The Big Bus

Starring:Larry Hagman, Walter Brooke
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

For anyone who's wallowed in the inanities of 1970s disaster movies, The Big Bus is not only witty but downright endearing. Instead of an endangered airliner or a capsized cruise ship, this dippily deadpan parody features a block-long, atomic-powered, luxury super-Greyhound setting off on its first transcontinental run with a garish cross section of humankind programmed for redemption, retribution, or just sublime ridiculousness as they roll toward Doom--or Denver, whichever comes first. Writers Fred Freeman and Lawrence J. Cohen, who penned the daffy historical spoof Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), twist the sententious ironies of disaster-movie dialogue into pretzels (priceless scene: Richard B. Shull, as a "terminal traveler" with six months to live, and Bob Dishy, a discredited veterinarian who fitted a rabbit for an IUD, debating who knows more about bitterness). James Frawley's direction is drolly cliché-savvy, but his touch proved too delicate for 1976 audiences; it remained for Airplane! to grab the disaster-spoof brass ring four years later. Still, it's not too late to climb aboard. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews:

The Big Bus.......2007-07-04

I have only seen bits of this movie after it came out in 76, now that I have watched the whole movie im sure I will be watching it over and over many times.

Love it!.......2007-03-13

Wonderful spoof movie! Great cast. Great cast. Lots of laughs.
You'll also be asking yourself "where's the shoe is that fits that foot!"

The ride of your life!.......2007-02-25

Before there was `Airplane!', there was... The Big Bus.
In fact, it was three years before Airplane, that this prototype disaster movie spoof appeared, directed by James Frawley who also directed `The Muppet Movie'. Although similar in tone, the humour is less one liner and more atmosphere driven - and on the whole works. OK, it's a bit hit and miss, and it's clear why `Airplane!' is so much better known -but this movie definitely does not deserve to be forgotten.
First there's that high concept idea - a nuclear powered bus on its maiden transcontinental journey, beset by sabotage and a driver who has a reputation as partial cannibal and a co-driver prone to blackouts ("it's ok, it's only when on the move").
Then there's the characters - Father Kudos (Rene Auberjonois, LONG before his Star Trek Deep Space 9 days) who is having an Exorcist-like faith crisis, the couple who are celebrating their divorce, the man with 6 months to live who argues in the lounge with the failed vet over who understands bitterness the most... and of course, that ever cheerful lounge piano player who smiles and sings at whatever comes his way. Robert Bologna and Stockard Channing headline, in extremely similar roles to the pilot and stewardess from Airplane!. Even smaller roles are filled by well known names - Ned Beatty, Jose Ferrer (the man in the iron lung, masterminding the demise of the bus at the behest of the oil industry..).
And one cannot forget, that wonderful bus! The size.. the bad 70's taste décor.. the gadgets! One moment encapsulates the humour the movie is aiming at - with the bus building speed and the brakes failing, the driver suddenly has a brainwave.. the flags of all nations! A button is pressed, and up come the fluttering flags from the roof, helping slow the bus down. Or the bar fight spoofing West Side story when someone shouts `Look out! He's got a broken milk carton!' as the man (John Beck, as `Shoulders' O'Brien) says `I hate to see a man down when he's kicked'.
The wonderful thing about the humour is that it parodies a genre without concentrating too much on parodies of specific movies, the modern day spoofs so often do.
In short, it isn't subtle, it's certainly over the top, it's as hammy as the lead actors name suggests, but if you have a funny bone, this should tickle it.

"We're breaking wind at 90!".......2007-01-29

A nuclear-powered bus with a swimming pool and a bowling alley. That pretty much sums up what your getting into here. A great one...I love this movie.

"The Big Bus" is the BEST; Hope everyone sees this DVD!.......2006-08-13

This is a very FUNNY and good movie; a lot of people have not seen this picture, but if they did see this picture, they would love it! It is very funny; very clean of any vulgar words, but has a lot of very funny lines thoughout the movie! Hope everyone takes the time to take a look at this very funny movie which has lots of great actors! WATCH IT---YOU WILL LOVE IT!!!

Average customer rating:

Life changing and spiritually transformative
full out exuberance!!!
Transformed in an Afternoon
The beauty of New York City
Speedy Magic

The Cruise
Starring: Timothy 'Speed' Levitch
Director: Bennett Miller
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000E5N65M
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Customer Reviews:

Life changing and spiritually transformative.......2007-05-15

If you've ever felt like a transit system might be on your side, or like the weather might be conspiring against you, then you might find a familial rapport with Speed. An eccentric who refers to "masculine turns" and referring to the Brooklyn Bridge as his friend, Speed will take you on a whirlwind tour of the city that never sleeps like you've never seen it before.
Thanks to this film, I had the blessing of spinning between the twin towers, a la Speed Levitch, almost exactly one year before 9/11. Twirling around, as he did in the film, marveling at the magnitutde of the universe, wondering why we so often forget the importance of being child-like, I knew this moment was significant.
This is my favorite film of all time and I do not say that lightly. Speed has changed the way I think about and interact with the world. I am one who does not often like to see movies repeatedly, but I get something new each time I see this one. It is funny, charming, simple, and important. If you've ever had a love affair with a flower, see this film. If you never have, and never intend to, watch with fascination as Speed relays his experience of the universe.

full out exuberance!!!.......2007-03-11

I first saw this movie in the 90's and instantly fell in love with it. The Cruise is an insightful, albeit, quirky love affair between a man and a city. Timothy 'Speed' Levitch is an ultra poetic soul who finds beauty in the aspects of life that everyone else passes by without notice. The Cruise is more than a movie, its a way of life. A particular way of viewing the everyday world that surrounds us all. If you are looking for a tour of New York as a metaphoric journey through your own soul... this movie is for you. If you are looking for directions to Nieman Marcus...choose something else. Thank you Speed and be wary of the anti-cruise...it's everywhere.

Transformed in an Afternoon.......2006-12-30

I fell in love with a man who had no car, no permanent home, no flashy form of monetary income and a bout with acne. Granted, no one would describe me as fastidious, nor have I ever stepped into a pair of sexual slacks, but I teeter constantly between a hackneyed existence and the pursuit of a non-grid-plan lifestyle. To me, civilization really is "a giant repression melting into suppression so that you never say what you mean." I began crying of great relief and hope the moment Speed uttered the first sentence in this documentary and, yes, Speed, you transformed me in an afternoon. Thanks to all of those involved in the creation of this film. Here's to keeping The Cruise alive. Sharon Cole--Philadelphia, Pa.

The beauty of New York City.......2006-11-05

NYC is an ugly place.
Its beauty is in your head regardless of whether you've seen the place or not.

The Cruise is a poem in the mind of Timothy Levitch whose forum is the top level of an NYC double-decker tour bus. His subject is that beautifully embellished city in his mind.
Bennett Miller put the film together so that Levitch's spontaneity, love

Speedy Magic.......2006-08-24

Being a native New Yorker myself it was inceridbly refreshing and intriguing to see Speed's outlook on the city. His bright witicisms and factual nuggets about New York are fortified by a genuine passion for the city as well as life in general. Most people consider NYC a calous place with no subtly or beauty. This film shows that NYC is in fact a gentle giant through a poetic and humorous tour-bus guide. The B+W stock adds to the sentimentality of the film, which is great if one wants to learn about the city in a more unorthodox, but still incredibly informative way. ONe of my favorite documentaries ever.

Average customer rating:

The Big Bus
Love it!
The ride of your life!
"We're breaking wind at 90!"
"The Big Bus" is the BEST; Hope everyone sees this DVD!

The Big Bus [Region 2]
Starring: Joseph Bologna , Stockard Channing , John Beck (II) , Rene Auberjonois , and Ned Beatty
Director: James Frawley
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00012SZCC

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

The Big Bus.......2007-07-04

I have only seen bits of this movie after it came out in 76, now that I have watched the whole movie im sure I will be watching it over and over many times.

Love it!.......2007-03-13

Wonderful spoof movie! Great cast. Great cast. Lots of laughs.
You'll also be asking yourself "where's the shoe is that fits that foot!"

The ride of your life!.......2007-02-25

"We're breaking wind at 90!".......2007-01-29

A nuclear-powered bus with a swimming pool and a bowling alley. That pretty much sums up what your getting into here. A great one...I love this movie.

"The Big Bus" is the BEST; Hope everyone sees this DVD!.......2006-08-13

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