U2: Rattle and Hum (1988)

A documentary of Irish rock group U2's Fall 1987 tour of North America.

Director:

Phil Joanou

Stars:

Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Bono	...	Himself
The Edge	...	Himself
Adam Clayton	...	Himself
Larry Mullen Jr.	...	Himself
B.B. King	...	Himself
Phil Joanou	...	Himself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dennis Bell	...	Himself
Adam Gussow	...	Himself
Jack Hale	...	Himself
Jim Horn	...	Himself
Wayne Jackson	...	Himself (as The Memphis Horns)
Andrew Love	...	Himself (as The Memphis Horns)
Sterling Magee	...	Himself
Joseph M. Miskulin	...	Himself
Gayl Murphy	...	Herself (as Press Conference Interviewer)

Storyline

This film documents the 1987 North American tour of the great rock band, U2. Fresh with their success of their best selling album, The Joshua Tree, the band plays monster gigs. Along the way, the band takes the opportunity in indulge in some special musical activities like playing with BB King and performing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking" with a famous church choir. All the while, concert footage of the band's biggest hits on tour is featured while Bono speaks his mind on the problems of his homeland.

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Plot Keywords:

u2 | black & white to color | concert film | star spangled banner | number in title

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rattle and Hum

Filming Locations:

Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Box Office

Gross:

$8,600,823 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Midnight Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the songs performed in Rattle And Hum are altered from their original release, most notably: "With Or Without You", which contains a whole new verse to end the song; "Exit", which includes the chorus from "Gloria" (interestingly, the Van Morrison song, although U2 also had an early hit titled "Gloria"); and "Bad", which adds verses from the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" and "Sympathy For The Devil".

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Quotes

[the band is thrilled to be playing with B.B. King]
B.B. King: If we could find somebody to play chords... I'm no good with chords. I'm horrible with chords.
Bono: Um... yeah... well, uh, the Edge can do that.

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Connections

Referenced in King Ralph (1991)

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Soundtracks

"Van Diemen's Land"
Words The Edge
Music U2

User Reviews

An underrated look at U2 during a pivotal time in their career.

This movie delivers U2 doing what they do best (touring), experimenting with new types of music in America and showing us that they're truly the nice guys they're projected to be. I see nothing disappointing about charismatic interviews, solid musical performances and meaningful reflection. Those who disliked this departure from the band's "usual" style can't recognize the importance of musical growth we see here. Looking back to what The Joshua Tree was and what became Achtung Baby, it's easy to see Rattle and Hum was a necessary expression of their progress at that time, and a humble look at a band celebrating their artistic heroes.