Product Details

• Actors: Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, John Beck, Rene Auberjonois, Ned Beatty
• Directors: James Frawley
• Writers: Fred Freeman, Lawrence J. Cohen
• Producers: Fred Freeman, Julia Phillips, Lawrence J. Cohen, Michael Phillips
• Format: PAL
• Language: English
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00012SZCC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #223,175 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Big Bus" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best disaster movie spoof ever -- pre-dates "Airplane", July 5, 2002

By 

John S. Harris "The Voice of Reason" (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Big Bus (DVD)

Very funny spoof of the '70s disaster films. Barfight scene includes someone threatening our heroes, and our heroes defend themselves with a broken milk carton. "I hate to see a man down when he's kicked!"

All the standard disaster movie cliches are sent up. Dinner at the captain's table, the piano bar singer, engine trouble, estranged lovers rekindling a failed romance, hidden secrets, medical emergencies....all during a fateful cross-country trip on the world's first nuclear-powered bus on its maiden voyage. Joe Bologna (also seen in "My Favorite Year") and Stockard Channing headline a cast of '70s icons and Love Boat/Fantasy Island regulars. You just can't beat the drama of a life-threatening situation on an out-of-control BUS! This movie is funnier than you remember it, but if you didn't catch it on TV since the late 70's then do yourself a favor and buy this. Or buy me one. Either way, you'll be doing the right thing.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Spoof that Should Have Worked, September 14, 2000

By 

Reginald D. Garrard "the G-man" (Camilla, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Big Bus [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Like the "Airplane!" films that succeeded it, "The Big Bus" is hilarious parody of the oh-so-popular disaster flicks of the 1970's. It is really like a disaster film as seen through the eyes of Tex Avery, the master animator who threw everything into his 'toons, including the kitchen sink at the expense of some poor soul.

"Bus" features a superb cast of movie and television performers who mimic every big name actor featured in bigger budgeted extravaganzas like "The Poseidon Adventure," "The Towering Inferno," and "Earthquake."

In the words of Spike Lee, one must "get on this bus" for a fun-filled ride.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really, Really BIG!, April 8, 2004

By 

Bindy Sue Frønkünschtein "bigfootsalienbaby" (under the rubble) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Big Bus (DVD)

Hop on the BIG BUS! You're in for a rare treat. Joseph Balogna and Stockard Channing star in the best movie parody since "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein"! The big bus is a nuclear-powered monster of a thing, complete with bowling alley, swimming pool, and piano bar. It can change tires automatically, while still moving! It can wash itself! It can go 90mph around curves, with only minor internal chaos! The passenger list is a screwball dream-come-true! Ruth Gordon is the dirty old lady, quick on the draw with her perfectly rude remarks! Rene Auberjonois is the conflicted / doubting priest, who has a nasty streak as long as the bus! Lynn Redgrave is the celebrity on board, seducing any man she encounters. She's also got a secret score to settle! Sally Kellerman and Richard Mulligan are the battling couple, set to finalize their divorce, but unable to keep their hands off each other! Of course, let's not forget the washed-up veterinarian, the terminal guy with six months to live (which Lynn Redgrave helps him to overcome), and the narcoleptic co-driver who passes out at the wheel every few minutes! Did I mention Larry Hagman as the doctor who spends most of the movie in a parking lot, because his patient (Harold Gould) "can't be moved"? Or Ned Beatty and Howard Hesseman as technicians who must work together, but just don't get along? Oh yeah, I almost forgot, there's a bomb on board! Drop whatever you're doing and buy this right now...