Customer Reviews

The Stoned Age

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I would have swore this movie came out of the early 80's! You spend an evinging cruzin' in the blue-torpedo with a couple of metalheads armed with peppermint schnaps, and a desire to score with some chicks.

I love this film! Plenty of great one-liners and characters that are frightenly familiar. If you liked movies such as Revenge of the Nerds and Fast Times at Ridgemont Hight, you'll enjoy this gem. Until next time...

NORAD

Absolutely classic movie. Ive seen this movie so many times, i just about have the entire thing memorized. There are many unforgettable moments and great one liners you'll be using for years.

Either you get it or you don't. This movie will not inspire great acting or plot writing, but it has an easy feel for anyone who attended high school parties. The main characters are so clearly older than their high school years that the movie can't be taken seriously. But the 2 buddies, Joe and Hubbs, play contrasting roles that click, personality wise. Their main desire is to knock back some Ox 45 talls, and score chicks. It's a cult classic because it generates so many catch phrases and behaviors that it hammers time and time again in the movie. Ox 45 tall cans, betraying someone is "worming" them, everyone knows "Krumps brother", when asked who someone specific is - they're just "some dude", Shnapps is "Shnappster", which makes you hork, overweight girls have "big buffalo butts", a party is determined by it's ratio (of boys to girls), and so on and so on. There are many little things you will catch as you watch the movie over and over. This movie blows away Dazed and Confused and should be mandatory watching for all incoming high school freshmen!!

I saw this in the theater(yup, it actually had a theatrical release for a day or so) at the perfect age-17. Anyone who went to high school can recall the years of 16 and 17 to be the years of that mindless activity called "cruising"(of course, I know some losers in their 30s who continue to do this, I'm sure you do too). At that age you could drive, but you couldn't buy cigarettes, liquor or get into a bar, so what could you do? Go cruising! The idea was to meet girls with varying degrees of success. If you can relate to that, you'll get some degree of entertainment from The Stoned Age which starts off with this premise. This film is over exaggerated but ironically very realistic at the same time. Everyone knew someone like Tack-some annoying schmuck who would usually find his way into your car somehow. Everyone's also ended up at a party thrown by a bunch of idiots from a totally different "class" or "scene" than you. And who didn't know a couple of "Buffalo Chicks?" If you were one of those guys who took the "nice guy" approach to getting women, you'll totally identify with Joe. You can literally feel his frustration as he desperately attempts to woo the amazingly sexy Laney, only to have her jump in the sack with a sexist jerk who seduces her through...well....acting like a jerk. If you were a womanizing jerk like Hubbs, then you'll relive fond memories as you watch him get the chick through the most juvenile tactics available. I didn't grow up in the 70s, but it was the perfect setting for this film. The lingo is accurate, the music great, and the issues and concepts are still relevant today; The rich disco kids and their hatred for the lower/middle class hard rock stoners for example. Cruising, of course. People should really stop the comparisons to Dazed and Confused. That quote on the box was a bad idea, the director even says so in the commentary track! Two different films, folks. The only thing they have in common is the time period and some stoner characters. Would you compare Monty Python and The Holy Grail to Excalibur coz they take place in the same time period and have a few similar themes? Back to the music I mentioned before, I was very impressed with the soundtrack. In the commentary, the director mentions that this whole film was to be strictly Led Zeppelin songs, but it couldn't be done financially. Thank God for that! That would have been way too cliche. This movie works so much better with a soundtrack with no Led Zeppelin. God forbid there were other bands in the 70s other than Zeppelin, alot of them better, believe it or not. In this film we get songs by Ted Nugent, Deep Purple, Focus, Montrose, references to the Scorpions, and The Blue Oyster Cult takes center stage. That's cool coz BOC don't get the respect they deserve anymore. The cast of unknowns does a decent enough job. I'm not sure why the character of Jill is refered to as an "oinker" and "hoagley". Throughout the film, we keep getting reinforced the notion that Jill is supposed to be unattractive. Well, just watch the film and see if you think Jill is unattractive. Sure, maybe she doesn't leap off the screen like Laney, but she is one good looking woman. Of course, Laney is always dressed skimpy while Jill is isn't. Jill also looks the most 70s, Laney doesn't. Anyhow, this film is a sure gem to discover if you did the cruising thing in high school or were a teenager in the 70s. Also, to really enjoy this, totally disregard that Dazed and Confused quote on the box.

This is really one of those under appreciated, under distributed, under exposed films that belongs in your collection. That is if you like the high school stoner burnout kind of comedies. The acting is kind of stiff in some places, but the cast is fairly young and inexperienced. James Melkonian did a good job of creating very stereotypical, yet semi believable characters. Although his use of foreshadowing in the beginning is about as subtle as a shot gun blast to the face. He creates a genuine atmosphere though, although never having been to Torrance I can only guess as to whether it's an accurate portrayal of the area...however previous reviews have stated that it is...so...right on! One of my favorite aspects of the film is the memorable characters... I don't ever remember seeing a film where I remembered so much about the supporting characters. Tack, Hanky, Mike Dick and Mike New York, Crump, Crumps Brother, Muldoon, Officer Dean, Jills Dad, The Buffalo Chicks... Maybe they are so memorable because we all had friends like them in high school! The dynamic between the two main characters, Joe and Hubbs is so real it's almost unreal. Of course it's the stereotypical dominant/submissive friend relationship, but Melkonian explores it well in The Stoned Age. You have the cool, outgoing, macho Hubbs matched up with the, shy, introverted, clumsy Joe. Together they cruise Torrance looking for a good time. They encounter countless obstacles on their way to finding hot chicks...and Joe is confronted with by his spirit guide, the gnarly eyeball, on his quest to find out if there really is 'something more out there.' But of course we all just think he's weriding out on us. This movie is definitely worth checking out! Normally I dislike the director commentary track that seems to be really popular with dvd's these days, but this one actually offers some commentary that is very interesting, considering the film is so obscure that even the people who worked on it probably don't really know much about its production. The Stoned Age is seriously one of those B movie cult classics that will be loved by the few people who see it, myself included. So give it a try...what can you lose but an hour and half that you probably would have just wasted doing something productive anyway.

The Stoned Age is a complete movie, well, for a straight to video movie, that is. Not only does it have a tremendously funny plot, a set of interesting and good characters, a few hot chicks, but it also has a great soundtrack, featuring Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath, and more. If your looking for a movie that's funny and entertaining, check out this flick.

First of all,if you were ever a teenager,you will probably relate to this movie. If you were a teenager in the late seventies or early eighties,you will definitely relate to this movie! On the box of this film it says:Even better than Dazed And Confused! Now that may or may not be true,but I think the films are too different to compare. I think one reason this movie never really took off is because of this comment on the box. I think many people rented it thinking this was going to be just like D.A.C., then after realizing it wasn't they were disappointed and turned off by it. But viewing the movie on it's own terms, you will realize how fun it really is. I have to admit it isn't a big box office film,but more like a B movie. But many B movies are better than the big budgeted ones, and this one proves this point. The main characters are Joe and Hubbs,and you will probably find yourself relating to one or the other. Hubbs is the confident,cocky type who tends to do things before thinking about the consequences of his actions,and Joe is more of the intellectual,geeky headbanger. Together they scam for chicks, along with another great character named Tack, who is mostly referred to as "just some dude". Tack is a guy you won't soon forget. I was really sad to see the credits roll on this one! One of my favorite films,but I must say I had trouble playing the dvd on my players. I have two different dvd players and dvd rom on my computer,but I could not get TWO different copies to play on them. Unfortunately,I only have the vhs version now. From a review below this one, I see someone else had the same problem. I hope they reprint this movie sometime soon so it will play on all dvd players.(The movie did play when I took it back to the retail store on a Sony dvd player.) In closing,a great movie but problematic dvd.

The movie starts and ends with the two main characters, Joe and Hubbs, out on a Friday night trying to get drunk, stoned, and laid..... Yeah, not too deep, but can't you identify with at least part of the concept?

This movie has so much great dialogue that I cannot even start to get into it, as I'll go on all night.

The director and co-writer commentary is outstanding. Every saying, character nickname, song selection has a story behind it. I'm surprised James Melkonian, the director has not been involved in more projects.

This movie blows away 9/10 teen movies since 1982 easily.

What can I say about the cast of characters (where did they come up with these guys): Tack, Dixie Cup Dean, Lanie, Mike Dick, Mike New York, Hanky, Jill's Dad, Crump's Brother, The Narly Eyeball, The Samoan Dude. It goes on and on...

The music is great, even though they couldn't afford the Zeppelin/The Who tunes. Black Sabbath, Montrose, T-Rex, and of course BOC make this movie great.

The dvd case has a reviewer quoted as saying "Better than Dazed and Confused". I 100% agree - D&C while a good film, is too boring - does every movie of the genre have to make you think about your future? Thought movies were there to help you escape a little. For once, a movie about cutting loose for a night - The Stoned Age.

Don't fear the reaper!

For laughs, this movie cannot be beat. The laser scene leading into the 2001 takeoff is epic. This is a movie to ENJOY. Not to critique for filmaking. It is quite a relief that movies are made where you can just relax and watch. Besides, "These aren't talls!!!"

This is without any doubt my all-time favorite movie. I can understand that it doesn't appeal to everyone, it's not a flick for the masses after all and the humour is more subtle than you might think at first glance. "These are my buds: Mike Dick and Mike New York." - "You're from New York??" - "NO." - if you don't find dialogues like this extremely brilliant and funny then most probably you won't grasp the humour of "The Stoned Age". If you're expecting a movie featuring kids getting stoned or something totally exaggerated like "Half-Baked", you might be disappointed as well.
It's also pretty low budget though I like the weird light effects (e.g. the slightly neon-coloured walls in some rooms of the house). What I love most about the movie are the countless details. When I first saw it, ca. 1996, I enjoyed it but forgot most of it pretty quickly. What remained stuck in my mind was the unique overall atmosphere of the movie created to a large extent by the soundtrack, especially by its pivotal tune "Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult.("If it's BOC, how can it be pussy?" - another classic quote.) Years later I got the movie on video and watched it again. And again. And again. And there were still some details I hadn't noticed until the 30th time I watched it.
The DVD features are rather poor but if you're a fan you'll L*O*V*E the audio commentary - this is enough to make the DVD a must have. Well, of course, the movie itself is enough...
The comparisons to "Dazed And Confused" are indeed pretty inappropriate becuause it has a totally different approach. Personally I think "Dazed And Confused" was OK but it's a little overrated. Needless to say which one of the two movies I prefer...
Any comparisons to "Cheech&Chong" (especially any C&C but the first one), "Half-Baked" or "Jay & Silent Bob" border on blasphemy.