Garage Days on DVD

When you’re watching a movie about rock music, chances are you’re going to get large doses of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll; possibly three of the greatest things in the world (editor's note: he forgot to mention beer).

But music movies aren’t always that good. When done properly, they’re a lot of fun, but when done poorly they’re often interminable. Garage Days falls somewhere in the middle. It tries its darndest to give you massive helpings of the three greats, and it succeeds in spades, but the movie itself is such a mishmash of goings-on and happenings that it’s hard to stay interested.

Garage Days tells the story of a young garage band in Sydney, Australia. They’re trying to make it big, but the usual personal and professional problems get in the way. Rather than dwell too much on the plot, we’d like to instead discuss where the film went wrong, and why. First and foremost, is the packaging. Right on the very front cover of the DVD, it says “what if you finally got your big break…and you just plain sucked?” It sounds like the kind of film that has unlimited comedy potential. Under the synopsis on the back of the box, it also says “…comes this hip, sexy comedy about a garage band with everything it takes to make it to the top…except talent.”

Now, you’re probably wondering what the problem is. It does indeed sound like it could be a tremendously funny movie, filled with sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. Unfortunately, it’s not all that funny. To make things much, much worse, the box gives away the ending of the film. There’s never any indication at any point in the movie that the band is no good (except perhaps, for the fact that you never really get to hear them play). Everything proceeds as if the band were just as good as any other. It would have been a heck of a lot funnier if we hadn’t found out until the end that they suck.

Moving on, there’s also way too much drama for a movie billing itself as a comedy. The laughs are few and far between, and the rest is chock full of unfortunate events, many of them completely clichéd and unwelcome. Love triangles, drug abuse, suicidal band members…it’s all been done and done some more. By the end of the film, you’re more than ready to throw in the towel.

On the other hand, it does have some things going for it. Director Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City, I, Robot) does an excellent job of adding a hipness and modern directing style that works very well. And we can’t deny we enjoyed the “Fun With Drugs” scenes. The cast is also excellent, including Kick Gurry, Maya Strange, Pia Miranda, Brett Stiller and Marton Csokas.

Garage Days is an unfortunate movie. It’s never quite sure what it wants to be or do, and never quite succeeds at anything. Like we said before, though, if you’re looking for sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll, this film has plenty.

The DVD features both 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and full screen versions on either side of the disc. Picture quality is pretty good, with well-done color and detail for the most part, but a few of the scenes look extremely muddy. Certain scenes also look a bit grainy, but it makes more sense later in the film when a “secret” is revealed.

Audio is a bit of a mixed bag. The Dolby Digital 5.1 makes great use of the surrounds, particularly during live shows and when the rock soundtrack plays in the background, but there’s a bit of tinnyness in a few of the scenes, and some of the dialogue separation seems tacked on.

Features include a commentary by Alex Proyas, a few deleted scenes, “Garage Days Backstage Pass,” which is essentially an extended commercial, some cast and director interviews, and outtakes.

Garage Days, from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
105 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) 16x9 enhanced, Dolby Digital 5.1
Starring Kick Gurry, Maya Strange, Pia Miranda, Brett Stiller, Chris Sadrinna, Andy Anderson, Marton Csokas, Yvette Duncan and Russell Dykstra
Produced by Topher Dow and Alex Proyas
Screenplay by Dave Warner & Alex Proyas and Michael Udesky, Directed by Alex Proyas

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