The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, Germs, and X.
Director:
Penelope Spheeris
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Title: The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
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1 win.
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Edit
Cast
| Credited cast: | |||
 |
Alice Bag Band | ... | Themselves |
| Black Flag | ... | Themselves | |
|
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Catholic Discipline | ... | Themselves |
|
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Circle Jerks | ... | Themselves |
|
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Fear | ... | Themselves |
|
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The Germs | ... | Themselves (as Germs) |
|
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X | ... | Themselves |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
|
|
Alice Bag | ... | Herself - Alice Bag Band (Vocals) |
|
|
Claude Bessy | ... | Himself - Catholic Discipline (Vocals) |
|
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Bob Biggs | ... | Himself - Publisher - Slash Magazine (as Robert Biggs) |
| Don Bolles | ... | Himself - Germs (Drums) | |
|
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D.J. Bonebrake | ... | Himself - X (Drums) |
|
|
Rick Brodey | ... | Himself - Catholic Discipline (Bass) (as Rick Jaffe) |
| Dinah Cancer | ... | Herself - Light Bulb Kid (as Mary) | |
| Exene Cervenka | ... | Herself - X (Vocals) (as Exene) | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, Germs, and X. Written by Rich Swenson <swenson@haas.berkeley.edu>
Plot Keywords:
national film registry | beer | self destructiveness | cult favorite | drug |Taglines:
The Spirit of American Punk Rock. See more »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
1983 (Italy) See more »Also Known As:
Падение западной цивилизации See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$100,000 (estimated)Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1
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(uncredited)
Written by Darby Crash and Pat Smear
Performed by The Germs
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
The original negative was thrown in the trash by the film lab it was stored at after said lab went out of business. See more »Quotes
The Circle Jerks member: And at the bottom it says "Thank you." And you can tell 'em to fuck off.See more »
Soundtracks
Shutdown/Annihilation Man(uncredited)
Written by Darby Crash and Pat Smear
Performed by The Germs
See more »
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Everyone who's seen "Decline" knows how great it is. My favorite segments are those featuring Black Flag and Fear, because they're the funniest and the most visceral. Still, all the bands that actually STARTED the Los Angeles punk scene, apart from the Germs, are missing from this film. Where are the Weirdos, the Screamers, the Dils, and the Zeros? The Alice Bag Band is here, but they were better when they were simply the Bags. The Germs' segment is depressing. The very brief glimpses of Catholic Discipline were fascinating and made me wish that this band had at least recorded some demos. As a documentary, "Decline" is flawed...but it's indispensable, too. To find out about the bands this film didn't cover, read "We Got the Neutron Bomb" by Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen. And to see what was going on in San Francisco right around the same time, get the much shorter (but equally brilliant) documentary "Louder Faster Shorter", directed by Mindaugis Bagdon. This twenty-minute burst of pure punk actually *does* feature the Dils--along with UXA, the Avengers, the Sleepers, and the Mutants.