It's the first ever movie on the glam period, so it was always going to be risky

Rating: 9/10 (7 November 1998)

This movie is set in the glam period of rock, and is really the first movie ever to do this. The characters are loosely based on figures david bowie, his once wife, and mick jagger/iggy pop type character. While david bowie wasn't involved in the movie (although the director asked him to be, and said he read and approved of the script) it has always been believed that david bowie had an affair with another major rock star - just like the characters in this story do. While this movie is about the characters of this time, it also portrays the fans of this time through christan bale, a sexually confused teenager during the glam rock period who goes back to revisit his past 10 years later to do a retrospective journalism article. This movie is full of sex and drugs, but as far as gay sex scenes go, this movie has one of the best. It is not totally overdone as so many are, but is quite tasteful. The best things about this film though are the costumes and soundtrack. Both old and new music (specially made for the film) are used. The director enlisted the help of some of the period's stars to make this film, such as iggy pop and brian ferry, so the periods portrayal wasn't solely fiction. I really enjoyed this movie for its originality, and its frankness. However i will admit that it is not for everyone. Not for the easily offended, repressed or homophobic. 9 out of 10.