David Bowie: The Last Five Years: Season 1

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Universal acclaim based on 6 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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7.6

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7.6	Your Score
7.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

HBO | Season Premiere Date: January 8, 2018

Summary: Francis Whately's documentary about David Bowie's final years includes archival clips, music videos, and interviews with friends and collaborators who worked on his final two albums, The Next Day (2013) and Blackstar (2016) as well as the Broadway musical, Lazarus.

Genre(s): Movie/Mini-Series, News/Documentary, Documentary, Music

Season 1 Episodes

No episode information is currently available for this season

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Critic Reviews

100

Owen Gleiberman

Dec 13, 2017

"David Bowie: The Last Five Years," which premieres Nov. 10 at the DOC NYC film festival (it will then be shown on HBO), is a singular and haunting pop documentary. Read full review

Stephen Dalton

Dec 13, 2017

With a tone more celebratory than elegiac, this is a worthy screen memorial that should interest serious Bowiephiles and casual fans alike. Read full review

Robert Lloyd

Jan 8, 2018

If you are unfamiliar with the final, fertile phase of Bowie's career — which followed his retirement from performing, after a 2004 onstage heart attack — this is a fine introduction. If you know the period, there are many odd delights: goofy tour-stop footage, behind the scenes glimpses of videos in production, a good taste of "Lazarus" in rehearsal on stage, tales of genial collaboration, and lots of music. Read full review

Jen Chaney

Jan 9, 2018

Although this is a serious and inevitably sad film, there is also great joy in it. Read full review

Verne Gay

Jan 9, 2018

The Last Five Years will be a must for even casual Bowie fans, who are most likely still reeling from their idol’s absence. It captures the ever-changing artist in his most surprising incarnation yet: a mortal man. Read full review

John Anderson

Jan 4, 2018

Lifelong Bowie fans will be appeased by the amount of old material woven in between more recent interviews with Bowie’s band members and producers. But the film really doesn’t get going till it reaches his final projects, specifically his collaborations with jazz composer/bandleader Maria Schneider and saxophonist Donny McCaslin, which came to be among the more musically adventurous of his career. Read full review

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7.6

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User Reviews

jethibea

Jan 9, 2018

I thought this came out a year ago, no? I enjoyed the newer archival footage and the interviews around the last albums and the final tour, but felt for a doc called "The Last 5 Years" that there was too much focus on the pre-Reality Bowie, that wasn't particularly aimed at giving context toI thought this came out a year ago, no? I enjoyed the newer archival footage and the interviews around the last albums and the final tour, but felt for a doc called "The Last 5 Years" that there was too much focus on the pre-Reality Bowie, that wasn't particularly aimed at giving context to the last stages. Overall though, still very strong.… Expand

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