Customer Reviews

Rustlers' Rhapsody [VHS]

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am so annoyed that the movie I purchased has been edited and I was not warned on the package. I wish I had seen the June 1, 2004 comments which indicated that this movie is missing a crucial scene. I cannot recommend that you buy this DVD since Paramount has released an incomplete version of the movie.

Why did they alter the movie by deleting the scene where Rex becomes a 'confident heterosexual' ? The punch line to the major joke/tension of the movie is missing in this DVD version.

I cannot recommend that you buy this DVD if you are a fan of the movie. Also, the DVD has no extras or commentary it really is a rush job on their part.

It is a terrible release of a great unknown movie. It still is funny, but not as funny as the original. Contrary to what Amazon says, I am referring to the DVD version of this movie.

I love Rustler's Rhapsody. It's easily one of Tome Berrenger's best flicks ever. While most people view Blazing Saddles as the best western comic spoof, Rustler's to me blows it away. It's not nearly as raunchy and not quite as stupid.

Every time I watch this movie it leaves my stomach hurting because of all the times I'll laugh. There's a great cast to this movie. Tom Berrenger, Andy Griffith, Sela Ward, and many more people you'll recognize. That's another reason I can't beleive people haven't seen this.

The story is a western spoof. The hero comes to the western town being used and abused by the evil cattle baron. The hero must stop them and overcome some of his own problems. The story also reveals why the bad guys always lose and why the good guys always win.

The movie is great. I guarentee it will make you laugh and laugh hard. If you don't like spoofs then you probaly won't like Rustler's Rhapsody. If you like Blazing Saddles you will definetly love Rhapsody. This is a must own. It's one of the greatest and funniest movies nobody has ever heard of.

"Return with us now to the thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great hourse Silver, the lone (st)ranger rides again."

For anyone who can remember and quote these words and was raised watching Roy Rogers, Gene Autrey, Hopalong Cassidy, The Cisco Kid and Saturday morning westerns on black and white TV, or listening on the radio, this film is a hoot and a half. I rarely laugh out load at a film at home, but I was constantly laughing at this wonderfully funny film.

What great take offs on the typical western film characters and situations! The lone cowboy in clothes no self respecting cowboy would wear. A fantastic horse names Wildfire, who danced better than Gene Kelly or Fred Astire. The music hall hostess who charged $600 a night, but only talked to her clients (Miss Kitty from "Gunsmoke" maybe?)The town drunk who wants to become the hero's sidekick. The mysterious "root" that makes anyone eating it feel soooo good.

Tom Berenger is great as the virginal, overdressed hero. He kids this stereotype magnificently. G. W. Bailey almost steals the film as the drunk/sidekick. Marilu Henner is just right as the sexy hostess. Sela Ward is perfect as the villain's daughter who has a special problem with her horse. Andy Griffith makes a delightful comic "villain". The whole cast is wonderful.

Anyone who doesn't know the old westerns might be lost and think this film not too good, but for those who remember the "cowboys" mentioned earlier, this is a comic treasure!

Be sure to watch the credits at the end of the film to hear a lovely balled, "Lasso You The Moon", sung by Gary Morris.

This film is so much better than "Blazing Saddles" (which is a very funny film) without being crude or making rude ethnic jokes that leave today's audiences uncomfortable as does "Saddles".

This is a wonderful movie for those who love westerns and their cliches. Every cliche that ever appeared in a western has been lovingly put into this movie (i.e. bad guys with rifles are never a match for a good guy with a pistol). Tom Berenger plays Rex, the Singing Cowboy, with superb understatement. Andy Griffith plays the daft, dastardly Colonel perfectly (my favorite Griffith role). Marilou Henner and a young Sela Ward also appear. Be aware that this is a silly movie. If someone has to explain the humor of the opening sequence to you, it may not be for you. On, Wildfire, on!

This movie is a must for someone who wishes to show off their audio / visual system. The movie itself has a campy / fun plot. It pokes some fun at itself and the western genre. MORE importantly this film starts out with low quality sound and a black and white picture. You are supposed to see the diffence between the old inexpensively shot westerns and this one. A few minutes into the black and white flat sound version, a "bad guy" points a gun at the "good guy". The ground shakes, the camera angle widens, black and white explodes into color and the gunshot(s), which had been sounding as if they were coming from an old single speaker Philco or Emerson television, suddenly broadent and ricochet off the canyon walls in full dolby sound from front to back (if you have your surround sound set up properly).

I really wish they would release this fun film on DVD so one can have the full effect (and affect) of its transformation.

This has long been one of my favorite movies. Every one who knows me, or whom I meet, must at some point sit down with me and watch this extremely humorous video. Tom Berenger's Rex O'H. - The Singing Cowboy, makes a perfect 'Gooder Good Guy', especially with Rex's fashion sense. The story revolves, not around Rex, but around Peter, the town drunk, who aspires to become Rex's sidekick during an ensuing range war. Andy Griffith's 'Colonel', with his latent attraction to the hired-hands makes his one of the best characters in the film. And while it does use just about E-V-E-R-Y cliche from the westerns it could, from 30's hollywood to spaghetti westerns, the in-joke of the film is that Rex knows it's a cliche, but no one else in the lovely town of Oakwood Estates does. One of it's greatest strengths is the restraint not to 'neon' every joke and gag. Either you get it, or you don't. A lot of the humor plays out in the background, or even off camera, too impatient to wait around for the main action to conclude. Watch it more than once and you will find things going on you never noticed before. While I must concede that Blazing Saddles has more slapstick, and most of it extremely funny, It takes about five Blazing Saddles gags to equel 1 Rustler's. The theme song (the movies, not Rex's) is a true tribute to all the westerns of ours, our fathers, and even our grandfathers youths. So if it comes down to one or the other, I'm pullin up stakes, and movin' to Oakwood Estates, (or a small village near Oslo, Norway). Hey, my dog's name is Rex!

RUSTLER'S RHAPSODY is a marvelous, witty and entertaining satire on those old westerns of the 30s and 40s. Tom Berenger is great as the hero, Singing Cowboy Rex O'Halloran. Playing against type, Tom moves effortlessly through the role, and has a fabulous wardrobe to boot. G. W. Bailey as the town drunk and wannabe sidekick is wonderful, too. His deadpan deliveries are priceless. Sela Ward is comically proficient, too, as the ranchowner's daughter who gets drug around by her horse; Marilu Henner doesn't have a lot to do, but as the hooker with the heart of gold and business savvy is good in her brief appearances; Andy Griffith is funny as heck as the ranch baron with a proclivity towards his ranch hands; Fernando Rey does well as the Italian train mogul. The whole cast is perfect; the direction is right on--congratulations, Mr. Wilson. There are a ton of priceless scenes, too many to mention. This movie should be considered a classic but somehow got overshadowed by BLAZING SADDLES, which is funny, too, but RHAPSODY is a lot less crude and overall, more consistent in its flow. Enjoy this one..it is a hoot!!!!

This movie is a clever parody calling out all of the western cliches. Be warned that the movie inexplicably is missing a scene. It is the scene where Rex gains his heterosexual confidence after he backs down from the other good guy. This deletion prevents the movie from resolving Rex's confident heterosexuality problem, which was actually one of the more sophisticated gags in the movie. It is inexplicable because even the television version of the movie contains this scene.

A western comedy? Not too many of those out there. Maybe that's why Rustler's Rhapsody isn't as well-known as it deserves to be.

I had a great time watching this. The humor level is above-average in terms of sophistication. It doesn't take itself too seriously but never degenerates to the point of absurdity. A good cast helps round out the film's enjoyment.

It's too bad there aren't any special features found on this disk. However, the low price makes up for it. Add the fact that this DVD is in anamorphic widescreen (the quality all widescreen movies should be in but aren't) and you have a terrific value. Highly recommended.

Will somebody please answer a question that has plagued me for decades...why is RHUSTLER'S RHAPSODY not on everyone's top 10 contemporary comedy classics list? Like SUMMER SCHOOL, this is a DVD many have been awaiting for years...and it's finally arrived! With more stars than one cowpoke can shake a stick at and written/directed by POLICE ACADEMY-creator Hugh Wilson, this is certainly one of the all-time underrated funny bone classics.

A show of hands please of those who still laugh when:

(1) Tom Berenger asks for whiskey with a human hair in it, and

(2) Andy Griffith asks someone to "throw another fagot on the fire." We all know, of course, that this refers to wood, but still a great gag.

Just ironic it's his early films like this that Tom Berenger refuses to talk about...in interviews over the years, I've never heard him talk about RHUSTLER'S RHAPSODY or EDDIE & THE CRUISERS. What a shame that is. (...) do check it out...you're virtually guaranteed sore sides from all of the belly laughs.