It’s easy to sit back now, playing armchair record producer, and see where Mystique could have made it. Popoff points out that their glam look was more glamorous than the top poodle dogs like Poison and the Crue. In fact, he proves to be a magnificent asset to this project. His reactions and insights into the whole metal spectrum are priceless. He is both generous and ruthless in his thoughts on Mystique and is nearly always right.
Mystique did everything they could to expand their audience without changing that Conan paperback flavor of their metal for as long as they could. By the time they started popping out, the hair metal thing had started heading out with the tide. Standing on the Firing Line is a testament to sticking with your original vision, as that music allowed Mystique to be rediscovered.
“…a great movie…”
D’Auria had an uphill battle already facing him with this project, as there are limited amounts of photos and video that sometimes need to be used repeatedly. Also, the quality of a lot of band footage is very degraded. The filmmaker solves this by grabbing the bull by the horns and immersing the film in the ragged retro quality of the source material. He starts with this awesome Star Wars-like title sequence that reeks of ’80s computer and video effects. It looks like it was put together on a Commodore 64; it is totally bitching. There are also sequences where D’Auria intentionally puts aging effects on newer footage to match the quality of the crapwave visuals. Instead of drawing attention to the flaws, it helps them blend into the background while we get sucked into the story.
Also, D’Auria is one hell of an editor, keeping everything marching forward with a relentless beat. A warm family feeling runs throughout, especially from the Hamilton community. And Mystique’s music is quite good; I sometimes caught shades of Uriah Heep. Standing on the Firing Line: The Story of Mystique is a great movie that will make your hair stand up on end, just like the band members.
DVD can be purchased at https://www.mystique-black-rider-online-store.com/e-commerce/mystique-music
"…a testament to sticking with your original vision..."
