Overrated

Lack of good storyline.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The premise of this movie reads better than the final visual outcome. Cultists will love it (they can excuse almost anything) but the end result tells us more about the film-maker than it does the Glam/Glitter rock era. From a very interesting opening (if a bit odd) and a couple of well staged scenes - it rapidly sinks into a sludge. Overloaded with repugnant themes and characters - it's not surprising so many from this era did not make it past age 40 (if they were so lucky), it sits well as an illustration of the walking dead - join them at your own peril.I can fully appreciate why David Bowie disliked the script so much - in fact, so much that he would not let any of his original tracks be used within this grotesque production. The best song is kept for the end " Make Me Smile" by Steve Harley but, this is only played over the end credits and, the end credits come one and a half hours too late...If you know how to value your head space then for Gods sake, keep this slosh well away from it!

Bales portrayal of the voyeuristic journalist for me made this movie. It was like reliving a bit of my past. In Houston we had a section of town called Montrose that I hung out in 71 thru 73. Everyone talks about the music taken to the UK from America but no one tells of the music we heard from the UK brought over by students, teachers, and service men. All this was going on and we loved it. Listening to them all, T Rex, David Bowie, and already here, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper....., so many to list and the concerts. Had seen so many but not all, one of those was Lou Reed, blew me away. Hung around in gay bars with everyone known to man, or woman. This movie reminds me of a brief time when we were allowed to hang out with the fabulous people.

This film is definitely one of my favorites among the ones who pay some kind of homage to rock'n'roll history. That opening scene with Jack Fairy's childhood and then the credits rolling to the sound of Needle In the Camel's Eye is one of the best and most exciting things I've ever seen. I guess I could say I love everything about it, how can you not love a cast like that? They're all wonderful and so believable in their performances, especially Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Ewan McGregor, who had very physical roles, but pulled it off just fine – I thought McGregor was especially brilliant in this, performing the songs live and jumping and throwing himself around, a certain Mr. Osterberg would be proud.The story is an obvious portrait of David Bowie's relationship to Iggy Pop and Lou Reed in the 70's (adding a little mixture of Kurt Cobain, why not?), a decade I imagine was unique to rock'n'roll, filled with exciting new music, rebellion and social changes, but it's also a story about discoveries and growing up, represented by Christian Bale's character ("That's me, dad, that's me!"). It's not an unknown feeling to us all, coming across a circumstance where we have to revisit years past, and the memories of what we once were may sound strange. Along with the glitter and the glam rock comes the melancholia of being a part of a movement that is already in decadence, because all great things must burn fast and come to an end. Besides, what other movie presents us with a more delightful sight than that of Ewan McGregor and Christian Bale loving each other beneath a glitter rain brought on by a UFO? Words are unnecessary after that.

I've actually been looking forward to seeing this film for a really long time, and finally got round to it this weekend. It should have been great! It had all the right ingredients; great cast, fabulous outfits, it's about GLAM ROCK for goodness sake! But alas, what this film was seriously lacking in was plot. Velvet Goldmine tells the tale of Brian Slade, a pop icon in the 1970s bearing an uncanny resemblance to David Bowie, whose career takes a severe nose-dive after he fakes his own death on stage. The picture revolves around a newspaper reporter ten years later (Who was once a fan of Brian Slade, and was at the gig of the 'shooting hoax'), assigned to find out 'exactly what happened'. What follows are an hour and a half of confusing and seemingly irrelevant flashbacks, poorly scripted and dull interviews, leading to a dull and fairly predictable finish. I should stress again that I am a big fan of both the Glam Rock era, and all of the actors in this film, so I didn't begin watching this film with any preconceptions of bad-ness. Worth a watch if you, like me, are usually into this kind of thing, but only so you can say that you've seen it, and perhaps for the cameo from Placebo (Probably the high-light). A generous five stars.