Beastie Boys Story

Born in 1983. Didn't listen much until Intergalactic, my 8th grade year. My friends in grade school & into high school listened to Death Row, No Limit & Cash Money. We were young city white kids into NFL Starter jackets. Internet sucked, simple times. My older brother had album Check your Head, I was hooked. Awesome to see where this amazing music originated. This is definitely not your standard documentary about a music group. I really like the format, made me feel like I was lucky enough to be able to attend this event. Sure people might expect a biopic or intense narrated film, but this felt personal. Yes, they are prompted, but nobody could get through that many years w/o skipping pivotal things otherwise. Must watch.

This is a quintessentially Beastie Boys moment. Doing a documentary their own way just like they did it with music. Always creating something new. This is story telling, an opportunity to walk back in time with these artists as they guide us through a journey from their perspective. An ode to MCA. An adventure that's worth the ride. I laughed out loud. I cried out loud. I got up and danced. I fell in love again. Thank you.

As a somewhat old sod i grew up with Beastie Boys and this inside story told by sadly the only two of the boys still with us made me laugh and brought a tear to my eye...more that once i might add. Its rare to see a friendship like those 3 guys had and the 2 still with us still have....very touching and quite emotional to watch. So if you have even the slightest interest in Beastie Boys you owe it to yourself to watch this :-)

There are so many negative reviews, I need to balance it out. Some of the reviews miss the big picture. Yes, it is a live narration in front of an audience. Is it unusual? Yes, it is and may have generated some people to feel a certain way about it vs a traditional documentary. But it was put out by artists and is the way the artists wanted to present their story, this is the whole purpose of art in the end; creativity and evoking emotion. Also, because it is live does not mean it was supposed to be "unscripted", nor do the Beastie Boys pretend that it is, they mention the teleprompters several times and even pan to them at one point. I enjoyed the live "living history" feel of the documentary. I didn't feel like it was contrived or egocentric.

As far as the content, it is the history of the band. They didn't delve into the personal lives of the band members but told the story of their friendship and the band's history. Diamond and Horovitz don't avoid, or hide their past, they address it. It's part of the story, they grew as musicians, they grew as humans. There is one recurring theme, Adam Yauch was the moral compass of the group, the creative force, and the strength that held them all together.

Although this made me feel really old, I liked that the remaining members acted their age and didn't embarrass themselves by pretending to be 22 again. This was a genuine attempt to be honest and tell an amazing story with humour and emotion. The music will always sound fresh and original. It also seems to serve as a tribute to Adam Yauch and its obvious how much he was pivotal to the bands creation.