Rise Against – Generation Lost [DVD]

To say I was excited to see Generation Lost would be an understatement. After being an avid Rise Against fan for years, the prospect of a DVD intrigued me – and then after watching the ten minute preview they had released two months prior to the actual DVD, the excitement was boiling over. While the DVD did live up to my expectations, it still didn’t fulfill my need quite as much – instead it left me wanting much much more.

At a mere forty-five minutes, Generation Lost really isn’t that long of a documentary – especially when compared to recent great documentaries from the likes of The Ramones, Against Me! or even Flogging Molly. It’s just really not long enough to really satisfy you curiosity, which at the end of movie just leaves you feeling a little empty. Of course, Rise Against definitely did out do themselves during the forty-five minute span, and for that, I will applaud them.

The documentary focuses more on the members as individuals rather than a band as a whole which is actually a solid way to go. They don’t go over the history of the band or how it has changed during its life span – it just assumes you know it, and even if you don’t know it all, you don’t miss anything in the release – instead it is just a look at the band, the members, their families and their fans. Most of it focuses on normalizing the “rock stars”, bringing them down to a level of normality rather than picturing them as a band living a life of excess. They interview their wives and girlfriends, who tell the viewers about how they met and about how they handle a mix of live on the road and family live, how they handle being away from their kids. They show them playing with their kids and goofing around on tour, going out and meeting the fans. It’s a snapshot of the band and it’s members as they are now, no future predictions of trips to the past, just the present to come back on latter and revisit.

Throughout the trip through family life, they look at music too, and how it affects various fans throughout the States. With a ton of interviews with various fans (and three more personal ones, including a 47 year old conversative-republican fan who is one of the most unlikely fans you meet), you see how the music has effect people during everyday events. Thrown throughout it all is interviews with a few other band members (Fat Mike delivers, like always, the most memorable sound bytes) from the Warped Tour along with a lot of live footage from the punk rock summer camp.

Still, while it is interesting and entertaining, at forty-five minutes it just seems to be lacking. They could’ve patted it out and added a few extra segments to really nail it, but they didn’t. I would still recommend watching it, but it still leaves you wanting more. Shot well, done well, just a little short.

For an added bonus, they also have four live clips from their performance at the Troubadour, all their music videos, some “making of” segments and a photo gallery (with some great pics).