The Decline of Western Civilization: The Complete Trilogy

The Decline of Western Civilization: The Complete Trilogy

From its first installment, "The Decline of Western Civilization" (1981), Penelope Spheeris’s genre-defining documentary trilogy offers an unflinching and empathetic look at the punk and metal "scenes" that emerged from Los Angeles in the late 1970s.

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The Decline of Western Civilization: The Complete Trilogy
  • The Decline of Western Civilization

    Directed by Penelope Spheeris | 100 mins | 1981
    Without doubt one of the great rock docs, Penelope Spheeris’s headily discordant portrait of West Coast punk—her directorial debut—showcases such hardcore luminaries as X, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Germs. As pure and pungent a time capsule as th...

  • The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years

    Directed by Penelope Spheeris | 93 mins | 1988
    The scummy, lightening-in-a-bottle Los Angeles punk scene that Penelope Spheeris captured in the first “Decline of Western Civilization” (1981) had morphed considerably by the time of this second instalment, nearly a decade later: the hair was bigger...

  • The Decline of Western Civilization Part III

    Directed by Penelope Spheeris | 86 mins | 1998
    After a detour into the high heady heyday of Sunset Strip hair metal in the second film of her essential social history of rock ’n’ roll in southern California, Spheeris returned to the hardcore punk roots of her first Decline, embedding herself amon...