20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The McKenzie's Score a Hat Trick, October 1, 2002
Strange Brew follows the adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas respectively. The pair was created for the brilliant SCTV television show and the duo seamless took them to the big screen. The movie's plot revolves around an evil brewmeister (played deliciously by Max Von Sydow) who is concocting a potion that will allow him to control the minds of the people who drink it. The brothers unwittingly stumble onto the plan and with the help of the daughter of the late brewery owner and former hockey player, they foil the plans. Through it all Mr. Moranis and Mr. Thomas are absolutely hysterical. The film is actually the forerunner of such films like Wayne's World, The Coneheads and other Saturday Night Live films that took character sketches from the small screen to the movie screen. The big difference is that Strange Brew is well made, well written and still almost twenty years later, down right hilarious.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still hilarious after all these years, March 29, 2006
So, uh, good day, eh? Unless you're a complete hoser, you can't help but love Strange Brew, one of the funniest dumb movies ever made. My introduction to Bob and Doug McKenzie came in the form of their hit song, Take Off, which I thought was hilarious. Having created the McKenzie brothers on Canada's SCTV, it was only natural that Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis would further expand their comic empire by making a movie. Strange Brew is that film, and it really is hilarious. Most low-budget films with a mere farce of a plot would tank, but the boys from the Great White North strike gold - largely because the film's only real purpose is to give the boys an hour and a half to be Bob and Doug McKenzie. The real beauty part of it all, though, is the fact that the story actually plays off of Shakespeare's Hamlet.
When the lion burps instead of roars at the beginning of a film, you know you're in for a different kind of viewing experience. Those unfamiliar with the classic McKenzie television skits may well wonder what the heck is going on at first, as you start out with Bob and Doug introducing a film they made about a nuclear holocaust. That film breaks (at which point we see Bob and Doug inside a crowded theatre full of disgruntled, quickly departing moviegoers), and that's when the real movie begins. Basically, the brothers have to get some beer, but they don't have any money. Trying to convince a clerk to give them free beer doesn't work, so they decide to head on up to Elsinore Brewery, the birthplace of their favorite beer, hoping the old mouse in a bottle trick can score them some free brewskis. They soon find themselves very unwittingly involved in a power struggle between the brewery founder's daughter and her lascivious uncle. The brewmeister is really calling the shots, however, and he's up to no good. If his plans succeed, he will make the beer so addictive that the whole world will do his bidding - that's the plan, anyway. Like most breweries, Elsinore has a mental institution connected to it, giving Brewmeister Smith (Max Von Sydow) a ready supply of test subjects. I'm a little vague on the intricacies of the whole thing, but the experimentation consists of using bad synthesizer music to compel mental patients to put on full body armor and play hockey. It sounds weird, but apparently that's the quick way to power and wealth in Canada. Even though they are completely clueless about basically everything going on around them and have no real skills apart from excessive beer-guzzling, Bob and Doug prove to be a thorn in the brewmeister's side, which puts the boys in danger. Are they smart enough to survive and save the world from the bad guys' evil plans? And, if they fail, what will become of their dog Hosehead, who is dependent on his own steady diet of beer?
It's basically impossible to explain the humor of Bob and Doug McKenzie. Any description of it would just make it sound extremely lame and moronic (actually, I guess it is lame and moronic), but Thomas and Moranis make for a formidable comic team when you see them in action. No line or plot device is too silly for these guys, and they constantly play off one another with perfect timing, unleashing one eminently quotable line after another. The humor doesn't stop with the end of the movie, either, as the boys are back to review their own film and to give us some insight on the movie-making business while the credits roll.
Of course, anyone who likes to put on intellectual airs will snub this movie to his dying breath, but we all know he's secretly laughing inside. This is just pure, unadulterated comedy, and it really is a beauty way to go. Whatever you do, don't take off before treating yourself to this comedy classic. You'll find yourself ending a lot of your sentences with eh? for the following few days, but that side effect isn't permanent unless you just keep re-watching the film and/or listening to the McKenzies' album on a daily basis.
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36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An emerging cult classic, eh, December 30, 2002
Canadians always seem funnier than us uptight Americans because they can laugh at themselves and their idiosyncracies without offending any interest group other than uptight Canadians. They have Mike Meyers and the timeless Kids in the Hall for comedy; we have Carrot Top and "Family Guy." That being said, this film is utterly sophomoric. Almost twenty years later, it still keeps me laughing out loud at its absurd plot, silly jokes and barrage of references and inside jokes about Canadian culture. I went into this film already knowing a bit of Canada (I am a big hockey fan) and came out of this thinking that most NHL players like beer, back bacon & donuts as much as Bob & Doug McKenzie. And I loved every minute of it.
Hats off to the disc's producers for making the audio and video quality superior to the faded-out versions I've seen on cable TV and VHS. They also did an admirable job of including lots of extras on the disc. I've never seen SCTV, but a classic McKenzie Bros. sketch from the legendary show is included on this disc, as well as the film's trailer and a new animated short that includes Canada's favorite siblings since the Dionne quintuplets.
Perhaps this film rivals Caddyshack in having the greatest number of one-liners repeated over beers by white thirtysomethings. That alone should make it a cult classic of Canada you knobs!
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