Protraph Lack of good storyline.

GazerRise Fantastic!

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Mr-Fusion A curiosity more than anything, "American Pop" has its singular animation going for it. That, and a pleasing soundtrack that lives up to the movie's name. It's the paper-thin characters and lack of flow that really kill the buzz. The jumps from one era of music to the next are pretty rough and you don't end up feeling attached to these people. At least, I didn't.I can kinda see this on a double-bill with "Heavy Metal", at least in an animation sense. But story-wise, there's no comparison.5/10

hellraiser7 Music lives on because it made by dreams from all kinds of people throughout generations. This is one of my favorite animated films that is underrated and forgotten. Ralph Bashi is one of my favorite animated directors of all time, because each of his films are always something different. He really shows you can do more with animation, push it to places never ventured but most importantly shows you can tell other kinds of stories with it.The animation I personally think is amazing and some of it I feel still holds up today. I love the use of rotoscoping which is an art that has became lost and I personally miss. It really gives most of the segments of the film a surreal quality but makes them more lively and go well with the music playing and characters in it. It's at times almost like watching a music video and this film was way before MTV (when it was actually cool) in the 80's came out so that's cool. I really love the movements of the characters, because they look natural they look like actually movement, when in most animation some movements look flighty or at super speed which I always found strange.And of course the great thing about the film is the music soundtrack which is one of the best darn soundtracks I've ever heard. It's almost like a greatest hits album because this just has so many songs I love.However this film I also feel is a great story. It's a story that is a tragedy but turns into a triumph.It all revolves around a Russian American family that came into the country looking for an opportuinty, a chance to be more than what they are but the tragedy was they never had a proper chance. Either by fate taking a bad turn or just bad choices which I felt the second but most of all third made.It's some pretty sad stuff, to me the saddest story was probably the third generation with Tony. It's true his character is a bit unlikeable but he's not unworthy of sympathy because he had a bad stepfather and I don't feel he's ever really gotten over the death of his own father which makes him an unhappy person. And that's part of what lead to the guy's downfall, he just never had much love in his life he could never really bring himself to find happiness even when it was staring straight at him. Like his success with this Doors or Janis Joplin like music group and even when he travels to Kansas he finds just this girl whom he falls in love with and this girl is just beautiful and persona to boot. But of course he blows it all because those wonderful things love and music just couldn't fill that hole he's had since childhood.As the generations come and go it's the music that truly lives on. I really love how in a way the music is sort of a character because it reflects their undying dreams not so much success in the music biz but really to do something more with it, have their music out their so they can live on though the music because even though human generations die, music lives forever. That's something I feel all of us can emphasize with because we all want to make our mark in life in some fashion as a form of immortality, to show that we existed, we mattered, we were here for a reason.The fourth and last generation whom is Pete is my favorite generation. Just the fact that it takes place in the 80's which of course was the decade I was born. Even though this segment isn't too long, doesn't really need to be. I just really like the Pete character from his persona, how he talks, but most of all just like the rest of his family his ambition. And what happens at the end is just a sweet sense of relief for me, you really after so much crap throughout the decades this guy it the one that truly deserves it.This film is a true celebration of music throughout the decades and the people that have helped create it. Without one style or even certain people throughout the decades, music never would of gotten to where we are now. For the human story if it has some message I feel it's don't let your dreams die, pursue them, attempt to succeed and treasure it.American Pop is an American Dream.Rating: 4 stars

ozoneocean A Ralph Bakshi rotoscoped film. It's long and pretty pointless really, but well acted with some good scenes.The story follows the line of a Jewish boy who escapes the pogroms in the old imperial Russian states with his mother and moves to the USA. All through the years this man and his heirs are peripherally linked to the pop scene and also the petty organised crime scene, running illegal booze, selling pot, supplying cocaine etc. They're all apparently talented performers or songwriters or whatever, but only the last one of them ever really makes it at the very end...So it gives you a bit of an interesting perspective into the American pop scene through the years from the angle of the grubby drug scene that has always clung onto the outside of it... but no real reason as to why. We just meander from one generation to the next, you never really identify with or understand any of the protagonists, then we get to the last guy who has the shortest screen time and the least established connection to the whole generational thing and then it's suddenly all over.The only other thing of note is that the journey (in the US at least) begins on the East coast, heads west and then ends up where it began in the east again, but not even that is that big a deal.It's one of those films where you wait for something cool to happen, all the way through, thinking "any minute now...". It never does.

Stinger1-666 I saw this movie when it first hit theaters in 1981. In the 27 years that have passed since then I have seen over a thousand movies but this One Movie continues to be my very Favorite of All Time. I am a music geek & can play music trivia with the best of them & maybe it's true, that may have a lot to do with my passion for this movie, but I doubt it. I cried when Benny plays the Lula-bye but the Natzi shoots him anyway in WWII, I laughed my ass off when the chick jumps on Tony's car & said "For Sale". I laughed till I cried when Pete made it to the "Big Time" on Bob Segar's Night Moves, Like he said, "I ain't gonna be you're Candy Man, No More".....I LOVE this Movie. A Classic!Pete: Pizza Man! We deliver! Musician: You got the coke, daddy-o? Pete:What do I look like, man? A soda fountain?