Customer Reviews

Bad Medicine [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are thinking of studying medicine at the Universidad Autonima de Guadalajara, you must see this film first! Having been there, I can tell you there are schools like this. Rumor in Guadalajara is that this film is banned, and the witer went to UAG.

The setting is fanciful, but everything else is a fantastic portrait of the administration, students, and faculty at UAG. UAG has better facilities, and much more than one cadaver. However, the school is owned by a single family, and the administration does exercise dictatorial power over students. Many of the characters in this movie you will meet your first week of school at UAG.

Bring this movie with you, it has considerable black market value in Guadalajara!

Oh God, as a graduate of UAG I should say that this movies is nothing like the movie but I can't lie. The Madera's own the med. school.. the Leano's own the med. school. The Dean does not care about students.... Dean Villalobos and Martinez Sandoval dont care about the students. The infrastructure is a bit outdated.... you guessed it!! UAG's buildings are as old as Fenway without any upgrades. Oh yeah, the pride and joy of the institution is the infamous PMC program: "Programa Medicina en Comunidad", just like in the film!!!! It is a riot! If you plan to go to UAG you must watch this film. If you get a hold of it, bring it down to Guadalajara so you can laugh.

This movie was so hilarious! I never saw it in the movie theater I don't believe. WAIT A SECOND! On second thought, I DID SEE IT in a movie theater. I thought it was funny though. The part where Guttenburg, Armstrong and the other intern, needed a cadaver (not sure on the spelling) for a grade, and they took a body from the morgue who the Central American police shot and killed. The man turned out to be a cousin of a taxi driver and it scares the bejesus out of him. And the other part is when Guttenburg and the doctor school secretary made out in the limousine and Gilbert Gottfried was looking at his reflection on the tinted windows but didn't see what was going on in the limo. Anyway, I hope that 20th Century Fox puts this out on DVD cause it is an absolute CLASSIC!!! See if you see in there Bill Macy (MAUDE) in there he plays the role of Jeffrey's father. Jeffrey played by Police Academy's Steve Guttenburg.

Anyone who remembers this period of movie making remembers the astounding amount of navel lint that passed for filmmaking back then.

This rises above the fluff because it's actually pretty good; a decent flick with some really fun bits thrown in. Including a brief, but gut-bustingly funny gag that clearly predates the hugely popular "Weekend at Bernie's", filmed four years subsequent to Bad Medicine.

Rented because I'm a huge fan of Alan Arkin. And, as always, he's excellent as the lonely pompous dictatorial lunatic Dr. Ramon Madera, founder of his own Central American medical school. You can insert your own jokes here.

Highlights:

- The aforementioned 'Cousin Gonzalez' bit is HILARIOUS! :-D

- Before leaving for work, Dr. Madera carries his very aged mother outside for a breath of air. As he kisses her goodbye - the unibrow hag quickly grabs his face and starts to tongue him. Yikes, El Creepy! Madera jerks away, obviously used to her... affection. (laughing)

- Candi Milo as Maria, the horny secretary hooked on cheap romance novels. The car scene is awesome: "Oh Cheff! When I look into chure eyes - my body is overcome with wrenching spasms of delight!" Also includes the memorable tidbits "pulsating nipples", "my love canal awaits", and "...let me unleash your unbridled fury. Wait, I'll do the zipper."

Finally, I'm astounded to read some Amazon reviews that point to an ACTUAL medical school in Guadalajara, Mexico that, apparently, is exactly like the one seen in Bad Medicine - scary.

Note to self: Next visit, look really hard at the diploma in my doctor's office.

Think of it as "Police Academy, but with doctors" and you're getting close, though Bad Medicine isn't nearly as slapstick as the Police Academy movies, it still has that cheeseball 80s feel. Leave your seriousness at the door, because this movie can't survive scrutiny if you're looking to nitpick realism. It's a goofy jaunt that is part "fish out of water" and part "little guy fights the system".

The cast is great. Don't miss Curtis Armstrong ("Booger" from Revenge of the Nerds) in one of his better roles. Steve Gutenberg is suitable as the everyman gringo in a strange land, with just enough wackiness to be fun, but enough gravitas to take his conundrum seriously (for a moment, anyway). You'll also be pleasantly surprised to see Julie Kavner (Marge Simpson's voice) running around in this one with a fairly strong role. Julie Hagerty is a bit typecast in this one, but still quite good. Gilbert Gottfried plays a surprising role; You may not even recognize him at first.

It's no masterpiece of comedy, but it's fun, light-hearted, and features some good performances from comedy veterans. You can't go wrong watching Bad Medicine with a date... As long as they have a sense of humor and like cheesy 80s comedies.

The unfortunate side of this review comes in speaking of the video quality: It's pretty low. While it is at least widescreen, it seems like it might be a transfer from VHS or laserdisc, and it seems a bit washed-out and grainy. I don't suppose any studio heads will be putting out the money to release this on Blu-ray Disc any time soon, seeing as most people have never even heard of this movie.

it has no lifes meaning just a lot of funny people playing funny parts.

A young man(Steve Guttenburg) is attending a `low tech` Med School in Central America. While he meets Students from Med School (Julie Hagerty, Curtis Armstrong and Julie Kavner). Without the Knowledge of the Head Doctor of Med School (Alan Arkin). The Studients set up a Medical Clinc in a nearby Village, where the Care is Inacceptable.

Directed by Harvey Miller (Getting Away with Murder) made a Satisfying Comedy. Good Comic Performances by the Cast. A Box Office flop in Theaters but it`s has life on Video. Forgettable to Others but those remember the film foundly has become a Cult Following. Grade:B+.

This film is hysterical. It has a plethora of quotable lines and is a great movie to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Alan Alda plays a sociopathic borderline dictator of a Dean of a Bannanna Republic Med School. Guttenberg doesnt...ruin the movie. All in all, if you like Real Genius and Spies Like Us, this movie will keep you on the floor laughing.

For all you young students who are planning your careers in the medical field, this film should serve as a warning to you. This is one extremely tough field to get into and when you're there, it takes an awful lot of determination and self-discipline to stay there and succeed. In reality, schools like the one in this film simply don't exist. This film is funny and enjoyable if you just put all sense of reality aside for about an hour and a half.

This movie makes me laugh. I don't know why, but it does. I have seen it many times and now I want to own my own copy because I always enjoy watching it again. It has some very funny moments.