Customer Reviews

Hey Good Lookin [VHS]

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

 

 

Having first seen "Hey Good Lookin'" at the movies in 1982, the year I was seventeen, I have always considered this a film that connects me directly to my past. I was involved with my first "real" girlfriend at the time, and this is one of the first films that we saw together. That aside, having seen this movie countless times since then I have been struck by it's completeness, and excellence as a film. Bakshi's only film to featured a completely original, and brilliant, yet unreleased, musical soundtrack by Ric Sandler, "Hey Good Lookin'" gives a good look into what it meant to be a guy growing up in 1950's Brooklyn and the role you needed to play in order to get respect, get along with your friends, and what was necessary to get the girl. From the leather motorcycle jackets, the slicked back DA's and the rumbles, Ralph Bakshi gives us a window into which we might look into a past where male / female roles were clearly defined, and a man could still be a man. Oh yeah... and the animation is PHENOMENAL as well. This is one of Bakshi's best!

In the early 80's, a middle aged woman in New York City meets up with a mysterious stranger who gives her a leather jacket that remindes her of someone she knew once. He tells her and the viewer the story of what happened in the Bronx in 1953, Vinnie (Voiced by Richard Romanus from "Wizards" and "Heavy Metal") is a stylish rebel whom kind of looks like an ape mixed with John Travolta who had such a sweet life with a good friend named Crazy Shapiro (Voiced by David Proval who voiced Peace in "Wizards") and a sexy girlfriend named Rozzie, he's the leader of an Italian gang called "The Stompers" as him with his gang wage war on an all-black gang called "The Black Chaplins" with Boogaloo as their leader.

Entertaining and laugh-out loud hilarious animated comedy-drama from Ralph Bakshi depicts the 50's as they way they really were back then! This was a pet project of Ralph Bakshi for many years since 1975 when he conceived it as a live-action and animated effort but doing many movies had it on hold for him when the executives at Warner Brothers as they lived it but he thought it was would never work, so he decided to make it all animated by reanimated the live footage. This movie became an obscure animated cult fave on HBO and midnight shows, this has always been a fave of mine for years and Warner definitely needs to release this on DVD.

Check it out on Youtube if you can for this hilarious gem.

This is one of the best movies that,"Bakshi"has done. It's cool how they view the 50's in this movie,we need more "good lookin" movies like this.

I happen to be a big Ralph bakshi fan, and after seeing this i was certain it was his best to date, although he has had others that are almost as good like heavy traffic and fritz the cat.

Did you like "Happy Days?" It centered around the 50's, like Bakshi's, "Hey Good Looking." Although Bakshi's movie is in the same time period as "Happy Days", you won't find The Fonz or Ralph Mouth here. What you will find is side splitting laughter, especially in the first half of the film. Greasers hanging out on the corner with their girlfriends making out, while one girl crys out, "is it in yet?" Or when their at a party, and a fellow drunk greaser farts and holds a lighter to his butt, making the flame spread across the room. A standout is this trippy type image throughout the film, (especially the beach scene). When th background characters seem to move in slow motion. Not like Bakshi's earlier work, like "Lord of The Rings" or "Heavy Traffic" where some parts were traced from live action, and live actors. This is a full animated film that brings back the good old days. Certainly worth a look for animation fans. A must see for Bakshi fans. Not the best of Bakshi's film's, but you will enjoy yourself.

Out of all of Bakshi films this tops all, even Heavy Traffic. Please see it and don't forget to see Fritz the cat

Why has Warner Bros. never released this on DVD (Yet they allowed Battlefield Earth a DVD release, what gives?)? It's also such a shame this awesome gem doesn't get the attention it deserves because it is one of Ralph Bakshi's finest films. This film is rather bizarre, dirty, funnier than most comedies I've seen, and really cool.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: The film starts off in the 1980's with a conversation between garbage and a trashcan, followed then by an encounter between a chubby, middle-aged woman and a mysterious man who tells her of a story that happened in 1953, and then we are introduced to a man named Vinnie who is leader of the Stompers, his friend Crazy Shapiro, and a girl named Rozzie whom Vinnie is in love with. The story focuses on all kinds of situations such as Vinnie and Crazy picking up girls, running from the Italian mob, and eventually having to get involved in a rumble with the Black Chaplains lead by a guy known as Boogaloo. This film is all kinds of crazy fun.
MUSIC: The music is rather catchy, especially such songs like Hey Good Lookin' and Burnin' which become really addictive to listen to. While it doesn't seem to fit into the 50's atmosphere, it's still really good music.
ACTING: The only actor I recognized was Richard Romanus (Heavy Metal, also a really awesome film), but the whole cast was really good and really added to the colorful world. They were funny, had a personality, and very likable.
ACTION: This film is filled with all kinds of fresh and interesting situations so that it never becomes boring. While this film is tame compared to Bakshi's earlier works, it's still well-deserving of its R-rating due to sexual content, language, and violence, so do not let children watch it. Be careful though, this film becomes very addictive to watch and may cause you to view it multiple times with pleasure.
COMEDY: Like many other Bakshi films, this film is easily funnier than most modern comedies due to its bizarre and rather dirty humor.
OVERALL: This film is an absolute blast, and despite a baffling climax, it's great entertainment that needs to be more widely acknowledged, instead of being ignored (Shame on you, Warner Bros.). Get it now, if you love animated films that don't conform to standards.
THE GOOD: Awesome story, funny humor, great voice-acting and dialogue, awesomely vulgar, neat art style, and awesome music.
THE BAD: The climax is baffling.

i love this show. ill be so glad when it comes to dvd.
you got to see this. its so funny!
ill buy the dvd of this in a sec.

Did you like "Happy Days?" It centered around the 50's, like Bakshi's, "Hey Good Looking." Although Bakshi's movie is in the same time period as "Happy Days", you won't find The Fonz or Ralph Mouth here. What you will find is side splitting laughter, especially in the first half of the film. Greasers hanging out on the corner with their girlfriends making out, while one girl crys out, "is it in yet?" Or when their at a party, and a fellow drunk greaser farts and holds a lighter to his butt, making the flame spread across the room. A standout is this trippy type image throughout the film, (especially the beach scene). When th background characters seem to move in slow motion. Not like Bakshi's earlier work, like "Lord of The Rings" or "Heavy Traffic" where some parts were traced from live action, and live actors. This is a full animated film that brings back the good old days. Certainly worth a look for animation fans. A must see for Bakshi fans. Not the best of Bakshi's film's, but you will enjoy yourself.

This is the worst Bakshi film next to Cool World. The premise is good idea of 50's greaser gangs but it fails to capture the raw black humor of Fritz The Cat and the bleak urban settings of Heavy Traffic. This one is just boring and stupid , and not very interesting. It does however have some good qualities ..the animation and imagry is alot better mostly because it wasn't rotoscoped but other than that it's not that great....