Product Details

• Actors: John Cusack, Demi Moore, Linda Warren, Joel Murray, Grenville Cuyler
• Directors: Savage Steve Holland
• Writers: Savage Steve Holland
• Producers: Andrew Meyer, Claudia Sloan, Gil Friesen, Michael Jaffe, William Strom
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: January 26, 1999
• Run Time: 93 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0790740222
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,990 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Savage Steve Holland follows up his cult teen hit Better Off Dead with more madcap absurdity. Forget the plot, which takes frustrated cartoon prodigy John Cusack to Nantucket to woo aspiring singer-songwriter Demi Moore and take on the town's weasely real estate developer and his bullying son in a sailing regatta. For Savage Steve, the "revenge of the misfits" story is merely an excuse to unleash his arsenal of gags. Think of it as an Airplane for the teen set, punctuated by wacky twists (hyperactive Bobcat Goldthwait rampaging in a Godzilla suit), demented animated interludes, and the world's ugliest dog. The cartoonish punchlines don't always deliver, but the rat-a-tat delivery keeps them coming so fast it doesn't matter, and Cusack holds it all together with his winning presence. And, refreshingly, this is one PG rating that actually means no foul language or sex. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great goofy comedies, August 1, 2000

By 

Lee Gaiteri (Syracuse, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: One Crazy Summer [VHS] (VHS Tape)

One Crazy Summer is not a serious film; it's a comedy with a cartoonish style, but it's a wonderful example of what such an exaggeratedly wacky movie should be. Starting on the foundation of the basic 1980s screwball comedy, it transcends the other B movies of that genre with its characters and its own unique laugh-out-loud moments.

Bobcat Goldthwait in particular steals the show as Egg Stork, but he's still there to back up the main character Hoops McCann (John Cusack), whose own cartoon creations--the cute and fuzzy bunnies--are determined to thwart his quest to find love. The standard '80s comedy elements come into play with Cassandra (Demi Moore), who's trying to save her grandfather's house from a nasty stereotype villain who wants to build a lobster restaurant in its place. Everything seems to click pretty well in the movie; it doesn't have any dull spots and the humor stays pretty fresh even at a second and third viewing. It's become one of my perennial favorites.

There are some especially worthwhile moments, mostly due to Bobcat's wonderful zaniness. The Godzilla scene alone makes the movie memorable. The cartoons drawn by Cusack's character appear now and then to illustrate how his search for love is going; those cute and fuzzy bunnies are vicious.

Parents take note: This is family fare; feel free to watch it with your kids. There's nothing really objectionable in the movie, and Demi stays dressed for a change. It's plenty funny without being raunchy, which is fairly refreshing. If you like a good top-of-the-line goofy B movie as much as I do, One Crazy Summer belongs in your collection. I can't wait for it to appear on DVD.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 star movie with 5 star appeal and fun, July 11, 2000

By 

Alan R. Holyoak - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Crazy Summer [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is the follow up movie by "Savage" Steve Holland to his 1985 movie -- "Better Off Dead." I have to admit that of the two, "Better Off Dead" is the one I like more, but "One Crazy Summer" certainly has it's moments.

In this film John Cusack plays a newly graduated HS student who never met his folks' expectations as a basketball player. All he really wants to do is to go to art school. In order to get a break from his folks he takes off with his buddy for a summer on Nantuckett. There he meets up with a young Demi Moore who is trying to find a way to save her granfather's home. Thus, the set-up.

Cusack is looking for love, but can never seem to find it. Teen trauma if ever there was one. With that all brewing in the background we meet a suite of characters who make the show flow along, and who provide lots and lots of comic relief.

You'll love the Stork twins and Ack-Ack, and you'll love to hate Teddy, an incredibly spoiled brat, and Teddy's equally detestable father.

It's a good-guy bad guy movie, almost a melodramatic comedy.

Scenes to watch for include: Godzilla invades the tea-party; Cusack at the drive-in with Cookie; and the yacht race.

There's a lot of silliness in this film, but it's great fun. A completely enjoyable experience! Pairing this film with "Better Off Dead" would make a great offering for a video party. They are fun and watchable!

4 star films, but with a 5 star punch.

Have fun!

Alan Holyoak

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Were you that little fat boy?, May 18, 2003

By 

Robert J. Steele "moforising" (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: One Crazy Summer (DVD)

Holy cow, do I love this movie. "Look! The craziness!"

This is one of those movies that played endlessly on HBO, and I remembered it quite fondly. One day I threw it in the VCR and surprised myself by laughing almost nonstop through the whole thing.

Sure, it seems a cookie-cutter comedy from the eighties, and it is, but look! the craziness!

The brilliance of the movie is how it's situations keep slowly escalating into pure comic insanity. Sure everybody remembers Bobcat Goldthwait rampaging in a Godzilla costume, but the seeds for the scene were presented about fifteen minutes ago and there was an uninterrupted continuity that took us from there to here. This is pretty amazing for a "cookie-cutter" comedy.

Really, it's this sense of mayhem that keeps bringing me back to the movie. Mayhem. That's what I want out of comedies, and this is one of its epitomes. This and GREMLINS 2.

But who cares about that? This movie brings the funny. What more could you ask for? No thanks to all the cute and fuzzy bunnies in the world.