Slade in Flame

The British Glam Rock kings of the 1970's never quite made the impact they should have in the states. Probably David Bowie is the only one of the bunch that most Americans have even heard of. The Sweet had only a few hits. Marc Bolan only managed one Top 40 record. Now that's a shame. Roxy Music was a cult group. Status Quo is virtually unheard of; a one-hit wonder whose only hit was their first single from 1967, "Listen to the Flower People," er, I mean, "Pictures of Matchstick Men." Slade shifted some LPs, but had no hit singles. But they did make this film, which can finally now be seen here in the USA on DVD. Interesting to watch from the American perspective, but anyone who's at all a fan of such British cultural touchstones as The Beatles or Monty Python should find plenty to enjoy here.

The group acquits themselves as actors quite well in this somewhat true-to-life tale of a rock band's rise and fall in England. The story starts in the mid/late 1960's, which helps to separate the real life Slade from the fictional Flame.

Although somewhat of a gritty drama, there are a large number of hilarious anecdotes (which all supposedly really happened, though not to Slade but to different bands) about the singer getting stuck on stage in a coffin (Spinal Tap pod incident, anyone?), the attack on the pirate radio station, and dealings with posh types on a train and shopping for a Rolls-Royce at a snooty dealership.

Overall, one of the better rock and roll films, if one of the lesser heralded ones. Worth watching for rock music fans or fans of 60's/70's pop culture. Just listen carefully, fellow Americans! You'll have a hard time sussing out some of the dialog with those Midlands accents. In fact, Noddy Holder said that when the film showed in St. Louis in the 70's, it was actually subtitled! Too bad that option is not provided on this DVD, but other than that, I don't have much to complain about here.

The backdrop to this film was so bleak and gritty that one would not have been surprised to have spotted Jack Carter (in his black raincoat) passing by in the background.

With Alan Lake, Tom Conti and Johnny Shannon there to do the real acting, despite the serious nature of the film, Slade's thespian talents were little more important than the Beatles's were in Hard Days Night or the Monkees in Head. Despite that, Noddy Holder and Jimmy Lea (who were the brains behind Slade anyway i.e. they wrote all the songs) both aquit themselves extremely well; successfully creating credible, interesting and well rounded characters. Dave Hill simply played himself (not that that was a problem, as he was, to all intents and purposes, cast as himself anyway). I defy anyone to decipher a complete sentence mumbled by drummer Don Powell, but that oddly adds to his character's charm.

This successful hybrid between Get Carter and Stardust is truly a lost gem, that, despite it's rediscovery and favourable reassessment in the 90's, has still not received the popular recognition it deserves.

Who knows, if this had been a major success (as opposed to a major flop) on it's initial release, would it have been that long before we saw The Sweet doing a bullion job in The Sweeny?

What a brilliant film! This film is a must to watch, not only if you are a Slade fan, but if you like to take a sneak-peek into the seedy and gritty world of pop/rock 'n' roll. The hard cutting realism of the life of a working band rising to short fame during the 70's. The film encapsulates the lives of the band and individual band members that come from ordinary every day life, working through working mens clubs to concerts and star status. you get a shear sense of being there and what it means to work in those circles, (It's not all, 'Glitter 'n' Glam). It's a cut throat world between band and managers, eat or be eaten. There are some great songs in the film to, which everyone from that era will remember. It's not surreal, the film holds up well along with 'That'll be the day' and 'Stardust' and compliments them. Buy it you will not be disappointed. Well done Nod, Jim, Dave & Don, lets have a revival or a sequel eh! Allan.

This is a real slice of 70's. (Slade in) Flame tells the story of a semi mythical band that crawls out of the midlands of England and makes it into the myth of Rock and Roll. I found the album back in my salad days, and finally found the movie on DVD in my washed up years. There are pluses and minuses, as with any real slice of life film. On the plus side, the story of a band that makes it and self destructs really summarizes the mythos of the era, and realistically and sympathetically portrays the pressures and glories of fame. On the negative side, the accents are so thick you really wish there were subtitles. Notionally in English, it's in REAL English, and as an American, it might as well be Swahili.

The flick is full of authentic and believable characters. The small time manager, the pirate DJ, and the hippy dippy groupies all make the film seem as real as your own life. If you've seen Spinal Tap, you'll see more than a handful of scenes - a singer trapped in a coffin, high class and moneyed fops dealing with the low class entertainers, and the horrors of ridiculous costumes and friends knifing friends. If you like Uriah Heep, UFO, or any band who played a festival at Wolverhampton, this id worth the accents. If you think rock and roll is too loud, pass. But this is rock at its most basic. Loud, dirty, and important for the most unimportant reasons possible.

I watched this film for the first time in around 30 years last night and was amazed at how well it stands up today.It is gritty,funny and has a good storyline.The direction by Richard Loncraine is crisp and the acting is pretty good throughout.

As the band Flame,Noddy,Jimmy,Dave and Don do a fair job as actors.Not Oscar winners but not bad at all.Tom Conti does well in his first major role as the oily manager and Johnny Shannon is convincing as their gangster like first manager.The best performance comes from Alan Lake as Jack.He is very good in every scene he is in and should have received more recognition for this role.

The film moves along at a good pace,never drags and will surprise many people with it's edginess and at times grim reality.I have seen quite a few music based films and this is most definitely right up there with the very best.It is now quite respected and this is deserved.It really should reach a much wider audience as it is a very good attempt at showing that it is not all a bed of roses when you achieve success.The soundtrack is great and there are also a couple of scenes that without a doubt influenced the makers of 'Spinal Tap',see if you can spot them.Well done Slade.They took a big risk by making a movie like this and although their career went downhill afterwards,this is a film they can be very proud of.