Characterized by fast, loud and aggressive songs, minimal musicianship and violent behavior by the audience, it remained below the radar of the mainstream. In "American Hardcore: The History of American Punk Rock 1980-1986," Paul Rachman and Steven Blush document this short-lived scene by talking to just about everyone who contributed to it.

Five years in the making, the Sony Pictures Classics release has a handmade look that nicely reflects its subject matter. Rachman and Blush avoid the use of voice-over. Instead, they allow almost 100 interviewees to ruminate on the significance of the scene and wax nostalgic about its loud, aggressive heyday. The documentary mainly will appeal to aficionados of the genre and will have more life on DVD than in theaters.

The film starts in 1980 and ends six years later when the scene vanished. The participants map out the history of the movement with surgical precision. Black Flag's articulate Henry Rollins and the philosophically inclined Bad Brains are probably the best known exponents interviewed.

Most agree that hardcore was a reaction to the decline of '70s punk. When the Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious started taking drugs like a despised hippie rock star, some punks felt betrayed -- and decided to make the music themselves. Socially, hardcore was a reaction against the conservatism of the Reagan era.

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