The DOOM GENERATION

Plot Synopsis

Billed as "a heterosexual movie by Gregg Araki," The Doom Generation is the director's self-styled bad-taste teen film. Amy Blue (Rose McGowan) is an obnoxious teenage speed freak and her boyfriend Jordan White (James Duval) is a passive, slow-witted poseur who won't have sex with her because he's terrified of AIDS (even though they both claim to be virgins). One day, they run across Xavier Red (Johnathon Schaech), a charming but enigmatic drifter who has a bad habit of killing people. Joining the young couple on a seemingly endless road trip, Xavier (or "X,"as the verbally challenged Jordan insists on calling him), proves a threatening and repulsive yet strangely alluring companion whose very presence raises issues of loyalty and sexual identity. The Doom Generation is dotted with a variety of eccentric cameo appearances, including comic Margaret Cho, actress Parker Posey, musician Perry Farrell, "Hollywood Madame" Heidi Fleiss, and onetime Brady Bunch star Christopher Knight. This is the middle installment in Araki's "teen apocalypse trilogy," which also includes 1993's Totally F***ed Up and 1997's Nowhere.

"Eat My Fuck"

Different Versions

Because of its gore, language, violence, and especially its graphic sex scenes, Doom Generation has been heavily censored in its various releases over the years, so there are definitely "Right" and "Wrong" ways to watch it.

R-Rated Cut

The R-Rated Cut was also known as the "Blockbuster Cut", and film historian Jim Hemphill describes it as "eviscerat[ing] the film to a point where it barely made sense". It was released on VHS missing more than 11 minutes of content, and the remainder was slowed down significantly to make up the difference, leaving it 8 minutes shorter than the unrated cut. This site exhaustively documents the changes, but in general all you need to know is that this is hands down the worst cut of the film. It was made without Araki's approval and against his wishes, and completely butchers most of the company. Absolutely do not watch this cut unless you've already seen the others and are curious about the differences.

Unrated Cut

The Unrated cut, released on DVD, is definitely a huge step up from the R-rated cut. It was advertised in same places as "Uncut" or as the "Director's Cut" - I'm not sure how much Araki was involved but it seems to include most of the original content. The best way to watch the movie, though...

Director's Cut

In 2023, a Director's Cut was released including all the cut scenes and remastering the entire scene in 4k with new audio mixing. This new cut of the film was first shown at Sundance 2023, 28 years after the film was originally shown there, which marked the first of a series of screenings around the world. Later that year, it was released on Blu-Ray, and as of 2024 it is set to be included in a new Criterion Collection box set including the Director's cuts/ remasters of the entire trilogy.

Strand Releasing, the film's distributor, describes the changes in this cut as:

Restored in 4K with scenes edited for it’s theatrical release in 1995, this version reflects the director’s cut, intended by Araki. The film has been completely retimed and reedited for today’s technological standards. The sound is remastered to compliment today’s new audio standards in a new 5.1 mix.

You can watch this remaster either on the 2023 Blu-Ray, on the upcoming Blu-Ray box set, or on the Criterion streaming service with a free trial (that's how I watched it!). I didn't have the chance to catch a screening of this cut in a theater but I did see one of the Nowhere remaster released at the same time, and the quality was a huge step up from the old bootlegs that were floating around before! At the Q&A, Gregg Araki and James Duval handed out some autographed pins but I didn't have the opportunity to get any...

"There's just no place for us in this world."