Customer Reviews

Village People - Can't Stop the Music

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

...Trust me, my jaw has not dropped in a long time (and that's not a VP-style double entendre), but nearly EVERY scene was jaw-droppingly, eye-poppingly, mind-bogglingly terrible.

You know what you're in for when the main titles consist of Steve Guttenberg roller-skating through Manhattan, obstensibly "listening" and skate-dancing to the song played over the titles--however, Guttenberg instead seems to be dancing to the voices in his own head, so out of sync is he with the music.

Things get even loonier when we're asked to believe that buxom Valerie Perrine was "the face of the 70's," as in that decade's top fashion model. For WHOM? Frederick's of Hollywood? Lauren Hutton she ain't. Throw in Bruce Jenner (!!!) as the--ahem--straight man, camp icons Tammy Grimes and June Havoc, Marilyn Sokol as the very poor man's Eve Arden, and the Village People passing as hetero, and you've got one seriously twisted movie.

Let's just rundown the highlights:

1) Bruce Jenner (PLAYING A STRAIGHT MAN, I must reiterate), running around New York City in Daisy Dukes and a bare midriff, shrunken tee shirt.

2) A group of little boys in full VP drag, including the Leatherman's get-up. (It's for a milk commercial. Don't ask.)

3) David Hodo's (the Construction Worker) big solo number, "I Love You to Death," which, to be fair, seems to have been conceived as an intentionally comic parody. (However, the same could be said of the entire film.) At any rate, David can't sing, but he's really hot jumping around in his skintight jeans, while being clawed at by overly-made-up mannequins in Halston knock-offs.

4) The "YMCA" production number, which is a hysterically inept homage to "Million Dollar Mermaid" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"--but you do get to see a lot of bare, buffed skin.

5) The finale ultimo, with the VP is sequined versions of their uniform drag--prior to going onstage, they're visited by "special guest star Leigh Taylor-Young."

Needless to say, one must proceed with caution when deciding to buy/watch this trash masterpiece. But for those hardy souls, there is NO other film in my recent memory on which SO much money was spent, with NO redeeming results whatsoever. Every scene is awful. All of the lead "actors" are rotten--Perrine and Guttenberg must have been sniffing coke between takes, because each one performs at a disturbingly manic pace.

So why the four star review? Because it's irresistible in its own weird way--like a car crash, only vastly more entertaining. It's also a priceless time capsule of an era that was only 20-odd years ago, but seems like a lifetime away. Also, the DVD transfer is gorgeous--they must be BIG fans of this movie at the remastering studio.

Considering that this movie has managed, as a result of its incredibly dismal box office record back in 1980, to end any ideas that Hollywood might have about future movie musicals, it's a mystery that Criterion hasn't picked this up for remastering and augmentation with countless extra features (both the director and the producer have since passed away, so the time is right...hello, Criterion! ). Besides, if they can release that awful sci-fi flick "Armageddon" on a double-DVD set, they can surely strike gold with this movie.

What more can be said about this ill-timed disco musical fantasy/biography that hasn't already been mentioned? I remember paying to see this in a theater where I was the only soul in attendance! It was pretty bad then, and it's just as bad now, if not worse.

The film retells the formation of the Village People. They star as themselves (before the big 1980/1981 personnel change, anyway) and are accompanied by Steve Guttenberg who's terrible, Valerie Perrine who's even worse, and Bruce Jenner before his face-feminizing plastic surgery. The storyline is pure fantasy (it IS a musical, isn't it?), and the acting is really bottom-of-the-barrel--it's no wonder I haven't seen any of these people ever do anything else--. Ahh, but there's the sweet disco music that more than makes up for the actors' shortcomings!

That this movie was directed by Nancy Walker (of "Rhoda" fame) should tell you something. Some moments are so bad, you'll be screaming in disbelief. The scene in which the construction worker dreams of being attacked by beautiful women is hilarious (yeah, like we believe that one!). The YMCA scenes will cause your jaw to drop...the slow motion, the split screen, the mirrored images, and the Esther Williams-like pool plunge must be seen to be believed! The musical milk commercial that seems to go on forever. The baton-on-fire-twirling mustached man in tight gold lame shorts who proudly states, "James is my name, and flaming's my game!" (I kid you not!). And, as someone else mentioned, Valerie's non-melting double-scoop ice cream cone whose chocolate and vanilla flavors switch positions randomly and which can be easily waived about with no fear of falling to the ground. And it goes on and on...the fun never ends. Amazing!

So, now that I've railed on and on about the movie, why did I give it 5 stars? For the simple reason that no movie could have purposely been done with the idea that it would end up this bad. Somebody somwhere definitely thought this was a commercially feasible movie. That alone deserves five stars. But the fact that you will be on the floor laughing your head off when you see this is enough. Buy this film, get lots of popcorn, invite some friends over, and get ready to have a truly unreal evening. Get this before it goes out-of-print.

Five stars for the simple fact that no other movie could purposely be so bad that it's good. Far from being an Oscar contender, this movie is one to consider if you're having a campy bad movie night. The film is a fictionalized view of how the Village People became a group. The plot is passable, the acting is horrid, but the music saves the whole thing. Steve Guttenberg in his very first role is terrible, Valerie Perrine (little bundle of talent that she is) makes you wonder how she survives as an actress, and Bruce Jenner (pre-op, so he's still gorgeous) should have stayed in athletics. One fantasy scene involving the construction worker is hilarious (like he dreams of women!), the YMCA sequence is so embarrassingly bad (think Esther Williams on a really low budget) that you'll laugh and cringe at the same time, in the disco sequence DJ Guttenberg mixes records that are completely out of tempo with each other, and watch out for the double-scoop ice cream cone that never melts and whose flavors switch positions at any given moment! Is this movie one of my all time favorites? You bet!

OK, fans, here it is at last. In pristine Panavision and 6.1 DTS stereo, the most jaw-droppingly campy movie musical in memory comes to DVD. If you've never seen this piece of work, you haven't any idea how howlingly bad it really is; if you know the film, you'll be happy to see it presented as originally shown. The highlights (or lowlights, depending upon how you view it) are endless: the tacky production design, the really bad script, the incredibly unsubtle acting, the virtually talentless Village People, the disco production numbers that look to have been assembled and shot so hastily that you find yourself thinking "did they have ANY idea of what they were doing?" Bruce Jenner, why? Valerie Perrine and Steve Guttenberg, why? Tammy Grimes and Baby June Havoc, oh why? The movie worms its way into your heart however, because it really is clueless. And it brashly goes straight ahead at full velocity in its awfulness. It's not "Lost Horizon" with that pseudo-hip score or the awful weight of immortality pushing it down; it's not "Mame" with an ancient Lucille Ball hitting notes in the key of K flat and conducting the chorus as if she were some sort of Pied Piper; and it's not "Xanadu" - it's closest kin - because Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton-John have actual musical talent. "Can't Stop the Music" exists in a rarified strata of its own - both spectacularly bad and unquenchably entertaining - and we're very glad to have it on DVD.

Yes, it's a fun movie, but totally dispelled Village People's "gay underground" appeal and the group's popularity was never the same. If you liked Village People, their music, and disco, just kick back and relax! It's fun to watch and SO late '70's in taste and flavor. Brings back a lot of memories. The movie was released on DVD in Spring, 2002. Buy the DVD version for the better picture and sound quality. The musical numbers are the highlights of this film. The dialogue and acting are basic "101" stuff- all fluff, no substance. There were times watching the movie when I wondered whether I was really in Grenich Village in New York or on Sesame Street. A rumor went around when the film was out that there were actually "two" versions made... the standard production released and a raunchier "gay" edition. The latter would have probably helped the reviews of this film some 20+ years later! <heh heh> Just take Bruce Jenner's acting as a hoot and you'll be able to get through his parts in a better frame of mind. Put on a pair of cut-off jeans and t-shirt, make some pina coladas, pop the disc in, lay back with some friends and have fun! That's what the '70's- and this film- was and is suppose to be about!

I love this piece of badly acted trash! Felippe Rose (the indian) goes to my gym and lives nearby. He's a lovely guy, tho he got a little irked when i asked if anyone got into Bruce Jenners pants during the filming..... "We were too busy WORKING!!" Well hard work pays off, and the payoff here was a cheezy camp classic!

Beautiful audio and video make this long awaited DVD Release worth the wait. This DVD has perfect DTS and Dolby Digital mixes and a superb picture and color balance that rivals the 35 mm print I saw in the theatres when this film was new. Does anyone remember previous issues of this title that were pan and scan and in mono? If you already own one of the other issues, put them aside and get this DVD as it is a gem and is worth the mention for the fantastic job the people at Anchor Bay did to give us a stereo and letterboxed version of this underappreciated gem.-Tony

This campy bit of disco fluff is widely considered to be the milkshake-lubed slippery slope that guided the Village People's 15.5 minutes of bizarro-world fame to a less-than-dignified crash landing. In the lead role is a miraculously flame-retardant Steve Guttenberg, whose film career survived this Discossault against all logic. The acting career of Bruce Jenner, whose ill-advised sashay through the village in shorty-shorts and a half-shirt will forever live in infamy? Not so much. Hindsight, as poor Bruce no-doubt laments to this day, is indeed a beyotch.

What is perhaps most remarkable about this film (aside from the blizzard of blow that had to have been trucked in for the shoot) is that first-and-last-time director Nancy Walker - yes, THAT Nancy Walker - manages to create what is arguably the gayest film ever made, without ever actually broaching the subject. Indeed, the mind-bogglingly homoerotic YMCA sequence alone has the power to elevate the legendary Walker to the loftiest of honorary homo heights. The sequence, which features all of the can't-even-act-it-away group trying to play it straight in a hot tub with a topless Valerie Perrine, is so queer that if one were to come across a crystalled pink leprechaun face down in a rainbow sling at a Montreal bathhouse, snorting poppers and greased halfway up his back in liquified Crisco, you *might* be in the neighborhood.

Rent, don't buy this DVD, and play with care around small animals, impressionable children, and bi-curious clergy. You can't say you weren't warned.

One previous reviewer said something like the only gay Village "person" was Felippe (The Indian)?! Hello? Randy (The original cowboy) "married" his male partner two years ago! Look it up online- you can see the photos of the happy GAY couple! And the LeatherMan and Construction Worker never confirmed or denied they were gay...and let's face it...what single men, over 30, who wear chaps are straight? I am pretty sure they are just not as "in-your-face" about their sexuality and prefer to leave a bit to the imagination...(even though Glenn Hughes "LeatherMan" died a few years back R.I.P)

...all the other reviews about this movie are spot-on! This is an enthusiastic little movie that doesn't try too hard to be anything it isn't. If you like choreography, glamour and costume changes then you'll love this quaint movie.

Finally! It's out! After years of pining for a decent widescreen release of this classic stinker, the good folks at Anchor Bay have treated us to a great copy of a bad film. Sheer heaven!

My original review of the film itself can be found somewhere below. At this time, I'd like to review the DVD.

The widescreen presentation has been remastered so it's cleaner and much clearer-sounding than the fuzzy VHS copies we all remember. And it's remarkable to see how much of the film had previously been cropped in order to make it full screen. The colors are crisp and vibrant. The DVD soundtrack is available in three formats: standard Dolby stereo, Dolby Surround, and DTS. One option that is noticeable by its absence is subtitles for the hearing-impaired. Shouldn't that be a standard feature on all DVD's?

The extras are where the DVD shines and suffers at the same time. The original theatrical trailer is included and how campy and tacky it is! You'll be howling. There's also a stills gallery which consists of standard album cover shots, promo photos, shots from the CSTM photo book as well as the famous Village People "Playgirl" spread, and reproductions of Village People bubble gum trading cards! The final extra is a photo essay of the story of the Village People, detailing how the group was formed and how "Can't Stop The Music" came into existence. The write-up is quite interesting and is honestly harsh on a couple of occasions (let's face it, this movie did kill off a few careers). It ends with a very general VP album discography.

So what's missing? How about some interviews, for starters. Other than for Glenn Hughes who passed away in March 2001, all the other VP's are alive and well. And I'm sure that both Nancy Walker and Allan Carr had a thing or two to say about this disastrous film before they passed on. The DVD could have used a more complete discography and a separate gallery for CSTM promo items and memorabilia (marketing kits, theater posters, clothing, etc.).

Still, I'm just happy that this mind-numbingly bad flick has finally been released on DVD to be enjoyed over and over.