Ramones: Raw (2004)

Ramones Raw is a DVD I'd recommend to most Ramones fans .This isn't End Of The Century : The Story of The Ramones. It doesn't try to tell us the story of the band, rather its a collection of Marky Ramones private video footage, concert footage and other rare footage of the Ramones. As a Ramones fan, I found the DVD very entertaining, both for the concert footage and other footage, which usually shows the band abroad in different parts of the world on tour.Apart from the main feature, there are several special features. An audio commentary with Marky and Johnny Ramones as well as the DVD's producer provides an insight to some of the stuff going on ,on screen. Also included are several TV appearances and deleted scenes. All in all, Ramones Raw isn't a serious film about what it takes to be in a band, rather it gives an entertaining look at the band during their career.

Ramones Raw is an amazing new DVD. I didn't expect much at first. Any DVD that claims to be definitive always makes me too skeptical. In this case I can't tell you how happy I am to be wrong. Ramones Raw starts out like most. The Ramones are playing to a huge crowd in Buenos Aires. The band is hanging out backstage then gets ready to go on stage in front of screaming fans. I immediately think it is one of those documentaries filmed at the end when someone figured out they should probably be documenting these guys. The next scene is a reporter in a hotel room asking where did the name Ramone come from? Johnny calmly starts to explain and I think they've got to be kidding. Luckily I was fooled. Ramones Raw is not a band documentary in a traditional sense. There is no attempt to tell the story of the Ramones. It is something I am sure not many bands could pull off and such a nice change of pace from your average band film. What you get is backstage and road footage mostly shot by Marky Ramone on his camcorder interspersed with live footage and other band events. There is no attempt to keep a chronological order. Footage switches between countries and events and back without hesitation. It manages to work. The viewer is treated to the most candid shots of the band. There are a few bathroom scenes with a band member relieving himself. Johnny jokingly asking Marky if he shot any pretty girls. Naturally, he did. Joey is laughing and making faces into the camera. Fans in Buenos Aires chase the band. The band is heard joking about the situation while they are driving in the van and we see the fans running down the street or driving in their cars following the van. Johnny yells out at them, "watch the road!" The band is almost panicking, but still amused by the situation. CJ adds, "Mark, get those two old ladies on film. They'll probably take their hair off and they're kids in disguise." The Ramones still treat their fans great. They sign autographs in train stations and in restaurants. They take pictures. They are also fans. You see them getting their pictures taken with Grandpa Munster, Carly Simon and Drew Barrymore. When the band is at a zoo in Australia, Marky films them from a distance and narrates like a naturalist. In Italy their van gets into a three-car accident. There is a shot of the Ramones standing by the side of the highway waiting for help while cars fly by. It is my favorite shot. I would have loved to be driving by and saw the Ramones standing there. "Fortunately, no one got hurt, " someone mentions. Cut to a shot of Joey standing by a totaled car. He laments the loss of his Fiat. In addition to all the great candid footage, Ramones Raw contains a bunch of TV performances. The best being their appearance on the Uncle Floyd show in 1979. The band performs while Uncle Floyd jokes around in the studio. He tries to make them announce the commercial break, but they aren't too cooperative. There is also a bit from the Howard Stern show where Joey and Marky play golf with the first Bush and discuss getting rid of Saddam Hussein. Gilbert Gottfried when he hosted USA Up All Night pretends to be the fifth Ramone in between showing A Nightmare On Elm Street. There are also 12 songs from a 1980 concert in Rome, deleted scenes and commentary from Johnny, Marky and director John Cafiero. Ramones Raw is a truly great collection. I watched the entire DVD in one sitting and I could have watched much more.

Even though I consider myself a pretty big Ramones fan, this movie fell short of what I was hoping it would be. It is in no way a documentary on the band. Instead it is merely a collection of Marky's home movies intercut with rare television appearances. There's no narative at all. About half way through, we decided to watch it with the optional commentary from Marky and Johnny. At least that gave it a little bit of clarity.All in all, I don't think I would recommend this one to anyone other than a real die-hard completist Ramones fanatic.Mike

Being the huge Ramones fan that I am, I of course love this video. Great concert footage and the video from the tours is great. This video does a great job of taking you through the whole Ramones career, except the beginning with Tommy as drummer. I especially loved listening to the audio commentary by Marky, Johnny(RIP), and the director... they have some interesting stuff to say. The part where they drive the van through the fans and edit in "Night of the Living Dead" clips and use the NOTLD music is great. The extras are great too. My favorite might be when they are on the Howard Stern show, playing "golf" with "the president", good stuff. Basically, if you are anything of a Ramones fan you should own this, A+! Go buy it you SLOTH!