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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Watch Meatloaf Battle a Car, March 17, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Americathon [VHS] (VHS Tape)
It's 1998, America is out of gas both literally and figuratively. People live in permanently parked cars, walking, jogging and biking to work. When a Native American billionaire who loaned money to the government to cover the national debt threatens to foreclose on the nation, a telethon is held to raise the money to save the country. An early work from Neal Israel, the man who would later create such classics as the *original* "Police Academy" and "Real Genius," the movie brims with humorous high-concept jokes. For example, in schemes to raise money, San Diego is sold to Mexico and a daredevil (played by Meatloaf) battles a car. Aside from the comedy, there's a great soundtrack with songs by the Beach Boys and Elvis Costello (who makes a cameo appearance). One of my favorite films of the late 70's, this is a great addition to anyone's video collection.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Missed marks--writing this for grownups, April 11, 2011
I enjoyed this late 1970s satire when it was first released over 30 years ago, but I expected it wouldn't wear well over the decades. I was wrong--it's actually damned funnier now. The premise is that in the distant future (1998) the USA is without oil and completely bankrupt. A Native American billionaire has loaned the country money to keep it afloat, the loans have come due, and the billionaire (played magnificently by Chief Dan George) is about to foreclose on a failed country even he doesn't want ("... don't get me going about Cleveland...). A telethon is held to raise the money, hosted by cross-dressing Harvey Korman in one of his best performances. There are other complications including an idiot New Age President, Chet Roosevelt, played flawlessly by John Ritter. George Carlin narrates; tons of familiar and welcome faces are present; the script was by Proctor and Bergman of the legendary Firesign Theatre comedy group. You even get an Elvis Costello performance and can watch Meatloaf demolish a car. How can you go wrong? Those who grew up with modern ham-fisted Culture War "satires" that, of course, go chasing after one side but not both (i.e. not themselves) simply won't get this kind of far more sophisticated effort. Sorry, but I think the other reviewers here fall into that category. This isn't Culture War agitprop but a broad-based humorous critique of our entire culture, and the fact that Proctor and Bergman nailed us perfectly in the late 70s means much of their commentary still holds water. Very little of this film seems dated and most is dazzlingly prescient: in the "future" China is a wealthy superpower that's gone Capitalist. You had to be pretty clear headed in 1979 to see that coming. Again, younger people (under 35) are going to have serious difficulties with this film, especially if they've been weened on Culture War either/or-isms, and have no real background in American history other than the polarized either/or history they've probably been exposed to in college. Firesign Theatre, and Proctor and Bergman, were notorious for going after complex & ambiguous subjects with equivalent complexity and ambiguity--through the 60s, 70s and beyond they kept their high standards while other socially conscious comedians, sadly including Carlin, eventually stooped to becoming court jesters to their increasingly niche-marketed audiences. This sort of Firesign Theatre intellectual expansiveness ain't the style in a post 9-11 country that's actually (and laughably) become as pathetic and simpleminded as the "Future America" depicted in this film. The companion to this little masterpiece is the devastatingly brilliant "Idiocracy" which also got blank stares from all sides of the contemporary Culture War clown-fight. Praise "Bob" someone's still keeping up the good fight instead of following the path of least resistance and joining one or another gang of ignorant squabbling rabble. Really happy to see this movie available again. I recommend it to those of us who are pretty disgusted with everyone's behavior in the USA these days but who have still retained a sense of humor about it all.
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A twisted view of the '70s., August 22, 2002
This review is from: Americathon [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Americathon was a satire about the 1970s showing what the country would be like if the trends continued. People don't remember now but every night the news broadcasts announced a new "crisis" When I moved out to college in 1976 I could afford rent and food on minimum wage; by the time I graduated I was living off sardines and crackers. President Carter blamed America for being under a "great malaise" and interest rates hit 20%. To a lot of people the future depicted in "Americathon" wasn't all that unbelievable.
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