The best Johnny Thunders’s movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Johnny Thunders’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Johnny Thunders.
The Filth and the Fury
7.6/10
Julien Temple's second documentary profiling punk rock pioneers the Sex Pistols is an enlightening, entertaining trip back to a time when the punk movement was just discovering itself. Featuring archival footage, never-before-seen performances, rehearsals, and recording sessions as well as interviews with group members who lived to tell the tale--including the one and only John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten).
End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones
7.9/10
A years-in-the-making documentary on the legendary punk band the Ramones. Through a mixture of archival footage, archival and new interviews with all members of the band's various lineups, and new interviews with a number of their contemporaries, the film traces the peaks and valleys the band experienced over the course of its 20-plus year career before disbanding in 1995.
Night Lunch
7.6/10
This is Poe and Krall's first effort, filmed before the more well known Blank Generation. It is even grittier, shakier and more primitive than Blank Generation, and shows a nascent CBGB crowd well before anyone living beyond 14th Street knew anything about it. Worth seeing if it ever turns up at an art house or festival. Among other gems is a very early Blondie on film, before the introduction of a keyboardist, and well before their mega-success in the early 1980s. Most of the band has long hair. There is also a pan shot of the bar where devotees can spot early Talking Heads, Ramones, and other suspect characters nursing warm beer. A key to the time is the lack of any 'punk' insignia - safety pins, etc. - that would later spell doom for the NYC scene. A brief, nostalgic glimpse of a rare and under-documented meeting of rock and, well, art.
Who Killed Nancy?
6.4/10
On October 12th, 1978, New York Police discovered the lifeless body of a young woman, slumped under the bathroom sink in a hotel room. She was Nancy Spungen, an ex-prostitute, sometimes stripper, heroin addict, and girlfriend of Sex Pistols' bassist Sid Vicious.
The Blank Generation
6.3/10
The cream of New York new wave/punk filmed live at CBGB's when the scene was just beginning. Includes performances by Patti Smith, Blondie, Television, the Ramones, Talking Heads, the Heartbreakers, the Shirts, Wayne County, the Marbles, the Dolls, Miamis, Harry Toledo, and the Tuff Darts (w/Robert Gordon).
Born to Lose: The Last Rock and Roll Movie
7.1/10
Veteran documentary filmmaker and hipster Lech Kowalski creates this film about his friend and hard-partying rock god Johnny Thunders, member of legendary proto-punk band the New York Dolls. Through archive footage and interviews with such musicians as Dee Dee Ramone and Sylvain Sylvain, the film details his stint with the Dolls, the formation of his other band, the Heartbreakers; his rise to fame, particularly in Japan; his descent into heroin addiction, and the mysterious circumstances of his death.
Two Sevens Clash: Dread Meets Punk Rockers
8.2/10
Documentary about reggae music and culture in London in 1977. Filmed in Super 8 camera by Don Letts. With participation of Richard Branson, Neneh Cherry, Paul Cook, Sly Dunbar, Paul Weller, John Lydon, Joe Strummer, Siouxsie Sioux, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and others. Released in 2017.
New York Dolls: All Dolled Up
7.1/10
In the early 70’s, Rock photographer Bob Gruen and his wife Nadya purchased a portable Video Recorder. In a period of three years they shot over 40 hours of New York Dolls footage. Now for the first time ever this footage is unveiled. This feature length documentary captures the band during early performances in New York at Kenny’s Castaways and Max’s Kansas City, then follows the Dolls on their tour of the West Coast, including footage from the Whisky A Go Go, the Real Don Steele Show, Rodney Bingenheimer’s E Club and much more. Intercut with revealing interviews, backstage banter and late night debauchery, this is THE definitive document of the New York Dolls.
Johnny Thunders: Madrid Memory
A long lost live concert performance from The Heartbreakers explosive 1984 reunion World Tour that included fellow Dolls Sylvain Sylvain & Jerry Nolan plus Billy Rath! Filmed for TV broadcast at La Edad De Oro in Madrid, Spain, this concert captures powerful performances of songs from throughout Thunders' amazing career including Personality Crisis, Too Much Junkie Business and Born To Lose.
Hey! Is Dee Dee Home?
6.4/10
Punk rock devotees will welcome director Lech Kowalski's reflective video portrait of late bassist Dee Dee Ramone and his life as a music industry icon -- including his self-destructive bouts with heroin. The centerpiece of the hourlong documentary -- which is peppered with vintage performance clips -- is a 1991 interview with a clean Dee Dee, who talks at length about his storied career and penchant for living on the edge.
Looking for Johnny
7/10
Johnny Thunders was the legendary hard-living rock'n'roll guitarist who inspired glam-metal, punk and the music scene in general. 'Looking For Johnny' is a 90-minute film that documents Thunders' career from his beginnings to his tragic death in 1991. The film examines Johnny Thunders' career from the early 70's as a founding member of the influential New York Dolls; the birth of the punk scene with The Heartbreakers in New York City and London; Gang War and The Oddballs. It also explores Johnny's unique musical style, his personal battle with drugs and theories on his death in a New Orleans hotel in 1991 at age 38. The film includes forty songs with historic film of Johnny, including unseen New York Dolls and Heartbreakers footage and photos. Cult filmmakers Bob Gruen, Don Letts, Patrick Grandperret, Rachael Amadeo and others contribute classic archive footage.
What the Punk - An MVD Sampler
Music Video Distributors has been releasing the best in punk rock music videos for years. In compiling WHAT THE PUNK?!, the music experts over at MVD have poured through their vaults, handpicking the best excerpts from hundreds of hours of footage. The finished product is a diverse, comprehension collection of punk rock from 1970's New York to 1990's Europe. Bands making an appearance include L.A. revolutionaries the Dead Kennedy's, king of abjection GG Allin, seminal New York pop-punkers The Ramones, 1990's Epitaph Record heroes the Offspring, Seattle grunge rockers Nirvana, and many others.
Johnny Thunders Live: In Cold Blood
Recorded at Irving Plaza, New York City, on March 13, 1982. This rare 1982 concert video showcases rough-and-tumble rocker (and former New York Doll) Johnny Thunders performing a set of the songs that shot him to punk notoriety, including "In Cold Blood," "Too Much Junkie Business" and "Alone in the Crowd." Thunders and his backing band also treat their New York audience to "Sad Vacation," "Who Needs Girls," "Pipeline," "Born to Lose," "Just Another Girl" and "Baby I Love You, Really I Do."
Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers: Dead or Alive
The spotlight is on guitarist Johnny Thunders, best known for his stint with punk gods the New York Dolls, in this combination concert video and documentary chronicling his hedonistic, self-destructive lifestyle. Included is his only live show on film -- backed by the Heartbreakers and featuring the songs "Chinese Rocks," "Born to Lose" and "Hurt Me" -- plus behind-the-scenes studio footage and clips from his 1976 "Anarchy" tour of Britain.
Johnny Thunders: Who's Been Talking?
Filmed just three weeks before the legendary rocker's death, this Osaka, Japan, concert performance finds Johnny Thunders blazing through new and old material with his backing band the Oddballs. The former New York Dolls guitarist and singer lets it rip on tracks such as "Personality Crisis," "Born to Lose," "Gloria," "Little Queenie," "Blame It on Mom," "Too Much Junkie Business" and more.
