Oasis: Supersonic

Popular musicians can pass from obscurity to worldwide fame in a very short period of time; and that's the focus of 'Oasis: Supersonic', a documentary which charts the rapid rise of the Gallagher brothers' band. It's a not uninteresting story: the group sprung from humble origins, its two leading figures were both combative in nature (especially with each other), but the basic narrative here is the story of sudden, overwhelming fame. There's a merciful absence of outside talking heads, which means we are spared solemn pontification abot their musical significance, but also there's no discussion of the general 'Britpop' phenomenon of which Oasis were just one part. But Noel and Liam are sufficiently frank that it doesn't feel like an airbrushed history either; we do get a sense of what it was actually like to be part of Oasis at this time. As with any music documentary, the music itself is part of it: personally I liked Oasis's their retro rock-and-roll sound even if it wasn't outstandingly innovative, so I enjoyed the soundtrack. The film ends with musing that, in the modern digital age, a similar story couldn't happen now. In general, I'm sceptical about theories about the end of history; even so, twenty-plus years since Oasis played Knebworth, it's hard to think of a band since that has, however briefly, seemed so totally to capture the national mood.

"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!

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.

Just returned from watching this at Vue Bolton. Was mesmerising. The live Q&A after the film was light hearted & warm, with Liam trademark expletives. Charts the remarkable meteoric rise from a Manchester council estate to the massive Knebworth brace of gigs pumping out tracks to 250,000 exuberant fans. They were so hot, with 2.5 m requests for tickets, as Liam says, they 'could 'av still been playin now!'. In their own words, 'the biggest band in the world' at that time. This film was heartwarming in it's authenticity, it's portrayal felt very real. I left the theatre with a real sense that I knew Liam and Noel a little better, and understood them a little more. Their journey was extraordinary. The soundtrack powerful. There were many points in the film when the volume ramped up the rockin beats and the audience excitement palpable. A great feeling in the theatre that we had all seen something special. I also laughed many times. I hope there is a 'Part Two' charting what happened after Knebworth. Brilliant film & documentary. 9.5 / 10. Tony P

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.