Suburbia (1984)

Too much of everything

Fantastic!

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I really enjoyed Suburbia. I accidentally stumbled upon it, and then while watching could not take my eyes off the screen. It was clear the intention of this movie was not simply to tell a story but to portray an experience. It makes sense to me that the actors were not just actors but also punks in real life... it gives a slight feel of "reality TV" to the story.I've always been intrigued by Crusties and kids who choose to become homeless, and so forth. This movie has done the best I've seen so far in explaining their perspective, granted it being quite dated now.I do feel like it does filter the image of them through rose-colored lenses, as kids just trying to get by, raising kids, acting like a family and whatnot. The drug scene and alcohol scene was not portrayed - nor the rude, abrasive, anarchist, apathetic attitude toward one another.Even so, I thought it was an excellent movie and stunning to watch at some moments.

If you have any interest whatsoever in punk as a musical and/or cultural phenomenon, you should find this film insulting. The storyline, the acting, and the whole package are just plain DUMB. There's one effective moment in "Suburbia", and we all know what it is (the scene in which D.I. performs 'Richard Hung Himself'); still, it's effective only in that it profoundly disturbs the viewer. The rest of the movie is even more random, stupid, and vicious. "Suburbia" represents what the SoCal punk community (and others) became, not the hopes and possibilities that existed at the beginning. How could a scene that was jumpstarted by a few artistic, tasteful, intelligent people go so disastrously wrong? Ugh.

This movie sucks. It is, however, the suckiest movie that I have ever wanted to watch about 50 times in my lifetime. This is the definitive punk-fiction film. No other movie more accurately portrayed what it was like to grow up in the punk scene in the eighties, and it's one of the only films to show what it was like to squat in the punk scene in Los Angeles. It's true, if you get a bunch of real punks and attempt to make them actors and get Roger"Carnosaur"Corman to produce it, you should probably expect something to this effect, but the hammy dialogue and acting are part of the charm. I wholly related to this movie as a teenager, and will always look back fondly upon it. Cheers to Penelope Spheeris, for creating a PR classic.

Wow. Was it 1984 this movie was made? I am getting old. Having live in San Bernardino California and LA Counties during the 80's and 90's as a teen and 20-something; and someone who existed in and around the cast-off, neo-punk and 'Oi!' scenes of the time, I can attest to this being our favorite, and 'most real' look at the trials and successes of the time and scene.I rate this movie high because of the director's realism and poignancy in the presentation. The acting (as it is) remains so convincing that you almost wonder if we are REALLY following around this group of kids and they aren't acting. or are these actors just being, unrehearsed, who they really are.The film is presented as a stark and dark look at runaways and punks. It shows how the family plays the roles too, and is in-your-face with it.If you understand the harsh reality of this film, and realize that this is your voyeuristic, removed opportunity to hang out with the coolest dregs in places most of you would never be admitted to, the film will have images and scenes that will stay with you for the truth they present.Should rent this movie.