A little bit of effort could have made this worth watching, but there's no introduction, no explanation, and no clue as to who we are listening to, where, or when. Probably the laziest 'documentary' I've ever seen.

By the time Wolfgang Büld trained his camera on "Punk in London", it was (at the accelerated and often frightening pace noted by Jon Savage in "England's Dreaming") already becoming an artifact. The Sex Pistols found themselves at the center of a media frenzy and had been banned from so many UK venues that, for all practical purposes, they were no longer a functioning group--so they're not in the film. Other bands attempt to fill the void left by the Pistols: The Clash, magnetic performers but a little too studied and eager to be stars; X-Ray Spex, distinguished by the intelligence and songwriting talent of Poly Styrene; and the Adverts, who, in the guise of two-and-a-half-minute pop anthems, passionately urge their audience to seize the moment before it passes. (We're also treated to the working class anger of Chelsea, the plain old opportunism of the Killjoys and Wayne County, and the good-natured idiocy of fans at a Lurkers show.) Here is the London punk scene as it was just before the bottom dropped out in early 1978, from the bandwagon-jumpers to those who were trying to maintain some sense of unity and purpose. Lots of good performance footage and some interesting interviews, too.

Ok, you may ask why call it priceless than give it a 6 rating - simple as a music film it's only worth that - the various interviews are more important.

The footage for example of the Lurkers is less interesting than the interview with Arturo Bassick (The Bass player) who's seen at home with his parents with Top of the Pops on a portable TV in the background.

The country has changed a lot over the over 40 years - good or bad is up to you - I was 6 in 1977 so I'm glad that films like this exist to show what it was like.

One band to single out is The Killjoys - Who in the lifespan released 1 single but Featured Kevin (Dexy's) Rowland & Gil Weston who later joined Girlschool...One of the few times those bands will share a sentence!

And while I enjoy there music in bits I've always thought The Clash are overrated.

THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY: THEY DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY THERE. - L. P. Hartley