The Rock-afire Explosion

Pizza for me has always been synonymous with fun. Nowadays, it's pizza and beer. Thenadays, it was pizza and weird fu%k*n' animatronic creatures singing songs, making jokes and scaring the crap out of all the wimpy kids. And I know I'm not alone on this. For those of us fortunate enough to be children in the 80s, we had Showbiz Pizza restaurants spread throughout the country, stocked with all of the latest videogames and an animatronic band called The Rock-afire Explosion. The 80s were a long time ago – godam%it – but filmmaker Brett Whitcomb has reached back in time and brought forward a chunk of our past that has helped reignite interest in this band that would play the perfect soundtrack for pizza munching. A trailer for the documentary "The Rock-afire Explosion" hit YouTube a little while back and has had people talking all over the Web. And just recently the film has hit the festival circuit. So does it live up to its hype? If you remember and love The Rock-afire Explosion from your youth, then, yes.

This documentary cuts back and forth between two stories, or rather, it cuts back and forth between two periods of time in the life of The Rock-afire Explosion. Yes, there is a ton of vintage footage for nostalgia freaks to drool over, accompanied by interview footage of Rock-afire creator Aaron Fechter who lays down the history of this animatronic band. But then we also see where Rock-afire is at today and it's not the cheeriest of pictures as we see that Fechter was driven out of business and his creation made nearly extinct, however, the light at the end of the tunnel is a group of lifelong fans who still devote themselves to the Rock-afire Explosion, including one such fan – Chris Thrash – who saved up a load of cash to purchase his own complete Rock-afire Explosion show which he operates at this home, often for lucky families who bring their children to bask in the wonder. And watching these kids freak out, it's all too apparent that The Rock-afire still has that magic. Thrash is also the one that videotaped his band's performances playing to more modern music and posted his clips to YouTube. It's these clips that really rekindled interest in The Rock-afire.

We learn a great deal about our pizza parlor heroes, as well as the people that created them and the people that are doing their best to keep them alive. All in all, it's a pretty marvelous celebration of passion and fun, especially if you love docs about obsessive fans. Obsessive people have been the cornerstone of some great – okay, highly amusing – documentary film-making. This film adds to that heap of fun.

by Eric Campos of Film Threat

Director Brett Whitcomb could have easily taken a condescending attitude toward Thrash and the other Rock-afire enthusiasts, but instead he presents the material in a nonjudgmental fashion that makes The Rock-afire Explosion surprisingly moving at times. Thrash's dream may seem silly or superficial to you or me, but that doesn't matter; it's his dream and he made it come true, and how many of us can say the same? In its own funny way, the film investigates the power of nostalgia and the artifacts of childhood, as well as the tangible and emotional wreckage that's left behind when a fleeting moment of pop culture has passed.

Posted by Scott Von Doviak (The Screengrab)

The documentary simultaneously examines the life of Aaron Fechter--engineer and inventor of Showbiz's iconic musical centerpiece, and the founder of the company that produced the animatronic marvels, Creative Engineering. It's an almost heartbreaking glimpse into the perils of achieving incredible success at a young age, and the slow torture of being unable to recreate that success over the remainder of a lifetime. Whereas the bits about Chris Thrash are mostly inspiring and uplifting, the segments covering Fechter's life convey a theme of gloom and decay. And although he seems happy to discuss the "good old days", there's a quiet desperation just beneath the exterior of his optimistic outlook and upbeat personality that is truly powerful to behold.

The greatest value of this production is the incredible sincerity of the people upon whose lives it focuses. You can't act this kind of stuff; these are a collection of individuals who, not unlike the robotic band itself, have been drawn together by the love and happy memories they once had at a place called Showbiz Pizza. And it's powerful, because anyone who grew up frequenting the fabulous pizza-parlour-stage-show-arcade is likely to strongly empathize with that love and share many of the same memories. I may be getting soft in my old age, but I have to admit that I teared up during one particularly poignant moment in the documentary. That could simply be a testament to good filmmaking. Or, it could be that I just happen to fall directly into the smack-dab-middle of the target demographic for this DVD. Either way, it's a fantastic watch and I highly recommend it to everyone who grew up in the 80s loving pizza, arcade games, and ridiculously overdone animatronic stage shows.

Matt 'gzsfrk' Williams

WIth superb direction, great interview subjects, amazing subject matter, and great soundtrack, this film has everything a good film needs.

I knew a little bit about The Rock-afire Explosion before seeing this film, but afterwards, I love them and admire the companies and people who created this great film.

Aaron Fechter (The Rock-afire's inventor) is a very intelligent man and it is clear, through the film, that we have not seen the last of him. Besides his work with The Rock-afire on YouTube, he also has many projects in development.

I would highly recommend this DVD. It's a must have DVD for the holidays!

I went into this thinking that it would be more centered around the band and the animatronics themselves, and was wildly disappointed. Instead, it was primarily focused on the nostalgia the other, older people had for the band. Which is fine in itself- however, it was wildly disappointing to me. I am 15, and I never got to experience the RAE for myself, however it is a large special interest of mine, so watching this was not only a disappointment, but immensely boring. Who wants to watch random adults talk about how much they miss the band? I was expecting so much more, but maybe it's my fault for having such high expectations. I don't think I would ever actually watch this again.