Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story (TV 2001)

A dramatization of the early years of the hard rock band, Def Leppard, the group faces both success and personal tragedies such as drummer, Rick Allen losing his arm in a car accident and guitarist Steve Clark's alcohol addiction.

Director:

Robert Mandel

Writers:

Christopher Ames, Carolyn Shelby

Stars:

Nick Bagnall, Karl Geary, Adam MacDonald

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nick Bagnall	...	Pete Willis
Karl Geary	...	Steve Clark
Adam MacDonald	...	Rick Savage
Esteban Powell	...	Phil Collen
Orlando Seale	...	Joe Elliott
Tat Whalley	...	Rick Allen
Dean McDermott	...	Peter Mensch
Amber Valletta	...	Lorelei Shellist
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Mutt Lange
Brett Watson	...	Tony Kenning
Danette Mackay	...	Mrs. Elliot
Matt Cooke	...	Barry Clark
Larry Day	...	Joe Elliott Sr.
Emma Stevens	...	Mrs. Allen
Ivan Smith	...	Doctor

Storyline

A dramatization of the early years of the hard rock band, Def Leppard, the group faces both success and personal tragedies such as drummer, Rick Allen losing his arm in a car accident and guitarist Steve Clark's alcohol addiction.

---

Plot Keywords:

band | flashing | heavy metal | severed arm | rock music | 

---

Taglines:

Music made them legends. Tragedy made them heroes.

---

Genres:

Drama | Music

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 July 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Histeria - A História do Def Leppard

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

LS Productions, Viacom Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Record producer Mutt Lange is depicted in the film as having an American accent. Lange was born in Northern Rhodesia and grew up in South Africa and the UK.

---

Quotes

Steve: I am a rock God!

User Reviews

... when it comes to playing life ...

For factual timelines and a deeper sense of reality, die-hard Def Leppard fans should view VH1's "Behind the Music" documentary about the band rather than this dramatization, in which the real bandmembers had no real input other than contributing their songs. That being said, "Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story" has some interesting points.

This made-for-TV film does manage to convey the hardships and triumphs of Def Leppard in a thought-provoking manner, surmounting the somewhat-less-than-accurate script with fine performances by comparatively unknown (at least in the U.S.) actors. Unfortunately, due to the many artistic liberties that were taken (in order to condense the story to a manageable viewing time and to make the content acceptable for television audiences), quite a bit of crucial information was omitted, and many of the characters received short shrift as well.

The actors' abilities to make something substantial from the two-dimensional parts they were thrust into, let alone using their performances to push this film past mediocrity, is astounding. The most blatant example of this is in Adam MacDonald's portrayal of bass player Rick Savage. MacDonald breathes as much life as possible into the character, but it's plain to see the writers had no interest in its development, evidently because the fact that Savage was one of the founding members of the band -- even before lead singer Joe Elliott --was not as screenworthy as Steve Clark's fear of his father, or Rick Allen's reckless driving. This strikes me as an insult to the real Savage as well as to MacDonald, but more importantly, it suggests that there is probably a great deal more to this story than we are allowed to witness. Whether this is by choice of the bandmembers or the producers is unknown, but the overall feel is that of Cliff's Notes -- we have enough information to pass the quiz, but no more.

See this film as a supplement to, not as a substitute for, "Behind the Music".