Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story
You don't have to know anything about Def Leppard to see where this made-for-VH1 movie is headed. Anyone familiar with Behind the Music will recognize the formula: A band struggles, achieves fame, falls prey to the trappings of that fame, then emerges triumphant and wiser. The only thing surprising about this predictable story is that the filmmakers somehow make it work.
Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story chronicles the rise, fall and rise of one of the '80s most popular bands. It succeeds because of the actors' remarkable physical resemblance to the real Def Leppard and strong performances by Karl Geary (Steve Clark), Tat Whalley (Rick Allen), Orlando Seale (Joe Elliott), Adam MacDonald (Rick Savage), Nick Bagnall (Pete Willis) and Esteban Powell (Phil Collen). Although musicians in the audience will notice that the actors are not playing their own instruments, the cast is adept enough …