Rock the Bells

Masterful documentary.

I saw Rock The Bells in Cardiff, Wales during our annual Film Festival and the crowd(who were a fairly mixed crowd of ages and cultural backgrounds) were eating it up. I love the movie and i can't wait for the DVD!!! Extremely exciting. Extremely funny. Extremely visceral- you can't help but empathise with Chang and Carlos's exasperation with the talent. Fascinating for anyone interested in concert promotion, the Wu-Tang or Alt-Hip-hop. Of all the reviews - i concur most with Craig Mathison's for The Age, Ausralia.

One of the best movies i've seen this year.

How has nobody mentioned the fact that this is a documentary about Wu-Tang concert, yet you never get to hear any of Wu-Tang's music or performance? The filmmakers didn't get the rights. So after two hours of waiting on edge and hoping for the concert to happen, you don't get to hear a single moment of the actual show! What a rip-off!

The people who have reviewed this movie must really not care at all about Wu-Tang or know who they are. How can this film deserve rave reviews? A doc about a concert needs to have concert footage of the main act to deserve five stars. Rock The Bells was one of my most unsatisfying movie-going experiences in recent memory.

I saw this movie today at the Widwest Independent Film Festival, and I was blown away. The most exciting documentary i've ever seen, not only about hip hop, which isn't really what it was about, but more so just in general, I have yet to this date seen a documentary quite like this one. This will have you in the edge of your seat, guaranteed. Everybody in the audience, rather black, white, latino, Asian, 20 years old to 80 years old, was laughing and crying and leaning forward all throughout the movie. This is truly a historical piece, considering it is the last time Wu Tang Clan ever performed together on stage with all original members... If it were up to me, i'd have this movie release in 4000 locations, but unfortunately, its not. Sage Francis will tell you that in the movie himself.

Officially, I give this two thumbs up! Only part I don't like is the fact I only have two thumbs.

-Helton Sales Siqueira, aka Brazilionaire

"Rock the Bells" plays out with an almost Shakespearean flow, from it's tantalizing rising action, to its satisfyingly refreshing denouement. A documentary that follows Chang, a concert promoter, who aims to assemble one of the best hip hop concerts of all time, "Rock the Bells" achieves what many documentaries are incapable of doing: showing the participants as living, breathing men and women who actually endeavor to accomplish something. It not only documents the final time the entire Wu Tang Clan performed together, but also shows an inside glimpse into their private, and little-mentioned family lives. With its crisp filmaking, excellent producing, and flawless editing, "Rock the Bells" proves itself to be one of the best documentaries, if not films, of the year.

I'm hardly a hip hop fan but I do enjoy a kick-ass documentary and a great story with energy, so this is a movie I will be recommending to people for sure. The footage of the frantic backstage preparations, the rowdy fans, the freaked out party promoter, the musicians on all their own strange trips and, best of all, the freestylin' Supernatural, make this film a rush for everyone, whether you are into hip hop or not. The footage contained is well-chosen and high-energy and the interviews peppered all through the developing story of this wild night are funny and endearing and flesh out the characters well. There is also edge of your seat drama and many tense moments in the unfolding tale of a near disaster, but ultimately a satisfying climax.