Hard Core Logo

Hard Core Logo

Hard Core Logo (1996) is a film about a wild, intense road trip that atones for an unsettled past and its impact on the future. According to Take One's Essential Guide to Canadian Film, when an early 1980s group - Hard Core Logo - reunites for a final farewell tour across the Canadian west, group leaders Joe Dick (perfectly depicted by real-life rocker Hugh Dillon) and Billy Talent (Callum Keith RENNIE) bring their ongoing personal feud along for the ride. Director Bruce McDonald, who appears in the film as the director of a documentary about the reunion and tour, is in his element with this satiric effort and pumps up the volume throughout the zany proceedings. Along with documentary-style footage, he combines great concert footage with clever effects shots such as the band driving across a map of Western Canada to a loud punk soundtrack. The screenplay retains key elements from the Michael Turner book upon which it is based, and makes it all work on screen.

Hard Core Logo is a strong cinematic work by McDonald. It takes place in a world were the 4 band members are interviewed, tell each other stories and lies, make candid confessions on camera, stab each other in the back, and communicate best when performing onstage. It was named best Canadian feature of the year by the fledgling Toronto Film Critics Association in 1996, and it won a GENIE AWARD for best song. McDonald was also nominated for best director. At the Vancouver International Film Festival, Hard Core Logo was named best Canadian feature and best Canadian screenplay.