The film centers around the Sex Pistols 1978 tour of the United States which ended with the group breaking up. The tour was the only one the group played in the U.S. during their original run. Film director Lech Kowalski followed them with handheld cameras through the clubs and bars of their seven-city Southern tour. Mixing this with footage of other contemporary bands, trends in the fashion capitals, and punks of all shapes and colors, Kowalski created a grainy, stained snapshot of a movement at its peak,[3] showing how certain authority figures saw the movement as a threat.[2]
It features interview footage (including the famous interview of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen in bed), and behind the scenes shots from the tour as well as interviews with audience members who had strong and widely varied reactions to the group.[4]
The majority of the material surrounds the Pistols tour as well but it also included other performances by first wave Punk acts such as The Dead Boys and Generation X with Billy Idol.[2][3][4]
This indie film was shot mostly in bars and clubs on 16mm film, and documented early years of punk from both in front of and behind the stage.[2]
The DVD was released in Japan in 2003. However it is released in Region 0.
In 2017, the film was released on Blu-ray as the inaugural release of the MVD Rewind Collection. On this edition, music has been rescored. The original Iggy Pop studio recordings of "Nightclubbing" and "Lust For Life" have been swapped out for live versions of the same songs. The film's end credits, which previously featured Augustus Pablo's "AP Special," now features a generic reggae instrumental.
