Customer Reviews

Under The Rainbow [VHS]

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Life is too short. I laughed when I read the review by the person giving this a one star rating. This one has problems (nay, should I say "issues" {new speak}).
Under the Rainbow is the kind of film I love. I don't want to be moved, I don't want to think, and I don't want to solve the world's problems. I only want to know that the "pearl is in the river". It was produced when a movie showing midgets and taller people as a farce was not considered anti-social. It is a scream! And for those of you worrying about what your children will see and hear (comparing it to today's films), it is clean!
The gags are obvious, Chevy Chase is obvious, and once it starts, it is a roller coaster you can yell and scream on and still feel comfortable.
I hear it asked, "why can't THEY make more movies like this?" Just open your eyes folks; Hollywood has been making great funny movies for years (Noises Off, Mouse Hunt, The Seven Chairs ...... etc.). They all don't have to be Disney pablum.
I love this film, and am happy to make it a part of my comedy collection.

...either the master itself or the manufacturing process for this particular archive product is defective. There is a problem with poor compression and edge ringing that absolutely ruins this DVD-R release. Don't believe the small sample flash video of the film over at the Archive site. It hides the problem of what seems to be an "old, smeary analog master", to quote one Home Theater Forum participant that confirmed that this is a mass problem with this disc, not just my personal bad luck. I actually remember this one when it was running in theaters and it deserves better treatment than this. It's a strange little tale of a hotel across the street from MGM in 1939 that is trying to cash in on the publicity of the making of The Wizard of Oz and all of the strange goings on that surround it. Some of it is completely inane, but it is largely a fun film. Until Warner's fixes the problems with this one, avoid at all costs.

Sure, Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher have nice moments in this movie. However, it is everything that swirls around them that makes this so funny. "The pearl is in the river." "And they all look alike." Granted that some of the dialog is not politically correct, but it is not mean.

I saw this movie about five years ago, enjoyed it, and taped it. I saw it again last night with my wife and found myself starting to laugh at the beginning of the most humorous scenes, in anticipation.

It is unfortunate that this movie is not available in DVD format.

A vertically challenged German spy is sent to California to meet up with a Japanese spy at the onset of WWII and that's just the set up...

A Japanese tour bus breaks down in front of the very hotel where the Munchkin cast for the Wizard of Oz is staying. Aboslutely brilliant. There's a subplot involving the assasination of a European king who's is protected by a US G-Man, Chevy Chase, who is flirting with the still cute and sexy Carrie Fisher. Plenty to enjoy in this absolutely awful but hysterical film..."The Pearl in is in the River"!

If you are a Wizard of Oz fan, it's worth seeing just for the Oz references and in-jokes and almost directly rip offs of the midget tales Judy Garland used to spin on talk shows in the 50s and 60s. Additionally, if you're a Carrie Fisher buff, it features a young Carrie Fisher in her underwear in a freezer. ;) How could Leonard Maltin, who loves almost everything, give this film a bad review? He gushes over every lame Robin Williams dramedy they churn out.

Look, if you are looking for a movie to entertain, and want to see stupidity, than watch this film. It is cute, Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher have a weird chemistry going. It just makes fun of Wizard of Oz and stuff. I don't know why people are comparing this film to Citizen Kane, etc. This film is like Airplane and Spaceballs.

...because UNDER THE RAINBOW is one of those adoring movies from my childhood so I must rate it very high. My family got cable tv in the early 1980s when I was about 13. This goofy little comedy played a lot on HBO and I remember forcing my family to sit down and watch only to realize that "funny to me" wasn't always "funny to them". Before writing this review I watched it again and had the pleasure of being reassured that I'll never outgrow the wacky movies I grew up with. If you have YELLOWBEARD, CABIN BOY, JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY or the like on your video shelf then grab this pre-National Lampoon's Vacation Chevy Chase flick (this was when Chase was still funny) and I think you might like it.

Good trivia: The actor who played the bumbling assassin played similar bumbling characters in 2 other silly movies. Catalina Caper (available here as Mystery Science Theater 3000: Catalina Caper) and Hysterical (now on DVD!) starring the Hudson Brothers ("You're doomed!!").

Favorite line from UNDER: (in a Japanese accent thru a pay phone) "Can you fwix bwoken bus?" (pause) "What kwind of bus? It's bwack..."

Love this movie & it's about time it is released on DVD! Don't pay $40 when you can go to THE WB/archive and get it for $20!!

My title sums up my review of this product. I tried watching this DVD in three different machines: a standard DVD player, a Blu-Ray player (with 1080p up convert), and a PC DVD player. In each case, the video was poor. The transfer was so bad that I couldn't watch more the 5 minutes of it and I quickly requested to return it. I have owned DVDs since 1998, and I have never seen such a poor video transfer. The manufacturer should be ashamed of themselves. Obviously, Amazon had nothing to due with the horrible transfer and I thank Amazon for accepting my return.

Obviously from the other reviews this is a movie that you'll either love or hate, but I know more who loved it and only two who didn't. I also saw this movie on HBO in the 80s when I was about 12 and I watched it every chance that I could. A few years later I bought it on VHS and I'm sad to see that it's not available on DVD.

My friends and I would have a few drinks (while not necessary to enjoy this movie but enhance it) and rewind the best parts while laughing hysterically. How can you not laugh at Strudel fetching the ball over the balcony while the sound of the squeaky ball fades away? Or the drunken midget rolling down the stairs, shaking it off, and realizing "I forgot my beer?" as he stumbles back up the stairs to get it? Even today certain movie lines slip out of my mouth or I do the secret knock. It's a shame that you can't make movies like this nowadays for fear of not being politically correct and offending people.