Directed by Greg Oliver and Wes Orshoski. Starring Lemmy Kilminster, Dave Grohl, Captain Sensible. Documentary, UK, 116 mins, Cert 15

Released on DVD in the UK on 24th January, £17.99

I suppose I’ve always been a very mild fan of Motrhead, insofar as I know a few of their songs (most notably ‘Ace of Spades’) and by default, I’ve always considered myself a mild fan of Lemmy - particularly when he pops up in Troma movies (TERROR FIRMER, CITIZEN TOXIE). However, after watching Greg Oliver and Wes Orshoski’s new documentary - LEMMY - I’ll have to consider myself a big fan. The man’s a legend.

Which is seemingly what everybody else thinks of him too. The film opens with various people (famous/not famous) waxing lyrical about how great he is. The film then proceeds to include even more people going on and on about how great he is. Then it concludes with a bunch of people fawning over how great he is.

Now this may seem unappealing, and akin to those self-important bum-lick documentaries that comprise much of the music DVD market, but somehow, LEMMY is entirely engaging and never over-the-top. In short - now I’m going to go on about how great it is.

It’s not necessarily the way the documentary is made, because it’s entirely standard - talking heads, concert footage, private video - the reason it’s successful is because of the people who are in it. Of course, its central point of focus is Lemmy himself, who’s entirely different to what I expected - while other aging rockers like The Rolling Stones are jetting around staying in luxury hotels and gigantic mansions, Lemmy lives in a small apartment in L.A absolutely chock full of STUFF. It seems he’s never thrown anything away because his place is packed to the rafters with posters, pictures, models, books, action figures and other, well, erm, stuff/

Then he introduces you to his war memorabilia.

His collection has to be seen to be believed - rooms and rooms full of guns, knives, swords, models, clothing, flags and again, erm, stuff. What’s slightly strange though, is his large collection of Nazi paraphernalia, but then I suppose you’ve got to collect something? The cameraman quizzes Lemmy about this, and to be fair, he gives a fair reason for his hobbies.

After we’ve been introduced to his place, we delve deeper into the life of the still-rocking rocker. Namely his favourite watering-hole - the Rainbow Bar and Grill. It seems that if you’re ever in L.A and you feel that you might want to meet Lemmy, chances are he’ll be there, most likely playing on the quiz machine. According to patrons and bar staff, that’s what he does all day - sit there with a JD and coke, and play on the quiz machine.

Oh and then jet off on tour with Metallica. You know, the usual.

This is where the concert footage comes in, with performances from Motrhead (obviously), Metallica, The Damned and various other studio recording footage - all featuring Lemmy. The way he plays on stage hasn’t changed since he first started, and it seems he hasn’t either - although I can’t really see him partying as hard as he used to! On stage is where he belongs (something he admits) and it shows when he playing to a multitude of crowds - they absolutely love him, even if they’ve come to see another band.

The amount of respect not only the public have for him, but also his peers and fellow musicians is astonishing. Interviewees range from Dave Grohl to Billy Bob Thornton and it’s clear that they all think very highly of Lemmy - and for good reason. Luckily, before the doc descends too far up Lemmy’s backside, there are a few stories about people that aren’t necessarily as enamoured with him as everyone else, and the interviews with his ex-Hawkwind bandmates shows a less-than-enthusiastic regard for the man. But as many people mention throughout, Lemmy doesn’t really care. He does what he wants, sees who he wants and collects as much rubbish as he wants.

As a result of this documentary, I’ve been able to see Lemmy in a completely different light, and I’ve got to admit, I like him even more than I did. He’s an enigma, certainly, but if he doesn’t care about that, then why should we? You either like him or you don’t, and by the looks of things, most people do. Me included.

Gary Ogden.

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