Bowie: The Man Who Changed the World

If it hadn't been for a few good interviews with David, seemingly made by others in different times (plus an odd phone video that is nevertheless quite interesting) this almost tabloid style tale of David Bowie's life wouldn't have been worth watching and certainly isn't worthy for such a great and unique artist like David Bowie.

Some people from Bowie's life tell a few stories, but the life story that this film attempts to illuminate is sketchy and jumpy, which is only underlined by the interspersed still photos typically from the wrong era and usually the wrong video material for the events being presented and multiple times also being repeated for seemingly no good reason. It's like a film school project and I'm not sure Andersson is passing the exam either.

I hadn't seen much of this before, so found it somewhat interesting nevertheless, but the absence of any Bowie music made the experience very odd and the editing, well, it's not very good, is it?

The content was interesting and highlights how Bowie was always ahead of the trends in music creativity, fashion, and the ways in which the music industry operated, which explains how he got his reputation as a music genius and legend.

Do not watch this if you want to hear any of his recordings or see concert footage as there isn't any. Either the producers didn't want to fork out for the licensing fees or Bowie's estate did not give permission for their use.

The sound editing is pathetic with massive changes in volume throughout which is quite annoying.

It is these last two points that resulted in me only rating this documentary 5/10.

I'm a die-hard Bowie fan from before Ziggy Stardust. This new release confirmed my hopes & desires to see something different about Mr. Jones so I was pleasantly surprised. It may not be especially interesting to casual fans, but Bowie zealots will treasure these new interviews with friends who document the making of an icon. It examines how Bowie was responsible for pioneering the most groundbreaking fashion trends of the twentieth century. How he refused to conform to 'masculine' expectations and ended up changing the face of music. His shifting identities served a purpose, but even when all the "confusion" is stripped away, he still retained an enigmatic mystique. Sadly, there's no Bowie music in this, but it's well constructed and overall, the movie serves to help illuminate to Bowie fans on who the man really was.

This well done documentary is very interesting. It does a lot to investigate how David Bowie struggled in his early years to become an icon of our times. It includes archive clips as well as interviews with those who worked with him, and clips of the man himself. If you know the broader strokes of Bowie's music through the 70's and into 80's pop stardom, there isn't much you won't have seen or heard but what fun to see this early footage of Bowie.... it gives you a real sense of the early life and creation that David Jones made which became the brand image and the many faces of 'David Bowie', and the innovations that made him unique. The man was a five- star icon.

Because there is so much to cover in such a varied artistic career it would be near on impossible to do justice to it all in a couple of hours and even though there is no musical performance at all this doc is really worth a watch to see some of the older footage and the new interviews with his friends and collaborators.

The man was savvy business whiz, back in 2013, he shocked us all with the release of The Next Day, his first album in a decade.. It might be said that the release of his final album just days before his death was the greatest publicity stunt in music. The young Mr. Jones probably never thought it would be like this when he recorded 'Over The Wall We Go' with Paul Nicholas, banned by the Britain's BBC nearly fifty years ago. We miss you David. Thanks for all you have done to uplift us and for being the soundtrack of our lives. There won't be another. Farewell sir.

I am late to the party on this one, but this is the David Bowie story I didn't know. It's the young David Jones from Bromley, who was a singer looking for a personality, and spent his life trying to win his mother's approval. It follows his early career, a long apprenticeship in which he picks up the tricks that would make him famous. The dire mime days, the way he mimicked the style of Anthony Newley, and then got banned by the BBC. It took 11 years for him to achieve fame with Ziggy Stardust.

There a lot of voices fitted in here. The tender but candid recollections from Mary Finnegan and Dana Gillespie of their years with Bowie, and Russell Harty asking bizarre questions. Overall, it was pretty damn good.