Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 29, 2015

Note: This film is currently available as part of the box set The Decline of Western Civilization Collection.

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.

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III ping pongs from the rock excesses of those who had made it (or at least were on their way) in The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years back to the lower fi ambience of The Decline of Western Civilization, and arguably perhaps to an even lower level than that depicted in the first film, as many of the participants in the third outing are more or less homeless. Interestingly, many of these kids weren’t even born yet when the first film came out (as is quickly documented in one of the opening sequences), though some of them at least seem to be “fellow travelers” with a certain “who gives a s***” zeitgeist that was on display in that first outing.

There’s perhaps less of a connection in this film between some of the interview subjects and the actual music, something that gives The Decline of Western Civilization Part III a kind of curiously bifurcated feeling. The interview sequences with the so-called “gutter punks” are often discomfiting, to say the least, as many of the kids are living lives of squalor after having escaped from some seriously dysfunctional home lives. Playing out interstitially are the more traditional concert moments, where various punk (or at least punk-esque) bands attempt to articulate some of the rage that is obviously part and parcel of the homeless kids’ plight.

If there’s a certain loopy ebullience to The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, the feeling is much more subdued, even elegiac, in The Decline of Western Civilization Part III, especially for those old enough to have actually experienced the timeframes depicted in the first two films. There’s a sense of dissipation and entropy that is almost palpable at times, certainly most noticeable in the interview and confessional elements, despite the fact that many of these kids are weirdly sanguine about their lots in life. That perhaps only makes it all the more apparent what an “escape clause” music becomes for some of these people. If there’s enough sound and fury, maybe lives signifying nothing (or at least not much) become easier to deal with.

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

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. I'd personally rate this just slightly down the scale from The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years in terms of overall sharpness and clarity, and so would score this around 3.25 if I were able to. That said, this is an appealing if lo-fi looking presentation, one that's a bit soft most of the time, but which offers decent detail in the more brightly lit moments. Spheeris plays with stocks, with some black and white elements appearing alongside color moments, and contrast is generally quite appealing across the board. The palette in the color sequences is natural looking and reasonably well saturated. Grain is a tad heavier in this presentation than in the second, though nowhere near the levels seen in The Decline of Western Civilization. As with the other two films in this set, there are transitory issues with crush, especially in some of the first person confessional sequences which offer people in front of black backdrops.

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

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III features both lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks. There's a bit more ambient environmental information in this film than the other two, something that at least partially populates the surround track's side and rear channels. As with the other films, the surround track offers a more spacious representation of the musical elements, while doing relatively little to the interview and confessional elements. Fidelity is very good to excellent on both of these tracks, offering good, clear renderings of both spoken word and music.

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

• Extended Interviews:

  Flea (480i; 6:19)

  Keith Morris (480i; 9:12)

  Leonard Phillips (The Dickies) (480i; 12:11)

  Rick Wilder (The Mau-Maus) (480i; 6:20)

  The Light Bulb Kids (480i; 9:18)

• Additional Extras:

  Behind the Scenes (480i; 6:41)

  Gutterpunks (480p; 2:13)

  LA County Museum of Art Panel - Decline I and III (720p; 20:59) is an interesting roundtable which includes Spheeris.

  Premiere/Movie Introduction (480i; 3:45)

  Sundance Interview/Spheeris (480i; 6:09) is from 1998.

  Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:18)

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

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III is a bit of the "odd man out" in this trilogy, as a seemingly tangential element, the homelessness of the kids, turns out to be at least as compelling as any musical content. This is a fairly sad enterprise quite a bit of the time, something that not even the blandishments of the musical sequences can completely overcome. Technical merits are generally very good, and The Decline of Western Civilization Part III comes Recommended.