Rush: Time Stand Still

Rush: Time Stand Still is the perfect sequel and the perfect companion to Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage. Beyond the Lighted Stage focuses on the formative years of Rush the human beings and Rush the band, and culminates in the band's remarkable comeback after Neil Peart's tragedies and long healing process. Rush in the life stages and phases of youth, maturity, overcoming adversity, successful career, tragedy, and "rise from the ashes and blaze", to quote from a Rush song featured in Time Stand Still. After watching BTLS in a packed movie house in Vancouver I wondered why the hell isn't Rush in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Time Stand Still picks up where BTLS leaves off. They get inducted into the RRHOF, and their second-to-last tour - the Clockwork Angels tour - lives in the limelight for a short time. But mainly, TSS is about Rush approaching the end of a phenomenal career as a band and especially as a touring band, and how much they mean, and have meant, to Rush fans. Rush as a touring band in the life stage of old age. With old age comes reflection - from the Rush members and crew, and from fans. With reflection comes emotion, and the main emotion that flows and often pours from the film is love. There is also sadness, but it's a sweet sadness, a sadness that springs from love. The end is near, but it's been so wonderful and fun. Their final tour - the R40 tour - is selectively followed right up until the final show, where Rush give a very emotional final exit stage left.

BTLS features fan interviews and examines Rushmania superficially, but TSS digs deeper into the lives of Rush fans by showing - not just telling - their stories of what Rush means to them. For me, this is the best part of the film - the vignetting of Rush fans - from Baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, to the creator of Rushcon, to a man who was brought back to life and health in part by being inspired by Rush, to the Rush memorabiliac who stresses that he puts family first and Rush second.

You can't not be touched by this documentary, Rush fan or not.

If you're (like me) a die-hard Rush fan, you'll be weeping at the end. Can't help feeling that Lifeson and Lee are not at all happy about the end of touring days for Rush. At the same time one can understand why Peart has hung up his tour cymbals. There is no easy way to play a Rush song, let alone perform like an octopus on speed for 3 hours at 63! Generally the movie is a good insight into the work it takes to put on a show, and the groundhog-day affect it has on the band and crew. Beautifully shot and edited, with clips of the band throughout all their stages (bad hair, dreadful 80s clothes et al). My only "negative" viewpoint: Cant help feeling this "film" was rush-released a bit. (no pun intended) It seems like Alex and Geddy are doing a "see how sad people are Neil? See what you're quitting?". Additionally, they might also have touched on "hey fans, we might have stopped touring, but we will still keep writing and recording!"..but they didn't. I think if you put the three boys in a car together now there would be deadly silence as each one just stares out the window. I don't think we've heard the last of this. Prediction: More albums....the odd one-off show. We shall watch and pray....

I'm not a professional reviewer. This film was accidentally on the tv and I wasn't even a Rush fan. I never had much exposure to them. I wasn't even paying much attention to the movie until it just grabbed me. It was a very compelling story about a band, its music and a culture I was not aware of. It was beautiful and lovingly done. I'm pretty sure it was the best music documentary I've ever seen. It made me love Rush and want to know more about them. It was the perfect blend of concert footage and interviews of band and crew and fans and back stories. Just really well done. I can't say enough about this film. Don't miss it!

I just watched Rush / Time Stand Still with my 20 yr old son. We are Rush fans, although not as hardcore as some of the fans in the film - some fans have been to well over 100 Rush concerts. What stands out in the doc is the band's dedication to their music and their fans. The band never worried about having singles on the charts or the criticism / dismissal they received from the mainstream music media. They kept slogging away, touring touring touring and perfecting their craft. And now, after 40 years, they are an overnight success. Other musicians are coming forward to talk about how they admire or were inspired by the band, and also how funny and nice Alex, Geddy and Neil were/are in person. This doc will make you laugh at times, but overall there is a sense of looming sadness because you know the final curtain is about to fall. It's like when Wayne Gretzky made his final skate around Madison Square Gardens waving at the fans. It's the end of an era. Thanks guys for all the great music.

An otherwise engaging look at Rush's legacy as a touring band (as well as its die hard fanbase), there's an inescapable sense of finality weighing heavily on "Time Stand Still". You can't knock Neil for wanting to quit the grind; their level of musicianship and stage production just isn't feasible at an advancing age. If anyone's earned that right, it's the hardest working drummer in the business. Still, it's clear Geddy and Alex don't want to lower the curtain and it's a sad decision. These guys are road warriors; it's the end of an era.

But it'd be unfair to just dwell on the end, and the documentary ably walks us through their influence and the level of joy they bring to millions. This is a touching tribute and one hell of a deserved victory lap.

8/10