Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn

Starring:Ryan O'Neal, Coolio, Chuck D., Eric Idle, Richard Jeni, Leslie Stefanson, Sandra Bernhard, Cherie Lunghi, Harvey Weinstein, Gavin Polone, MC Lyte, Marcello Thedford, Nicole Nagel, Stephen Tobolowsky, Erik King, Jim Piddock, Naomi Campbell, Marianne Muellerleile, Suli McCullough, Dina Spybey
Director: Arthur Hiller, Alan Smithee
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Subtitled An Alan Smithee Film (referring to a long-standing pseudonym for a director who disowns a film), this 1998 satire is notable chiefly for having the same thing happen in real life, as director Arthur Hiller (Love Story) took his name off the picture after clashing with screenwriter and producer Joe Eszterhas (Showgirls, Basic Instinct). The plot of Eszterhas's farce has to do with a filmmaker who really is named Alan Smithee, played by Eric Idle (Monty Python's The Meaning of Life). After signing on to direct a big-budget blockbuster at the behest of a sleazy producer (Ryan O'Neal), Smithee realizes he has lost control of the film and decides to remove his name and publicly destroy the project. Along the way he encounters a host of celebrities in cameos, including the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Sylvester Stallone, Jackie Chan, and rappers Chuck D and Coolio, all of whom become involved in Smithee's doomed film. Meant as an insider's take on the machinations of Hollywood from one of its most prominent screenwriters, Burn Hollywood Burn is a cheerfully over-the-top send-up of modern moviemaking and the equally outlandish characters involved. --Robert Lane

Description

With hilarious humor and an all-star cast -- get ready for the ultimate comedy about the movie business! It's the wild story of a Hollywood director, Alan Smithee (Eric Idle -- MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL), who steals his own film from the studio. Soon everyone, including his power-hungry studio boss (Ryan O'Neal), is after him to get it back! With crowd-pleasing performances from sizzling mega-stars such as Jackie Chan, plus appearances by rappers Coolio and Chuck D, AN ALAN SMITHEE FILM: BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN is a wickedly witty behind-the-scenes look at the world of making movies!

Customer Reviews:

Make it stop.......2007-01-23

I cannot think of too many stinkers that even come close to this film of such unbearable awfulness it is an abomination that it exists. Smarmy, lame, and unfunny in turns and undeserving of the moniker mockumentary. It is actually a self-congratulatory piece of trash that grates on the viewer with its winking in-jokeness.

1 Star Script, 5 Star Cast, Coolio's Hair +!!!!!Stars.......2005-12-19

Somehow, Director Walter Hill managed to attract a premium cast to this horrible script, which probably sounded funny as a one line pitch. Yes, this film stars Stallone, Chan, Coolio, Eric Idle and CHUCK MOFO D!!! Oh, and err, Rayn O'Neal, and umm... Whoopi Goldberg.

5 Stars for the cast. OK 3 stars for the cast the HIGHEST score imaginable for Coolio's Hair. Average: 5 stars

Interesting premise, horrendous execution.......2005-04-11

This film might have actually turned out decently if it wasn't a mocumentary. The basic premise is, If directors use the name Alan Smithee on bad films instead of their own, what does a director actually NAMED Alan Smithee do? He burns the film. There is a lot of comic potential here: the main issue with his name, clips from a so-bad-its-funny bomb, Smithee going mad and trying to steal his own film, etc. Plus, the actor playing Smithee is none other than Eric Idle of Monty Python! So how did this film turn out so badly?

First of all, Eszterhas decided to make this a mockumentary. While the fake documentary form has worked wonderfully in movies like Spinal Tap, it only emphasizes this movie's failings.

The story line is horribly muddled. The entire movie is awkwardly chopped into sections that are introduced, for some inexplicable reason, by Woody Woodpecker music. Even more problematic, Alan Smithee (one of the few funny people in this) barely appeared in the movie! Instead, we are "treated" to interviews by people who knew Smithee. Doesn't Eszterhas know that a good story (in whatever medium) should be SHOWN to the audience, not TOLD? This guy would flunk a basic creative writing class if he submitted this script. We should be watching the main action actually taking place, not a bunch of repulsive people repeatedly rambling on about those events.

Which brings us to my second point, the characters. Most of the characters are talking heads that are all meant to satirize various people/archetypes in Hollywood. While vicious satire of the entertainment industry can be hilarious if done right (watch the Canadian show "The Industry" if you can find it), this movie only manages to poison itself with its own bile. One of the worst offenders is Ryan O'Neal. I saw him in this movie when it first came out on video, and the sight of his name ANYWHERE still makes me wince. The celebrity cameos aren't much better, though Jackie Chan is at least amusing. Overall, this movie just made me feel sick to my stomach by the end.

If Burn, Hollywood, Burn had not been a mockumentary it might have actually been a funny movie. I can't even recommend this to Eric Idle/Monty Python fans, as he barely appears in it. If you're looking for a funny Hollywood spoof, buy Bowfinger on DVD or, better yet, read Little Me by Patrick Dennis (a mock-autobiography of "that Great Star of Stage, Screen and Television, Belle Poitrine").

Awesome movie! But, if you don't get it, you won't like it.......2004-01-16

Although I find it difficult to believe people wouldn't get it.

I think the reason it got so many razzies was because the portrayal of hollywood was too jaded. I think that we fear that our most cynical view of hollywood is too cynical. Remember the old saw about people who like sausages and politics should never watch either being made? Maybe the same is true of movies, and with this movie, you're too close to the magic to appreciate it.

Good condition, fast delivery.......2002-08-23

I was very pleased with the video and I received it very fast!! Would buy from this seller again!! :)

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