Customer Reviews

Wild Life, The [VHS]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It would be a tribute to the late Chris Penn to release this classic film on DVD. If not...it's casual.

In high school, I watched this movie every time it was on and it is still entertaining 22 years later. People assume this is a "sequel" To Fast Times At Ridgemont High. It was written by Cameron Crowe (who wrote Fast Times) and stars Chris Penn (Sean's brother). It was directed by Art Linson (who produced Fast Times) but it IS its own film. I like to think of it as a companion movie to Fast Times. What happens immediately AFTER high school? The Wild Life tackles that question and does a great job at it. The character of Jim (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) was me in high school. I was 15 when the Wild Life came out, so Jim was the character that I could relate to the most. I lived with my single mom and sister. I was obsessed with Vietnam (and WW2). I also wore camouflage pants to school about 3 days a week, hated authority figures and hung out in a bowling alley (as well as the mall arcade). The other characters are also interesting as well, but Jim was just the one that "clicked" with me. I assume Cameron Crowe based these people on real life versions just like he did with his Fast Times script and chances are, you will relate to someone in this film. I have always liked Eric Stoltz and in this he plays the straight guy to Chris Penn's obnoxious character. They work well together, but it's a friendship of necessity not choice. This is a much more serious film than Fast Times but still has some great, funny moments. Cool soundtrack with ORIGINAL songs by Bananarama and Eddie Van Halen. Release a dvd Universal. Don't underestimate the fan base for this film! A whole generation watched The Wild Life on cable over and over again. Release this movie ASAP as my VHS tape is getting haggard.

Rick Moranis's hair, a piece of pizza in the pool and lighting a cigarette with a blow torch are some of the fascinating things about this movie. It's just about being teenagers and living life in the fast lane which is why I like it so much.

This is a totally awesome 80's teen flick with a bitch'n cast and gnarly soundtrack. Eddie Van Halen did the music score for the movie. If you liked VH 1984 or 5150 sound, you'll love this one too. Chris Penn stars in this pivotal 80's role along with Eric Stoltz and Lea Thompson make this work. Randy Quaid as the wacked out War Vet is disturbing. One notable character not doing much anymore but teaching students in a college in Texas is Iian Michael Smith. Fellow famed "Weird Science" kid with Anthony Michael Hall (apparently you had to have 3 names and one being Michael to get in on that one).

This has an essence of being a sequel to "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". It's made by some of the same people (Cameron Crowe) and it does star Sean Penn's (Spicoli) little brother, but It's never been verified as being such.

Please Hollywood, bring this one to DVD! My VHS tape is dead and my Laserdisc failing as well.

Please release "The Wildlife" on dvd. There are so many other 80's flicks should be released also on dvd. I would like to see "Hot to Trot", and "Summer Job" also released on dvd. Wildlife brings back so many memories when I watched it.

The movie is great, enough said. The reason it is not on DVD is because of problems with the rights to the soundtrack. There is a lot of material on it belonging to Ed Van Halen and he has been unwilling to allow the rights to transfer to DVD. If you are a fan of Van Halen, speak up.

it's crazy that iv'e seen idiotic movies like ghoulies on dvd and a great 80's movie with such a huge cast like eric stolzt, lea thompson, chris penn and many more , is not yet been released on dvd. they did the same thing with zapped, waited for ever to release it. come on!!!!! it's time.

Yes one of my favorite movies of the 80's. Certainly not too rare to be on DVD. Just put everything on DVD! Jeez. This movie should be available on DVD.

I watched this on cable a few nites ago and wondered why it wasnt released on DVD. It deserves it.Even tried to find the soundtrack of the film but only on cassette. The shocking thing of th film was the sondtrack by Eddie Van Halen...if u watch the first 15 minutes or so you can hear 2 songs from VH .."Right Now" and "How Do I know When Its Love" intros.....and those songs came out years later!!!!!

I have always thought this movie got a bad rap from critics...I think it is hilarious and I have watched it probably 25 times....

It is no "fast times" but still a classic......