10 Best Punk Rock Movies of All Time

Films That Capture Punk Energy and Ideals

Movie poster for "Sid and Nancy" showing the characters in silhouette kissing in a New York City alley.

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In its earliest days, TV and filmmakers often had a hard time representing punk rock, portraying it as a violent caricature of itself (just check out the classic punk rock episode of "Quincy" if you don't know what I'm talking about). But the truth is, some filmmakers got it right. Whether it's because they came from punk rock themselves or they wanted to paint a true picture of the scene, some amazing punk films have been made over the years.

10
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Brothers of the Head (2005)

"Brothers of the Head" movie cover art.

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Based on a 1977 science fiction story of the same name, "Brothers of the Head" is a 2005 mockumentary about conjoined twins who, after being picked up by a promoter, start a punk band called The Bang Bang. Real-life twins Harry and Luke Treadway play the twins Tom and Barry Howe in a story that is filmed in a gritty style. It all turns decidedly dark after Tom develops a romantic interest with a music journalist covering the band.

09
of 10

Tromeo and Juliet (1996)

"Tromeo & Juliet" movie cover art.

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Troma Studios, the same folks that delivered the wonders of "The Toxic Avenger" and "Sergeant Kabukiman NYPD" offer up a modern-day retelling of Shakespeare's classic "Romeo and Juliet."

"Tromeo and Juliet" features an amazing soundtrack and an appearance from Lemmy of Motorhead, who plays the role of the narrator.

08
of 10

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1981)

Movie poster art for "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains."

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The film that never saw a mass release and seemed doomed to obscurity, "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains" has often been cited as a major influence in the Riot Grrrl scene. The film depicts the story of fictional all-girl garage punk band The Stains as they launch a recording career, beginning with a tour with the metal band The Metal Corpses and upcoming punk band The Looters. Played, in part, by Paul Cook and Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, along with Paul Simonon of The Clash, The Looters add credibility to an excellent film that explores what it means for a punk band to try and make it without being classified as sellouts — an idea still prominent in the music scene today.

07
of 10

This is England (2006)

"This Is England" movie cover art.

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A film that captures the skinhead scene in the early '80s, just as the nationalists began to use parts of the subculture as a recruiting ground for white supremacist-oriented actions, "This Is England" alternates between bleak and inspirational. With a soundtrack that focuses heavily on old school ska (the music of choice for the scene that had a heavy Jamaican influence), it tells the story of Shaun. He's a young schoolboy who is bullied, gets invited into a group of skinheads, and is later drawn into the nationalist scene. The depiction of the rough working-class skins is paralleled with their bonds to one another in a very confusing era of history that has had far-reaching effects.

06
of 10

Sid & Nancy (1986)

"Sid & Nancy" movie cover art.

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Perhaps the most well-known film to make our list, Alex Cox's 1986 biopic "Sid & Nancy" tells the story of punk rock's most infamous couple. Covering the years they were together, "Sid & Nancy" explores the couple's descent into drug addiction along with Sid Vicious' attempt to launch his solo career following the dissolution of The Sex Pistols.

John Lydon has said that Cox never spoke to him as a reference and that the film got little right. Gary Oldman's portrayal of Sid Vicious was of his stage persona, and not the actual person. In fact, neither the Sex Pistols nor Sid's solo work appeared on the soundtrack. Most of the score for the film was composed by Joe Strummer of The Clash, and the actual soundtrack only featured Sid Vicious songs as they were performed by Oldman.

Even if it lacks in accuracy, the film is a good one, with one of its best facets being the fact that it is unwilling to glamorize the pair's drug addictions, or their lives or deaths.

05
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Hard Core Logo (1996)

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Like "This Is Spinal Tap," "Hard Core Logo" is a mockumentary that follows a fictional band. Unlike "This Is Spinal Tap," the film isn't a comedy. Instead, the Canadian punk band Hard Core Logo is treated with such reverence and depth that many had a hard time believing the band wasn't real. The documentary team follows the band as they reunite for a tour after hearing that influential punk Bucky Height has been killed. Along the way, many secrets about the band come out.

Filmmakers furthered the idea that this fictional band was real by releasing a nontraditional soundtrack. Rather than simply using the music from the film, many Canadian punk bands were enlisted to record songs for the soundtrack, as well as to contribute to the liner notes about how Hard Core Logo had been an influence on their music. The resulting album, "A Tribute to Hard Core Logo" furthers the mythos of this fictional punk band with a story richer than many real ones.

04
of 10

Straight To Hell (1987)

"Straight to Hell" movie cover art.

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Yet another Alex Cox film, 'Straight To Hell" is a punk rock spaghetti Western. It tells the tale of a group of hitmen on the run, who become stranded in a town in the middle of the desert, peopled by a gang of coffee-addicted outlaws. As absolutely bizarre as that plot sounds, it bears little resemblance to the other films known as being punk rock movies. The surreal film gets its punk rock cred due to the casting, which includes Joe Strummer, Courtney Love, Zander Schloss of Circle Jerks, Elvis Costello, Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy, and Terry Woods of the Pogues.

03
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Suburbia (1984)

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"Suburbia" is from Penelope Spheeris, the woman behind the 1981 classic punk documentary "The Decline of Western Civilization" and the "Wayne's World" movie much later. "Suburbia" is a bleak film about the lives of a group of punk rock runaways living in an abandoned house. As the runaways accumulate at the house, go to shows, and seek to survive by squatting, they have run-ins with a group of local citizens that turn increasingly violent. The ending is as bleak as the rest of the film. While there is little inspiration in the film as a whole, it does a solid job of portraying the unity of gutter punk kids from broken homes who seek to recreate the idea of family when they've been abandoned by their own.

02
of 10

What We Do Is Secret (2007)

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A biographic film that manages to paint the early days of the California punk scene with gritty accuracy, "What We Do Is Secret" tells the story of Darby Crash of The Germs. Shane West was cast as Crash, a role he portrayed convincingly enough that he was asked to assume the role of the Germs frontman when the band reunited. West's experience fronting his own punk band Jonny Was helped as well.

Original Germs guitarist Pat Smear (later of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters) produced the music for the film, while Chris Pontius of "Jackass" and "Wildboyz" makes a cameo as Black Randy, frontman for L.A. punk band Black Randy and the Metrosquad.

01
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Repo Man (1984)

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Alex Cox may be the king of punk rock filmmakers, as evidenced by his numerous entries on this list (as well as several not on it), but he would still retain this title had 1984's "Repo Man" been the only film of his career.

In one of his earliest film roles, Emilio Estevez gets himself canned from his grocery store job only to fall in with repo man Bud (played by Harry Dean Stanton), who offers him a new job. In a surreal turn of events, the repo men find themselves competing with rival repo men and secret agents to repossess a 1964 Chevy Malibu with a $20,000 bounty — as well as the bodies of radioactive aliens in its trunk.

The soundtrack to "Repo Man" is probably the best soundtrack ever produced, so much so that it's even spawned its own tribute album. The cast includes Zander Schloss of Circle Jerks, as well as an appearance by Circle Jerks as a nightclub band.

For all its goofy humor, "Repo Man" also depicts an underlying paranoia, a sillier representation of the pervading unease in America in the '80s during the Cold War. It's never really spoken of, but it's ever-present, making this film a much bigger statement on America in the '80s than it appears at its outset.