The killer soundtrack itself is worth a viewing !

Rating: Null/10 (30 July 2003)

"Detroit Rock City" has the best soundtrack I've ever heard in a movie which includes songs from "Kiss" (Detroit Rock City, I stole your love, Love Gun, etc), "KC and the Sunshine Band" (Boogie Shoes), "Hot Chocolate" (Everyone's a winner), "Joan Jett"(Love Hurts) and many more. The soundtrack carries the movie along a fun ride especially if the songs are already familiar to you.
"Detroit Rock City", written by Carl V. Dupré and directed by Adam Rifkin, is the story of four high school kids and fans of Rock & Roll band Kiss. They're all "potheads" (said Natasha Lyonne's character) and have their own band where they worship Kiss! Hawk, the lead singer with a badass attitude, Jam, the mama's boy who plays the drums, Trip, the dumb stupid guitar player and Lex, the serious dude.
***SPOILER***
The story takes place in 1978 where the four friends are about to go see "Kiss" in concert live from Detroit when Jam's mom burns their tickets and sends him to boarding school. Hawk, Trip and Lex get a hold of other tickets from a radio contest and try busting their friend out to leave for Detroit for the concert. But when they actually arrive, they learn that they can't have the tickets while there's only a few hours before the concert and there's no way they'll miss it. So they each go their separate ways. Hawk enters a dancing contest in a strip bar to find money to pay a Kiss ticket form some street guy. Jam is caught in the streets by his mother whose leading a manifestation against Kiss and finds an unexpected romance as he confesses at church. Trip tries to mug the wrong kid for a Kiss ticket and gets in trouble with the kid's big goon brother who forces him to rob a convenient store. And finally, Lex wanders around the stage where Kiss are about to give their concert, hoping to escape the security guards and enter. The four friends meet again only a few minutes before the concert with only one last shot to see Kiss on stage. Wil they succeed ?
This movie is highly entertaining, not only for the music but also for the funky styles and events which occured during the 70's. It's the time when Disco and Rock & Roll were rivals in music culture which is used in many jokes like "Disco blows dogs for quarters, man!" and "The Village people! There a fag band!". The characters, maybe a little under developed, often find themselves in goofy situations where they'll do anything just to see a concert. Good performances by Edward Furlong, Sam Huntington, Giuseppe Andrews and James DeBello delivers a hilarious comedy for either teens or grown adults who've lived through the seventies ! My older cousin once had a haircut like Trip and laughed out loud when he watched this movie. Finally, a simple plot to a simple movie makes it worth a good viewing. Watch out for the music too ! 8/10.