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Detroit Rock City

444 votes

Producing House

In 1978, a Kiss concert was an epoch-making event. For the four teen fans in Detroit Rock City getting tickets to the sold-out show becomes the focal point of their existence. They'll do anything for tickets -- compete in a strip club's amateur-night contest, take on religious protesters, even rob a convenience store!

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1999-08-13

Runtime: 95 mins

Director: Adam Rifkin

Writer: Carl V. Dupré

Spoken language: English

Genres: Comedy, Music, Adventure

Original title: Detroit Rock City

Production Companies: Corrupter Production Service Ltd., New Line Cinema, Takoma Entertainment, Base 12, KISS Nation

Production Countries: United States of America, Canada

Reviews

W

Wuchak
_**Great 70’s songs, sometimes amusing, but basically an insult to KISS fans**_ In 1978, four teenagers from Cleveland plan to go to a KISS concert in Detroit and have many misadventures reaching their goal. The four are played by Edward Furlong, Giuseppe Andrews, James DeBello and Sam Huntington. “Detroit Rock City” (1999) features great rock/metal from the 70s by KISS, AC/DC, Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen, Sweet, Thin Lizzy, Nazareth, Styx, David Bowie, Cheap Trick, Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent, the Ramones, etc. There are some fun moments, but the tone is too over-the-top for its own good and the story isn’t very compelling. Couple this with some odious bathroom non-humor, a lack of attractive women beyond Natasha Lyonne and the negative one-dimensional depiction of the protagonists and you have a curiously disappointing teen flick. The focus on pot-obsessed dudes is disingenuous since Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were never into the drug culture; their idea of a party was working hard creating music, performing, touring, making money and celebrating gorgeous women. Unsurprisingly, mind-blowingly beautiful females were always attracted to KISS and frequented their concerts; so were dynamic, talented males. I’m not saying pot-worshipping, denim-clad waifs weren’t an element of their fan base, but KISS devotees always involved WAY more than this. No wonder Paul Stanley lamented: "To call it a KISS movie does it a disservice, because it does a disservice to the KISS fans, which is what it's really about." The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot entirely in the Toronto area. GRADE: C-
2021-05-03

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