BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

RainDogJr I just finished watching RAMONES RAW. And two weeks ago I watched for the very first time the Ramones documentary END OF THE CENTURY. The two are the ONLY stuff I have seen from this band, and the two are, thankfully, completely different from each other; "Raw" is much more in the "for the hard-core fan" vein, and while it does inform you (for instance, I didn't know about the Paul McCartney-inspired origin of the band's name!), it ain't a documentary. It could be easily part of the bonus material of END OF THE CENTURY, I mean, like a minor and really nice companion piece.At one point of "Raw", near the ending, there's footage of a TV host talking about the band. He says something like "those home movie-making Ramones". Yes, the guys filmed a lot during their tours. And of course some of it is pure gold. Let me be clear: "Raw" is mostly a collection of footage of the band while on tour and many live performances. We see different kind of stuff, from the band warming-up prior a show to the band visiting a zoo! The negative things of "Raw" mostly come from the live performances. Don't get me wrong, the band is doing perfectly their thing, but sometimes the sound quality is not the best (like in "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World"). Also, I didn't particularly like is all the TV stuff. I mean, is great that we have footage of all kind, but is also inevitable that I was like "poor Ramones! What are they doing there?" once I got to see the s***** shows in which they appeared… the fifth Ramone? What the heck was that?But aside of that, this is always entertaining. Terry Gilliam once made a reference to what Stanley Kubrick once said about SCHINDLER'S LIST. Kubrick's quote was something like this: "Spielberg's film is about success. The holocaust was about failure". While this has NOTHING to do with the Ramones, I just wanted to sort of use that quote and point out that while END OF THE CENTURY was more about cult-following and, at the same time, lack of recognition (just like I wrote in my comment for it), "Raw" is more about success. I mean, just the thing with the album "Mondo Bizarro" is quite interesting: while in "Century" it is barely mentioned (aside of having Johnny being like "I don't like it at all"), in "Raw" we have celebration towards it (thanks to its gold certification). What doesn't change is that thing about South America; here there's a lot of footage of the impressive reaction that fans in Argentina, Chile and Brazil had when the Ramones went there. I can relate to those fans waiting outside of the Ramones' hotel, hoping for an autograph or a photo, as I have done the same here in my city for Roger Waters and Pearl Jam! But obviously what we see here is something else, just f****** crazy. Also there are great images of lucky Japanese fans! I really enjoyed RAMONES RAW. I could forget the stuff I didn't like with, for instance, footage of the Ramones playing "Take It As It Comes" by the Doors with *ROBBY KRIEGER*! So enjoy, there's plenty of material, there's the always-hilarious Dee Dee (he can be also a unintentionally funny rapper!), sound-checks and Lemmy f****** Kilmister! Oh, there's also some of the Ramones in the toilet, so you have been warned. *Watched it on February 06, 2012

carolyn-24 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.

Mike Bobbitt 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

forum1313 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!