Air Guitar Nation

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Air Guitar Nation

R

Released Mar 23, 2007

1h 18m

Documentary

Biography

Music

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

86%

Tomatometer

65 Reviews

79%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Although the world championship of air-guitar playing has been held since 1996, Americans have been competing for the world crown only since 2003. Hundreds of hopefuls converge on New York's Pussycat Lounge to compete for the honor of representing the U.S. at the international contest in Finland.

Critics Consensus

It's up for debate how serious or ironic its subjects are, but Air Guitar Nation is nonetheless a funny and exciting documentary with a killer soundtrack.

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Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

There must be better, more useful ways of amusing themselves but obviously none which would allow them to strut the stage to the plaudits of a baying crowd like latter-day rock stars.

Rated: 2/6

Nov 9, 2007

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Sukhdev Sandhu

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Very funny.

Nov 9, 2007

Full Review

Xan Brooks

Guardian

Like most guitar solos, the film doesn't quite know when to quit.

Rated: 2/5

Nov 9, 2007

Full Review

Dorothy Woodend

The Tyee (British Columbia)

It isn't so much the battle of the one-man-bands that is so compelling, as the journey itself, as sublime as it is ridiculous.

Aug 23, 2017

Full Review

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Put aside all of your preconceptions of air guitar as a hobby of shamelessly untalented wanna-be guitar players, and step into the world of competitive air guitar.

Rated: B

Apr 26, 2009

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Keith H. Brown

Eye for Film

When a documentary is as entertaining as Air Guitar Nation, you have to ask if you really need it to have redeeming social value or to advance the art form in any way.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 7, 2007

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Audience Member

Not as fun or as sad or as heartwarming/uplifting as it could have been.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

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Audience Member

A surprisingly fun and interesting look at the world of air guitar. And even Oulu looks rather picturesque.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

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Audience Member

This is an inspirational film, in the sense that it inspired me to want to play air guitar. Everyone?s done it, so why not make a worldwide competition out of it? In this film we meet the best of the best at pretending to play an invisible instrument. Needless to say, some of them are weird. But the film is fun and intriguing and there?s never really a dull moment, especially if you can appreciate some first-rate beautifully hardcore air-guitaring. Anyway, why someone wouldn?t want to watch a documentary about air guitar is beyond me, so go rent it now!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is an interesting doco, it would be hard not to be captivating considering the people involved in this competition, they are simply put hilarious. The doco itself is pretty average, very short in length and a simple chronicle of the first American entry in the world Air guitar championship. It's a good film, interesting and engaging but nothing fantastic, it's simply entertaining. C Diddy is great, you can't help but laugh when he gets up on stage and to see his parents at the final competition is great.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Once the "Oh haha" moment of it all being about air guitarists is gone, it's a standard documentary that would've been a lot cooler if you caught it as a monthly special on VH1.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

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Audience Member

Funny documentary it so dam ridiculous and I can't believe how big this is and the people are as ridiculous RENT

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

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Alexandra Lipsitz

Director

Dan Crane

Björn Türoque

David S. Jung

C-Diddy

S. Craig Zahler

Czar

Christian Finnegan

New York Emcee

Adam Crystal

New York Judge

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Synopsis

Although the world championship of air-guitar playing has been held since 1996, Americans have been competing for the world crown only since 2003. Hundreds of hopefuls converge on New York's Pussycat Lounge to compete for the honor of representing the U.S. at the international contest in Finland.

Director: Alexandra Lipsitz
Producer: Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Anna Barber
Distributor: Shadow Distribution
Production Co: Magical Elves Productions
Rating: R (Brief Nudity|Some Language)
Genre: Documentary, Biography, Music
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 23, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 15, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $71.5K
Runtime: 1h 18m

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