Back to the Future vs. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years

Skottula

on 7/1/2014

Though I'd like to give the win to the second installment of Penelope Spheeris' Decline of Western Civilization series solely for the visual of W.A.S.P.'s Chris Holmes half passed out in a swimming pool on an inflatable raft with a bottle of vodka that he was sharing with his elderly mother or the image of Ozzy Osbourne circa "The Ultimate Sin" looking like a blown-out Bea Arthur while making eggs, it's really not enough to top one of the single greatest time travel adventures of the second half of the 20th Century. Back to the Future writes the book on modern time travel for the imagination of almost all American post-Gen-Xers and rightfully so, as it makes the rules simple to understand. The franchise may have fallen apart after this initial foray into time, but Back to the Future stands the test of it. For the Decline of Western Civilization Part II, there's no shame in losing this battle, really, if you've seen the movie, these metal years were about to start losing their own battle to relevance with the soon to be waning popularity of hair metal, though the bands selected have managed to hang on in their own way. Kudos to Spheeris for having an eye for the bands that would last. Surely this is a consolation prize.