Moonage Daydream

Name: Moonage Daydream
Genre: Music, Documentary
Released: September 16, 2022
Duration: 135 min
Rating: 83
Cast: Brian Wilshaw, David Bowie, Geoff MacCormack, Jeff Beck, John 'Hutch' Hutchinson

2022

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 34 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Ratings

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Ratings

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Moonage Daydream

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Movie Details & Credits

Neon | Release Date: September 16, 2022 | Not Rated

Starring: Brian Wilshaw, David Bowie, Geoff MacCormack, Jeff Beck, John 'Hutch' Hutchinson, Ken Fordham, Mick Ronson, Mick Woodmansy, Mike Garson, Trevor Bolder

Summary: A cinematic odyssey exploring David Bowie’s creative and musical journey.

Director: Brett Morgen

Genre(s): Music, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 135 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Sep 28, 2022

An organized riot of images and sounds, Moonage Daydream is perhaps the only way a documentary biographer could approach the story of David Bowie. Brett Morgen (“Crossfire Hurricane”) has made his true masterpiece, the perfect film to celebrate a multifaceted life of aesthetic excess. Read full review

100

Phil de Semlyen

May 25, 2022

Whatever your favourite side to the limitlessly faceted David Bowie, this magnificently mind-bending film serves it up in a 140-minute career-spanning opus that races by in a snap of the fingers. It’s almost as extraordinary as the man himself. Read full review

Joshua Rothkopf

May 23, 2022

Pruning would hamper the unencumbered risk-taking on display, which extends to some atmospheric animation (as it did with Morgen's Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck), and instantly vaults the effort to the top of the Bowie docs. The music itself, gorgeously remixed by Bowie's longtime producer and friend Tony Visconti, has never sounded better or stranger, with isolations of instrumental passages that stick in mind. Read full review

Morgan Enos

Sep 1, 2022

Moonage Daydream reveals a man who took a tremendous bite out of the apple of life — and millions of star-people won’t soon forget. Read full review

Stephanie Zacharek

Sep 19, 2022

The beauty of Brett Morgen’s velvet-and-facepaint collage Moonage Daydream is that it doesn’t try to be definitive. Instead, it’s a glide through Bowie’s career, hardly complete yet somehow capturing both the spirit and the genius of this most enigmatic and alluring artist. Read full review

Jordan Farley

May 23, 2022

Unconventional, almost to a fault, Brett Morgen’s impressionistic, experiential Bowie documentary is an electrifying oddity. Read full review

David Rooney

May 23, 2022

Moonage Daydream is short on insight, and ends up feeling more enervating than enlightening. Read full review

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User Reviews

Brent_Marchant

Sep 24, 2022

Encapsulating, while simultaneously doing justice to, the life and work of a prolific and consummate artist like David Bowie is no easy feat. Sufficiently taking account of the extensive repertoire of this iconic musician/writer/painter/actor in a single film – even one that runs more thanEncapsulating, while simultaneously doing justice to, the life and work of a prolific and consummate artist like David Bowie is no easy feat. Sufficiently taking account of the extensive repertoire of this iconic musician/writer/painter/actor in a single film – even one that runs more than two hours – is a gargantuan undertaking just to include what Bowie did, let alone examine how and why he did it. But writer-director Brett Morgen has done just that – and succeeded brilliantly – in his latest cinematic offering, combining elements in a way that paints an insightful picture of the multifaceted artist, presenting viewers with an engaging, entertaining and introspective profile of this enigmatic and captivating talent. Morgen tells his story through Bowie’s own words, culled from numerous interviews and media appearances over the years. This material is augmented with stirring concert and music video performance footage, clips from the actor’s movie and stage appearances (including such works as “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (1976), “Just a Gigolo” (1978), “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” (1983), “The Hunger” (1983) and “Labyrinth” (1986), as well as his 1980 Broadway turn in “The Elephant Man”), and an array of imagery from other artistic and cinematic sources that enhance themes prominent in Bowie’s works and the periods when they were released. The film features am impressive wealth of musical numbers, including moving performances of staples like Heroes, When You Rock ʼn Roll with Me, Space Oddity, All the Young Dudes and a heartfelt rendition of Word on a Wing (accompaniment for Bowie’s sentiments on his endearing relationship with model/actress Iman), along with several lesser-known works and impromptu collaborations with world musicians. In incorporating all this, some have criticized the picture’s length, but, when one considers just how much there is to cover, how can a filmmaker justifiably impose a shorter duration simply because the production may try the attention span of a few impatient viewers? That seems like a petty quibble in light of everything this release has to offer. That’s especially true when one realizes that this combination serves up a portrait of Bowie unlike others about him and those of other artists of his stripe, boldly setting this film apart from other biographies of this kind. It is by far the best documentary I’ve seen so far this year, if not one of the best films overall that I have screened in 2022. Fans and followers of Bowie are sure to enjoy, even be moved, by this offering, one that raises his artistic profile (and, one would hope, the level of appreciation he justly deserves) for the diversity and depth of his body of work, something that’s bound to become more widely recognized in the years to come.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

ABadSeed

Sep 18, 2022

Dizzyingly creative, maddeningly incomplete - and utterly perfect. Now who does that remind you of? I don’t know what a non-Bowie fan would make of this, but if you loved the man, or loved his music, give it a try. It was a singular experience for me, I really have not felt like that in aDizzyingly creative, maddeningly incomplete - and utterly perfect. Now who does that remind you of? I don’t know what a non-Bowie fan would make of this, but if you loved the man, or loved his music, give it a try. It was a singular experience for me, I really have not felt like that in a cinema ever before. At one point 3 songs are playing at the same time - while the video for a 4th is on screen - it can make you feel like you’ve forged in something sweet. It’s a fitting tribute to a wonderful career, and I can think of no higher praise. To the few people who are grumpy it wasn’t another boring bio-doc, pay no heed. This is something altogether other. It’s something that’s worthy of the artist, and there’s no higher praise I can think of. To those few people who bemoan the fact that it’s not another boring bio-doc, pay no heed. This is something altogether other.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

SebboBastian

Sep 20, 2022

I love this ride filled with colors music and sparkling feelings. I would love documentaries in this style. Not just old people namedroping names in a sofa.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

avr50

Sep 19, 2022

This is not a documentary for people who can't take out of their heads the typical form of the genre, and that's something to appreciate from Moonage Daydream, that it feels as original, fresh and with that much of fantasy to make us feel that its really David Bowie the subject matter ofThis is not a documentary for people who can't take out of their heads the typical form of the genre, and that's something to appreciate from Moonage Daydream, that it feels as original, fresh and with that much of fantasy to make us feel that its really David Bowie the subject matter of this film, specially his work as an artist. Moonage Daydream is set to be seen on the biggest screen posible, with the loudest speakers and with a great amount of people, it will be an experience worthy of your money and time… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

JLuis_001

Dec 23, 2022

David Bowie is like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Prince, Led Zeppelin, you name any legendary act of the Rock scene. And two or three hours will never do them justice Even if you pile them into many documentaries.

And yes, it's true that this show is more of a kind ofDavid Bowie is like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Prince, Led Zeppelin, you name any legendary act of the Rock scene. And two or three hours will never do them justice Even if you pile them into many documentaries.

And yes, it's true that this show is more of a kind of enhanced music video, which could belong more to an art exhibition than anything else, but that's how the experience should be.

Call it experimental, or just a flamboyant montage of images and music, but that's how this should be savored.
I can't find ways to describe it any other way or expect it to have been anything else.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Barkingstar

Sep 17, 2022

As Bowie was most unconventional, so is Moonage Daydream. Less a linear bio-documentary, more a pastiche of the artistic mind of its subject. The music takes center stage, not relying solely on hit songs, presenting a smorgasbord across David Bowie’s career (though with heavy focus on hisAs Bowie was most unconventional, so is Moonage Daydream. Less a linear bio-documentary, more a pastiche of the artistic mind of its subject. The music takes center stage, not relying solely on hit songs, presenting a smorgasbord across David Bowie’s career (though with heavy focus on his most fruitful years 1972-1983). Director Brent Morgen could have fallen upon tried and trusted tools of documentation: interviews & concert videos. While he does utilize these to great effect, he goes beyond mere sound & vision, into the inner workings of Bowie’s creativity. David Bowie brought an unparalleled artistic intelligence, a swirling spirituality, and playfulness to rock music. Morgen honors these qualities with his own artistic interpretation. A film not just for the purists, but for anyone trying to understand the god who fell to earth, and then gleefully restructured himself! A must see!!… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

calbear

Sep 17, 2022

What a wasted opportunity! There's so much archival footage of Bowie out there - concert and interview - but this feels like they just put it all in a blender, added some random unrelated images, and then made some last-minute fixes to give it some sense of a narrative toward the end. It'sWhat a wasted opportunity! There's so much archival footage of Bowie out there - concert and interview - but this feels like they just put it all in a blender, added some random unrelated images, and then made some last-minute fixes to give it some sense of a narrative toward the end. It's like they used Oblique Strategies, but forgot to use the basic starting point: try to make what you're making (in this case a documentary).

Although the film is largely bookended by two renditions of Bowie's excellent 1996 semi-hit, "Hallo Spaceboy," the film exists almost entirely in the space between Ziggy and Let's Dance, those dozen years most commercially and critically fruitful for Bowie. That too seems a shame, since we're only treated to brief mentions of his prior and subsequent life, personal and artistic. That sends the message that the only artistically important part of his life was the same period where he effectively had no family (or so the film seems to argue).

To that end, we're hit over the head repeatedly with the fact that Let's Dance was the least creative of his albums up to then, as though that creative drought stayed true for the subsequent decades. The words "Tin Machine," for example, are never once uttered. (Neither are "Pet Shop Boys," his collaborator for the aforementioned first rendition of "Hallo Spaceboy.")

Instead, most of the non-musical part consists of Bowie interviews. Had these been properly contextualized - with music and biography - they could have given a good portrait of the artist. Instead, they're interspersed with contemporaneous (but not necessarily related) concert performances, some cut, some altered, most with extraneous imagery.

The concert footage is the film's saving grace, but the format still got tiring. The audience was the most restless audience I'd seen in a movie geared toward adults. At the end, one woman's biggest complaint was how it totally ignored the members of Bowie's band. I thought that was odd to focus on, but it did exemplify how much was left out of the film to make room for archival interviews, always of Bowie himself. Without better artistic contextualization, these interviews all start to sound like a bit of celebrity navel-gazing, and I had to resist the urge to respect Bowie less coming out of the theater than I did going in. But then I realized that that's the filmmakers' fault, not Bowie's. Such a shame, though.… Expand

1 of 6 users found this helpful15

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