The Decline of Western Civilization Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

The Decline of Western Civilization Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 29, 2015

Note: The scores above are averages for the entire package. For individual scores, see the reviews for the individual films (linked below).

It’s kind of a quaint exercise to read through reactions from the general (elderly) populace whenever a new music craze seemingly “infects” teenagers and other younger folks like a modern day St. Vitus’ Dance. Early 20th century movements like ragtime and even jazz were regularly decried as being “jungle music” or similarly pejorative (and racially charged) terms. World War II era parents were left slack jawed and scratching their heads at the ostensibly “hysterical” reactions of young Bobby Soxers to such phenomena as Frank Sinatra. A whole series of dances like the Lindy Hop which arose during the Swing Era also convinced the over 30 crowd that mass hysteria had overtaken the nation’s youth. The disconnect between staid parental units and perhaps admittedly slightly out of control teens only increased when the 1950s gave birth to both easy listening (for the elders) and rock ‘n’ roll (for the kids), with such iconic figures as Elvis finding their television appearances geographically centered above the waist so as to not incite riots. The early sixties gave rise to countless parents demanding that their kids “turn that noise down,” even though to modern day ears that so-called “noise” is surprisingly tame and well mannered. As the youth culture became a bit more pronounced (and probably more than a bit more arrogant), rock music became a bit more aggressive as well, though the seventies were still content to wile away the hours with such decidedly non threatening acts as the Carpenters, even if slightly more “dangerous” artists like David Bowie starting redefining what pop-rock and music stars could be like. But sometime in the mid- seventies, the really iconoclastic kids starting listening to (and, obviously, performing) punk rock, an all out assault on listening sensibilities that actually did make some parents’ worst nightmares come true, with actual riots breaking out at concerts with fair regularity. Penelope Spheeris started documenting Los Angeles’ punk scene in 1979, capturing early performances by future genre stalwarts like Black Flag, X and Circle Jerks. The Decline of Western Civilization premiered in 1981, and famously caused such a ruckus in Los Angeles during its initial theatrical exhibition that police chief Daryl F. Gates sought to have it banned. If The Decline of Western Civilization tended to portray a certain breed of underdog in the corporate music scene, 1988’s The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years took the opposite tack, focusing on much better known and mainstream performers like Steven Tyler and Ozzy Osbourne. Spheeris then ping ponged back to a more disadvantaged class for 1998’s The Decline of Western Civilization Part III, profiling a variety of basically homeless kids who were at least tangentially connected to a renascent punk scene. Shout! Factory has now assembled these three films, all reportedly sourced from new 2K scans, while also providing a bounty of new supplemental features, including commentaries by Spheeris (along with her daughter Anna Fox) and (on a separate commentary) Dave Grohl.

Reviews for each of the films included in this set can be found by clicking on the following links:

The Decline of Western Civilization Blu- ray review

The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years Blu-ray review

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III Blu-ray review

The Decline of Western Civilization Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality for each film is assessed in the above referenced reviews.

The Decline of Western Civilization Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality for each film is assessed in the above referenced reviews.

The Decline of Western Civilization Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements included with each of the three films are covered in the respective reviews, linked above. Additionally, the set comes with a fourth bonus Blu-ray which includes the following material:

• Decline II Extended Interviews: London / Megadeth / Odin / Poison / Gazzarri / Mega Crowd 87 (480i; 1:18:35). These contain the same disclaimer that was included on the interviews included on The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years:

  Portions of the original B-Roll were lost, and the remaining elements have degraded over time. The following footage is the only surviving representation of the original work.

• Decline I News Report (480i; 2:45)


• Decline II Cruising the Strip (480i; 6:50)


• Decline III Panel (480i; 6:53) is from 2003.


• Tawn Mastrey Interviews Spheeris (480i; 11:05)


• LA County Museum of Art Panel - Decline II (720p; 14:14) is from 2014.


• Mark Toscano Interviews Spheeris (1080i; 10:37)


• Nadir and Lizzie (480i; 16:11)


• Theatrical Trailer 'Suburbia' (480i; 1:58)


• Extras' Credits (1080p; 00:43)

There's also a very informative and enjoyable essay included in a nicely illustrated glossy booklet.

The Decline of Western Civilization Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shout! Factory has assembled an extremely nice package, offering all three Decline films in good to very good transfers, and with a bounty of excellent supplemental material. A lot of 1970s era punk rockers are probably middle aged, married and living in (dare I say?) Suburbia now, so they may want to make sure this is mailed to them in a brown paper wrapper. Highly recommended.