We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n Roll (2001) User Reviews

A time capsule for 90's festivals

[dmgrm · 9/10 · 25 February 2023]

"We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n Roll" (2001) is what "The Decline of Western Civilization Part III" (1998) could and should have been!

I think the best way to think about his documentary is seeing the phenomenon of the touring festivals of the 1990s through Penelope Spheeris' cameras. Not only Ozzfest used to be a huge tour, but there was Tattoo The Earth, Family Values, Van's Wrapped Tour and Lollapalooza (back when it still had great bands and an alternative identity not just the biggest selling mainstream crap like today).

Argubly, the 1999 Ozzfest had the greatest line up of the decade, with bands like Primus, Godsmack, Rob Zombie, Static-X and the mighty Black Sabbath.

If you're into Rock and Metal this is a must see!

Good documentary

[jloudiana · 8/10 · 25 May 2001]

Saw this film in January at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival the premiere night.

It gives a good representation of what OzzFest is about and the background and culture surrounding Black Sabbath performers and fans.

If you watched the VH1 Behind the Music about Ozzy Osbourne this is a good follow up to that show.

It was a hoot

[stan-62 · 22 January 2003]

Just saw this film last night, and it was really good. Easily one of the funniest and most entertaining documentaries I've seen in a long time. The interviews with the bands were interesting and funny. Ozzy was the highlight, and he was great. Whether you're a fan or not, this film was just tremendously entertaining. Sort of like "Spinal Tap" in real life.

Excellent movie

[miriamheather · 10/10 · 30 March 2005]

If you ever went to Ozz Fest or if you are simply curious about what might have gone on there, you want to see this movie. If you are an Ozzy fan, you want to see this movie. It's your personal backstage pass to the festival, how it came about and what is really going on behind the scenes. You get to see the Osbournes before they were MTV stars, though they are basically the same (which is why we love them).

I saw this movie at SXSW in Austin, TX and was hoping for national release as well as a DVD release. I still hope this happens. It's just as good as any rock-n-roll documentary and this is no surprise since it has a great director.

We cut our film to sell our souls

[warlockuk · 5/10 · 26 April 2001]

Ok. I went to the premiere of this film in the UK last night (25/4/2001)

It's not bad, and the director did a good job. But there were lots of bands from Ozzfest that mysteriously didn't make it.

And for the first 30 minutes I thought the Surround Sound was EXCELLENT... Because every time a CRAP band came on, I heard screams to the right of me.

The film focuses rather heavily on Ozzie, and while it shows his sense of humour it also makes him look thick (with an autocue [teleprompter] for his lyrics onstage, inhaling steam before going on and also singing flat on film.)

Oh: there are two versions, too. Documentary and music-based. Though neither will be in UK cinemas as it looks like nobody wants to buy it. Probably as the documentary focuses on sucking up to Sharon.