Considered by many critics to be one of the greatest concert films of all time, Stop Making Sense made its US theater debut on October 19, 1984.
Directed by Jonathan Demme, it captured live performances by the Talking Heads and was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 1983. The group was touring to promote their latest album, Speaking in Tongues. The concert also served as a comprehensive retrospective of the band's history to that time.
In 2021, Stop Making Sense was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"
A newly restored version of the film premiered on September 11, 2023, in 4K on IMAX at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. It was followed by a Q&A hosted by Spike Lee with all four original band members in attendance, reuniting the group for the first time since their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
