Ride, Rise, Roar (2010)

71% of critics liked it
(7 reviews)
71% of users liked it
(41 ratings)

David Byrne is a visual artist as well as a musician, and ever since his early days as a member of Talking Heads, he's wanted his concerts to be more than just a static performance. In 1984, Byrne and filmmaker Jonathan Demme redefined the boundaries of the concert film with the Talking Heads… More David Byrne is a visual artist as well as a musician, and ever since his early days as a member of Talking Heads, he's wanted his concerts to be more than just a static performance. In 1984, Byrne and filmmaker Jonathan Demme redefined the boundaries of the concert film with the Talking Heads documentary Stop Making Sense, and more than 25 years later Byrne has teamed up with David Hillman to create Ride, Rise, Roar, which documents Byrne's 2008-2009 concert tour, in which he performs new material written in collaboration with Brian Eno as well as favorites from his solo career as well as his tenure in Talking Heads. Using costumes and inventive choreography, Byrne and his musicians and dancers give his music a stage presentation as exciting as the music, and Hillman presents the spectacle on stage as well as a look at how the show was put together, including interviews with Byrne and his collaborators. Ride, Rise, Roar was an official selection at the 2010 Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 27 min.
Directed By: David Hillman Curtis
Genres: Documentary, Musical & Performing Arts, Special Interest

On DVD: May 31, 2011
Studio: Umbrella Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Kevin Harley, Total Film
With only his silver-fox thatch betraying the years since classic Stop Making Sense, Byrne wriggles and writhes through a groovy set of polyrhythmic pop.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Entertaining behind-the-scenes music tour documentary film, enlivened by some terrific songs and some amusingly offbeat dance routines...
Katie McCabe, Little White Lies
Everything that happens... will soon be forgotten.
Terry Staunton, Radio Times
Curtis's film is more a series of snapshots, the flow frustratingly interrupted by lengthy interview segments that might have best been set aside as DVD extras.
Andrew Pulver, Guardian [UK]
Byrne comes across as an affable, watchable performer, always up for a new idea or three.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Brett W

I should prelude this by saying the band is superb, the songs sound superb and audio gets a solid 9. However the overall product left me scratching my head too often. I always have respect for artists who try to push the boundaries of what they do later in their careers, but the… More
I should prelude this by saying the band is superb, the songs sound superb and audio gets a solid 9. However the overall product left me scratching my head too often. I always have respect for artists who try to push the boundaries of what they do later in their careers, but the problem here is that Ride, Rise, Roar isn't really that different. It's like a karaoke version of Stop Making Sense. The whole premise of the visual experience is dancing, but SMS already had choreographed on-stage dancing. The difference is that it was more natural and uniform and rhythmically in-tempo with the hypnotic music. This film features what look like three Stanford grads spazz dancing for an hour and a half. It doesn't ad any deeper meaning to the melodic or lyrical content. Instead of interpretive dance they might as well have just hired actors to pantomime scenes. What I think this project forgot was that David Byrne was and will always be the centerpiece, even in the Talking Heads days. This concert concept tries desperately to make you interested in these dancers who get in the way of the only person on stage with actual presence. Stop Making Sense got it right, Byrne danced and everyone else mimicked his movements, creating a giant framework that directed the audience attention perfectly. RRR is an on-stage free-for-all.

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Ride, Rise, Roar (2010)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Brett W

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