Directors:Daniel Goldberg; Anthony Potenza; Julian Schlossberg
AMG Rating:
Movie Type: Concerts
Themes: Whistleblowers, Musician's Life
Main Cast: Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Doobie Brothers, John Hall, Graham Nash
Release Year: 1980
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Also known as The Muse Concert: No Nukes, this rock-concert film offers a good representative cross-section of old-line show business liberalism. Bruce Springsteen and Bonnie Raitt are the "newest" members of the aggregation by default. They're okay if not brilliant, which can also be said for their fellow troubadours Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, James Taylor and the Doobie Brothers. The anti-nuke theme of the concert isn't as overbearing as it might have been under the circumstances (even "special guest" Jane Fonda is comparatively benign). The best sequences in the film are comprised of misleading government-propaganda clips from the old TV series "The Big Picture" (love those uniformed piglets!) The graininess of the film stock is the only real detriment of No Nukes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This was the first official appearance of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's much ballyhooed live act on film, and many critics hailed their performances as the best in the documentary. Additionally, the future Springsteen classic "The River" was debuted at these shows and on the film, as well as Chaka Khan's consternation at being "Broooced" (Raitt deadpanned backstage, "Too bad his name wasn't Melvin"). The other generally acclaimed highlight of the film what James Taylor and then-wife Carly Simon's physically dynamic duet on "Mockingbird". On the other hand, Graham Nash's earnest spoken part about having seen "giant sponges" as a side effect of nuclear waste dumps earned itself a Spinal Tap-like reputation for rock star verbal blundering.
No Nukes was released for home consumption on VHS along the way, but as of 2007 not on DVD. Two of Springsteen's three numbers are available on his 2001 The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000 DVD, however.
The No Nukeslive album was also released in May 1980 from this event, although it contained varying musical contents from the film (generally, the artists' biggest hits make it into the film but not the album).
Performers and songs
Those who performed in the film in order of appearance:
