Stop Making Sense
Cinecom Pictures | Release Date: October 18, 1984 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
94
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
The pleasure of the music is overpowering. Read full review
100
The Seattle TimesMoira Macdonald
Watching it leaves you lighter, happier, younger — dancing your way out of the theater to the Heads’ irresistible beats. Read full review
100
The New YorkerRichard Brody
The film not only bears witness to the self-surpassing power of inspired collaboration but, as an art work, also exemplifies it. [Review of re-release] Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleCary Darling
A joyous, exuberant celebration of the New York band’s brainy yet kinetic post-punk groove that ranks as one of the best concert docs ever. [Review of re-release] Read full review
100
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Stop Making Sense is pure fun and sheer exuberance transferred onto celluloid and perfectly re-created at the other end. Experiencing what Demme and the Talking Heads have crafted with this motion picture makes perfect sense. [Review of re-release] Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
It’s an unexpectedly emotional experience, seeing and hearing this luminous source of happiness again. Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
By common consensus, Stop Making Sense is the best concert film ever made. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Has there ever been a live concert film as vibrant or as brilliantly realized? I don't think so. [Review of re-release] Read full review
100
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Part aerobics workout, part self-styled dreamscape, Sense is a hyperactive piece of performance art that begins as the stripped-down dress rehearsal of a garage band and builds into a mighty, exhausting spectacle that shakes as much ass as it kicks. [Review of re-release] Read full review
90
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Mr. Demme has captured both the look and the spirit of this live performance with a daring and precision that match the group's own. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Corliss
It could as well be called Best Thing of Undetermined Species. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Stop Making Sense is so beautifully choreographed that in some ways it's more like theater than a rock show. [Review of re-release] Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Starting with Mick Jagger, rock concerts have become, for the performers, as much sporting events as musical and theatrical performances. Stop Making Sense understands that with great exuberance. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
It's 88 minutes of solid, inventive music, filmed in a straightforward manner that neither deifies the performers nor encourages an illusory intimacy, but presents the musicians simply as people doing their job and enjoying it. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeSteve Morse
But as good as it is, the film falls short of translating the exaltation and near-gospel music feel of the band in full flight. [2 Nov 1984]
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