Product Details

• Actors: Rodney Amateau, Mackenzie Astin, Anthony Newley
• Format: NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount Home Video
• VHS Release Date: August 23, 1989
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301254945
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,456 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Achingly beautiful, July 27, 2005

By 

NJ - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (DVD)

I really can't recommend this film enough to those of you who enjoy beautifully written, meticulously acted and stunningly visual films. The animatronics took my breath away as did the rewarding and at times challenging script. Valerie Vomit's own sub-plot is heart wrenching to say the least, as she struggles with her nauseous disposition only to overcome her weakness in the penultimate scene which was a real bittersweet moment of elation and regret. We follow these characters as they progress from prisoners to free citizens and I think this is the most satisfying of heroic transformations I have ever witnessed on film. Buy this movie.

28 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ach, it's okay if your expectations are extremely low, July 11, 2005

By 

Inspector Gadget "Go Go Gadget Reviews" (On the trail of Doctor Claw) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (DVD)

Films can come from many inspirations and sources. There are novels, plays, true stories, comic-books, video games and...trading cards? The woefully mis-handled Mars Attacks was based on a brilliant trading card series and it was hardly high art. A lower-lever trading card such as the Garbage Pail Kids is hardly likely to make great cinema. If this sort of thing cannot appeal to you (I have broad tastes and I'm a bit too understanding of flawed films) then don't even bother watching.

I wanted to rent this movie when I was a kid but my grandmother (who always evaluated the videos first) thought it looked quite inappropriate (I subsequently went for Rambo: First Blood Part II, which she thought was more fitting for a 7-year-old). Since it's one and only incarnation on video tape in the late-80s (theatrical prints promptly vanished) this film has been totally non-existant. Luckily (if you like this sort of thing) MGM bought the rights, found a dusty print and spruced it up to give us a brand new digital incarnation of The Garbage Pail Kids Movie. With erm...garbage like this getting a DVD release I must ask where the hell is Bigfoot and Howard the Duck?

Direcor Rodney Amateau (a rather fitting-sounding surname) could have made this an animated movie (eg Care Bears) but no, he actually had the audacity and nerve to attempt it in live action. Note how I said 'attempt' and not 'succeed'.

The animatronics are just horrible. Where is Jim Henson when you need him? So bad is the puppetry that the kids cannot even close their mouths and no one even bothered to lip-sync the dialogue. They are also disgusting beyond reason (as one who is familiar with the trading cards would expect). But after while they tend to grow on you (like an ulcer) and if you switch your brain off you might find that the film is alright.

There's nothing magical here. Even for a film packed with horrendously 80s fashion and production design there isn't even much nostalgic appeal. The Garbage Pail Kids Movie is certainly nothing like The Dark Crystal or even Ewoks: Caravan of Courage. Hell, it's even many leagues beneath Masters of the Universe. But, if curiousity takes control of you and you simply MUST own the film then go ahead. Just remember what I said about switching your brain off.

The DVD is in not bad-looking 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen (considering most prints were probably left abandoned in an old mine somewhere) with Dolby Mono sound. Extras are limited to a single trailer.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Yeah I bought the Garbage Pail Kids Movie, August 14, 2005

By 

D. Gaeta (Staten Island, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (DVD)

If I hadn't seen the movie as a kid I wouldn't have bought it now. The quality is good for a movie most people would like to forget. I enjoyed watching it again but I only wish there was some extras like commentary track explaining why this movie was made. The movie is a true cult classic that no one will admit to watching or even liking. :D