User reviews

'Moonage Daydream' is a not-really-documentary about David Bowie, as it doesn't follow the traditional talking heads of friends, family and colleagues. It's also not a concert film, although it does have some live concert footage, apparently much of it previously unseen. Directed by Brett Morgen (who did 'Montage of Heck' about Kurt Cobain and 'Crossfire Hurricane' about The Rolling Stones), it's also not wall-to-wall songs - I'd say there were only ~10 songs played in full, with lots of others used as transitions.

The film does well to show his impact on his fans, with bits and pieces from outside shows and plenty of crowd closeups during the live bits. There's plenty of archival Bowie interviews, much of it overlaid with other visuals of him or with the psychedelic "screensaver"-type CGI. It's edited well, so it feels like he's talking directly to you, rather than an interviewer. Lots of his other art - paintings, video-snippets, dance - edited in too.

It's sort-of chronological, starting in ~'72 and the Ziggy Stardust era, covering up to the early '90s, but some of the interviews jump to an older Bowie, so he can juxtapose himself and some of the comments/views from his younger self. He was certainly a bit of a mystery and for a lot of the film comes across as someone just trying to find his place in the world. Good to see some of his reasoning around certain things and his genius definitely shines through. Hard to believe he's already been gone almost 7 years.

It was always going to be hard to capture David Bowie's life and career in documentary format, as even the standard, talking head interviews + archive footage in chronological order would fail to capture all the important information in just over two hours. More troubling, however, is the fact that an ordinary documentary wouldn't do justice to who Bowie was/wasn't/might've been. He had an eccentric and still somewhat mysterious life, adopting different personas that all had some relation to his true self, yet never seemed to perfectly reflect it.

This all makes the fairly abstract approach in Moonage Daydream feel mostly appropriate. The only voiceover you get is from archival David Bowie interviews, and even then are they rarely presented in a way most interviews in documentaries are presented. Right near the end, there's a single shot of Bowie looking just over the camera, at the interviewer, and it's such a jarring moment because of how "ordinary" it looks.

Snippets of interviews are instead mixed with concert footage, archive/news footage, shots from music videos, photos, some animation, and clips from films - some of which starred Bowie. The visual style does feel close to relentless, but never becomes exhausting. For as much as I really liked Brett Morgen's Kurt Cobain documentary from 2015, that one was an assault on the senses at times (but likely intentionally so). Moonage Daydream is a little mellower and less in your face, but I think it lacks the hard-hitting emotion of Cobain: Montage of Heck.

For as great as Moonage Daydream is at capturing a good deal of Bowie's music and style, I don't think it's a slam-dunk, and part of that comes from it not making me feel as emotional as I'd expected it would. Maybe that was never the intention, and maybe instead, things were purposefully kept a little abstract. Still, it never went so far as to feel cold or too distant, and it remained engaging at a relatively lengthy 135 minutes (the perfect length; I think any longer and it may have become fatiguing).

I don't think all David Bowie fans will love this, because it doesn't always explain events clearly and spends a good deal of time on some of the less well-known periods of his life. But if you approach it with the knowledge that it's not an "ordinary" documentary the same way your average Bowie album is not an "ordinary" album, you should find a good deal to appreciate and enjoy.

Saw this in IMAX 2d. Loud, vivid, it's not a biography, it's an exploration and celebration of Bowie's life, art, and music. Made up of clips cleverly edited together and enhanced to make this a cinematic experience . See it as big and loud as you can and get lost in Bowie. It needs to be three hours longer to fit in everything the stuff others are moaning about not being there. I'd happily have done another 3 hours of this. Came out wanting to listen to all the album's again and smoke cigarettes and bleach my hair and wear a raincoat. Everything i wanted to be in the eighties, I want again after watching Bowie come to life once more.

Saw this movie on Cannes Film Festival. It was more than beautiful. Bowie was such a legend. Seeing all those scenes and songs made me feel like I was a teenager again. Although this film was nearly two hours and a half long, it wasn't boring at all. Definetly consider watching it when it comes to cinemas on 16th of September. David's face is literally so gorgerous and I recommend watching Man Who Fell To Earth (1976). It isn't great as this movie/documentary, But definetly worth watching.

Xoxo Diana.

It's more of a series of musical montages than a biopic, really. This seems to be Morgen's shtick at this point. Some montages work better than others and while I didn't find the movie that pretentious, as others have said, some montages were just drawn out too long even if they were pretty cool.

It might have been better to take a more balanced approach where there is more actual information presented about Bowie's life and career (there was some but not enough, IMO). This movie is short on details in that regard; it paints over everything in Bowie's career with a broad brush and goes into very little detail re: how, exactly, his career progressed. The overarching message presented is nice but fairly cliche: embrace life, appreciate each day, live in the present moment, etc. Nevertheless, it will still be enjoyable for those who like Bowie's music.

David Bowie Moonage Daydream. 2hours 18 mins of Bowie, it's not your usual " talking heads" bigging up some old/ dead/ has been rock star who has a reissued album to flog. It's just Bowie, well it isn't? It's a beautifully compiled fast edited montage of Bowie, his music, visuals, interviews both on screen on audio and various clips of his many many influences. What I learnt about Bowie, he was constantly striving for his art, he was some times lost (mainly during his successful periods) and like all of us he wished could have more time towards the end. Most importantly he was really happy at the end of his life both emotionally, creatively and spiritually. There are loads of previously unseen clips and lots of unheard mixes of songs. Ps I love Bowie, 1980 I bought my first Bowie album on the day of its release (Scary Monsters) and I never looked back. If your not a fan I don't know how you'd take it, it's a fascinating work of art and totally enthralling so I'd give it 10/10 if your not a fan give it a watch and perhaps you'll see why people where heart broken when he passed away. Listen out for "Cygnet committee" there's a lovely choral version at the end, and watch until the end of the credits, David will speak just to you.

More than a movie it was an cinematic experience David Bowie deserves, a dizzying mega-montage is an unorthodox and ambitious documentary that sheds new light on one of rock's most iconic heroes.

And what a groove! "Moonage Daydream" is David Bowie in celluloid form - artistic, weird, and constantly shifting its identity in a way that can only be described as psychedelic. It is an overwhelmingly cinematic experience, as pure a combination of sight and sound as could ever be achieved. In its best moments - which admittedly make up the bulk of its two-hour-plus runtime - it evokes an acid trip: a kaleidoscopic, boldly colored, and stylized montage of images soundtracked by some of the most incredible rock music of the twentieth century. The film takes its cues from Bowie directly, emphasizing images and sounds that capture not only what he was feeling in different stages of his life but what feelings he hoped to evoke in the audiences who listened to his music and saw him perform. The inclusion of stock footage of life on Earth from each era of his career heightens the story, emphasizing how life on earth was versus how Bowie envisioned it and how he changed it.

This is no average celebrity bio-doc. It taps into what made Bowie such a singular cultural force so effectively that it feels like the film that its subject would have made about themselves, a noble goal that few films aim for and that even fewer achieve. It is the film that David Bowie deserves.

As a huge Bowie fan I really wanted to like this.

Unfortunately the movie is quite flawed:

• asynchronous storyline or not? Footage from different eras are mixed throughout the movie, but the director is also trying to tell a story of different periods.

• focus on only 3 periods only. The 3 periods in the storyline are basically Ziggy/ Aladin Sane, Berlin & Commercial 80's. Nothing about pre-Ziggy, soul period (young Americans), or after '85 (1.outside, tin Machine, hours, reality/heathen, the quiet period after heart attack that nobody really knows anything about, or comeback/ next Day/ Blackstar/ death. The movie is 2,5 hours long, so you would expect some more attention to the lesser known work & periods.

• doubling footage. Some footage shown multiple times, like the elevators in Japan. Why? Is there not more different footage available?

• lack of new footage: many scenes already shown in multiple Bowie documentaries, e.g. Amstel Hotel and the interview with the English bloke. Again; is there really nothing new of less known to find about one of the most famous guys of the last decades?

• footage of influences. A lot of footage of movies Bowie apparently liked, like Voyage to the Moon, Nosferatu, Metropolis. However without source or any explanation or even context and in overabundance.

As a Bowie fan I appreciate that a story is not always linear, and I appreciate artistic & weird movies too. But this one felt too much like a lazily put together collage of footage that was most easily found.

Absolute MUST SEE in an IMAX theatre! Completely immersive "cinematic experience" really is the only way to explain it. Anyone expecting a movie/musical or a documentary will be sorely mistaken. This is so unique that no-one seems quite able to explain it to others! A work of art. A masterpiece. And I definitely think Bowie would have approved! It is 100% a film for diehard fans (nooo absolute beginners here!) If you haven't followed all stages of his life-long creative journey across many different mediums - you will get lost in the chaos. There is sooooo much packed into this: you blink = you miss. But for those of us that know....you know you know. And it feels MAGICKAL to put all those pieces of the puzzle together. Bowie was VERY much alive for those 2.5 hours - and it was EPIC! I salute you Brett for bringing this into our lives!!!

There's much to like here. Visually interesting and it gave me a deeper appreciation of Bowie as a person. Some very sage quotes and sound bites. At one point I felt quite sad and thought Bowie was quite lonely/dissatisfied with life, but then the film ended with some brilliant statements from the man himself.

But. It was a bit of a mess with the story telling. Jumped about quite a bit and I can't help but feel it missed the last 15 years of his life? I also think it was too long and could've been easily less than 2 hours.

Interesting watch but not one I'd go back to. Definitely a one-time experience.

Epic and opulent like the man's life and career, "Moonage Daydream" splashes a kaleidoscope of sounds and colors celebrating David Bowie's legacy. Eschewing the traditional chronological narrative director Brett Morgen with excellent editing paints a collage of images and music using live gigs, music videos and interviews throughout Bowie's time in the limelight ornamenting them with clips from films and acted scenes. Bowie comes across as handsome, intelligent and articulate as he expresses himself conveying his one of a kind talent. I would have preferred a traditional kind of documentary to set the basics on what made Bowie great. The loose style of the film barely reveals the man's importance except for fans. Clocking in at over two hours long the way the film is made leads to tediousness and slow parts which does this fascinating and eclectic artist a disservice. No surprise the great music buoys this up from start to finish. Timely and a fitting tribute "Moonage Daydream" is one for fans and to those who want to know why back in the day Rock was everything.

Firstly, this review shouldn't reflect on the artist depicted in the film, the incredible David Bowie.

The problem with this film is the direction and storyline.

In short, the film is made up of hundreds and hundreds of jump cuts that after 15 minutes become tedious and incredibly annoying... an attack on the senses but not in a good way. There is no context provided by the filmmaker to the interview extracts that make up the body of this film. There's also an absence of storytelling, so much so that it feels like the film is tied together by what seems to be a first year film student who had too much footage to know what to do with.

The saving grace is there is a decent amount of music, but each song can't be enjoyed properly because they are accompanied by a series of psychedelic images that are scattergunned all over the screen, or spoken word interviews played during the song. I want to hear one or the other, not both simultaneously!

Another annoyance is the use of repeat images. If you don't have enough original images don't make a two and a half hour film! Get busy in the editing room!

This film is a mess, a confused mish mash of archival footage slung together with no overarching purpose or storyline.

By missing large chunks of his career, the chronological direction this film takes also fails. Bowie, as we know didn't burst onto the scene. He recorded many non-selling albums before eventually cracking the big time. Without this context you can't imply that he is some sort of creative genius.

One of the most pleasing things was being able to see his incredible artwork. I'm not sure this has been previously available. But again, many paintings were crammed into jump shots and the viewer is unable to properly absorb them.

Moonage Daydream isn't the film it could have been. Mainly because the director tries to be too clever and has no idea how tie it all together. He also didn't know when to stop. And with access to so much exclusive footage from the Bowie estate, that is a horrible waste.

I got really surprised with the very negative reviews here. I expected nothing and I loved it.

Maybe if you were looking for brand new information about him or a very detailed timeline about his work and life it will upset you.

As an artist and an art lover (and also a very fascinated person with David's brilliance) I think somehow the director tried to portrait a little piece of how David's mind and soul ended up making such an amazing and vast work, and also how behind any master there is a normal human being.

I felt immersed in it, very beautifully built. It's not an ordinary documentary, its a small cinematographic portrait of this beautiful soul we will always miss.

This was an amazing two hour piece of art.

Music, light, colors. Never seen a thing like this before... Bowie was up there already but he's gotten even higher after seeing this masterpiece. This should be in a modern art museum somewhere for anyone to see on display. His life chronological from the seventies till the end. Unknown, unseen videos and performances complete this fantastic movie. It deserves more then one Oscar.

Brett Morgen and Stefan Nadelman for directing, writing and animating this movie. And maybe others too for making this into one complete trip across the globe.

Go see it on the big screen before it hits HBO this winter.

This was my first time watching a movie like this. And I'm not even a devoted fan to David Bowie. But I realized you don't need to have a developed knowledge of the topics to watch and appreciate this movie. It's simply mind gripping, the music, the imagery vibrates with you. It's the way in which you get to know Bowie, get to know who he was, and sooner or later, get to resonate with the character. I went to see the movie with multiple friends and we were all mesmerized the whole movie. Most of us (even I) shed tears. This will remain forever one of my favorite movies, as it's one of the most beautiful and soul shattering pieces of art I've ever witnessed. Even if you're not much into that stuff, I sincerely encourage you to give it a try (coming from a person new to these things).

In his unorthodox documentary on the early career of David Bowie, "Moonage Daydream," Brett Morgen accomplishes the impossible: to outline the creative genius of arguably one of the most important artists in the 20th Century. Like the works of the man it documents, it's a stunning achievement that intuitively mixes Bowie's music with images from various media--newsreels, television interviews, films, concerts, found footage--to visually illustrate the confounding virtuosity of the artist's mind.

Creative output, which defies interpretation, like that of Bowie's, exists on its own merits. It doesn't need explanation to be appreciated. One can say the same for Morgen's film. However, Bowie may provide a possible explanation, late in the film, describing his belief that people take fragments from the world around them to create their own existences. Unfortunately, as it's often the case, what an artist believes does more to mystify his art than explain it, but don't let that deter you.

Bowie's extraordinary career and life have been well documented in both print and television interviews, snippets of which are seen here, so Morgen's resisting convention in his portrait of the artist is prudent. In fact, it complements this visionary's body of work, and is as close to perfect as a biography can be.

For a filmmaker, perhaps one of the most difficult, near impossible goals, is to have an audience lose themselves in your creation, becoming fully immersed in the experience of your work. Morgen's film does this and, most remarkably, in collaboration with its most remarkable subject.

I really wanted to love this encapsulation of what was an extraordinary life of one of the most extraordinary artists to have graced the planet.

Though I entered the cinema prepared for Brett Morgan's unique style, and I appreciate the want of something a bit different, ultimately Bowie's brilliance and epic catalogue of songs held the film together. As other reviewers have noted, the constant musical and visual embellishments became an overworn and unnecessary distraction. It was as if Morgan harboured a misguided notion he needed to match his subject's artistry - a nigh impossible task. Only when Bowie was granted some unfiltered air to properly illustrate his talent and most profound thoughts did the movie fulfil its promise.

The other bone of contention was the chunks of Bowie's life and career all but overlooked. Young Americans and his unexpected soul departure was one of Bowie's greatest ch-ch-changes. LA wasn't just milk and coke. And whilst the 1990's and early 2000's may not have been golden years relatively speaking in terms of hits, this under appreciated creative period followed by the health related disappearing act and later the shock comeback, warranted more than a few snippets. As did the many interviews which demonstrated Bowie's wit and humour. Meanwhile, a false narrative has first wife Angie and son Duncan expunged from existence. But I guess all that would have dragged an already overlong production beyond the 3 hour mark.

Perhaps if you're a marginal fan, or a tragic like myself, Moonage Daydream is more likely to fall short than if you're somewhere in the middle.

26th review here, Its a amazing piece of art and is probably the greatest movie I've seen in my 15 years of life. I think that this will be going at the top of my list for one of the best movies. The year 2022 has some really disappointing movies ( Morbius, THe kings daughter etc.) and this movie brings 2022 some justice, Really! Other than my personal opinion on these stuff, I would like to also honor Bowie. RIP. I feel like as he was the most influential person in the 20th century. I enjoyed this movie enthusiastically and think it is a great movie for you to watch if you are a fan or looking for great movies.

Brett Morgen's 140 minute long Moonage Daydream, is a neon-soaked nonlinear joyride through the late David Bowie's life and career, concentrating on his personal philosophy to life and art, as narrated wholly and solely (to its detriment) by the man himself. Bowie freaks and acolytes will I imagine, bow down before it, declaring it the best thing since sliced bread and vinyl music. I on the other hand, as a fan of his music, found its perspective of the great man and musician to be too narrow and dare I say it, despite some exhilarating sequences, even boring in places.

The documentary which was apparently approved by the Bowie family and estate, was clearly a labour of love for director/producer/editor Morgen, who has assembled some amazing footage of Bowie in and out of concert and has been very creative in its depiction onscreen. But I for one became entirely sick of hearing Bowie drone on endlessly and singularly about his thoughts on time, aging, art (why only painting?) and mortality. Can I make it very clear here that I'm not being critical of Bowie himself. This is entirely criticism of Morgen's interpretive treatment of the dead musician. For all we know, Bowie himself may have been aghast, at being treated in this sort of hyper - reverential manner.

I personally wanted to hear his thoughts on influences arising from his collaborations with a vast array of other musicians and producers. I wanted to at least hear something about how his life may have been affected by his his marriages and his children. For those like me again, who might be interested in his notable side ventures into acting? Nothing ... nothing at all! Morgen portrays him as this incredibly gifted, solitary traveller endlessly (and repetitively) traversing the ends of the earth seeking spiritual and artistic enlightmennt. No one else is invited to the gig. We see some vision of notables and stalwarts such as Mick Ronsen, Brian Eno and second wife Iman (ever so briefly), but we never hear from them. It becomes quite frustrating.

Moonage Daydream is a complicated, monumental paen to a hugely gifted artist, but for all its fine production values and occasional interludes of genuine excitement, I found it oddly one - dimensional and repetitive and ultimately failing to do justice to the man.

I'm a bit biased, but that may be the best music documentary ever. 100 years from now when they're teaching kids about bowie they should just show them this. There is a lot missing, you can't cover everything in just two hours, but as an intro to bowie the artist it's peerless. Don't go expecting a life story though, it's really not that kind of film. Let's put it this way, both wives get less then five minutes added together and there is no mention of drugs.

What it is, is an examination of Bowie the artist through his own words and music. The only people to speak other then Bowie are the people interviewing him. The music is largely presented through well chosen live performances, and since very cool montages (Let's dance is particularly well done.)

And you finally get to see (some of) the Jeff Beck Gene Genie performance from the Ziggy farewell gig.

See it on the big screen, ideally played at maximum volume.

Brett Morgen's film about David Bowie - you couldn't call it a bio-pic - very much reflects the artist himself. It's individual, unconventional and imaginative, like Bowie himself.

But was it insightful, revealing or at a basic level entertaining? I wasn't bored by it but in some respects I think he missed the essence of Bowie. For one thing, apart from one reference to Brian Eno obviously around the time of his so-called Berlin Trilogy, there's no reference to any other musical partnerships or collaborations he made in his long career, nothing about Tony Visconti, Mick Ronson or Iggy Pop never mind one-shots with Lennon, Jagger or Queen to name but three, Tin Machine apparently didn't exist.

One is impressed, indeed often amazed at the different video images of Bowie presented here. Sure there's lots of concert stuff and big chunks are taken from well-known interviews with Russell Harty and Dick Cavett and the BBC's "Cracked Actor" film of the mid-70's but the images of Bowie walking through a deserted Japanese shopping centre at Christmas time or executing some dinky ballroom dancing moves with a female dancer almost make you think the man couldn't go anywhere without a camera looking over his shoulder.

Given the serious, artistic nature of the project itself, it's probably no surprise that a lot of Bowie's more serious ruminations about life, art and music are put before the viewer in voice-over and can seem a tad pretentious. I've seen and heard interviews where he's clearly just larking about and would have like to have seen this side of his character shown a bit more.

Certain not insignificant albums too, seem to get overlooked altogether like "The Man Who Sold the World", "Pin-Ups", "Young Americans" and "The Next Day". There was also no mention of his first wife Angie, notorious manager Tony DeFries or his two children. So it's a selective remembrance of Bowie, but I can live with that remembering that Bowie, when curating his own first "Greatest Hits" album "ChangesOneBowie" omitted what would some would argue were definitive songs like "Life On Mars", "The Man Who Sold The World" or "Starman".

Unusual and stylised as it was, I certainly think this type of representation of Bowie's life is preferable to just another money-spinning, Oscar-baiting semi-fictionalised musical biography such as those recently carried out on his contemporaries, Elton John or Freddie Mercury.

One thing Bowie says quite a lot throughout the movie is how much he had enjoyed and was still enjoying his life, right up to the end. There's practically no coverage of the extended hiatus he took when like the sailor home from the sea he finally settled down to marital bliss in New York with wife Iman. It says a lot for him that he came back to music on his own terms with two fine albums, accompanying idiosyncratic promotional videos and a theatrical work for good measure.

Listen, with the same access to all his video footage, you can imagine a different director coming up with an entirely different set of clips for a very different type of film. Probably there are or will be more linear representations of Bowie's extraordinary life and career so I'm not sure how this smorgasbord approach would appeal to anyone more casually interested in the man.

In the end, I left the movie vaguely unfulfilled and dissatisfied as I concluded that ultimately you couldn't put the Jean Genie back in the bottle.

This is NOT the filmic epitaph Bowie deserved. I feel like a heretic writing this (I'm a DB fan for nearly 50 years) however, and it's nothing to do with Bowie, he literally had no producer or directorial input here, it's just a series of jump cuts, flash edits and (non DB) content that was just irritating. There was also a lot of previously seen footage (from 'Richochet' or 'Cracked Actor').

The only thrilling piece was the Earls Court footage from '78. It was incredible, movie quality and great sound. Maybe someday we'll get to see this.

I'll watch it again at some point but I'm just very disappointed. Additional point of context, I saw this in IMAX in Dublin and it was ear splitingly loud. I'm a musician, I LIKE 'loud' but this was headache inducing.

In the end, this is an absurdist masterpiece.

Not all will apprehend the transmission.

Good luck.

If you're able to step out of your comfort zone, if you're open to thinking in a different way, if you're curious about looking at the nature of reality in a way you never have before and seeing through the lies that you have been inculcated with from birth... hell, even then there's no guarantees, but you might have a chance at understanding something you never thought you would. Bowie is just the conduit but also the embodiment, empty and full. He realized what most never will, this documentary shows you a door to this understanding.