
John lydon no se puede quejar, el chico que lo interpretó lo hizo con mucho respeto, en las escenas de los recitales logro la esencia de rotten, y si bien físicamente no era muy parecido , la voz y la gestualidad lo hizo genial. El guión también lo dejo bien parado, ya que el único personaje creativo y con inteligencia emocional fue rotten.
El actor que hizo a sid estuvo muy bien, nunca lo van a reconocer pero este sid fue mucho mejor actuado que el sid de Gary oldman.
Lo único que puedo criticar es el final.
Coincido con tu criterio ; hubiera sido genial que el final sea con rotten grabando el single debut de PIL y el nuevo riff que traía Levene. Era madurar y dejar atrás el punk, para dar pasó a otro nuevo fenómeno como lo fue el post punk.
Their is some proof that Steve Jones didn’t even play on the first album. Circle of tone did a very convincing video on the subject
A really great critique....I found myself agreeing with so many points you raise, which surprised me, I mean, what does a yank know! but you really seem to understand the era and the whole concept of the Pistols. I was 15 in 1977 and the punk "movement" filled my soul at the time and still lingers in my psyche when I see clips of the time.
I'm actually Australian. The accent is the end result of a speech impediment during my childhood. But, thanks.
@@ScoopedMids Bummer...poor you!!! Still a great vid though😃
I liked it. Whatever historical inconsistencies and how much fairytale it was...
It had really good actors, i,liked Boon, Partridge and the guy playing Maclaren.
It was entertaining for what it was...
"Inspired by real events" as the show credits took it.
And i'll NEVER understand how people can perceive S&N as a good movie... Oldman is a great actor, but he was so wasted on that crappy, bad film.
Seen pistols at Hammersmith oden 2008,this was the very place where jones nicked the gear when the roadies were asleep,at the david bowie ziggy gigs.
I got into punk rock in 1978 in junior high school in Orange County, California. I was never able to see the original Sex Pistols live with Sid, but I have seen PIL a couple times which has Johnny Lydon on vocals. The first time I saw them I thought it was just a scam to get money off his name. I have also seen The Professionals a few times, with Steve Jones and Paul Cook. I honestly like The Professionals better musically then I did PIL. But that just might be because they played more Sex Pistols songs along with their own. Sid Vicious had a great future, it is too bad that he OD'd and died. He did not kill Nancy! It was probably a drug dealer.
do you still think that about PiL? as much as I love the sex pistols stuff for being good straightforward early punk the first three PiL albums (especially the first two) are far more interesting to me. John sings far better there and the band was fantastic. dubby, experimental post punk/rock
@@md244-w6v Roberta Bayley
Judy Vermorel
UA-cam
Sid Vicious - The Vermorel Interview
Sid Vicious - Roberta Bayley Telephone Conversation - January 20th 1978
Sid Vicious Telephone Conversation With Roberta Bayley. 20/02/78
The Gospel According To PISTOL - The Rise And Fall Of The Sex Pistols
Beyond Fiction - Ziggy & Iggy In Velvet Goldmine
The Real Velvet Goldmine
@willquigg8265
Roberta Bayley
Judy Vermorel
UA-cam
Sid Vicious - The Vermorel Interview
Sid Vicious - Roberta Bayley Telephone Conversation - January 20th 1978
Sid Vicious Telephone Conversation With Roberta Bayley. 20/02/78
The Gospel According To PISTOL - The Rise And Fall Of The Sex Pistols
Beyond Fiction - Ziggy & Iggy In Velvet Goldmine
The Real Velvet Goldmine
@willquigg8265 Agreed! Syd did not kill Nancy! It was a drug dealer named Michael.
As a 58 year old punk rock fan,thanks for voicing my feelings.Your Dad should be proud.
"What about the word 'punk'? It means worthless, nasty. Johnny Rotten are you happy with this word?" "No, the press gave us it, it's their problem not ours, we never called ourselves punk." John Lydon Nationwide interview 1976
Sid and Nancy felt like a R-rated Punk version of Looney Tunes or Ren and Stimpy.
I hate the people who made this series, and I hate no one.
I also find Sex Pistols documentaries work better than movies for them. As well as Filth and the Fury, Julien Temple made another Sex Pistols documentary for TV, Never Mind The Baubles about a Christmas benefit show The Sex Pistols gave in Huddersfield. The DVD of the Classic Albums episode on Never Mind The Bullocks is also great as is a bonus feature on the DVD of the reunion concert film They'll Always Be an England where The Sex Pistols give a guided tour of London.
10:46 Agree, loved the look and set design.
She did nearly marry Steve so she could stay in the US?? Nope she nearly married Sid so she could stay in the UK.
How exactly is selling an NFT to generate funds for alzheimer's research like burning down a rain forest for drinking water?
Right, kind of an idiotic thing to say, lol.
The series is fantastic, a lot of the facts in there are correct and the acting is superb. Lydon doesn't like anything the Pistols release these days. But the series itself holds up.
John wasn't signing off on PIL in this show ever. Lol
There does seem to be a strange belief among many in the USA that the Sex Pistols were an industry plant, backed by EMI, to capitalise on punk's popularity. The fact that the story doesn't remotely stack up doesn't seem to deter them. I'm guessing it comes from US Hardcore 'elitists' for whom the US Hardcore scene is the only 'true punk', so naturally, hating the most well-known punk band ever is lesson No.2 is being a true punk (lesson one is obviously hating Green Day).
I do find it interesting that there's always been such an interest in the history of punk, but not in other genres, particularly given the niche status its always had. Maybe that's the appeal.
UK and US punk were VERY different things.
it should be a law that only a film about a rock band should be made by fans of that rock band
The reason they kept Lydon out of it is simple: he would have taken it over and made it about him. He would have moaned and complained and thrown his toys out of the pram until he got his own way. We've had Lydon's story (had meningitis - single-handedly invented punk - the other members of the Pistols were wankers) so it was refreshing to have another point of view from a different Pistol. It's not entirely accurate but it's close enough and very entertaining.
Eh, maybe. But, I think they could've at least sent him a script to show that he wasn't shown in too bad of a light. It likely would have lessened the controversy. But, then again, they were probably banking on Johnny running his mouth on the series.
I would be angry if i was portrayed in some tv show and was played by somebody and i wouldn't have a word to say about it.
Plus he write all their lyrics!
I would love to see a reaction video of Lydon watching the series.
John Lydon has gone from teenage revolutionary to mad old bit-of-a-fascist fat uncle.
It sucked
When it first came out on Disne I couldn't stop watching it, I thoroughly enjoyed it I can't lie
the Girl who played Chrissie Hynde is better looking than the real one!
@ciao214Z weird, as i clicked on your comment Chain Gang - The Pretenders is on the Radio here!
Great job as always the pistols lasted 2-3 years made one album there story has been told many times. The pistols are still alive and I would go see them anywhere on planet and pay any amount that won’t ever happen but I still have hope
I think the debacle surrounding this series offically put the kibosh on any hope for a Pistols reunion in any form.
david Ramone - I really struggle to understand why you say you would pay any amount of money to see The Pistols as they are today. I remember in 96 when they announced they were reforming. My friend got 2 tickets to see them and his bird backed out and he offered the ticket to me for nothing. I didn't entertain it because even then I knew how bad it would be and sure enough it was. I was so annoyed at John for being so stupid. He swore blind in his first book he would never embarrass himself by reforming but then he did it anyway. All those gigs from 96 onwards don't even sound anything like The Sex Pistols or look anything like The Sex Pistols. He doesn't even sing the songs in the same voice. It's like he hasn't got that voice anymore. That tribute band The Sex Pistols experience sound more like The Pistols than the real reformed Pistols do. What they had the first time round was magical. They totally ruined the legend of it all by making fools of themselves as old men. Ok they got shit loads of money but is that worth ruining everything??
@@BillyJango I guess they made almost nothing the first time round, because McLaren wasted it all, so why not cash in? Lydon said that he only did it to finance PiL. Lydon really is the problem though, as he seems to have set up this personal caricature for himself, where he has to hate absolutely everything and be obnoxious on cue.
@@BillyJango the fuck are you talking about? it bothers you they didn’t look or sound the same 20 years later? i would have loved to have seen them on that tour, regardless of how cynical a cash-in it may have been.
nostalgia acts are always a bit weird, but if you love a band, its fun to see them years later, even if they dress or perform their material a bit differently
@@mj.l It isn't though is it. It is a total embarrassment.
Gotta have the fake love interest in any edgy biopic nowadays. My personal favorite was the blonde chick and euronymous in lords of chaos, they make it seem like playing the most celibate form of extreme metal turns dudes into a pussy magnet. Can't wait until Gwar gets a biopic
First time as tragedy, second time as farce.
Just found your channel through this video and absolutely love it! Great video on the show it perfectly describes my feelings towards it. PS Please do a video on what we do is secret or any other punk biopics!!
Yeah I agree!
Is it impossible for an actor to portray John Lydon with any degree of accuracy? Andre Schofield phoned it in for Sid and Nancy and Anson Boon went way over the top with this.
I watched the filth and the fury many times now, love listening to it while I paint and feel like every time i come back to it I discover something new, such an amazing fun documentary.
The pistols was fun to watch however I couldn’t help but cringe every time vivian westwood and the side character teenagers would go on about "revolution" it is so simplified for TV almost like with the amazing set and scenery of the series they still needed to tell us instead of showing us what the time was like, does it make sense 😅
I have to agree with you about Westwood activism. I adore her tho. I loved The Sex Pistols, and I feel tehy should be regarded a bit more respectfully, the album Never Mind The Bollocks is a total classic and played so well.
I agree! Lots of things in Pistol were very simplified, like things that we would work out without them having to say. Both other than that and it being inaccurate which didn't bother me too much, Pistol was a great series and I will 100% watch it again
One of my favorites. Unfortunately not too many docs follow suit. Take notes editors,directors,ect
Whole punk started with Steve Jones at shepherd's bush toilets
I still enjoy hearing one of our 'Murcan cousins say "Bollocks"
Good look into this. Give my appreciation from a punk rocker that played in a popular punk band
Which band were you in?
@@helenbartoszek243 Lower Class Brats
@@V3v15c3r8 Thanks. Even though I'm from Australia I have actually heard of you.
It didn't need to exist. Love your stuff man! (I essentialy ended up doing 2 reviews for this show as it confused me so badly 😀)
It was John and then Sid she was going to marry....not Steve
I fully agree that the only redeemable part of TGRnRS in the end sequence. Most people I know hate that song but I lOVE it.
I thought the series was very good. There was nothing new just showed it from a different side. I also thought they made Rotten look good
I personally love it, me and my grandma watch it together we both enjoyed it. I hope it comes out on DVD
I cannot imagine how awkward it would be if I watched it with my Grandma lmao
@@ScoopedMids Ya never know, I once got my mum to listen to Slipknot and she didn't hate it
I watched it with my Grand-dad, who is 89, and he loved it. Afterwards he said "I thought they were supposed to be controversial." He also told me he didn't remember them.
A comprehensive review with many clips, and this series does not look very good atall. Some of it is utterly cringe-worthy, but I agree that the script looks like the main (big) problem.
100% bang on review 👍
11:15 They wanted a love story and made one up. It's fan fiction. And of course they shoe horned Brass in Pocket in there.
Full disclosure, I have not finished this review as of yet but halfway through I have to say I find the narrator really nitpicking.
It's been a long time since Sid and Nancy came out and to see something from the perspective of Steve Jones directed by Danny Boyle is a gift.
Why not accept it as such?
And to answer your question which is it Danny boyle.....
I think the answer is Danny Boyle was trying to say that it is Johnny rotten's persona to dislike and criticize, hence Rotten and not Lydon. I think boil is trying to say it's fine for him to criticize it publicly but he hopes privately Johnny will like it.
I loved the series. And even though I'm critical I enjoyed this critique as well. 😊
I really didn't get the addition of the Chrissie Hynde plot. It added nothing
Anson did not look like a drug addict thank you
Probably Mclaren was largely responsible for the Sex Pistols and Punk. He was a Mentor to Steve Jones and his shop gave a base from which the punk scene developed. His friend was Bernie Rhodes manager of the Clash. And though the Damned claim the 1st punk LP release, they were all influenced when they saw the Pistols play live.
Absolutely not. Mclaren should be proud of his accomplishments, but to say that he is responsible for the Sex Pistols, let alone punk, is fucking laughable. The Ramones would probably have something to say about that.
I always knew there were people who bought the Mclaren narrative, but this is actually the first time I’ve ever encountered a believer.
@@spikesya Ramones were American, not British. McLaren managed the New York Dolls in 1974. UK punk gravitated around his shop down the King's Road!
You're 100% off on the "downfall" being too ling. It needed MORE of that. Especially in plave fo the Chrissie Hynde plot lines
You got a Lot of 'facts' wrong but you also got enough right. Overall though, you got enough of the relevant points right that I enjoyed your video.
Keep en coming, I like shouting at the tv 👍🏻
Thanks - great review that saves me the bother of watching it and being disappointed!
I discovered this channel around a week ago,now I'm in love watching almost every video. Subbed! Hope you make a Scorpions ranking video (My Favourite Band) 💙🤘
Thanks man, and do yourself a favour and maybe not bother with some of the older ones lmao.
Rotten is right … apparently these actors are walking around London like they went through the hostility and adversity that the pistols did!! Hahahaha. Ever felt like you’ve been cheated!! 🙄
I enjoyed it 😊👍🏻
Yup, it wasn't 100% accurate and yes, some of the script was a bit pretentious, but I think they did a cracking job.
Great review! I have always found it intolerable to witness those blank expressions of such actors as they try to act out the soul of a culture, the punk culture, they have no comprehension of. They end up looking like morons or condescending brats when they sing and talk. I could never bring myself to watch this involuntary ridicule of my culture, but I think your expression of opinions is excellent, and I agree with your take on it. However, I'm not nearly as lenient as you are in judging the level of the performance.
The swindle is awesome
The guy playing Steve Jones looks like the guy from A-HA in a wig..
Its for me..someone who just found out today these people existed
The way you pronounce bollocks is really funny
The best band in the world EVER!!!!!!! That’s why it’s tattooed on my inner forearm…….WE LIKE NOISE!!!
I was proud mook with my own vhs copy of The Swindle back in 94'..me and my bud both felt-"yea he's a dick..but I'd let him manage my band"
Who cares who admires and sings X-Ray Spex songs? Real music is made to be shared. Don’t chain lock it up, please. It’s a gift to/for all
The pistols are the only punk band. Just listen to their only album Never mind the Bollocks.
I think the Ruts are a pretty good punk band, ever heard of them?
@Babylonsburning. The Ruts are a good punk band though. Ever heard of them?
13:06 Sorry to turn the comments into a blog (my last one!) I almost didn't bother watching after this, so weird and pointless. I don't remember this in the book at all. (Read it a few years ago.)
"Then the Beatles and Rolling Stones were manufactured."
Um, they pretty much were lmao.
Also Matlock doesn't own any share in the Sex Pistols afaik.
I wish they hadn't used any real footage. Is it a drama or a documentary ?
Contrary to popular beliefs.
Punk Rock actually started and was born in the United States of America!!!
Any music historian will absolutely verify that!!
I'm still waiting for that NOFX biopic, but this got my attention just enough. I was entertained by this show. Not a Pistols fan to start with. I do enjoy biopics that tell a coherent story. I still haven't seen the movie about Zlatan Ibrahimovics rise as a football player, but I did watch Blonde on Netflix which was a straight up disaster and a complete cluster fuck of moving images that made an otherwise interesting story unbearable to follow.
Anyway, I did enjoy this. As a non Pistols fan.
I swear @10:30 that's the end by the doors in the background lol
The writing in music movies/shows usually come off like made for TV movies
What do you mean selling an nft for charity is like burning down the rain forest? Wtf? 😂
Halfway through this video I kept thinking that it all looks familiar. Then I realized I'd seen this a while back. This isnt new. Maybe they just changed the name of it.
It was great, Chrissie Hynde: Who knew?
It's silly. The writing is definitely the worst bit about it by a long way. But it was really really fun. Like genuinely a good time while being atleast somewhat accurate so like I'm glad it exists and glad I watched it.
Didn't expect John to be the kindest portrayal considering how he slammed it
Fuck, no PiL in there??? Should've at least mentioned it!!! (RIP Nora Forster)
in conclusion: CRAIGGG!!!!
I heartliy agree;I hated a skinny white woman playing the venerable Poly Styrene/Marion Elliot.X-Ray Spex,as well as the early Banshees,were my favorite '77 UK bands.None could emulate Styrene-least of all her voice-but they could have come much closer.
17:57 that’s exactly what they were lol
i loved the music in the bg of this vid , 18 bits kinda thing
You're obviously smart but if I could give one piece of advice from one know it all to another: Research. Always remember to do your research. And ask your dad if you're not sure about some of the facts.
If you had read, or better yet, listened to "Lonely Boy", you would know that Steve Jones is being completely honest, especially about the sex origin stuff in the first episode.
Here's a lil bit of Hollywood knowledge: They didn't tell Rotten bout "Pistol" until it was done because Mr Jones- the smart and sober one-was sick of John fucking up the money. Two examples are:
Mr Lydon got mad at The Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame because they wouldn't give him a free table at the awards ceremony so he got "pissed" and wrote a nasty open letter on the band's website bashing-n-slaggin' the hallowed institution and refusing to go. He spoke for the rest of the band without asking them first. From what I heard, that costs the Sex Pistols millions of "Filthy Lucre."
More recently, when "The Crown" offered to do a sync license of "God Save The Queen" for the "25th Jubilee Episode", Rotten said no because people were throwing bricks at her carriage and John said "we never threw bricks at her!" Oh well, $80,000 quid down the drain.
For those of you that think the Damned were influenced by The Pistols and that they invented the look and attitude on stage: Watch "Gimme Danger", the brilliant Jim Jarmusch documentary about The Stooges, any footage of The New York Dolls and or Johnny Thunders/The Heartbreakers, and of course The Ramones.
Finally, I totally agree with Rotten writing "I Hate" on his Pink Floyd T-Shirt. I was so inspired that I did the same thing to my Journey Jersey in 7th Grade. That real corporate rock bs that preceded all of Punk Rock, Danny Boyle and company nailed in "Pistol!"
Funny that after recently re-falling in love with Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd and realizing that he was the first rock/pop star ever to say, " fuck it, this is bullshit, I won't be your Corporate Plant," that Rotten's "Punk Rock, fuck the Pop Star Machine Attitude" was and is just a cheap imitation of the Madcap (minus the acid but plenty boozed up.) And that good people was the dawn of Punk Rock. Along with a bit of those other corporate, or shall we say? Andy Warhol's Factory Made Favorite Plants, VU. Google it if you don't believe me.
12:21 He had a copy of the bands bio 😀
Some Pistol s fan hate it ,but it's a drama not a documentary.
I don't know what it is but it looks like this was shot on film it has the look of a 80s 90s movie it has that lighting from that era
It kinda looks like it has stage lighting as if it were a play sometimes.
@@ScoopedMids mabey at some points
I had the fortune to attend the infamous Sex Pistol's 'Shoot out in Texas' at the Longhorn ... I would like to put in my two cents relating to one of the more popular bits of Pistols' misinformation ... Sid Vicious never played bass ... just "air guitar" ... well ... I could plainly hear all three of the band's instruments playing ... including the bass ... Sid certainly, was nowhere near a Tal Wilkenfeld, John Entwhistle. Bill Whyman, John Paul Jones or even Glenn Matlock ... but I must admit he was doing a respectable job that evening of keeping time with Paul Cook ... Steve Jones was doing a great job of feeding off the two of them ... while John Lyden was doing Johnny Rotten ... Sid could play bass ... barely ... (:))
By all accounts, by the north American tour he was getting better at playing. But, for majority of his tenure he couldn't play to save his life.
@@ScoopedMids ... that is fair ... keeping time is only the bottom of playing bass ... that night Sid was still along ways from getting the handle "thunder fingers" ... apparently they only played one more gig after that together, so he was not likely to have gotten much better ... (:))
I saw the Pistols again almost twenty years later Aug 12, 1996 in Toronto and will say that based on the album and early videos, right from the start, I was more a fan of Matlock than Sid ... for both stage presence and playing ability ...
who the fuck says joy division and new order were manufactured??
I must say as an old punk,the tv series is a total load of old bollox,I was thinking of having a look at it but having seen loads of clips in another documentary recently 😱 pile of 💩 so glad I didn't waste my time.
You need to reqd Steve's book and then watch it. I did it like that accidentally and had a better experience, it's more atmospheric. I liked it, it was alright, considering that we don't get much for punk in a sense of a show. A movie here and there, nothing new. So it was fun for me.
ps check out a biopic 24 hour party people by micheal winterbottom