Customer Reviews

Roller Boogie [VHS]

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

One of the heartbreaking things about getting old, aside from, you know, the dying part, is realizing the things that gave you such joy and happiness as a kid are no longer fun. Endless games of Battleship, washing down Poprocks with Koolaid, fart jokes* - one day you just wake up and think, This is really kind of lame.

Roller Boogie is the exception to the Corinthian curse. I watched this as many times as I could catch it on circa 1981 HBO** and I never got tired of it. I was starting my teenage years and just like Mulder, I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe that in a few years, after I permed my hair, coated my mouth with cherry lipgloss, and tucked my spandexed legs into a pair of skates I too would meet the boy of my dreams, fall madly in love and skate away, arm and arm, into the sunset.

Roller Boogie doesn't quite end that way***, but it's still close enough to be a lot of fun, even __ years later (I don't know when you're going to read this.) First of all, there's the essential corny love story. The male lead, Bobby James, is focused on his goal of winning the gold at the next Olympics. He's so determined that he doesn't let the trivial fact of that roller skating is not, has never been, and will never be an Olympic sport dissuade him. Bobby meets up with rich girl Terry, who's a concert flutist destined for Julliard (she's such a phenomenal flutist that she can play an entire concerto without moving her fingers). They have an instant attraction - Bobby sees the sweet, vulnerable side that Terry tries to hide, and Terry sees....well, I'm not sure. Unfortunately, Bobby is a doofus. He wears wristbands and kneesocks and talks like a Minnesota/New York hybrid. "Furst chew wanna skaaate, den chew don wanna skaaate. Whut is it wit chew?" But he's nice enough, and Terry, like most teenage girls, is not too picky. Before you can say Xanadu these two are an item.

There's more to the movie - the kids must save the local roller rink from the local mafia goons - but it's really just a backdrop to the skating. Mark Lester's got skaters galore and puts them to good use, along with a B list soundtrack. It all designed to lead up to the very last skate - where Bobby and Terry skate in the Roller Boogie Contest. Of course, they win, and I think Bobby deserves some kind of Olympic medal - power lifting, maybe - for managing to hoist the chubby thighed Terry over his head.

Roller Boogie is fun because, unlike the horrible Dirty Dancing, it makes no pretentions about what it is. It's just a cheesy, entertaining love story with lots of good skating scenes. That's all it needs to be.



*I'm lying. I still enjoy a good fart joke.
**Prior to shows like Sopranos, SATC, 6FU, HBO and Cinemax played the same movies over and over and over. Their monthly playlist was maybe ten movies long, endlessly looped.
***Neither did my life, I'm sad to say.

Hey, the fact that I'm actually reviewing Roller Boogie surprises me as much as it does you. I sort of have this thing for Linda Blair, you see, and she was twenty years old when this film was released in 1979 - instead of turning her own head around (The Exorcist), she was now old enough to starting turning guys' heads instead. Unfortunately, all of the guys in this film are full-fledged, knee-high-tube-sock-wearing products of that awful decade called the 1970s, but Linda was looking fine from start to finish, and that's really all that matters.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually liked this movie. It doesn't look good on paper, though. You basically have the world's most ubiquitous cookie-cutter plot, a good deal of bad acting, tons of terrible disco music, awful 70s attire, and about ten times more skating than you find in the film Xanadu. You could give yourself a lobotomy and still predict everything that is going to happen in this movie, yet for reasons I can't explain, Roller Boogie isn't that bad. Linda Blair plays Terry Barkley, a poor little rich girl whose parents ignore her and thus drive her to rebel; she doesn't enjoy being a musical prodigy, and she certainly doesn't want to go to Juilliard. What does she do? She goes roller skating and, after meeting up with local roller boogie whiz kid Bobby James (Jim Bray), she announces her new ambition in life is to win the roller boogie dance contest down at Jammer's skating rink. You see where this is going? It's your classic poor boy-rich girl love story. Something is still missing, though. Oh, I know, let's throw in a sleazy businessman and his two goons, and - yes, I've got it! - let's have them threaten to burn down Jammer's skating rink as part of their evil plan to put up a shopping mall. Obviously, those crazy kids are going to have to come up with a plan to save their beloved skating rink. We cannot possibly let this movie end without that big roller boogie dance contest we were all so looking forward to.

As you can see, apart from Linda Blair's starring role, there is no discernible reason for me to have enjoyed Roller Boogie, but I did. That doesn't mean I want to watch it again any time soon, though. For my fellow Linda Blair fans, I say go ahead and bite the bullet and watch this movie; you'll be glad you did - maybe.

I know Roller Boogie has not big cinematic values. Maybe that's why it hasn't been released on DVD. The story is the classic tale about a rich girl who defies her parents by hanging out with a poor skater. The teenager cliches are all over the movie. In spite of this, I think that the real value of this movie (besides the sentimental one), is that it shows a particular moment in late 70's culture that a lot of people enjoyed as teenagers. The music and the way the characters have fun disco-skating, is one of my happiest movie memories of that time. I don't understand the reason why they haven't released it on DVD yet. There are a lot of bad, bad movies out there being sold on DVD. But the most incredible thing is that the best element of the movie (¡the soundtrack!), has not been released on CD ever. I've tried to make an LP-MD transfer from my old record but the sound is awful. I love Bob Esty's songs and I don't find them anywhere. Please, release both, the DVD and the soundtrack! A lot of buyers will appreciate it, I'm sure.

This is one of those movies that I would totally dismiss if it weren't for the nostalga factor.

I saw this film 2 times in the mall theater back in 1979. Linda Blair was hot and the short lived "roller disco" craze was something I was invested in.

Then I could (and did) always catch the movie on cable. Then it all but disapeared until the VHS was released in the 90's. When I rented it and was old enough to see how completely ridiculous it was it only added to it's charm (and Linda Blair was still hot).

What sticks out when I watched the film a few years ago is that the "gang" wants the boogie contest, no matter what.

The owner of the club gets threatened by the "evil businessmen" that if he doesn't sell the rink to them (so they can build a shopping mall) they will burn down the rink with the everyone inside.

Once the gang finds this out, they are not as interested in saving thier lives as they are making sure the roller boogie contest will go on.


You gotta love it.

Now, in a couple weeks from now, "Roller Boogie" will come out on DVD. It will have an anamorphic widescreen transfer (great! MGM has dragged out thier old pan and scan transfers for some lesser library titles being put out on DVD. A new Anamorphic transfer on this film remembered by only a few is really appreciated) and a theatrical trailer (Great! After all, it coming out on DVD in 16:9 is almost a miracle, I didn't expect that they would spend too much money on supliments. But I still would've gotten a kick out of a Jim Bray and Linda Blair commentary). Guess who will be looking for it on that "new movie Tuesday"?

Yup! Me!

This movie came at the right age for me to innocently fall for it and now it will get to come home.

I was really happy to see this late '70s "rollerploitation" movie on DVD. It was really difficult to find on VHS a few years ago, and the ones I found were over $50! This movie looks great on DVD, the transfer is clear, and the colours are vibrant. On this disc, you have a choice of full-screen or wide-screen. It's a double sided disc. There are not a lot of features, you just get the movie trailer, but it's still great to see this gem released on disc. For fans of '70s disco music, the soundtrack has lots to offer and sounds great on DVD. I am glad to see that MGM re-released this Linda Blair classic because they always do a nice job with making sure that the prints they use are prestine, unlike some junior distributors that will use the worst print available, and put it on DVD. If you are a fan of Linda Blair, or just like a fun movie to watch, you can't go wrong with this boogie classic!

That is what I think most people who look at this would say. What lunatic would give "Roller Boogie" 5 stars???? Well, let me be the first to say that this is certainly a B flick. The reason I give it 5 stars is that it is the Definition of a B flick. It lacks in character depth, plot, script, and production. But it does all those things so well. The movie pulses to the beat of Disco, and this could easily be the "Saturday Night Fever" on roller skates. In fact, that is Exactly what it is. Interesting high points are cool shots of Venice "Muscle" Beach and songs by Cher and Earth, Wind and Fire. And while this film takes a back seat to Linda Blair's previous work in "The Exorcist", it was an attempt to show a lighter side to her talent. Unfortunately, she was forever type-cast as the anti-scream queen horror heroine, and her career took a plunge. For my summation I will say this film is at times humorous, with an interesting look at a time when things were a little more simple. And who can resist the upbeat soundtrack?

This one is a complete hoot. I caught this low-budget, formulaic 1979 film this past weekend on the big screen at the fully packed Castro Theater in San Francisco as part of a roller-disco midnight madness program. The crowd went wild at every absurd turn of the plot, and it's no wonder. Directed by potboiler specialist Mark L. Lester, this ultimate cheese of a roller disco musical avoids a permanent home in the video junk heap simply because of the sheer idiocy of the storyline and the wealth of unintentional humor permeating the film. There are movies that are intentionally vile and not worthy of reviewing, but this one is actually full of good spirits albeit with nothing in the way of taste, wit or common sense.

In what has to be the steepest career freefall for a former Oscar nominee, an extremely nubile, twenty-year old Linda Blair stars as Terry Barkley, a prodigious flautist on her way to Juilliard, who tires of being ignored by her wealthy, 90210-based parents and decides to run away to Venice Beach for a whole night. Upon meeting Bobby James, the king of the disco-driven roller skaters, she decides she wants to learn some moves to win the big roller boogie contest at Jammer's, the local roller disco rink. My favorite plot point is Bobby's aspiration to become an Olympic roller skating gold medalist...even though no one tells him it isn't an Olympic event. Of course, Terry is rich, Bobby is poor, and consequently, romantic sparks are inevitable. Complications, however, occur when a thuggish land developer blackmails Jammer to sell his rink, so he can raze the building and build a shopping mall. The rest of the plot is not worth disclosing except to say that it is as preposterous as the convoluted set-up, and thanks to the wooden acting, horrendous dialogue and hilarious skating sequences, it makes for grade-A camp entertainment.

In skin-tight leotards and enough make-up to scare off a Santa Monica Boulevard hooker, Blair makes a sincere attempt at portraying Terry's teenaged angst. Of course, it helps her professional standing that she is playing opposite real-life roller skating champion Jim Bray, a non-actor who was cast as Bobby only because the producers could not find a leading man who could actually skate. Innately geeky, the never-to-be-seen-again Bray certainly tries hard, though he is defeated by the film's numerous skating sequences which have been inserted so we can be impressed by his expertise. Instead, they provide the film's biggest laughs - the opening where he leads dozens of fellow skaters to the boardwalk to the strains of Cher's disco-diva anthem, "Hell on Wheels"; the ridiculous chase sequence through the streets of Venice where Terry and Bobby are chased unsuccessfully by a speeding car; the concluding roller boogie contest (of course); and in what has to be the absolute nadir, a solo skating number full of cornball treacle dedicated to the drunken Jammer.

Familiar faces from the baby-boomer TV generation dot the supporting cast, among them Beverly Garland ("Scarecrow and Mrs. King" and "My Three Sons") and Roger Perry ("The Facts of Life") as Terry's parents; and Mark Goddard ("Lost in Space") as the villainous land developer. If all that is not enough, there are other lures to consider - the blaring disco music; the groovy, circa-1979 clothes; the forced slapstick (in particular, a fruit-throwing melee and a very non-spontaneous pool dunking at a garden party). It's hard to think of a movie more execrable, yet the film has an endearing charm for all its misguided inanity. It's worthwhile just for the unintended guffaws. In the 1979-80 holy trinity of roller disco cinema, "Xanadu" may be "Gone With the Wind" and "Skatetown U.S.A." may be "West Side Story", but this one must certainly be "Citizen Kane".

This movie is a typical no-plot fad movie (think "Rad" or "Breakin'") but my wife and I couldn't take our eyes off of it. I'm actually thinking about buying it. The Beegees-wanna-be soundtrack is worth the price of the movie on it's own.

Mega cheese factor...

If you were ever into the rollerskating craze during the seventies, this movie is for you. I wax nostalgic because this movie was "during my time." It has good scenes from inside the rink, good scenes from the Venice Beach, California beachfront skating, and a good variety of disco dance music. There is also a good 70s soundtrack that is available if you like the disco skating beat. I really liked the acting, even though Jim Bray was really a skating competitor, his acting was a little 'corny' but considering that he was NOT an actor, really a skater. A reasonable price for a decent movie about kids trying to save the fate of their local hang-out. Can't find many movies like this anymore, or kids this wholesome. If you like rollerskating, in any fashion, this movie is for you.

This movie brings back nostolgic times for me as a kid growing up in the late 70's and early 80's and all I can say is that I really liked it and enjoyed the great soundtrack that came along with the movie. If you like Nostolga and Camp this is the real deal and it is all good. I would say this is one of those movies that has a great Cult factor and is right up there with 80's films like Skatetown USA also in 1979, Breakin, Breakin 2 "Electric Boogaloo", Beat Street. They were all campy, great dance sequences and great music.
It will be good to see this movie in "WideScreen" for the 1st time and I am looking forward to that. See you on August 24th, 2004 to get my copy.

Peace!
Austin, Texas