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Poster for Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

The historic farewell performance of the king of glitter rock.

1983 · 1h 30m · PG Music
Directed by D. A. Pennebaker

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Overview

Hammersmith Odeon, London, July 3, 1973. British singer David Bowie performs his alter ego Ziggy Stardust for the very last time. A decadent show, a hallucinogenic collage of kitsch, pop irony and flamboyant excess: a musical symbiosis of feminine passion and masculine dominance that defines Bowie's art and the glam rock genre.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
73%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Freed of the unflattering contemporary distractions offered by This Is Spinal Tap, Pennebaker's Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars captures Bowie at perhaps his purest, punkiest rock 'n' roll peak.

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
Rotten

The concert remains more of an historical curiosity than a must-see rock film.

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
Fresh

A colorful snapshot of an early chapter in the story of an accomplished performer.

Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News
Fresh

Pennebaker doesn't break any ground here, in what is essentially a linear concert film. But he doesn't need to. Bowie's brilliant -- and, by today's stadium-size standards, intimate -- performance does that for him.

Jonathan Perry, Boston Globe
Fresh

An excellent example of its genre, with Pennebaker capturing the excitement of what was a very special, emotion-charged occasion.

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

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