"Just because you can't get any bigger or any higher doesn't mean to say you can't keep doing it." –Liam Gallagher

This film is brilliant on so many levels that it's difficult to keep track of them all. The film deals only with the time in which the band went in less than 3 years from signing to a label to its apotheosis at the Knebworth concert in 1996 in front of a quarter of a million fans.

Drugs used (but not abused, claimed Liam),music played and written, bands changes made told mostly in their own words in the flash when the band went from complete obscurity to total brilliance in the world of rock and roll in the mid 90s. There is an incredibly intense personal telling of this story through scraps of dialogue from the band patched together with their music. This intimate look at the band is even more remarkable considering how the story is twenty years old. An incredible achievement in film.

Starting backwards I have to point out that the editing is nothing less than inspired, as inspired as the music. Just try to imagine the heaps of video clips, press releases, interview takes, photos, bootleg recordings, and police reports that went into the final product of Oasis: Supersonic.

The band members are from lower middle class roots yet their intelligence and wicked sense of humor shine through thick accents and lazy grammar at every step along their narrative. I'm no slouch at foreign languages but I was very thankful for the English subtitles for all of the intensely Mancunian bits.

Supersonic. I was never a massive Oasis fan - couldn't really understand the hype. But this documentary film - from the makers of Senna and Amy - was a brilliant portrayal of the rise and rise of the band in their early years. Looking back their music was very good, even if Liam and Noel were total arses. A thoroughly entertaining 8 out of ten. Well worth a watch even if you don't like their music..... Might even give Eight Days a Week a try now (even though personally I find them over-rated........)

Supersonic (2016) is a documentary that follows Oasis's rise to fame in the years leading to their massive Knebworth appearance. Unlike other films of its kind, it elects to completely ignore its subjects' well-documented fall (outside of some portentous references, that is) and place all of its attention on the surprisingly short period between their first foray onto the music scene and the gig that was arguably the height of their entire career. The feature is comprised of an audio-only interview track interspersed with archive footage and bespoke motion graphics, both of which compliment and contrast the retrospective musings of the various people whose voices appear in narration. Chief among these are, thankfully, both Gallagher brothers (interviewed separately for reasons obvious to anyone who knows anything about the band),which creates the welcome sense that their story is being told from the inside rather than the outside. The fact that the feature is so wholly focused on Oasis and doesn't even deem it necessary to mention any of their contemporaries is apt considering Noel and Liam's trademark arrogance. Maybe you don't think Oasis were the greatest band of all time, but they do and they're not shy about it. In fact, they seem to have known this before they even finished their first gig. That level of self-confidence is, frankly, baffling to someone who second-guesses themselves as often as I do, but it also isn't particularly becoming and puts a great deal of distance between the conceptually relatable band and the people who enjoy their music. Still, the brothers don't seem bothered about what anyone else thinks of them. In fact, Noel seems to have made it his duty to come to blows with the British press, embracing the 'no such thing as bad publicity' mantra with all his heart. Their confrontational, seemingly senselessly destructive behaviour is arguably why they reached the level of success that they did. The film adopts a similar attitude and is, for the most part, uninterested in inspiring empathy for its subjects. Instead, it revels in their non-conformity, painting them almost as some sort of outsider performance art meant to be gawked at rather than understood. At the same time, the duo's frankness and occasional funniness can be oddly endearing. It doesn't happen often and it won't happen to everyone, but the piece does sometimes evoke a distinct (if somewhat blithe) feeling of approval and, even, admiration. Regardless of how you feel about them, it is hard to deny that watching the brothers makes for an entertaining experience. The price of their success is far too steep in my opinion; their fame is arguably what caused their relationship to implode. It's genuinely rather sad, actually. The crux of their chaos seems to come from the fact that they both have different priorities, with Noel favouring the music and Liam favouring the rock and roll lifestyle - though, of course, both of them displayed a penchant for all aspects of their chosen career. The pair's problems seem to have started long before person either even thought of getting into music, so Oasis itself can't take all the blame for their eventual falling out. As Liam points out, it's likely that he and Noel would've fallen out even if they were fish mongers. I'm not particularly interested in assigning blame for the rocky relationship, nor the eventual destruction of the band. I'm also not interested in choosing a side, as it were. Personally, I think Noel comes out slightly more likeable in this documentary; he seems more self-aware and has a clear reverence for his fans, citing them as the main reason that Oasis was as successful as it was. To be fair, it does seem that Liam has matured somewhat in the interim between performing at Knebworth and giving his interview for this picture. I wouldn't want to be friends with either guy, though. A quick google of their messy split reveals that both men harbour a lot of hostility towards one another, but they don't feel vitriolic in their retrospections for this film at all. In fact, they seem slightly melancholic - though still thoroughly unapologetic - by the movie's end. Stylistically, the documentary's choice to avoid the typical 'talking head' structure allows it to play out much more efficiently and absorbingly. It displays the names of every new speaker regardless of if they've been featured previously, which is an absolute godsend and ensures you don't get lost amidst a sea of similar-sounding, middle-aged Mancunian accents. The custom motion graphics do a good job of continuing the story visually when no footage is available, but the amount of behind-the-scenes stuff that's used is actually quite impressive. Its structure is solid, even if it does get a tad tangential in the back half of its second act, and its pacing is on point. It's generally an entertaining experience right the way through. It also reveals quite a bit of interesting information and, as I mentioned earlier, feels more 'fly on the wall' than 'peek behind the curtain'. Plus, it obviously features a lot of Oasis music; depending on your tastes, that could be a good or a bad thing, but I doubt you'd watch this if you hated their songs. Ultimately, this is a solid and surprisingly engrossing documentary that focuses on a specific period in its subjects' lives and is all the better for it. 7/10.