| | |  | POP MUSIC | Home » » Slade in Flame | | | | | | | Description: | | The early 1970s were very good to glam rockers Slade. In their native Britain, they invaded the charts with 17 Top 20 hits, including six at #1. Devoted fans couldn’t play Slade’s anthem-rock loud enough, and the band played to packed clubs and concert halls all across the country. Like The Beatles and The Who, Slade too was seduced by the call of celluloid. In 1975, the band answered that call, starring in the critically lauded Slade in Flame. A darker kind of Spinal Tap, the film features the band starring as a fictitious version of themselves, while taking a gritty, realistic look at the underbelly of the music industry, where hustlers, sharks and managers prey upon hot new bands. • First U.S. release of this cult DVD! • This film was made in 1974, following the success of the Beatles’ A Hard Days Night and The Monkees Head scripted rock films. • Features Slade hits "How Does It Feel?" and "Far, Far Away." • Includes an enlightening 50-minute interview with Slade’s lead singer/guitarist and British rock icon Noddy Holder. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Don Powell, Jim Lea, Noddy Holder, Dave Hill, Tom Conti | | Director:
| Richard Loncraine | | Format:
| Color, DVD, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Shout Factory | | Run Time:
| 91 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| March 23, 2004 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 14 reviews |
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- VeryGood | | | $15.00 | New | | | $16.82 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | New | | | $18.68 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $19.99 | New | | | $36.50 | Used
- Good | | | $999.99 | Used
- Mint | | | $999.99 | New | |
| New | |
| $6.80 | New | | | $6.81 | New | | | $6.95 | New | | | $6.99 | New | | | $7.99 | New | | | $8.45 | New | | | $8.50 | New | | | $8.69 | New | | | $15.00 | New | | | $16.82 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | New | | | $19.99 | New | | | $999.99 | New | |
| Used | |
| $6.25 | Used
- Mint | | | $6.25 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $6.99 | Used
- Mint | | | $9.55 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $18.68 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $36.50 | Used
- Good | | | $999.99 | Used
- Mint | |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 14 customer reviews )
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14 of 16 found the following review helpful:
 A note from the producers of this DVDApr 20, 2004
We produced the U.S. DVD release of Slade In Flame. Sometimes with vintage film and television releases we are faced with the option of providing content to the viewer in less-than-ideal form, or not providing it at all. Although we knew the master for "Slade In Flame" was less than perfect, it was the same master used on the UK edition of the DVD and the only master we could find. We chose to make the film available to rock fans for their libraries because of its rarity in the U.S., its historical importance, and the overall quality of the film. In our effort to provide an upgraded DVD package, we improved the menus, cover art, and provided the best possible audio for the soundtrack. We also found an original poster for the film's British theatrical release and reproduced it inside the package. We hope that fans of Slade and rock films in general will overlook any shortcomings in the picture and enjoy the film for what it is. -Shout! Factory DVD Producers
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Flame are gonna be big stars.......Nov 11, 2004
By Hellion Zephreid
Slade. A group that was HUGE in England in the 70's and all we really heard of them here in the states were the covers by Quiet Riot and "Keep Your Hands Off of My Power Supply" LP years later. Imports were way too costly then and I was just a teenager. So they remained a mystery to me like all the other U.K. glam rockers who failed to raise any interest or hits over here (T. Rex, Quatro, Mud, Wizzard, etc..). When I heard this movie was seeing the light of day in the U.S. thanks to some words by Classic Rock magazine (another Import), I had to check it out. As others have pointed out, this is not "A Hard Day's Night" or anything happy or silly that The Beatles have put out at the time. This story is of the other side of the Rock 'n' Roll business, the "dark" side. It does make one want to give up on the "R 'n' R dream" though. It is not a movie that you will watch again and again but is worthy of a once through. The music is good. Trademark Slade sound. One of the extras on the dvd is an interview with the lead singer/guitarist of Slade, Nodddy Holder in which he discusses all to do with the bands popularity and the reason for the choice of story for this film. Interesting to listen to him, definitely a bonus to the disc. The movie is average, watching musicians try to be actors and it does show. The 4 stars are for the courage to go against the grain and make this type of movie instead of acting like a bunch of clowns. The movie represents more a solid 3 though....
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Them Monkeys Can Swing!May 13, 2005
By R. Pettie
This DVD is strictly a Slade fan collectible. The DVD itself has some problems ie. sound, picture grainy at points. BUT - for the true Slade fan look past this! The story of two bands competing with each other and then becoming what is Slade is truly entertaining (the premise is that the story while fiction is loosely based on fact). The Noddy interview is worth the price of the DVD alone. SLADE ROCKS - FOREVER!!!!!!
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Glitter era curioSep 07, 2004
By D. Hartley
"Slade in Flame" is one of those legendary "lost" movies that you read about for years until it attains "Holy Grail" status in your mind, and then when you finally see it, you shrug and say "Oh. Er, well, OK, then..." Produced by ex-Animals guitarist Chas Chandler and released in 1974 (the height of the glitter rock era) to cash in on the (mostly UK-based) success of the band, the film actually holds up surprisingly well some 30 years on. I am a Slade fan, but frankly I had girded my loins for the possibility of another "KISS Meets The Phantom" fiasco. The film works as a realistic portrait of a working-class meat-and-potatoes band of "blokes" (the fictional "Flames") getting chewed up in the pop star-making machinery of of the late-60's British rock scene. In fact it is the cynicism and grittiness of the story that surprises the viewer. Some of the bleaker themes echo the (superior) David Essex drama "Stardust" (someone PLEASE release that one on DVD!!), which also hit the theatres in 1974. The band members, first time actors all, give passable performances (not like it was a stretch!). You may recognize a few faces amongst the mostly non-professional cast, in particular, "legit" thespian Tom Conti (in his first film role, according to Noddy Holder in the bonus interview). Let's not forget the music-there are a half dozen or so performances sprinkled throughout, with the movie's main theme song a standout. Picture and sound quality are not ideal, but I will give credit to the releasing company's reps for owning up with thier apologia on this site. One caveat: the thick accents and sometimes oversaturated audio was tough going for this "yank"...I only understood about half the dialog! Maybe subtitles on the next reissue?
7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
"8 Mile" is "Flame's" Love Child.Dec 29, 2004
By John J. Baker
Having only heard Slade's standards "Cum On Feel the Noize," and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," someone had taken a real gamble giving "Flame" to me as a Solstice gift. But she knew about my taste for, in her words: "A load of ugly f*ckers from the seventies who play good, loud music." I gave it a viewing once, then twice, then three times...
My verdict: "Flame" is good, raunchy fun. I got a good laugh watching the prologue featuring the group as a middling wedding band. I became entranced with the opening track, the wistful "How Does it Feel?" By the time the wedding band got in a row with rival band The Undertakers, I was sold.
I'm not at all surprised that "Flame" and Eminem's "8 Mile" follow the same "fortune, glory and ill-gotten gains" formula. What surprises me is that two films dealing with two disparate genres, two different neighborhoods, and two different subcultures took said formula and became gritty, offbeat masterpieces. Noddy's "Stoker" and Em's "B. Rabbit" are both rough, gritty and driven characters with endearing character quirks. Jim Lea, the Mehki Pfieffer of this earlier film is the perfect foil for Noddy as the partner in crime who occasionally butts heads with his mate. And the shootout at the Thames Estuary pirate radio station is every bit as surprising and hilarious as when "Cheddar Bob" shot himself in the bollocks in the Eminem vehicle.
Enough comparisons, on with the story. After the wedding band ditches their slobby frontman Jack Daniels (Alan Lake) in favor of ex-Undertaker Stoker, and in turn get ditched by their shifty Gangland manager Ron Harding (Johnny Shannon), they are quickly snapped up by two stuffy corporate opportunists played with cold deviousness by British All-Star Tom Conti and Kenneth Colley (known to Star Wars fans far and wide as Admiral Piett!) Conti and Piett-- erm, Colley repackage the quartet as "Flame", who spends their 15 minutes of fame conquering the UK. Just as they plan to invade the States, Gangster Ron and Jack Daniels (paging Wink from 8 Mile!) conspire to wrangle their share of the profits, and the phenomenon. What ensues is a duel of words and muscle between Blue Collar Gangsters and White Collar Suits as "Flame" crash, burn, and prepare to fizzle out.
The members of Slade hold their own alongside Conti and Admiral-- ah, Colley, most especially Noddy and Jim. Don Powell's charming performance as the shy, down-to-earth drummer is made all the more poignant due to the fact that he suffered from memory retention lapses in real life. Dave Hill is the resident comic relief as he looks up women's skirts and bolts Noddy/Stoker into his casket during the Undertaker gig. For all the world Dave Hill looks like a bucktoothed Davy Jones.
It's astonishing to see how many of the performers - along with the writer and director - saw their careers take flight after this obscure, yet surprisingly well executed film.
A minor greivance: Good as I am with picking up British accents (A damn sight better than most Yanks,) it would have helped to have some caption option on the DVD to keep up with the North England accents.
As for extras, the DVD boasts a lovely 50 minute interview with "sing-guh" Noddy Holder, circa 2002. With his wild grey curls, the aged Noddy looks like a cross between "Doctor Who's" Tom Baker and Gareth Thomas from "Blake's 7!" ;-)
I proudly place this music gem in my DVD library next to "24 Hour Party People," "Hedwig," and "Pink Floyd - The Wall."
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