Motorama

Starring:Jordan Christopher Michael, Martha Quinn, Michael Naegel, Susan Tyrrell, Harper Flaherty, John Laughlin, Kurt Bryant, John Diehl, Robert Picardo, Jack Nance, Cynthia R. King, Garrett Morris, Michael J. Pollard, Flea, Sandy Baron, Mary Woronov, Paul Willson, Rick Taylor (III), Vince Edwards, Drew Barrymore
Director: Barry Shils
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Chaos dimension!
Different yet Hollywood ruined it
"I forgot to tell you...if you catch any squirrels, give them to me."
A STRANGE AND QUIRKY DARK COMEDY
MOTORAMA Rocks. The end. Amen.

Motorama
Starring: Jordan Christopher Michael , Martha Quinn , Michael Naegel , Susan Tyrrell , and Harper Flaherty
Director: Barry Shils
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005RDRK
Release Date: 2001-12-18

Customer Reviews:

Chaos dimension!.......2007-06-06

Totally crazy!
The tematic is completly new, reaching all aspects of fantasy!
The best is that movie is not a silly film, but have a adult tematic and a particular world that we fall inside it. Extremly and intense...
Claps for Jordan C Michael...His performance is great!

Different yet Hollywood ruined it.......2007-02-26

I am kind of in the middle of the other reviewers. It DID have a "different" and unpredictable story line. i took it that he was dreaming, since the state names and money werent real. the kid was great. the problem, as usual, is Hollywood ruined it...what could have been a great movie my kids could watch, they throw in a sex scene in the kid's car back seat while he is sitting next to the car, and then of course they have to have the kid throw in a couple of "F" words. And of course Hollywood doesnt let us who object to that buy a version that has that edited, or permit DVD players that allow you to skip those parts. if it wasnt for the trash above, i would give it 4 stars for its uniqueness. If you are morale and have children, you dont want this movie.

"I forgot to tell you...if you catch any squirrels, give them to me.".......2006-10-13

Written by Joseph Minion (After Hours, Vampire's Kiss) and directed by Barry Shils (Wigstock: The Movie), Motorama (1991) stars Jordan Christopher Michael ("Full House", The Favor) as Gus, a ten year old boy from a dysfunctional family who decides one day to take it on the road. Also appearing is a great many semi-recognizable names and/or faces including Dick Miller (Piranha), Jack Nance ("Twin Peaks"), Robert Picardo ("Star Trek: Voyager"), Flea (The Blue Iguana), Mary Woronov (Night of the Comet), Garrett Morris ("Saturday Night Live"), Michael J. Pollard (Roxanne), John Diehl (Stargate), Martha Quinn (Chopper Chicks in Zombietown), Sandy `Jack Klompus' Baron ("Seinfeld"), Vince Edwards ("Ben Casey"), Meat Loaf (Fight Club), Charles Tyner (The Longest Yard), Irwin Keyes (House of 1000 Corpses), Susan Tyrrell (Cry-Baby), Shelley Berman (Meet the Fockers), and Drew Barrymore (Scream), who is featured prominently on the DVD cover but appears for all of about ten seconds in the film.

As I mentioned earlier, Jordan Christopher Michael plays Gus, a ten year old boy who, fed up with this messed up family, decides to hit the road by stealing a cherry late model Mustang. Now I should probably mention the film, which appears to be set in the American southwest, actually takes place in a sort of alternate type reality where the states have different names than those we might expect...for example, the landscape featured may lead one to believe we're in Arizona, but within the film a sign might say we're in the state of Essex. Anyway, along the way Gus starts participating in a game called `Motorama', sponsored by a gas station chain. The game involves cards that are given to customers after purchasing at least five dollars of gas. As participants collect cards, they remove the affixed sticker, hopefully to reveal a letter, the idea being to collect all the letters to spell out the word `Motorama' and win the grand prize which is 500 million dollars. As Gus travels from filling station to filling station (always buying only five dollars worth of gas), he comes across all kinds of bizarre individuals including a pious gas station attendant (Diehl), a motel operator (Nance) who has an unusual prejudice towards squirrels, a psychotic, simple-minded busboy (Flea), a vindictive security systems designer (Baron), and so on...as Gus collects more and more cards, the game becomes somewhat of an obsession, one that begins to take its toll both physically and mentally (Gus seems to be aging fairly rapidly). Eventually his travels lead Gus to a virtual no man's land, a nightmarish state marked by an over industrialized landscape (oil refineries and what not) and a plethora of individuals even more bizarre that previously experienced, all in search of the final card he needs to win the game, or so he thinks (as always, be sure to read the fine print).

If what I've written doesn't make a whole lot of sense, then you should try watching this film. I suppose there's a message or two that emerges by the end, but after about ten minutes in I stopped trying to comprehend of much of what happened as the story doesn't seem to be written to accommodate viewers expecting a straightforward tale. By the way, on the surface this may appear to be a film geared towards children but that's certainly not the case as there is some violence, profanity, and even a bit of nekkidness, all of which contributed to the movie's `R' rating. There are some comedic bits throughout, but many of these seem to include a dark element. One scene in particular features Gus, in need of funds, stopping at a roadside rest stop and challenging a family man, played by Dick Miller, to a game of horseshoes for money. Miller's character loses and has to pay up, forcing him to pull a Hansel and Gretel routine on his two, small children (seems he can afford to support his entire clan the rest of their journey). This is the tone of much of the humor, so if it doesn't sound appealing, then you'd best skip this film altogether. I'm unsure if I was supposed to like the character of Gus as throughout the film he's portrayed as not only a criminal (stealing a car, Motorama cards, and siphoning gas), but he also appeared a somewhat smarmy, smart-mouthed, patronizing punk in need of a beating (which he does receive, more than once). But then again it's not like I related to any of the grownups in the movie, so whatever...I mentioned earlier a number of performers appearing in the film but one should known most of these performances are brief as Jordan Christopher Michael is the only person we spend any meaningful amount of time with...he seems like a decent actor but with this type of material it seemed to me one could act any number of ways and still have the film come off relatively the same, that being an eccentric road trip into the land of the mondo. There was one aspect I found annoying, even after I stopped trying to make sense of things, and that was the near the end when things come full circle, in a manner of speaking. At times it seemed the film was being weird just for the sake of being weird (which I dislike), but other times there seemed some genuineness, so I'm willing to give the movie the benefit of the doubt. All in all this is a real curiosity piece, one that probably won't appeal to most audiences.

The picture format on this Columbia/Tristar DVD release seems something of an oddity to me as it is presented in fullscreen anamorphic. That's right, I said fullscreen anamorphic...what the hell is the point? Seems to me those interested in only the fullscreen format would care less if the picture was anamorphic, and those interested in the anamorphic aspect would be looking for the original aspect ratio as presented theatrically. Either way it is kind of a shame as there are tons of scenic desert vista shots that would have come across much better in the original widescreen format. The picture itself comes across clean, and the Dolby Surround 2.0 audio comes through well enough, with subtitles available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai. As far as extras there's squat, unless you count a trailer for the 2001 David Spade film The Adventures of Joe Dirt, which I don't...

Cookieman108

By the way, Andy Summers, former member of the band The Police, supplied the original music for this film. Some of it's good, but there was a repetitive quality that got on my nerves a little.

A STRANGE AND QUIRKY DARK COMEDY.......2006-09-20

First of all, "Motorama" is not for everyone. Most people view the film negatively. And that's all right, because the film isn't for everyone. Is it a masterpiece of comedy? No. Is the acting terrific? No. Is there a plot? No. And that's fine with me. Once in awhile I like these quirky little comedies. [i.e. "The Vagrant" comes to mind.] This strange surrealistic and dark comedy stars young ten-year-old Gus (Jordan Christopher Michael) And he's about to rev up the engine of his Dad's Mustang and take off on one hell of a journey.

Gus is trying to win a game: MOTORAMA. If you collect all of the letters to the game a 500 million dollar cash prize awaits you. Problem is everybody gave up on the game long ago, since no one ever won the money. Plus, many of the gas stations no longer carry the letters and no one [i.e. adults] are even playing the game anymore. But Gus is one obsessed juvenile in quest of that one missing and elusive letter. Will he find it? Well, that's the point of the game. No one was ever supposed to find that one missing letter of the alphabet. But Gus does.

Therefore he's rich, right? Wrong. The company that set the game up devised a way in which no one could ever possibly win; and they did this by placing the winning letter in an out-of-the-way, run-down gas station at the edge of some surrealistic and strange borderland, in God knows where. Now Gus is driving throughout the southwest in his quest for the winning letter, and along the way he meets all sorts of mean and eccentric people. Moreover, he goes through all sorts of cruel and physical tortures from the various denizens he meets along the way.

This comedy is very strange and very quirky. As I wrote in the beginning, it is not for everyone. But there is something about the film I found fascinating while watching it years ago. It is just so very strange that I couldn't help not liking the film. Yes, the script writing is flawed, and the acting is not too great. So what, I don't need a "Casablanca" all the time. A strange and quirky film will do just fine once in awhile. I recommend renting the film, just to see if you like it.

MOTORAMA Rocks. The end. Amen........2006-05-19

I first saw this movie around 12 or 13 years ago. I watched it at least a dozen times, but lost track of it. I just found out it's out on DVD so I ordered it today. It's one of the strangest movies I have ever seen. I love it. You can't be a prude if you're going to watch this movie. If you're easily offended by FICTION, or super-sensitive to FICTION, then don't watch this movie.
I don't see any "deep meaning" behind the movie. It really makes no sense. But take that into mind if you see it. I get sick of hearing people complain about movies, saying such things as: "That movie wasn't realistic." What is the point of seeing a movie if you want everything to be realistic? Might as well videotape yourself eating cereal for 2 hours and watch it every night for entertainment.

If you have a good sense of humor and you'd like a break in monotony, watch this movie.

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