The Clash - Westway To The World [1977]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Don Letts' superb Westway To The World documentary allows The Clash to tell the second greatest punk story in their own words. Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and a touchingly frank Topper Headon each give personal accounts of the band's career in separate talking head interviews that triumph through their simplicity. Live footage and rare film of the band rehearsing is intercut with the anecdotes but this video is really about spoken memories rather than visual ones. The emotion in Strummer's voice as he talks about the demise of The Clash or the moment where a visibly humble Headon apologises to the band for his heroin use are worth a thousand grainy super eight segments. Simonon, meanwhile, is simply the coolest man ever to strap on a bass and has a charm to match. And Jones is clearly a music obsessive who kept the band one step ahead with the advent of hip-hop. Perhaps the only weakness of this account is the lack of contextualisation. Unlike Julien Temple's "Filth And The Fury", there are only fleeting glimpses of the outside world. Even so, Westway To The World is exhaustive and utterly inspirational.

On the DVD: The DVD contains a wealth of extra interview footage (including Paul Simonon talking about setting fire to Lester Bangs!) and Letts' earlier Clash documentary Clash On Broadway. The account of The Clash's two week stay in New York is slightly more impressionistic than Westway To The World but contains a hilarious Topper Headon interview. A full band discography and a set of photos of the Clash also feature on the DVD. --Ian Watson

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Customer reviews

review by: will_3rd date: 2006-08-20 rating:
it just blew me away...
I rented the DVD from amazon it just blew me away, the live clips though short get me moving everytime, the story is equally intresting, if this documentary doesn't inspire you what will?

the Clash were quite frankly the coolest band ever, Joe Strummer legend!

A must have!

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review by: date: 2006-01-30 rating:
Good as far as it goes
The interview footage is great and gives a great insight into the different personalities of the four main characters in the Clash story.

But...

I would have loved to have seen more live footage. Instead, we have to make do with merely seconds of each track - barely enough to get an idea of what is going on. Bit odd that, seeing as we are talking about a band who were so well known for their powerful live shows.

Also, once we get to the point where Mick Jones has been sacked, the story ends. Would have been nice to get the full band to comment on the Cut The Crap album - especially Jones and Headon, who had by then been sacked. To miss this embarrassing ending to an otherwise great career smacks of revisionism.

Still, interesting viewing, especially for those of us too young to fully appreciate it at the time, but for a fuller story, read the book "Passion Is A Fashion: The Story of The Clash"

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review by: Drug Fiend date: 2004-10-17 rating:
And amazing documentary
If you are a fan of the Clash, this DVD is a must have. You can move from being a fan of the band to knowing all that there is to know about them in a very short amount of time. It starts off with the band talking about how they grew up and what musical influences they had. It then moves on to talking about the early days of the Clash and how they formed. Then the documentary progresses from each important event to the next, in chronological order. Ending with Joe Strummer making a tearful speech about how he didn't want the band to end the way it did. It is a truely moving moment. An amazing documentary about one of (if not the) greatest bands of all time.

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review by: moon pix date: 2003-07-27 rating:
Punk Rock filmmaking at its best.
This is a must if you are a punk fan along with The Filth And The Fury film.

A career overview of THE punk band of all time. It reveals at lot about how the clash came to be and also about the tensions within the band around the time of their breakup. It is amazing to think, but as Joe Strummer points out near the end, the entire career of The Clash went down in five years. This is a band who released a debut album that is now considered a classic, a classic double album and a triple album. Most bands don't achieve this in 15 years.

It quite ironic that the one band that some people believe the Clash to be superior to (Sex Pistols) are the whole reason the band existed. Joe reminisces on how after seeing the Pistols his old band, the 101's, were not worth a damn. Very interesting insightful film awith some good interviews.

The only thing that prevents this from getting a five is that the On Broadway 20 minute documentary mini movie is quite tedious but apart from that brilliant all around. Also, buy The Filth And The Fury Sex Pistols film.


review by: date: 2003-02-28 rating:
A great doc about a great band
The Clash in my opinion were the greatest band ever conceived, they were smart, they took punk to new areas and remained the western world that there was other music outside of pop, rock and even punk. It's only fitting that Don Letts (Mick Jones' band mate in big Audio Dynamite &) Clash's video maker among other talents should make this documentary about them, which charts the band members from their early years to the bands destruction in the mid eighties.
The doc is made up of interviews with the main members Joe, Mick, Paul and Topper as well as others who were in connection with the group most notably Terry Crimes and Guy Stevens. The rest of the doc is filled with footage from the period, and from Letts' old clash film 'Clash on Broadway' (the remnants of this doc are featured in the special features section). The dvd is a great treat for fans and is just as interesting for music fans in general. Fans of recently deceased Joe will remember his fire and his shortcomings. The film is of course, dominated by live recordings and clips of the clash, this makes the doc flow and remain pacey, admittedly a chapter screen is a little over used.
On the dvd, the special features contain extra interview footage, which are as valuable as what was left in the doc. We get an excellent photo gallery dominated by long time Clash photographer Pennie smith, a genius in her own right. Plus, most notably is a picture gallery with music plying in the background! Top marks for a dvd bothering! Also there is the Don Lett's 'Clash on Broadway' from 1981 which is missing a large chunk of its original footage, but is interesting especially for fans.
This is a dvd which fans will treasure. On the negative side it's a shame there's none of the bands videos or a live gig of the clash on dvd yet. But so far this is the best clash release on video or dvd. Magnificent!

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Similar categories

Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Music . Rock . Punk
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . DVD
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . BBFC Rating (intended_use_browse-bin) . 15
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Editions (feature_two_browse-bin) . Standard Edition
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Region(feature_browse-bin) . Region 2
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 1970 - 1979
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Language (theme_browse-bin) . English

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