Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture

Documentary, Music

David Bowie	Himself/Ziggy Stardust
Mick Ronson	Himself
Trevor Bolder	Himself
Mick Woodmansy	Himself
Angela Bowie	Herself
Ringo Starr	Himself (uncredited)

Director

D.A. Pennebaker

This 1973 concert film directed by D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop, Jimi Plays Monterey, Depeche Mode 101, etc.) documenting the final show of Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie) & the Spiders from Mars (Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder, & Mick "Woody" Woodmansey)provides a rare glimpse into Bowie's glam rock period. It is a loud & flashy assault on the senses that is experienced through both "sound" & "vision". Film footage mostly consists of the performance, but also included are back stage scenes of Bowie changing from one costume to another.

Songs performed:
1) Hang on to yourself
2) Ziggy Stardust
3) Watch that man
4) Medley: Wild eyed boy from Freecloud/All the young dudes/Oh you pretty things
5) Moonage Daydream
6) Changes
7) Space Oddity
8) My death
9) Crack'd Actor
10) Time
11) Width of a circle
12) Let's spend the night together
13) Suffragette City
14) White light/white heat
15) Rock & Roll Suicide

Leonard Maltin dismisses this film as "practically unwatchable and unlistenable" which would only be true for people who either dislike Bowie or the style of music. Yes, the music is sometimes loud, the focus is blurry here & there, and the strobe lights go crazy, but this is a David Bowie rock concert from the 1970s, isnt that appropriate? Anyone who is interested in either David Bowie or the glam rock era of the 1970s will find this film essential. For one, it is the only film document of David Bowie's Ziggy/glam phase and for another it is the "last concert" with "the Spiders" including Mick Ronson, who was a part of Bowie's band since the 1969 album "Space Oddity" up until '73's "Pin Ups". Bowie would, by 1974, have a new back up band, as well as a new look. This film deserves preservation on DVD as the historical document that it is.

*Look quickly for Ringo Starr talking with Bowie backstage