One of the nineties’ most unworthy flops struts back in major style with Toy Robot’s expansive new 4K/Blu-ray edition of Detroit Rock City (1999). A longtime fan-favorite and major cult-film, Detroit Rock City has gone from a picture that no one saw theatrically to a truly beloved feel-good film for so many. Toy Robot’s limited slipcovered ob-stip edition is ready to rock with hours and hours of archival and new extras.
Order now over at MVD.
I know why Detroit Rock City bombed initially.
I was the reason it bombed, or at least I was one of the film fans who would have seen this had it not been marketed as essentially ‘a KISS movie’. When I finally did watch Detroit Rock City at the Lexington, KY. video store I managed, I loved it and regretted not seeing it theatrically, as so many did. New Line Cinema simply blew the marketing on this charming, entertaining, and funny coming-of-age film from director Adam Rifkin.
Adam Rifkin has had a strange career. Going back and forth between often goofy comedy/horror titles and more acclaimed personal works, Rifkin is the only guy I know who worked with both Savannah and Burt Reynolds. In his personal life, Rifkin seems to have a million stories, and they are all pretty great. Even though it played to empty seats back in 1999, Detroit Rock City has become far and away the most beloved and popular film Rifkin has made.
Detroit Rock City’s script, centered on four teenage boys trying to get tickets to a 1978 KISS concert, is by Carl V. Dupré. It is pretty pitch-perfect, seeming to mark a great new arrival, but the rest of Dupré’s screenwriting credits are mostly junky horror sequels. Regardless, his Detroit Rock City script is still dynamite, containing a lot of heart and a lot of memorable dialogue.
Cat-wise, Detroit Rock City features some of the best young talent of the period, including Edward Furlong, Natasha Lyonne, Melanie Lynskey and more. Rifkin and his cast-department gathered together a truly remarkable ensemble for Detroit Rock City, with everyone delivering. The original members of KISS all show up too, as well as scene stealing Playboy Plamate Shannon Tweed.
New Line dropped half a million bucks on the film’s soundtrack, and it more than pays off. Detroit Rock City is packed with not just classic KISS tunes, but also some of the best classic rock of the late seventies in general We also get a couple of updates from the likes of Marilyn Manson and Everclear. Rifkin utilizes songs throughout Detroit Rock City perfectly, creating a wonderfully realized cinematic mix-tape.
Along with being marketed as just a KISS film, part of Detroit Rock City’s problem is that it arrived after the likes of Dazed and Confused, Empire Records and so many other nineties films that had already tread similar ground. Especially by 2000, more and more people were nostalgic about the eighties, not the seventies, as pop music began to emerge as the millennials’ music of choice, not rock.
Detroit Rock City isn’t perfect. As much as it successfully emulates and recreates the seventies, the film still feels partially stuck in 1999. From the now-painful Ron Jeremy extended cameo to an over-cartoonish nostalgia feel at times, Detroit Rock City doesn’t have the emotional power of something like Dazed and Confused. That’s okay, though, as more than not, Detroit Rock City delights in just having fun, and it is still so infectious decades later.
Toy Robot’s 4K looks absolutely amazing. John R. Leonetti’s striking cinematography really sparkles on this edition, making this an especially astonishing rewatch for those of us who have just seen the old DVD. Sound kicks as well, capitalizing on the film’s playlist aspect. The original three commentaries (director, KISS, cast) are all ported over here, as are the hours of original extras New Line gathered together for its original expansive DVD edition. New extras include three new interviews, including a near thirty-minute chat with Rifkin.
This is a fabulous edition of a wonderful film.
-Jeremy Richey, October 2026-
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