Backdrop fallback

The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years

The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years

Share

The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years

"It's more than music...it's a way of life."

1988

1h 33m

6.8(83 votes)

Documentary

Music

Overview

An exploration of the heavy metal scene in Los Angeles, with particular emphasis on glam metal. It features concert footage and interviews of legendary heavy metal and hard rock bands and artists such as Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Megadeth, Motörhead, Ozzy Osbourne and W.A.S.P..

Where to Watch

Stream

Stingray Amazon Channel

Links & Resources

Social & External

Production Companies

The people behind it

Cast & crew

10 featured cast members

Starring

Dave Mustaine

Dave Mustaine

Self

Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne

Self

Chris Holmes

Chris Holmes

Self

Lemmy Kilmister

Lemmy Kilmister

Self

Paul Stanley

Paul Stanley

Self

Gene Simmons

Gene Simmons

Self

Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler

Self

Joe Perry

Joe Perry

Self

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper

Self

C.C. DeVille

C.C. DeVille

Self

Creative team

Directed by: Penelope Spheeris
Produced by: Jonathan Dayton
Valerie Faris

Similar Movies

The Cult Next Door

In 2013, three women emerged from a flat in Brixton. They had been held there for decades by Aravindan Balakrishnan, a revolutionary Maoist who controlled the women with brainwashing techniques and tales of a sinister, world-controlling machine he called 'Jackie'.

Every Tenth

Every Tenth

A short documentary on the plight of people with disabilities in the Soviet Union.

Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom

Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom

Naomi Kawase's documentary about Nishii Kazuo, a photo critic. He is the last chief editor for the Camera Mainichi magazine, rushing through his time with Araki Nobuyoshi and Moriyama Daido as provocative artists in the photograph world.

France / Tour / Detour / Two / Children

France / Tour / Detour / Two / Children

In this astonishing twelve-part project for and about television — the title of which refers to a 19th-century French primer Le tour de la France par deux enfants — Godard and Miéville take a detour through the everyday lives of two children in contemporary France.

The Phantom of the Operator

The Phantom of the Operator

The Phantom of the Operator is a poetic film collage that documents the construction and rise of female telephone operators and their eventual replacement with computerized communications systems.

Profilers: Gaze Into the Abyss

Profilers: Gaze Into the Abyss

Documentary about the work of 6 criminal profilers around the world.

School of Babel

School of Babel

They just arrived in France. They are Irish, Serbs, Brazilians Tunisians, Chinese and Senegalese ... For a year, Julie Bertuccelli filmed talks, conflicts and joys of this group of students aged 11 to 15 years, together in the same class to learn French.

Good Game

Good Game

Creative and competitive, members of the Evil Geniuses Starcraft 2 team must prove themselves to make the cut in professional video gaming. Good Game follows the team as they discover that one wrong move could end their dreams.

Last Days of Life

Last Days of Life

An end-of-life hospice opens its doors in this intimate documentary, revealing moments of joy and tenderness between staff, residents and loved ones.

Accept: Restless and Live

Accept: Restless and Live

1. Stampede 2. Stalingrad 3. London Leatherboys 4. Restless And Wild 5. Dying Breed 6. Final Journey 7. Shadow Soldiers 8. Losers And Winners 9. 200 Years 10. Midnight Mover 11. No Shelter 12. Princess Of The Dawn 13. Dark Side Of My Heart 14. Pandemic 15. Fast As A Shark 16. Metal Heart 17. Teutonic Terror 18. Balls To The Wall

Bastards: Outcast in Morocco

Bastards: Outcast in Morocco

At 14 Rabha El Haimer was an illiterate child bride, beaten, raped and then rejected. Ten years later, she is a single mother, fighting to legalise her sham marriage and secure a future for her illegitimate daughter. With unprecedented access to the Moroccan justice system, “Bastards” follows Rabha’s fight from the Casablanca slums to the high courts.

Patron

Patron

Sara Hildén was maybe an artist, from Tampere, or maybe a patron? A business woman? Most of the Finnish people add her name into Sara Hildén art gallery, but her story included much more.

Beyond Silence

Beyond Silence

Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.

Linar

Linar

A Russian boy gets a heart transplant in Italy. A lot of people were by his side on his long journey full of hardships, except for his mother.

You Can't Do Everything at Once, But You Can Leave Everything at Once

You Can't Do Everything at Once, But You Can Leave Everything at Once

It all began on a couch. He watched her undress and they made love for the first time.

Bollywood/Hollywood

Bollywood/Hollywood

Rahul Seth is a dashing young millionaire who believes he is "western" enough to rebel against his mother and grandmother. They are not too keen about his Caucasian girlfriend Kimberly who, to make matters worse, is a pop star. Before you can say "karmic intervention," Kimberly dies in a freak accident and Rahul is devastated. Instead of allowing him to mourn in peace, Rahul's mother sees the opportunity she's been waiting for. She threatens to call off his sister's wedding unless he finds himself a "nice Indian girl." Rahul enlists the services of Sue, a fiercely independent escort whom he believes to be Hispanic, and therefore not "married" to the conventions taught to young Indian women. With a wink in her eye, Sue accepts the deal to pose as his Indian bride-to-be. She needs the money and having never been a fan of the typical Indian male, she feels her heart is safe. The charade begins....

The Chaplain & the Doctor

The Chaplain & the Doctor

Frustrated by watching Black patients suffer due to end-of-life healthcare inequities, two determined allies – a chaplain and a doctor – work to transform a broken medical system, one patient at a time.

My Neighbor, My Killer

The people of Rwanda attempt to reconcile after the genocide through an open process of admission and forgiveness.

Motherland

Six American mothers, each grieving the death of a child, journey to South Africa to volunteer with impoverished children. The strength of the people they meet and the reality of the poverty they witness deeply affects them. They ultimately discover hope and healing as a result of serving others, and through the unexpected friendships they form with each other.

Election Day

Election Day

Forget the pie charts, color-coded maps and hyperventilating pundits. What's the street-level experience of voters in today's America? In a triumph of documentary storytelling, ELECTION DAY combines eleven stories--all shot simultaneously on November 2, 2004, from dawn until long past midnight--into one. Factory workers, ex-felons, harried moms, Native American activists and diligent poll watchers, from South Dakota to Florida, take the process of democracy into their own hands. The result: an entertaining, inspiring and sometimes unsettling tapestry of citizens determined on one fateful day to make their votes count.

Recommended Movies

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey

The film discusses the traits and originators of some of metal's many subgenres, including the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, power metal, Nu metal, glam metal, thrash metal, black metal, and death metal. Dunn uses a family-tree-type flowchart to document some of the most popular metal subgenres. The film also explores various aspects of heavy metal culture.

Halftime

Halftime

Global superstar Jennifer Lopez reflects on her multifaceted career and the pressure of life in the spotlight in this intimate documentary.

American Hardcore

American Hardcore

Inspired by Steven Blush's book "American Hardcore: A tribal history" Paul Rachman's feature documentary debut is a chronicle of the underground hardcore punk years from 1979 to 1986. Interviews and rare live footage from artists such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, SS Decontrol and the Dead Kennedys.

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me

After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.

Beastie Boys Story

Beastie Boys Story

Here's a little story they're about to tell... Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz share the story of their band and 40 years of friendship in a live documentary experience directed by friend, collaborator, and their former grandfather, Spike Jonze.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the "demi-gods of Canadian metal" influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams.

The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel

The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel

Explore the formative years of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the profound influence of original bandmate Hillel Slovak.

Cobain: Montage of Heck

Cobain: Montage of Heck

Hailed as one of the most innovative and intimate documentaries of all time, experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the only ever fully authorized portrait of the famed music icon. Academy Award nominated filmmaker Brett Morgen expertly blends Cobain's personal archive of art, music, never seen before movies, animation and revelatory interviews from his family and closest friends.

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground

Experience the iconic rock band's legacy in the first major documentary to tell their story. Directed with the era’s avant-garde spirit by Todd Haynes, this kaleidoscopic oral history combines exclusive interviews with dazzling archival footage.

Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

As the front man of the Clash from 1977 onwards, Joe Strummer changed people's lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ever before. In "The Future Is Unwritten", from British film director Julien Temple, Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or musician, but as a true communicator of our times. Drawing on both a shared punk history and the close personal friendship which developed over the last years of Joe's life, Julien Temple's film is a celebration of Joe Strummer - before, during and after the Clash.

Supersonic

Supersonic

Supersonic charts the meteoric rise of Oasis from the council estates of Manchester to some of the biggest concerts of all time in just three short years. This palpable, raw and moving film shines a light on one of the most genre and generation-defining British bands that has ever existed and features candid new interviews with Noel and Liam Gallagher, their mother, and members of the band and road crew.

Tupac: Resurrection

Tupac: Resurrection

Home movies, photographs, and recited poetry illustrate the life of Tupac Shakur, one of the most beloved, revolutionary, and volatile hip-hop MCs of all time.

Milli Vanilli

Milli Vanilli

The story of Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan, who became fast friends during their youth in Germany. With Rob coming from a broken home and Fabrice having left an abusive household, they shared a similar upbringing, as well as a future goal: to become famous superstars. In a few short years, their dreams came true. Rob and Fab, better known as Milli Vanilli, became the world's most popular pop duo in 1990 and won the GRAMMY for Best New Artist. However, their ascension to success came with a devastating price that ultimately led to their infamous undoing.

Gorillaz: Reject False Icons

Gorillaz: Reject False Icons

Focused on the life of the band and their collaborators over the 3 vital years in which they developed critically acclaimed albums, 'Humanz' and 'The Now Now', and undertook their most ambitious world tour to date.

Until the Light Takes Us

Until the Light Takes Us

Chronicles the history, ideology and aesthetic of Norwegian black metal, a musical subculture infamous as much for a series of murders and church arsons as it is for its unique musical and visual aesthetics. This is the first film to truly shed light on a movement that has heretofore been shrouded by rumor and obscured by inaccurate and shallow depictions. Featuring exclusive interviews with the musicians themselves, Until the Light Takes Us explores every aspect of the controversial movement that has captured the attention of the world.

The Sound of 007

The Sound of 007

Pull back the curtain on the remarkable history of six decades of James Bond music, from Sean Connery’s Dr No through to Daniel Craig’s final outing in No Time to Die.

Trainwreck: The Real Project X

Trainwreck: The Real Project X

A night of drunken chaos rocks a quiet Dutch town in this shocking documentary about a teen's birthday invite that accidentally went viral on Facebook.

Sympathy for the Devil

Sympathy for the Devil

While The Rolling Stones rehearse "Sympathy for the Devil" in the studio, an alternating narrative reflects on 1968 society, politics and culture through five different vignettes.

ariana grande: excuse me, i love you

ariana grande: excuse me, i love you

Ariana Grande takes the stage in London for her Sweetener World Tour and shares a behind-the-scenes look at her life in rehearsal and on the road.

Room 237

Room 237

A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.