Recommended viewing for seasoned Walker fans, newcomers or people, like me, who came into the fandom later on.

The film acts as a showcase for Scott's music and attempts to structure a timeline of his life and creative output. It's not entirely successful and certain parts of his career feel white washed over but then that's probably as close as you're going to get with Scott. It's worth noting that the film is a celebration of Scott's career, so anybody expecting any level of critique or impartiality best look elsewhere. This is pure fan material.

The screening that I attended had a number of older people who left the film around the half-way point. I suspect that this was because a large part of the film is devoted to Scott's more challenging modern output so if you're not familiar with this or have had trouble getting your head around it you could view this as just cause to stay away or else as an opportunity to engage in a guided introduction. If nothing else this… more »

Recommended viewing for seasoned Walker fans, newcomers or people, like me, who came into the fandom later on.

The film acts as a showcase for Scott's music and attempts to structure a timeline of his life and creative output. It's not entirely successful and certain parts of his career feel white washed over but then that's probably as close as you're going to get with Scott. It's worth noting that the film is a celebration of Scott's career, so anybody expecting any level of critique or impartiality best look elsewhere. This is pure fan material.

The screening that I attended had a number of older people who left the film around the half-way point. I suspect that this was because a large part of the film is devoted to Scott's more challenging modern output so if you're not familiar with this or have had trouble getting your head around it you could view this as just cause to stay away or else as an opportunity to engage in a guided introduction. If nothing else this documentary does a good job of explaining the logic behind his evolving style and should put to bed any naive claims that he's 'gone mental'.

In general the interviews are well thought out and entertaining, with a slightly different selection of footage from the BBC Imagine documentary. The interviewees range from the mega-famous (David Bowie, Lulu) to the less famous but highly respected (Rob Ellis, Richard Hawley) but none of the personalities ever threaten to eclipse the subject. There's a real sense of love and affection in the way that this documentary has been made.

The film also contains an interview with Scott himself, which probably adds more to the novelty appeal than adding to the narrative but is a welcome addition to the package, I found that some of the studio footage (taken from the making of The Drift) informs the listening of the album but is probably interesting or amusing enough for those unfamiliar with the end product.

Overall I think that 30 Century Man is a must buy for fans but especially useful for those who want a greater understanding of Walker's career as a whole. For more recent fans this offers a chance to understand his origins and the height of his commercial success, for earlier fans of Scott it might be a case of 'whatever happened to...' and for newcomers it will serve as a guide for what to buy first. A mature, and beautifully conceived rock documentary.