Reviews (85)

It's Good to Be Mel Brooks
When this film first appeared more than 20 years ago, it temporarily threatened to replace world history courses in schools, colleges, and universities. Of course, that didn't happen. Probably just as well, given the fact that screenwriter, producer, and director Mel Brooks never wrote, produced, and directed Part II and its eagerly-awaited portrayals of "Jews in Space" and "Hitler on Ice." There are historians' homes in which Brooks is still not welcome. In any event, what we have in Part I is a combination of five extended sketches: The Dawn of Man, The Stone Age, The Spanish Inquisition, The Bible, and The Future. Inevitably there are some gaps.

Brooks appears in several different roles while (in fact) portraying himself: Moses, Comicus, Torquemada, and King Lou. Other members of the Brooks Ensemble Company include Madeline Kahn (Empress Nympho), Cloris Leachman (Madame de Farge), Harvey Korman (Count de Monet), Ron Carey (Swiftus), Andreas Voutsinas (Béarnaise), and Shecky Green (Marcus Vindictus). Brooks has assembled a cast of thousands. The production values are remarkably good. However, as in other Brooks films such as Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety, the quality of the humor varies from Brilliant & Inspired (e.g. King Lou professing love of "the little people" while shooting at airborn peasants who have been launched as targets: "Pull!") to Oh No (e.g. Moses reducing the number of Commandments to Ten by dropping/breaking one of three tablets while descending Mount Sinai, and, Jesus becoming confused by use of his name as an expletive). Brooks is an incurable gagster and punster. More often than not, the humor in this film works. But when it doesn't....

Several clever touches. For example, beginning the film with a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with Orson Welles providing the voice-over. Also, it is fun to play the equivalent of "Where's Waldo" by trying to spot familiar actors in supporting roles such as Bea Arthur (Clerk), Charlie Callas (Soothsayer), Jack Carter (Rat Vendor), Sid Caesar (Chief Caveman), John Gavin (Marche), Ronny Graham (Oedipus), Nigel Hawthorne (Official), John Hillerman (Rich Man), Hugh Hefner (Entrepreneur), Barry Levinson (Column Salesman), Spike Milligan (Monsieur Rimbaud), Howard Morris (Court Spokesman), Jan Murray (Nothing Vendor), and Henny Youngman (Chemist). As I said, a cast of thousands...if not more.

Brooks' best films, those most effectively developed, are The Producers and Young Frankenstein, the latter being a remarkably respectful version of several earlier films. All comics are thieves. The best comics steal from the best sources. I thought about that when I saw this film again recently, wondering if Brooks' History of the World -- Part I was in any way influenced by The Story of Mankind (1957), a film based on Henrik Willem Van Loon's bestseller. For purposes of parody, The Story of Mankind would be an excellent target of opportunity. Those among its diverse cast of thousands (if not more) include Charles Coburn (Hippocrates), Ronald Colman (The Spirit of Man), Cedric Hardwicke (High Judge), Dennis Hopper (Napoleon), Hedy Lamarr (Joan of Arc), Peter Lorre (Nero), Virginia Mayo (Cleopatra), Chico Marx (Monk), Harpo Marx (Isaac Newton), Groucho Marx (Peter Minuit), Agnes Moorehead (Elizabeth I), Vincent Price (The Devil), and Cesar Romero (Spanish Envoy). Whenever a list of the Ten Most Pretentious Movies Ever Made is formulated, The Story of Mankind is frequently and deservedly given serious consideration.

Despite its several flaws, The History of the World -- Part I remains a generally entertaining, at times hilarious film. Whenever I see it again, I feel eager anticipation as I await its strongest scenes, willing to endure its weakest meanwhile. To me at least, the previews for Part II (which conclude Part I) suggest why Brooks resembles the Little Girl with The Curl: "When she's good, she's very very good but when she's bad...."

Mel Brooks at his Bawdy Best
Mel Brooks is at the top of his game with this hilarious spoof on world history beginning with the Stone Age and touching on subjects all the way through the French Revolution. While much of the humor is far from sophisticated, it doesn't diminish the fact that the film is just plain funny!

Lots of comedic actors, great and small, make side-splitting appearances in the film, including Sid Ceasar, Harvey Korman, Dom DeLuise, Bea Arthur, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Jackie Mason, and Gregory Hines.

The beauty of Brooks' scathing spoofs of historical events and figures is that the humor is timeless, holding up just as well in 2004 as it did when the film was originally released in 1981. If you have never seen or heard of this film, rent or buy it now, as you have missed an iconic movie. I've even heard of European History professors using Brooks' wacky take on the Spanish Inquisition in their history classes.

When it comes to bawdy satire, Mel Brooks found it "good to be the King" in the 1970s and 80s!

written by David Laing, not Julia Laing
One of Mel Brook's finest movies, in this one, he sets out to parody history, from the Stone Age, to the French Revolution. The first time period is the Stone Age, where we see the first homosapien and homosexual marriage, and discover how music was invented. Next, in a very short bit, we see Moses coming down from a mountain with the 15 commandments, until he drops one slab, and it becomes the 10 commandments. The next era is the Roman Empire, where after Philatipis[or something like that] gets a gig to do comedy for Caescar, he offends, the emporer, so him and his new found friend must fight each other to the death, but instead stop fighting and try to escape from Rome. The 4th era is by far the funniest, and the most offensive, The Spanish Inquisition. So in a musical extravaganza, we see how the Catholics tried to convert the Jews to become Catholics, and in the last part, we behold the French Revolution, and one of the greatest lines in this movie. So, see this hilarious movie, but if you are easily offended, then do not see this. The only thing that aggravates me was that Brooks had a part 2 planned out, but it was never released. At the end of the movie, we get a preview of the unreleased History of The World part 2.

History has never been more hilarious.
I wasn't familiar with History of the World until someone recommended that I see it. I knew a little of who Mel Brooks was and had seen Young Frankenstein so I knew this might be good. Now I think it is one of the funniest movies ever, a genius spoof of world history troughout different period of time. You get to see prehistoric man invent art, and along with the first art came the first art critic. We see the real story behind Moses and the Ten Commandments. The best part to me was the part about the Roman times, when Comicus the stand up philosopher is introduced. I was laughing long and hard when Comicus gets a job as waiter at the Last Supper. Also spoofed are the Spanish Inquisition and the French Revolution.

History of the World is a great movie that features a terrific cast including Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman and Sid Caesar. There are others, but together they give an entertaining perspective into some of history's most important events. There are also countless quotes from the movie that will stick with you for a long time after you hear them. This is something I recommend seeing, as even after 23 years it still seems as fresh as ever with the humor it provides.

Nobody Expects the (Musical) Spanish Inquisition
Probably the success of MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN two years earlier was the inspiration for Mel Brooks' HISTORY OF THE WORLD - PART I (A year earlier Python/'Brian' probably also inspired the also lesser ripoff WHOLLY MOSES). One reason are many of the biblical spoofs in this episodic movie. A lot of this is pretty lame especially during the Dom Deluise as Nero sequence that seems to go on forever. The only funny thing to come out of this is the classic line "When you die at the Palace..you really die!". Included is a scene outside of the actual Las Vegas casino Ceasar's Palace with Roman citizens going into it as if it is actually in ancient Rome. The rest of this particular sequence seems to come right out of Richard Lester's/Zero Mostel's A FUNNY THING HAPPENED TO ME ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM only it is not very funny. There are a couple inspired gags (i.e. The Spanish Inquisition- the musical,Moses receiving the 15..er, 10 Commandments, and a tribute to Esther Williams/MGM musical aqua dancing extravaganzas featuring bathing beauty nuns) in the rest of the film, but they are not very memorable. Whereas Monty Python's 'BRIAN' was deemed sacrilegious (at least in 1979) and brilliantly irreverent, 'HISTORY' is just plain dumb. Brooks' seemed to lose his touch starting with this film and would continue with SPACEBALLS,ROBIN HOOD MEN IN TIGHTS and DRACULA DEAD AND LOVING IT etc. Overall, a general waste of celluloid,talent, and time. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. In this 2002 DVD release, Grease lovers can also now see it in the correct 2:35 to 1 Panavision aspect ratio, and see retrospective interviews with cast members and director Randal Kleiser. All these stylistic touches are essential to the film's success. Without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film would have to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative.

The young, animated cast also deserves a lot of credit, bringing chemistry and energy to otherwise bland material. John Travolta, straight from his success in Saturday Night Fever, knows his sexual star power and struts, swaggers, sings, and dances appropriately, while Olivia Newton-John's portrayal of virgin innocence is the only decent acting she's ever done. And then there's Stockard Channing, spouting sexual double-entendres as Rizzo, the bitchy, raunchy leader of the Pink Ladies, who steals the film from both of its stars. Ignore the sequel at all costs. --Dave McCoy ... Read more

Reviews (221)

5 Star Movie Lowered (Slightly) By Disappointing DVD
I won't go into the plot here, because, let's face it, if you haven't seen Grease by now, you probably won't ever see it. And you are missing out on a really fun film. That is the secret to this movie's popularity. It's just plain fun! It doesn't have a really great script, none of the performancies (with the exception of Stockard Channing) is anything above run-of-the-mill, but it's got a lot of great, catchy songs, a very likeable cast, and is just a treat to watch again and again. I was disappointed by this DVD release though, because it's exactly the same as the laser disc, only smaller and you don't have to turn it over. The cast interviews at the end are four years old, and this is really just a delayed release of the 20th Anniversary Edition on DVD. And what fan of Grease needs a cheap, paper booklet of song lyrics? Believe me, we know them all by heart. Truly the most profitable and one of the most popular musicals ever made deserves a better DVD package. The fans certainly deserve it too, having waited so long for this. Boo! to Paramount for, apparently, wanting to wait and pick our pockets again some time down the road when they release the two-disc set with all the extras this movie should have. At least it's in widescreen, which is a totally different viewing experience for anyone who hasn't seen it letterboxed or on the big screen yet. The musical numbers have a much larger scope, with dancers and other action on the sides that had previously been cut off. You will be surprised how many previously unseen guys are on the bleachers with Danny and the gang for "Summer Nights". And to anyone who is planning to buy the full-frame DVD--shame on you! You are truly missing out.

You CAN right a movie about rock&roll!
Most people would think that you could'nt write a good movie about rock&roll. This movie sure proves them wrong. The songs are great, and the movie is great.
I said that the songs were a great part of the movie. Here they are.
1. Grease-5/0
2. Summer Nights-8/10
3. Hopelessly Devoted To You-3/10
4. You're The One That I Want- 10/10
5. Sandy-1/10
6. Beauty School Dropout-5/10
7. Look At Me, I'm Sandra D.-7/10
8. Greased Lightning-9/10
9. It's Raining On Prom Night-3/10
10. Alone at the Drive-In-Movie-1/10
11. Blue Moon-9/10
12. Rock "N" Role is Here To Stay-8/10
13. Those Magic Changes-10/10
14. Hound Dog-4/10
15. Born To Hand Jive-4/10
16. Tears On My Pillow-2/10
17. Mooning-2/10
18. Freddy My Love-0/10
19. Rock "N" Role Party Queen-8/10
20. There Are Worse Things I Could Do-3/10
21. Look At Me, I'm Sandra D.(Reprise)-5/10
22. We Go Togeter-10/10
23. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing-4/10
24 Grease(Reprise)-5/10

As you can see, there are some VERY bad songs, but for the most part, the songs are pretty good. The whole movie was even better than the songs. The whole idea of the movie is a senior high schooler comes to the U.S. and goes to a cheap high school. There, she runs into a guy she met in the summer, who is in a car gang that is against another car gang. Throughout the year, this girl ( her name is Sandy) and her friends deal with the guy(his name is Danny) and his friends. The movie pretty much told about the "typical" high scholl senior's problems, except in a more 60's background. The movie actually took place in the 70's. At the end, Danny's car gang beats the rival gang in a car race, and at the end of the movie, the whole gang of guys and girls gets back together without any problems at the end of the year. The movie is all in all VERY good. Buy it today.

Grease lightning!
(...)

Anyway, "Grease" is one of my favorite movies. It's just one of those timeless gems that will never die (can't say the same for the sequel, though). Every song is a joy and the film couldn't have been casted any better. John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing; all involved give indelibly charming performances. A lot of great films came out of the 70's (The Godfather, A Clockwork Orange, Taxi Driver, Chinatown, Jaws, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, etc., etc...) but "Grease" is still able to hold it's own after all these years. A quintessential film to add to your collection.

As far as the DVD goes, well... it's typical of Paramount to stiff us with what could have been a solid release. If you take into account that almost everyone who buys the disc already knows all the songs and dialogue by heart, the studio could have done lots of fun things with the material. Alas, we only get a songbook (which is admittedly kinda cool) and a documentary. Oh, yeah. And a theatrical trailer. How rare. *scoffs*

A half-assed effort to bring "Grease" to a great medium notwithstanding, I'd highly recommend buying this.

"Summer lovin'... had me a bla-haaast..."

I love this movie
Firstly because it reminds me of a carefree and happy time in my life. I saw this in the summer of 1978 when I was 12 years old and the only thing I had to worry about was making sure I didn't have any overdue library books, keeping the lawn mowed and starting ninth grade in the fall. Secondly because there's some great pop music in this movie, _Hopelessy Devoted to You_ is one of the best pop songs about unrequited attraction ever written. Thirdly because of the subtext of this movie, the lesson this movie teaches you is that in order to get ahead you have to be a slut, just look at the way Olivia Newton John (who was 30 when this movie was made) turns from a good girl at the beginning of the movie into a leather trouser wearing slut at the end. Fourthly I love this movie because all of the actors in it are so obviously too old to be in high school. I figured as a kid that this was because the lead paint factory at the town of Rydell was dumping a lot of stuff into the water supply in those halcyon, pre-EPA days of the 1950s and the resulting heavy metal poisoning made the children of Rydell somewhat slow, which was why they were all still in high school even though they were in their late 20s and early 30s.

Greasy John isn't my cup of grease
As an Australian I find this movie extremely offensive. Why should Sandie have to change and become a greasy fat rude American. She should haved stay the way she was I reckon.

There's a line in this movie about eating sh*t...I agree. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. While this 2002 DVD release contains retrospective interviews with the cast and director Randal Kleiser, it's unfortunately full screen. As a result, the widescreen dance numbers are instead panned and scanned, destroying the symmetrical, lively choreography. A widescreen version is also available and is highly recommended because without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film has to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative.

The young, animated cast also deserves a lot of credit, bringing chemistry and energy to otherwise bland material. John Travolta, straight from his success in Saturday Night Fever, knows his sexual star power and struts, swaggers, sings, and dances appropriately, while Olivia Newton-John's portrayal of virgin innocence is the only decent acting she's ever done. And then there's Stockard Channing, spouting sexual double-entendres as Rizzo, the bitchy, raunchy leader of the Pink Ladies, who steals the film from both of its stars. Ignore the sequel at all costs. --Dave McCoy ... Read more

Reviews (221)

5 Star Movie Lowered (Slightly) By Disappointing DVD
I won't go into the plot here, because, let's face it, if you haven't seen Grease by now, you probably won't ever see it. And you are missing out on a really fun film. That is the secret to this movie's popularity. It's just plain fun! It doesn't have a really great script, none of the performancies (with the exception of Stockard Channing) is anything above run-of-the-mill, but it's got a lot of great, catchy songs, a very likeable cast, and is just a treat to watch again and again. I was disappointed by this DVD release though, because it's exactly the same as the laser disc, only smaller and you don't have to turn it over. The cast interviews at the end are four years old, and this is really just a delayed release of the 20th Anniversary Edition on DVD. And what fan of Grease needs a cheap, paper booklet of song lyrics? Believe me, we know them all by heart. Truly the most profitable and one of the most popular musicals ever made deserves a better DVD package. The fans certainly deserve it too, having waited so long for this. Boo! to Paramount for, apparently, wanting to wait and pick our pockets again some time down the road when they release the two-disc set with all the extras this movie should have. At least it's in widescreen, which is a totally different viewing experience for anyone who hasn't seen it letterboxed or on the big screen yet. The musical numbers have a much larger scope, with dancers and other action on the sides that had previously been cut off. You will be surprised how many previously unseen guys are on the bleachers with Danny and the gang for "Summer Nights". And to anyone who is planning to buy the full-frame DVD--shame on you! You are truly missing out.

You CAN right a movie about rock&roll!
Most people would think that you could'nt write a good movie about rock&roll. This movie sure proves them wrong. The songs are great, and the movie is great.
I said that the songs were a great part of the movie. Here they are.
1. Grease-5/0
2. Summer Nights-8/10
3. Hopelessly Devoted To You-3/10
4. You're The One That I Want- 10/10
5. Sandy-1/10
6. Beauty School Dropout-5/10
7. Look At Me, I'm Sandra D.-7/10
8. Greased Lightning-9/10
9. It's Raining On Prom Night-3/10
10. Alone at the Drive-In-Movie-1/10
11. Blue Moon-9/10
12. Rock "N" Role is Here To Stay-8/10
13. Those Magic Changes-10/10
14. Hound Dog-4/10
15. Born To Hand Jive-4/10
16. Tears On My Pillow-2/10
17. Mooning-2/10
18. Freddy My Love-0/10
19. Rock "N" Role Party Queen-8/10
20. There Are Worse Things I Could Do-3/10
21. Look At Me, I'm Sandra D.(Reprise)-5/10
22. We Go Togeter-10/10
23. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing-4/10
24 Grease(Reprise)-5/10

As you can see, there are some VERY bad songs, but for the most part, the songs are pretty good. The whole movie was even better than the songs. The whole idea of the movie is a senior high schooler comes to the U.S. and goes to a cheap high school. There, she runs into a guy she met in the summer, who is in a car gang that is against another car gang. Throughout the year, this girl ( her name is Sandy) and her friends deal with the guy(his name is Danny) and his friends. The movie pretty much told about the "typical" high scholl senior's problems, except in a more 60's background. The movie actually took place in the 70's. At the end, Danny's car gang beats the rival gang in a car race, and at the end of the movie, the whole gang of guys and girls gets back together without any problems at the end of the year. The movie is all in all VERY good. Buy it today.

Grease lightning!
(...)

Anyway, "Grease" is one of my favorite movies. It's just one of those timeless gems that will never die (can't say the same for the sequel, though). Every song is a joy and the film couldn't have been casted any better. John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing; all involved give indelibly charming performances. A lot of great films came out of the 70's (The Godfather, A Clockwork Orange, Taxi Driver, Chinatown, Jaws, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, etc., etc...) but "Grease" is still able to hold it's own after all these years. A quintessential film to add to your collection.

As far as the DVD goes, well... it's typical of Paramount to stiff us with what could have been a solid release. If you take into account that almost everyone who buys the disc already knows all the songs and dialogue by heart, the studio could have done lots of fun things with the material. Alas, we only get a songbook (which is admittedly kinda cool) and a documentary. Oh, yeah. And a theatrical trailer. How rare. *scoffs*

A half-assed effort to bring "Grease" to a great medium notwithstanding, I'd highly recommend buying this.

"Summer lovin'... had me a bla-haaast..."

I love this movie
Firstly because it reminds me of a carefree and happy time in my life. I saw this in the summer of 1978 when I was 12 years old and the only thing I had to worry about was making sure I didn't have any overdue library books, keeping the lawn mowed and starting ninth grade in the fall. Secondly because there's some great pop music in this movie, _Hopelessy Devoted to You_ is one of the best pop songs about unrequited attraction ever written. Thirdly because of the subtext of this movie, the lesson this movie teaches you is that in order to get ahead you have to be a slut, just look at the way Olivia Newton John (who was 30 when this movie was made) turns from a good girl at the beginning of the movie into a leather trouser wearing slut at the end. Fourthly I love this movie because all of the actors in it are so obviously too old to be in high school. I figured as a kid that this was because the lead paint factory at the town of Rydell was dumping a lot of stuff into the water supply in those halcyon, pre-EPA days of the 1950s and the resulting heavy metal poisoning made the children of Rydell somewhat slow, which was why they were all still in high school even though they were in their late 20s and early 30s.

Greasy John isn't my cup of grease
As an Australian I find this movie extremely offensive. Why should Sandie have to change and become a greasy fat rude American. She should haved stay the way she was I reckon.

There's a line in this movie about eating sh*t...I agree. ... Read more

Reviews (212)

Comedy For All Eternity
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is a comedy for all eternity. This is one of those big box, big budget, long-running-time, cameo-loaded, expensive, broad-canvas farces of the 60's that I love so much. Released in 1962, this was one of Stanley Kramer's greatest and last movies. This award-winning movie is a timeless masterpiece for the whole family.

After a bouncy, splashy Saul Bass animated title sequence, the story begins with a brief car chase in the California desert. Bank robber Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante) wrecks his car, and with his dying words reveals a secret about buried treasure to the seven strangers who stopped on the roadside. 'Look for the big W' in Santa Rosita, he says, and then he kicks the bucket.

After a brief attempt at cooperation, the treasure hunt is on and it's every man for himself, in four teams. Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett decide to take to the air but their pilot, Jim Backus, gets hammered on Old Fashioneds. Husband-and-wife Sid Caesar and Edie Adams can only find a biplane cropduster. The lone truck driver, Jonathan Winters, can't get gas. And his mother-in-law Ethel Merman fatally hampers Milton Berle, with his wife Dorothy Provine.

So all four teams scamper across the landscape, across the broad canvas of this movie, wound tight by desperate greed and calmly monitored by a Sergeant Culpepper, Spencer Tracy. This is the framing story for an amazing string of billed appearances and unbilled cameos so many that at last your senses are sort of dulled. Oh, it's Carl Reiner in the control tower. Oh, look, it's Stan Freberg, yeah. The best cameo, hands down, is Jerry Lewis, who comes barreling down Long Beach Boulevard in a moment of exuberant stupidity and runs over Spencer Tracy's hat.

Probably my favorite, I have so many, co-star was Terry Thomas who plays a vacationing Englishman in a rattling station wagon, who picks up Milton Berle. He's talkative. He prattles away (accurately) about why it is that the American male is positively preoccupied with booo-sums, and says things like, "I'll wager you anything you like, if American women stopped wearing brassieres, your whole national economy would collapse overnight!" This sequence, within the context of the movie so far, has a single funny moment when this whole vast farce might come alive, find its voice, and this circus might make sense - Terry-Thomas finds the tone for the rest of the movie. I find it compelling that the aesthetic success of all this footage, all these appearances, all this thoroughly American spectacle, suddenly pivots around a few fussy syllables about breasts. But once the moment passes, Terry-Thomas is efficiently neutralized and dismissed by Ethel Merman, and on we go.

The array of challengers eventually reach Santa Rosita, and several unexplainably humorous events occur. These I will not reveal to you and allow you to view the movie on your own time. I must add though, that if you do see this movie, reserve several hours. Like most from its decade its LONG... VERY LONG... But allow me to assure you, you wont be disappointed.

Madness is Genius
Eight traveling vacationers witness the sudden car-crash and slow final death of con-man Smiler Grogan in the hills above Palm Desert, Cal.. Grogan's dying words reveal the secret location of $350,000 hidden in Santa Rosita Park, near San Diego. This sparks a wild, hectic race for the dough. Pure greed,buried treasure, and car crashes. It's all here. "It's a Mad,Mad,Mad, Mad World" was the most successful movie directed by ace Stanley Kramer. All of the famous television and film comics from 1963 appear in this wild comedy. Only Bob Hope is missing. The cast includes Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Phil Silvers, Jerry Lewis, Joe E. Brown, The Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, Jonathan Winters, and Spencer Tracy. Ernest Gold composed an original booming, wonderful soundtrack you'll be humming for days. At two hours and 41 minutes, "Mad World" is too long, but an incredible cast and mad-cap action propel the story along. This new MGM DVD is presented in widescreen anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect. The colors are crisp and vibrant. The "Mad World" DVD includes an excellent 1991 documentary with all the major surviving cast members. There's also 1 hour of "out-takes", faded and damaged, from the original Cinerama 70mm release. And there's two trailers. The year 2001 produced an obvious remake of "Mad World" called "Rat Race", a modest hit. Stanley Kramer and Spencer Tracy made 4 classic films together. The last was the inspiring "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" in 1967. In ill health, sadly, Tracy died just days after shooting ended. Stanley Kramer himself died in Feb. 2001. His genius is now gone. His legacy lies before you.

It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad DVD
I would give this DVD 5 stars if all the movie was here, but it isn't, hence 3 stars. There's no excuse for this considering that no major restoration has been attempted here, the storage capabilities of DVDs are huge, and MGM has already released the full-length movie on VHS. The deleted scene feature is a mess. Watching the scenes seperately is tedious and not much fun. The least they could do would be to put the deleted scenes in the order that they appeared in the original film. The third and fourth scenes appear to be exactly the same as do others later on. Sometimes the scene appears the same only zoomed in. Others scenes have no sound. Some of the last scenes go on and on up to 10 minutes and contains everything that is included in the feature except for very minor snippets of dialogue. Sometimes you can't detect anything new, like in the money dividing proposal scene.

I can see why MGM would want to keep their pristine 35mm print whole and transfer that to DVD but perhaps they should have included a 2nd disc and a 2nd version that patched together all the missing scenes, no matter what condition, and reconstructed the film as best as they could to the longest originally released version.

MGM, when you finally "Special Edition" this movie offer a rebate with the proof of purchase from this inferior edition!

Best, Most Memorable Comedy Ever Made !!
I originally saw the movie in '63. I was 8. Dad started my Birthday party with it. After the movie, Dad drove the route of the Santa Monica portion of the car chase(yes, there really was a "Big W").
Just finished watching the movie on Turner TV. The narrator came on after the movie and said that THE ORIGINAL WAS 5 HOURS long(Just too much "good stuff"). The movie studio had it edited to the shortened current version of three hours.
Back in '63 it was a terrific movie-In '04 it is still a terrific movie.

An all star cast of comics, great comedy

Director: Stanley Kramer
Format: Color
Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios
Video Release Date: September 26, 1995

Cast:

Spencer Tracy ... Capt. T.G. Culpeper
Milton Berle ... J. Russell Finch
Sid Caesar ... Melville Crump, DDS
Buddy Hackett ... Benjy Benjamin
Ethel Merman ... Mrs. Marcus
Mickey Rooney ... Ding 'Dingy' Bell
Dick Shawn ... Sylvester Marcus
Phil Silvers ... Otto Meyer
Terry-Thomas ... Lt.Col. J. Algernon Hawthorne
Jonathan Winters ... Lennie Pike
Edie Adams ... Monica Crump
Dorothy Provine ... Emeline Marcus-Finch
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson ... Second cab driver
Jim Backus ... Tyler Fitzgerald
Ben Blue ... Biplane pilot
Joe E. Brown ... Union official
Alan Carney ... Police sergeant
Chick Chandler ... Detective outside Chinese laundromat
Barrie Chase ... Sylvester's girlfriend
Lloyd Corrigan ... The Mayor
William Demarest ... Police Chief Aloysius
Andy Devine ... Sheriff of Crockett County
Selma Diamond ... Ginger Culpeper
Peter Falk ... Third cab driver
Norman Fell ... Detective at Grogan's crash site
Paul Ford ... Col. Wilberforce
Stan Freberg ... Deputy sheriff
Louise Glenn ... Billie Sue Culpeper
Leo Gorcey ... First cab driver
Sterling Holloway ... Fire Chief
Edward Everett Horton ... Mr. Dinckler
Marvin Kaplan ... Irwin
Buster Keaton ... Jimmy the boatman
Don Knotts ... Nervous man
Charles Lane ... Airport manager
Mike Mazurki ... Miner
Charles McGraw ... Lt. Matthews
Cliff Norton ... Reporter
Zasu Pitts ... Switchboard operator Gertie
Carl Reiner ... Tower controller at Rancho Conejo
Madlyn Rhue ... Secretary Schwartz
Roy Roberts ... Policeman outside Irwin & Ray's Garage
Arnold Stang ... Ray
Nick Stewart ... Migrant truck driver
Joe DeRita ... Fireman
Larry Fine ... Fireman
Moe Howard ... Fireman
Sammee Tong ... Chinese laundryman
Jesse White ... Radio tower operator at Rancho Conejo
Jimmy Durante ... Smiler Grogan
Roy Engel ... Patrolman/Police radio voice unit F-14
Nicholas Georgiade ... Detective at Grogan's crash site
Stacy Harris ... Police radio voice unit F-7
Don C. Harvey ... Policeman in helicopter
Allen Jenkins ... Police officer
Tom Kennedy ... Traffic cop
Harry Lauter ... Police dispatcher
Ben Lessy ... George the steward
Jerry Lewis ... Man who runs over hat
Bob Mazurki ... Eddie (miner's son)
Jack Benny ... Man in car in desert
Eddie Ryder ... Air traffic control tower staffer
Paul Birch ... Policeman
Doodles Weaver ... Dinckler's Hardware Store clerk
Stanley Clements ... Detective in squad room
Bobo Lewis ... Pilot's wife
Minta Durfee ... Bit Part

Intended to be the comedy to end all comedies, with a cast including virtually all the name comedians at the time.

Jimmy Durante plays a guy who is in a fatal auto accident, but before he dies, tells 5 bystanders where there is $350,000 hidden under a "W", whuch leads to a chase to find the money.

Meanwhile, Capt. T.G. Culpeper (Spencer Tracy) is aware of the stolen money and he and his policemen observe the chase with interest through the desert, mountains, and along the California coast, with the contestants using aircraft, cars, trucks, a bicycle and every method of transportation in their attempt to be first to reach the money.

Tracy was ill when the film was shot, and so only worked four hours per day. The long shots and physical stuff was performed by stand-ins.

This is a fun movie. If there is a criticism, it is that the comedy is perhaps overdone. With so many top comedians, there is certainly no dearth of funny lines, pratfalls, and laughs--that's for sure.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

... Read more

Description

The sequel to the 1978 hit movie, GREASE 2 is set in the early 1960’s when a new British student, Michael Carrington (Caulfield), rides into town and joins the ranks at Rydell High. A book nerd who immediately falls for the blonde bombshell leader of the Pink Ladies, Stephanie Zinone (Pfeiffer), Michael finds himself smitten, but out of his element. Knowing that the Pink Ladies are the hippest clique of chicks at Rydell, who only date their equals in coolness - the T-Birds, Michael sets out to turn from a geek to a greaser to see if he can win the gorgeous Stephanie’s heart. ... Read more

Reviews (128)

Let's "DO IT" for our country!!!!
When all you had is cable and South Texas HOT sun during the summer, a cool house and the hollow, fun, cheese lyrics of grease 2 kept you entertained. As you pop this DVD into your player, you are quickly reminded why you love to hate this movie and why as much as you hate it, you still can't keep the lyrics out of your head!
The DVD transfer does a decent job in capturing the base of the singing trio in "Mr. Sandman" in the shower, "Reproduction" (Where does the pollen go?) and the bike on "Who's that guy?". The blacks in this particular scene do NOT dissapoint. The visual quality is close to "movie-like" you feel transported back to the 80's and want to solve a rubiks cube while you watch the movie.
The highs in Johnnys Song "Walk, Talk like T birds" are GREAT! You want to see Michelle Phipher stradle a ladder with a phalic tree under her or see her dance and stradle the wind, in the courtyard while everyone ignores her crazy teen ways, this DVD delivers this GREAT cheesy 80's movie and puts it into a GREAT FORMAT! C-O-O-L. . . R-I-D-E-R!

I LOVE GREASE 2!!
I think part of the reason I love this movie so much is because I grew up on this version never seeing the original Grease until after this one. I love this movie! Perhaps also because I had a big crush on Maxwell Caulfield's charactrer "Michael" so that made it all the more enjoyable for me to watch but I loved the soundtrack too, "Who's that guy" when Michael first appears at the bowling alley in his leather clothes on his new motorcycle, or "Cool Rider" the song that Michelle Pfiefer's character "Stephanie" sang to let him know he had to be a motorcycle rider before she could even give him the time of day. Or the song at the end, "We'll be together" makes me smile everytime I hear it, and I love the song "Love will turn back the hands of time" at the talent show when "Stephanie" spaces out thinking of her mystery "cool" rider who had since swept her off her feet. I think I rented this movie atleast 3 times a week from when I was 7 years old till I was 10 (back when you could only rent for a day at a time), let's just say it drove my parents crazy but I didn't want to watch anything else, finally they bought it for me when it went down in price and now I am anxious for it to be released on DVD because my VHS copy is rather played out because I watched it constantly. I always stop to watch this movie no matter what I am doing if it comes on tv and it never fails that when I just watched my VHS copy it comes on! But if anyone ever finds out it's coming out on DVD please LET ME KNOW! I think everyone should atleast give this movie a chance and pretend you had never seen Grease cause I hadn't seen it until a year after I had watched Grease 2 a hundred times and I wasn't expecting anything, I expect the first to be different since I first saw the sequel so for me, Grease is not as interesting to me, I enjoy Grease 2 far more!! Give it a try, hope you enjoy it, for those who love Grease I can see that it might not live up to what you expected but don't expect too much and give it a good playing and just enjoy it for it's comedy, high school romance, and soundtrack that some people don't like but I love it and I think a lot of the songs are highly enjoyable. thanks.

"Who's that guy?" Who cares!
Tying "Life is Beautiful" for proof of miracles through movies, it is indeed a true miracle that Michelle Pfeiffer ever found work again after starring in this mess. Featuring such catchy ditties as "Who's That Guy?" and "We're Doin' It For Our Country," this was THE movie that started the stigma: "Sequels always suck compared to the original." Of course, this movie is well beyond suck; it blows.

"Grease" is the word again!
Yes,"grease" is the word again in GREASE 2. I could tell you why the sequel to 1978's highest-grossing film was disappointing. There's an entirely new senior class,set in 1961,two years after the original Grease gang graduated from Rydell High School. That means this class were sophomores during the original Grease era,unseen of course. This was Michelle Pfeiffer's first starring film. She appears opposite Maxwell Caufield,a foreign exchange student from Australia who becomes a T-Bird. Pfeiffer,is a Pink Lady of course. Those who returned for the sequel are Didi Conn as Frenchy who had dropped out and come back to repeat the 12th grade. Eve Arden as Rydell High's principal and Sid Caesar as the phys. ed. instructor. One memorable scene is the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies at a bowling alley singing,"We're gonna score tonight!"(sorry,I don't know the song title). Pfeiffer contributes her singing vocals to the soundtrack album on COOL RIDER. Another reason why this film flopped:it didn't even feature a reprise of GREASE,the theme song from the first film,performed by Frankie Valli and written by ex-Bee Gee Barry Gibb. The soundtrack was enitirely original. Imagine John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John,the stars of the first film,paying a visit to Rydell High in this film. This film could have gotten mixed reviews by the critics if that had happened. Since this film wasn't so great,there were no more sequels.

A musical with no good music..
This movie is not so far below the original on a dramatic level. And the dance sequences often surpass those in the original film for complexity and ambition, especially the opening one. Yes, it's a contrived Juvie D. romance about a straight-laced character trying to connect with a rougher edged hipster, but so was the original. Yes, the 'comedy' seems forced and added on, but that was true in the original too. Simply put, the original was a pretty weak, contrived lightweight of a movie. That is, when nobody was singing. The sequel -call it Grease 2: The Next Class, or Frenchy Gets a Two Picture Deal - is even more contrived and weighs less, despite a knowing, sharp edged performance by Michelle Pfeiffer (the only reason this thing still exists on video). But success or failure for any musical depends on ... drum roll ... THE MUSIC! Even the second rank stuff in the first picture (eg. Stranded at the Drive-in) is pretty tuneful and memorable. The songs in the sequel are so bad ("...Let's Bowl, Let's Bowl, Let's Rock and Roll!..." that they are improved by watching with the sound off. Even the show-stopper at the end sung by Michelle is pretty worthless, and it is the only number other than the opener that can be heard without suffering intelligence loss. The original was a huge hit and the sequel bombed. The soundtrack from the original was a huge hit spawning several top 40 radio hits. Nobody bought and no radio station played ANYTHING from the sequel. See a pattern? ... Read more

Amazon.com

When we worked together," reminisces Sid Caesar, "it was magic, and you don't question magic." So just enjoy this essential three-disc collection of vintage sketches from Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour. To work on these programs was to attend "the Harvard of Comedy," and this "great amalgamation of talents," which included Carl Reiner, Imogene Coca, Howard Morris, Nanette Fabray, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart, and Neil and Danny Simon, were at the head of their class. "We did everything," Caesar notes at one point, and the proof is on these discs: domestic sketches ("Life Begins at 7:45"), game show parodies ("Break Your Brains"), spoofs of foreign films ("U-Bet-U"), opera ("Gallipacci"), and classical music (and a pantomime of "the 1812 Overture"). It is a testament to the knowledge, technique, and taste of those who created the show that these 50-year-old sketches hold up as well as they do. This was the golden age of live television, when anything could happen, and the cast would have to go with it. In "Gallipacci," Caesar's make-up pencil breaks when his character, a heartbroken clown, is applying make-up to his face. Without missing a beat, Caesar rises to the potentially disastrous occasion with one of the most inspired ad-libs in television history.

In between the sketches, the cast members and writers, a virtual Who's Who of comedy, affectionately recall working with each other, and creating these classic sketches. Each DVD includes bonus sketches. Caesar also provides illuminating commentary on selected sketches. More than a television time capsule that vividly re-creates a bygone era, this priceless collection is also a master class for aspiring comedy writers and performers. It is not a coincidence that one of Caesar's signature characters was called "the Professor."--Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Amazon.com

The DVD releases of SCTV, Kids in the Hall, and In Living Color, made 2004 a banner year for sketch-comedy aficionados. But this three-disc collection of vintage sketches from Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour is essential for those with an appreciation for the grand masters. We come to praise Caesar, not to bury him. This was the golden age of live television, and these were the shows to which comedy writers aspired. Caesar's dream team included (though not at the same time) Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Selma Diamond, Larry Gelbart, Carl Reiner, and Neil and Danny Simon. The Sid Caesar Collection is a treasure trove of sketches, representative of the "knowledge, technique, and taste" of the show's creators: domestic sketches ("Nan Hires a Maid," "The White Rug"), spoofs ("Bullet Over Broadway," "German U Boat 749"), and pantomime ("Grieg Piano Concerto," "Pantomime Cocktail Party").

One reason why these sketches, some more than 50 years old, hold up so well, is Caesar's credo that "People are more interesting than things." The best sketches are universal, human comedy. In "Nan Hires a Maid," the writers meticulously establish wife Nanette Fabray's frustration with husband Sid's sloppiness, so when Sid comes home from work, we anxiously await to see him carelessly discard his clothes around the room, and for dutiful Nanette to explode, which she does "just so." Anything could happen on live television. Check out the "Bus Station" sketch, in which commuter Sid can be glimpsed wearing sandals he did not have time to change from a previous gladiator sketch. Other memorable sketches include "Toy Band" (which echoes the intricate teamwork of the Your Show of Shows classic, "The Clock") and "Bullets Over Broadway," which may have inspired the Boss Hijack sketches in the Caesar homage, My Favorite Year. In between the sketches, cast members and writers affectionately recall working with each other, and creating this classic comedy. Each DVD includes bonus sketches. Caesar also provides illuminating commentary on selected sketches. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Description

The Griswold family hits the road again for a typically ill-fated vacation, this time to the glitzy mecca of slots and showgirls, Las Vegas. ... Read more

Reviews (69)

Not as good as its predecessors, yet funny and entertaining.
While National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation remains the funniest of the entire series, Vegas Vacation has a lot of laughs that is sure to please its audiences. This time, Clark, Ellen, Rusty and Audrey are off to Las Vegas, where Clark plans on renewing his wedding vows to Ellen. However, the inevitable temptation to gamble becomes too much for Clark, and he begins to squander all of his money, delving into his savings. Meanwhile, his wife is being courted by Wayne Newton, his son is posing as a married man from Uma, and his daughter becomes a club dancer. And what would a vacation movie be without good ol' cousin Eddie, played by the hilarious Randy Quaid? This time, he's living in a mobile home on a former H-bomb test site, and he offers his help to Clark after he loses all of his money. While it is clear that some of the laughs are missed from th previous films, this one does not fail to please, giving more laughs than you would think and keeping the entertainment alive.

You Can Watch This Movie Over and Over...
Vegas Vacation is probably one of my favorite "Vacation's" there is. This movie takes you on a fun adventure to fabulous Las Vegas for a vacation for the Griswald's. I have never gotten bored with this movie and I can watch it over and over and over.

At first, Audrey and Russ are reluctant to going because "the people are soo fony", but soon they are having the time of their lives. Fuss gets a fake ID and wins about 3 cars. Audrey hangs out with her cousin Vicki (who is a dancer) and Audrey basically changes her whole wardrobe and style.

Ellen falls in love and gets seduced by Wayne Newton. And "Sparky" (Chevy Chase) well... let's just say he's having some trouble at the tables. The entire family have a visit with Ellen's cousins and a family trip to the Hoover Dam.

This is one of Chevy's best! You'll love it!

Special DVD feature's include:
Interactive Menus
Production Notes
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer
Languages: Engish and Francais
Subtitles: English, Francais, and Espanol

ALWAYS FUNNY
I could watch this 100 times and never get bored of it. I have never seen any of the other Vacation movies but loved this one. It's hilarious from beginning to end. Anyone who is a fan of Chevy Chase will like this movie. It should have a 5 star rating overall.

I wish I could dump barrels of fish guts on Papa Gorgio!
I hate people out of jealousy who hit a jackpot at a slot machine after only their first fews spins when yet they never even played slots before.

Papa Gorgio (Russ Griswold) is this movie wins at least 2 major jackpots at 2 different slot machines on the very first spin! (I mean crap man, now there's a guy that I REALLY hate out of jealousy!)

I am so jealous of those lucky [lady] and SOBs that do it on their very first few spins because I've played those damn machines every month for over a year and a half. I've done over 70,000 unsuccessful spins and have lost quite a bit of money over these many months at those damn machines.. I've still never hit a jackpot.

I really wish I could buy one of those damn slot machines from a US casino like say 'Wild Cherry' or the 'Red, White, and Blue' machine and smash it to pieces with my slegehammer the same way I smashed that 'Slots with Video Poker' VHS. That's how much I hate slot machines and those damn, lucky jackpot winners who do it on their first few spins!!
That jackpot that that occasional lucky male or female (...) wins on their VERY FIRST VISIT in that casino in under 100 spins just devistaes me!!! That jackpot should be mine!

Where the hell's MY jackpot?!?!?!?
I'm WAY OVERDUE for a jackpot!

It's not the original, but it's still damn good
INTRODUCTION:
Vegas Vacation was the fourth film in the Vacation series of films. It had been eight years since the release of the most recent entry in the series, Christmas Vacation. Would the series still be able to impress people, or was it officially doomed? Read on for my review.

BASIC PLOT:
The storyline of the film goes something like this. Clark and Ellen Griswald (once again played by Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo) realize that their children aren't going to be children much longer, and that they should take another vacation to enjoy the remaining time they have together. Their destination? Las Vegas. Once there, Rusty gets a fake ID and wins some cars, Audrey takes up exotic dancing, and Ellen is befriended by Wayne Newton. And what would a Vacation movie be without cousin Eddie? (Randy Quaid reprises that role.) Clark, on the other hand, meets his rival - a blackjack dealer (played by Wallace Shawn), and quickly gambles away thousands of dollars. How will their vacation turn out?

FILM OPINIONS:
This film is not nearly as good as its predecessor, but it's a good film nonetheless. If you like the series, this is worth checking out, but it's not essential. If you're new to the Vacation series, start with the first film - it's the true masterpiece of the bunch.

DVD:
The DVD is severely lacking as far as extras go - this seems to be typical of the Vacation series movie DVDs. We get commentary and trailers, and that's about it. There's really not much other than these things, things that every DVD should have. Still, the actual film is good, and it makes up for this.

OVERALL:
Overall this film doesn't top its predecessor, but it's still damn funny. If you want to laugh, pick it up. You'll be glad you did. ... Read more

Description

Our racers are back for a second cannonball run - the illegal race that takes place all over the country... Almost every star of the first film is here, along with new ones. Will J.J. McClure (Burt Reynolds) finally be the winner this time? ... Read more

Reviews (34)

One of the four best movies ever made
This movie is wicked good. It is the movie with car chases that is better than a lot of other movies like that. Some of the cars go very fast, but some just move along at a good speed. In a cross country race it is all about strategy. There are a lot of people in this movie. Some of the actors are more famous than others, and some are really famous. Steve McQueen is not in this movie. It is all a surprise when you see it the first time. There is a good fight scene at a ranch or something like that and it's good. The cars are cool. The winner of the race is a real cool plot twist. I love this movie and it's a good one. There are a lot of scenes that involve drinking and driving, but it is not made to look cool. This is a good movie for the whole family.

it's fun!
Look sure it's not going to win awards and it's not the best looking movie around but it's a lot of fun. i look to a movie for fun and not all of them must high budget, twisted plot line type to do it, burt and these stars had fun making it and it shows. plus there if a monkey in it and people like Jackie Chan in a early role, it has corny jokes you know are coming but you still laugh i mean who can not laugh when you have Dom, Burt and sammy davis all dressed up in womens clothes dancing?

get this movie is you want a fun light hearted movie to enjoy.

An Honest Review!
This movie is great! But the reason I gave it a 1 star was coz Jackie Chan had a very small role and he appeared through both movies. I know his english isn't good but he could've done some of the fighting scenes

The first one really deserved a sequel?
If you liked the first Cannonball Run movie, then I guess there's no reason not to like this one. There's a little bit other than the race going on in this one. They have the mob chasing them. It stars out with the exact same opening credits as the first movie with the cops casing on of the fast cars and the sexy women defacing a speed limit sign.
Then there's that familiar "Cannonballers getting drunk at the hotal the night before" thing.

The race starts in the west coast this time, but throughout the entire movie, they never get past the Nevada desert until the cloing credits. Almost the entire movie take place in the Navada desert so there's not much racing going on.
This movie had a slightly better supporting cast than the first one, which is why I gave this movie 2 stars instead of 1.
This time we have the 19-foot tall behemoth Richard Kiel sharing a small computerized Japanese car with Jackie Chan. Some of the baddies chasing them include Henry Silva (who's always a ruthless bad guy, but here he's more of a nerdy bad guy), Abe Vigoa, Alex Rocco, Telly Savalas, just to name a few. Another mismatch of 2 people sharing a car is Mel Tillis and Tony Danza. You really have to be a fan of redneck fast car movies like Smokey And The Bandit, Hooper, and Stroker Ace, then maybe you'll like this, but If you like comedies that are actually FUNNY, then you'll be disappointed.

The Cannonball Run 2 (1983)
This film is exactly like its original only this time the mob is after them. And also instead of Michael Hui, Jackie's capilot is Richard Kiel (the giant who played "Jaws" in 2 James Bond Movies: "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker"). But then again it's quality is very poor... if you want to buy it don't waste your money on the expensive DVD edition, buy it on the cheap VHS edition. Jackie Chan still appears in a few cameo appereances but this time a few more. ... Read more

Reviews (212)

Comedy For All Eternity
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is a comedy for all eternity. This is one of those big box, big budget, long-running-time, cameo-loaded, expensive, broad-canvas farces of the 60's that I love so much. Released in 1962, this was one of Stanley Kramer's greatest and last movies. This award-winning movie is a timeless masterpiece for the whole family.

After a bouncy, splashy Saul Bass animated title sequence, the story begins with a brief car chase in the California desert. Bank robber Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante) wrecks his car, and with his dying words reveals a secret about buried treasure to the seven strangers who stopped on the roadside. 'Look for the big W' in Santa Rosita, he says, and then he kicks the bucket.

After a brief attempt at cooperation, the treasure hunt is on and it's every man for himself, in four teams. Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett decide to take to the air but their pilot, Jim Backus, gets hammered on Old Fashioneds. Husband-and-wife Sid Caesar and Edie Adams can only find a biplane cropduster. The lone truck driver, Jonathan Winters, can't get gas. And his mother-in-law Ethel Merman fatally hampers Milton Berle, with his wife Dorothy Provine.

So all four teams scamper across the landscape, across the broad canvas of this movie, wound tight by desperate greed and calmly monitored by a Sergeant Culpepper, Spencer Tracy. This is the framing story for an amazing string of billed appearances and unbilled cameos so many that at last your senses are sort of dulled. Oh, it's Carl Reiner in the control tower. Oh, look, it's Stan Freberg, yeah. The best cameo, hands down, is Jerry Lewis, who comes barreling down Long Beach Boulevard in a moment of exuberant stupidity and runs over Spencer Tracy's hat.

Probably my favorite, I have so many, co-star was Terry Thomas who plays a vacationing Englishman in a rattling station wagon, who picks up Milton Berle. He's talkative. He prattles away (accurately) about why it is that the American male is positively preoccupied with booo-sums, and says things like, "I'll wager you anything you like, if American women stopped wearing brassieres, your whole national economy would collapse overnight!" This sequence, within the context of the movie so far, has a single funny moment when this whole vast farce might come alive, find its voice, and this circus might make sense - Terry-Thomas finds the tone for the rest of the movie. I find it compelling that the aesthetic success of all this footage, all these appearances, all this thoroughly American spectacle, suddenly pivots around a few fussy syllables about breasts. But once the moment passes, Terry-Thomas is efficiently neutralized and dismissed by Ethel Merman, and on we go.

The array of challengers eventually reach Santa Rosita, and several unexplainably humorous events occur. These I will not reveal to you and allow you to view the movie on your own time. I must add though, that if you do see this movie, reserve several hours. Like most from its decade its LONG... VERY LONG... But allow me to assure you, you wont be disappointed.

Madness is Genius
Eight traveling vacationers witness the sudden car-crash and slow final death of con-man Smiler Grogan in the hills above Palm Desert, Cal.. Grogan's dying words reveal the secret location of $350,000 hidden in Santa Rosita Park, near San Diego. This sparks a wild, hectic race for the dough. Pure greed,buried treasure, and car crashes. It's all here. "It's a Mad,Mad,Mad, Mad World" was the most successful movie directed by ace Stanley Kramer. All of the famous television and film comics from 1963 appear in this wild comedy. Only Bob Hope is missing. The cast includes Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Phil Silvers, Jerry Lewis, Joe E. Brown, The Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, Jonathan Winters, and Spencer Tracy. Ernest Gold composed an original booming, wonderful soundtrack you'll be humming for days. At two hours and 41 minutes, "Mad World" is too long, but an incredible cast and mad-cap action propel the story along. This new MGM DVD is presented in widescreen anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect. The colors are crisp and vibrant. The "Mad World" DVD includes an excellent 1991 documentary with all the major surviving cast members. There's also 1 hour of "out-takes", faded and damaged, from the original Cinerama 70mm release. And there's two trailers. The year 2001 produced an obvious remake of "Mad World" called "Rat Race", a modest hit. Stanley Kramer and Spencer Tracy made 4 classic films together. The last was the inspiring "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" in 1967. In ill health, sadly, Tracy died just days after shooting ended. Stanley Kramer himself died in Feb. 2001. His genius is now gone. His legacy lies before you.

It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad DVD
I would give this DVD 5 stars if all the movie was here, but it isn't, hence 3 stars. There's no excuse for this considering that no major restoration has been attempted here, the storage capabilities of DVDs are huge, and MGM has already released the full-length movie on VHS. The deleted scene feature is a mess. Watching the scenes seperately is tedious and not much fun. The least they could do would be to put the deleted scenes in the order that they appeared in the original film. The third and fourth scenes appear to be exactly the same as do others later on. Sometimes the scene appears the same only zoomed in. Others scenes have no sound. Some of the last scenes go on and on up to 10 minutes and contains everything that is included in the feature except for very minor snippets of dialogue. Sometimes you can't detect anything new, like in the money dividing proposal scene.

I can see why MGM would want to keep their pristine 35mm print whole and transfer that to DVD but perhaps they should have included a 2nd disc and a 2nd version that patched together all the missing scenes, no matter what condition, and reconstructed the film as best as they could to the longest originally released version.

MGM, when you finally "Special Edition" this movie offer a rebate with the proof of purchase from this inferior edition!

Best, Most Memorable Comedy Ever Made !!
I originally saw the movie in '63. I was 8. Dad started my Birthday party with it. After the movie, Dad drove the route of the Santa Monica portion of the car chase(yes, there really was a "Big W").
Just finished watching the movie on Turner TV. The narrator came on after the movie and said that THE ORIGINAL WAS 5 HOURS long(Just too much "good stuff"). The movie studio had it edited to the shortened current version of three hours.
Back in '63 it was a terrific movie-In '04 it is still a terrific movie.

An all star cast of comics, great comedy

Director: Stanley Kramer
Format: Color
Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios
Video Release Date: September 26, 1995

Cast:

Spencer Tracy ... Capt. T.G. Culpeper
Milton Berle ... J. Russell Finch
Sid Caesar ... Melville Crump, DDS
Buddy Hackett ... Benjy Benjamin
Ethel Merman ... Mrs. Marcus
Mickey Rooney ... Ding 'Dingy' Bell
Dick Shawn ... Sylvester Marcus
Phil Silvers ... Otto Meyer
Terry-Thomas ... Lt.Col. J. Algernon Hawthorne
Jonathan Winters ... Lennie Pike
Edie Adams ... Monica Crump
Dorothy Provine ... Emeline Marcus-Finch
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson ... Second cab driver
Jim Backus ... Tyler Fitzgerald
Ben Blue ... Biplane pilot
Joe E. Brown ... Union official
Alan Carney ... Police sergeant
Chick Chandler ... Detective outside Chinese laundromat
Barrie Chase ... Sylvester's girlfriend
Lloyd Corrigan ... The Mayor
William Demarest ... Police Chief Aloysius
Andy Devine ... Sheriff of Crockett County
Selma Diamond ... Ginger Culpeper
Peter Falk ... Third cab driver
Norman Fell ... Detective at Grogan's crash site
Paul Ford ... Col. Wilberforce
Stan Freberg ... Deputy sheriff
Louise Glenn ... Billie Sue Culpeper
Leo Gorcey ... First cab driver
Sterling Holloway ... Fire Chief
Edward Everett Horton ... Mr. Dinckler
Marvin Kaplan ... Irwin
Buster Keaton ... Jimmy the boatman
Don Knotts ... Nervous man
Charles Lane ... Airport manager
Mike Mazurki ... Miner
Charles McGraw ... Lt. Matthews
Cliff Norton ... Reporter
Zasu Pitts ... Switchboard operator Gertie
Carl Reiner ... Tower controller at Rancho Conejo
Madlyn Rhue ... Secretary Schwartz
Roy Roberts ... Policeman outside Irwin & Ray's Garage
Arnold Stang ... Ray
Nick Stewart ... Migrant truck driver
Joe DeRita ... Fireman
Larry Fine ... Fireman
Moe Howard ... Fireman
Sammee Tong ... Chinese laundryman
Jesse White ... Radio tower operator at Rancho Conejo
Jimmy Durante ... Smiler Grogan
Roy Engel ... Patrolman/Police radio voice unit F-14
Nicholas Georgiade ... Detective at Grogan's crash site
Stacy Harris ... Police radio voice unit F-7
Don C. Harvey ... Policeman in helicopter
Allen Jenkins ... Police officer
Tom Kennedy ... Traffic cop
Harry Lauter ... Police dispatcher
Ben Lessy ... George the steward
Jerry Lewis ... Man who runs over hat
Bob Mazurki ... Eddie (miner's son)
Jack Benny ... Man in car in desert
Eddie Ryder ... Air traffic control tower staffer
Paul Birch ... Policeman
Doodles Weaver ... Dinckler's Hardware Store clerk
Stanley Clements ... Detective in squad room
Bobo Lewis ... Pilot's wife
Minta Durfee ... Bit Part

Intended to be the comedy to end all comedies, with a cast including virtually all the name comedians at the time.

Jimmy Durante plays a guy who is in a fatal auto accident, but before he dies, tells 5 bystanders where there is $350,000 hidden under a "W", whuch leads to a chase to find the money.

Meanwhile, Capt. T.G. Culpeper (Spencer Tracy) is aware of the stolen money and he and his policemen observe the chase with interest through the desert, mountains, and along the California coast, with the contestants using aircraft, cars, trucks, a bicycle and every method of transportation in their attempt to be first to reach the money.

Tracy was ill when the film was shot, and so only worked four hours per day. The long shots and physical stuff was performed by stand-ins.

This is a fun movie. If there is a criticism, it is that the comedy is perhaps overdone. With so many top comedians, there is certainly no dearth of funny lines, pratfalls, and laughs--that's for sure.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

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Description

Television comedy began with Sid Caesar. Before there was Leno, before there was Carson, Sid ruled the airwaves with the Emmy® Award-winning Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour. Now, return to the hilarity and outrageous sketches that had America bursting with laughter throughout the 1950s.With more than three and a half hours of classic sketches from this comedy virtuoso, this three-DVD set is jam-packed with extras that include bonus sketches, interviews with one of television’s foremost comedy-writer lineups, and footage from Sid's 1999 Friar's Club Roast. Travel back to the golden age of comedy and join Sid for 18 of his most remarkable sketches - now digitally restored and better than ever. DVD Features: Exclusive Footage From Sid's 1999 Friar's Club Roast; Interviewswith Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and Larry Gelbart; Bonus Sketches: "Four Englishmen", "Airplane Movies", and The Silent Movie "A Rich Man's Joke" (with Charlton Heston); Bonus Musical Sketches: Performances By Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa, "Nan's Birthday," and The Haircuts Sing "Going Crazy";Side-by-side Comparison of the Restoration Process; Original Playbill; Original Script of "Progress Hornsby" With Handwritten Notes; Cast and Writer Biographies; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Here Be Munsters
This had all the makings of a huge disaster. We had already born witness to the huge travesty that was The Addams Family Halloween reunion special four years earlier in 1977, so there weren't high expectations for this one. While the film is by no means a classic or what one would of hoped, it isn't all that bad at all. It's quite enjoyable and very watchable and makes you just about forget The Addams Family mistake. Well, almost. By now, we all know the story already. The Munsters was an ABC show that ran for only two seasons(1964-1966)and consisted of 70 episodes. There was the man of the house, Herman Munster(Fred Gwynne), his wife Lily(Yvonne DeCarlo), her father Grandpa(Al Lewis), son Eddie(Butch Patrick), and beautiful niece Marilyn(Originally Beverly Owen, then Pat Priest). They resided at 1313 Mockinbird Lane. This 1981 reunion brings back the 3 main players, Gwynne, DeCarlo, and Lewis, while newcomers played Eddie and Marilyn. Comedy legend Sid Caesar plays a crook who has his wax dummies at the wax museum come to life and pull off robberies. Two such wax dummies are dead ringers for Herman and Grandpa. Naturally, our favorite gruesome twosome are charged with the robberies and it's up to Herman and Grandpa to clear their names and stop the madman. The depiction of Herman and Grandpa as a slapsticky comedy team is fun. What is really special about this goodhearted reunion is that the 3 main actors are all in fine form. It was as tho not a day had passed since their final episode in 1966. Gwynne, who was 54 at the time, was as usual, perfection. He knows Herman inside and out and there is not a single difference in his look or performance as Herman. He was fantastic and never got the credit he deserved. Al Lewis is Grandpa and like Gwynne, it was as if nothing had changed. There was definitley noticeability in age with DeCarlo however. Still, she was Lily. There was nothing to write home about the new actors who played Marilyn and Eddie. Obviously the original actors would of been too old to play these roles now. Points also go to the set of the famous Munster abode. It is pretty much the way it was on the series. It was nice to see the house, what we saw of it, in color. The first Munster movie, "Munster, Go Home!" in 1966, was nice, but I liked and enjoyed this one better. Like I said before, it could of easily of been a horrible disaster, but with the fantastically in top form Gwynne and Lewis, the house, and the endearing charm of the film and the series' legacy, it wasn't all that bad. Now, how about a big screen update?.

Let me splain sometheen
As far as The Munsters go, this may be the worst thing ever done before Munsters Today. But as far as comparing it to the Addams family reunion movie Munsters Revenge is a Masterpiece.

Weak overall, but still irresistible
For those of us who are lifelong fans of "The Munsters," this made-for-TV reunion, while weak in storyline, at least continues the life of the original series sadly cut short after only two seasons. Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis look mostly unchanged and the pair have lost none of their camraderie, and even a noticeably older Yvonne DeCarlo holds up well. Kudos also go to the set designers, who seem to have assembled as many of the original props as could be found for the interior set of the Munster home which fans know so well. [Note, however, that exterior shots of the house are taken from "Munster, Go Home!," with "England or Bust" painted on the family car. By the time "The Munsters' Revenge" was produced, the original house facade at Universal had gone through several unfortunate alterations and must have been too costly to restore and re-dress.] Call this one "for fans only."

it is litttle good but still a bad flim
this migt be worth wacing somtimes but not all the time i dint reely care for this the truth about this show is to try to beat with a other monster the addams family which came first before this show this rely is not that good a rip of show that is stupid if you whant somthing that is good go see the addams family you will be glad you did

Great DVD release
The Munsters' Revenge is, as reunion movies go, an excellent outing. The stars look remarkably unchanged (in spite of the 15 year interval)and their typical performances in character leave you feeling they've never really been away - especially with a script which is very reminiscent of the original series and is quite strong in its humour. What a great idea to release this on DVD and let's hope that this encourages the release of more Universal product reunion movies on DVD such as The Return of Ironside, The Rockford Files, etc. Well worth the money. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Check your brain at the door, because it's time once again for a dim-witted visit to Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and his happy-go-lucky family, who hit the Vegas strip for this vacation. (The kids who originally played the Griswold children have been replaced.) The Griswold exploits in the casinos are good for a few embarrassed chuckles, especially when Mrs. Griswold (Beverly D'Angelo) gets onstage with Wayne Newton for a truly mind-altering rendition of Minnie Ripperton's ear-piercing 1970s hit "Loving You." And because he scored so many low-brow points as the lame-brained cousin in the original National Lampoon's Vacation, Randy Quaid is back to cause a lot of trouble, while Chevy Chase is reduced to uninspired slapstick and endless puns involving the word damn. In other words, Vegas Vacation is the kind of comedy that can convince you that civilization is doomed. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (69)

Not as good as its predecessors, yet funny and entertaining.
While National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation remains the funniest of the entire series, Vegas Vacation has a lot of laughs that is sure to please its audiences. This time, Clark, Ellen, Rusty and Audrey are off to Las Vegas, where Clark plans on renewing his wedding vows to Ellen. However, the inevitable temptation to gamble becomes too much for Clark, and he begins to squander all of his money, delving into his savings. Meanwhile, his wife is being courted by Wayne Newton, his son is posing as a married man from Uma, and his daughter becomes a club dancer. And what would a vacation movie be without good ol' cousin Eddie, played by the hilarious Randy Quaid? This time, he's living in a mobile home on a former H-bomb test site, and he offers his help to Clark after he loses all of his money. While it is clear that some of the laughs are missed from th previous films, this one does not fail to please, giving more laughs than you would think and keeping the entertainment alive.

You Can Watch This Movie Over and Over...
Vegas Vacation is probably one of my favorite "Vacation's" there is. This movie takes you on a fun adventure to fabulous Las Vegas for a vacation for the Griswald's. I have never gotten bored with this movie and I can watch it over and over and over.

At first, Audrey and Russ are r