Oasis: Supersonic

Some young men, very sincere, strongly talented and even winsome, in the end. The film is nice, easy to watch and not boring (a bit repetitive sometimes). I would recommend it to anyone loving or simply interested in music.

The songs are good, some of them outstanding. Nothing to do with the Beatles, not that kind of history and any comparison would end to be heavy and unmotivated. They were a good band, nevertheless (and an incredibly successful one), one of those having the gift of making music simple: good ear, good voices, good sound…

Near the end Noel Gallagher states that '… people will never, ever, ever forget the way that you made them feel…'' and I wish with him this to be true.

Oasis climbed to success at an amazing speed. They went from performing together for a few times to recording an album and gaining some fame and momentum, to recording a second album and becoming the biggest band on the planet. At their peak, they claimed to be better than the Beatles. Well, I don't know about that, but I guarantee that the legion of fans they had, that could have filled up a stadium 2 weeks in succession is not something to take jokingly. Either way, we are not here to discuss the quality of the band, but rather, the quality of the documentary. My opinion: the documentary is great, but I don't know if I am biased and that the cheer pleasure of seeing footage of one of my favorite bands makes me the worst person to give an opinion about it. Let's put it this way: unless you hate the Gallaghers, what you find in the documentary is guys with great personality, full of desire to enjoy life who became rock stars and lit up the world. I think that's a good enough reason to watch anything.

I have never been a big fan of Oasis, considering them to be a simple rehash of old musical ideas spiced up with a heavy dose of Manchester attitude, but I found this film to be utterly compelling. It was shown on TV in the UK at 10pm when I was ready to retire to bed but my wife and I ended up glued to it and watched the whole thing.

I played in a Manchester band in the early 90s and I thought I knew everything I needed to know about Oasis but this film revealed a new perspective. Rather than the snarling, foul-mouthed oaf he is depicted as in the UK media (and by his brother) we see Liam as a far more three-dimensional character, projecting glimmers of genuine charisma and talent alongside the sweary outbursts. It's a PR job of course, but a very good one nonetheless.

And that's where the only real problem with this film lies; it is an advert for brand Oasis and it is very kind to them. The film sees us through to the peak of their fame with the massive sold-out shows at Knebworth, but we don't get any insight into the wasted opportunities and rapid decline which followed. As impressive as the band's rise was, the story arc doesn't feel complete.

I would recommend this film to anyone interested in rock music though, even if they don't particularly like Oasis. In fact, if you don't know their story already that probably just makes it all the more interesting.

Biblical, well I ain't no God fearing person but Whatever, the film captures, for most part, the simplicity we brought to being a modern day Rock n Roll star.There are two sides to it for the fan and the icon. The buzz of being recognized,quoted, followed and rich are fantastic and trying.To wake up and think "yeah I am really famous" as a first thought of the day is a buzz, a high better than any drug. But then after a while it grinds you down and you kinda want it to go away at times but it doesn't want too.I think the film shows signs of that and the demise was fame fatigue amongst other things.For the fans this is showing that we are just lucky guys who wrote and performed some great songs that caught the mood around at the time for a certain generation. Don't forget the Blur's and Suede and Elastica's but it's our tunes and our story that mirrors the times. Politics were dirty and confusing. The media were trying to create a Britpop scene and worse thing potato head did was sip champagne with Tory Blair, sorry Tony Blair. Stupidity aside come and rock n roll with me and the boys, I am all the things they say I am and then again I am nothing that has been written. One thing guaranteed. Love me and I will love you back. What makes the world go around? We did for sometime anyway. Love LGx

"Oasis: Supersonic" (2016 release from the UK; 122 min.) is a documentary about the early years of Britain's biggest band of the 90s. As the movie opens, the voice-over mentions that the band went in less than 3 years from signing to a label to headlining Knebworth 1996 in front of 250,000 fans, and the footage shows us the mega-madness that event was. We then go back in time, to the childhood of Noel and Liam (5 years younger) and oldest brother Paul, and how Noel and Liam end up in music. At this point we're 10 min. into the movie.

Couple of comments: this documentary is directed by Mat Whitecross, a Brit who's directed other music-related documentaries. More tellingly, the movie is executive produced by Asif Kagadu, who last year directed the brilliant and Oscar-winning Amy Winehouse documentary "Amy". This documentary made a number of very smart choices, including: (1) it focuses ONLY on the early years (nothing beyond 1996 is covered or mentioned), and the bulk of the film is about 1994-95, when the band reached it critical and commercial peak with the first 2 albums and the many related singles and B-sides from that era; (2) the sibling rivalry between Noel and Liam is not neglected but neither is it overplayed. I loved Noel's observation "I am like a cat, while Noel's like a dog. I am independent, while he craves attention and begs 'play with me! throw me the ball!", ha! (3) the documentary contains some amazing footage, including of Oasis' very first gig (8/18/91, when Noel hadn't even joined yet) and the infamous gig in Glasgow (5/31/93) where they were spotted by Creation Records co-owner Alan McGee, who promptly signed them. (And Noel comments about that gig: "There were 7 people there, and he (McGee) was 2 of them. So yea, we were an overnight sensation, 2 1/2 years in the making." The rest, as they say, is history. There are a lot of funny moments sprinkled throughout the film as well, which really keeps the overall mood quite light, and that is a good thing. Bottom line: if you are a fan of Oasis, as I was from the beginning, you absolutely do not want to miss this.

I saw "Oasis: Supersonic" at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati last night, when the movie was shown in theaters across the country for a one-night-only showing. The theater here was PACKED, somewhat to my surprise. I guess there is a pent-up demand (nostalgia?) for the good ol' days of the 90s Britpop. Much of the crowd roared with delight at the funny bits, and seemed completely into the movie (as was I). "Oasis: Supersonic" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!