Product Details

• Actors: Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey Jr., Paul Gleason, Uma Thurman, Steve James
• Directors: Bud S. Smith
• Writers: David Obst, Jeff Buhai, Steve Zacharias
• Producers: Adam Fields, David Obst, Jeff Buhai, Jeffrey Chernov
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Digital Video Transfer, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Orion
• VHS Release Date: April 28, 1998
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0792899806
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,992 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

It's an orgy of wine, women and cash kickbacks when two of the biggest college football factories in the country scramble to get a high school wunderkind on their rosters! Anthony Michael Hall ("The Dead Zone"), Robert Downey, Jr. (Less Than Zero), Paul Gleason (Not Another Teen Movie), Robert Downey, Sr. (Boogie Nights), Jennifer Tilly (Liar Liar) and Uma Thurman (The Truth About Cats and Dogs) star in this outrageous coming-of-age comedy that'll leave you cheering for more! Moving from lusty limousine rides to all-night strip joints, Johnny gets the workout of his life...and an education he'll never forget. But when he discovers that he's become the object of an NCAA investigation and an embarrassment to his family and friends, Johnny shows that he still has one more option play left to run.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars warning the DVD movie is censored, November 30, 2003

By 

ejuggaloe (KY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johnny Be Good (DVD)

I've been a big fan of this movie since it first came out, with that said I give the movie alone a 5 star rating. However, the MGM DVD release is edited, which brings the score way down. There's a scene in the movie where Johnny is playing football to win back his girlfriend from her father, during the game 3 cheerleaders flash the cops to distract them. This has been edited and all that is shown is them starting to lift their shirts then it cuts quickly to the next scene. Now I didn't buy this movie for the nudity but censorship in any form is just unforgivable especially when it's unnecessary because all the other scenes containing nudity (that I can remember) are intact. Though more scenes could have been edited I'm not sure. The DVD extras include only one trailer for the movie, so it's basically barebone which I expected it to be. I still suggest you buy this DVD the quality is excellent just a little warning it's not the original.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic... but edited!, March 19, 2004

By 

W. Price "bobharris1" (Senatobia, MS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Johnny Be Good (DVD)

Hey, I know it's not Citizen Kane, but it was never intended to be. Anthony Micheal Hall is actually the cool guy in this one... enough said. It is truly one of the most overlooked 80's film ever (this and Emilo Estevez's brilliant directorial debut, "Wisdom")and actually contains one of the 3 inspired performances Robert Downey Jr has commited to film (Johnny Be Goode, Less than Zero and Weird Science).
I was extremely glad to see this finally released on DVD, but MGM has mislabled this version as "R" rated. This is a glaring and lazy oversight. This DVD version is actually the "PG-13" theatrical version. Once "Johnny Be Goode" came out on video, it was released with extended footage in an "R" rated version. It contained more nudity and showed a great deal more footage of Johnny's visit with "Ole Tex". I know this sounds crazy but this particular version of the movie helped enhance the other "Ole Tex" candidates roles quite a bit and showed why they backed Johnny's ultimate decision towards the end of the movie.
I believe MGM should correct this lazy mistake by either releasing the actual "R" rated version or re-labeling this version as "PG-13".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good movie, good moral ending, January 11, 2011

By 

O. Rios (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Johnny Be Good (DVD)

Johnny Be Good is your typical 80's film. Goofy, funny, dumb, be loved, and finally, ending with a positive note.

In the movie, Anthony Michael Hall plays Johnny, an All-State QB who is being scouted by the top universities in the country (they don't mention the actual school, but they do reference them pretty good).

At all the schools, he get's perks like women, cars, money, clothes, etc.

But there is no school that he likes that gives him nothing because they don't do that.

All the meanwhile, Johnny's actions are being recorded by an undercover College football investigator out to expose all the illegal activities that the schools are going through to land Johnny.

Overall, the movie is solid. It's funny, goofy, and it's got a very young Uma Thurman and Robert Downey Jr included.

I also liked that Anthony Michael Hall could actually throw the football, lots of movies get people who can't even throw a football 10 yards, but Anthony's got skills. You can tell he played football.