Reviews

OK, real quick, a correction of someone else's review:

1. Brian Johnson of AC/DC is NOT in this movie.

2. The song in the employment office scene is 'Nothing Up My Sleeves', not 'Ace of Spades.' Having said that...

The film is definitely not for everyone, but for being a small film with a small budget and mostly television actors, its really not bad. The humor is often subtle and easy to miss if you don't pay attention. There's a lot of cameos ranging from 3 of the 4 'Young Ones' stars to Sir Paul McCartney, which just makes the movie weirder, like 'What the %%%% is HE doing in THIS??' Overall its not a bad movie, just don't rent it expecting 'Gone With the Wind.'

This film is currently (Dec. 2005) airing on ComCast On Demand under the Something Weird section. (Good ol' Something Weird Video.) Apparently it was made to be shown at various Santa's Villages and Santa-themed children's parks. (You'll notice that Santa says things like 'This is what you might see at one of my many villages', suggesting that it was meant to shown without any specific park being mentioned.) Basically, its meant as an introduction/commercial for such establishments.

The production value is laughable, coming off as a home-movie that had sound dubbed in later. Many bizarre creatures (Easter Bunnies, an ugly Cinderella (with a sickly green face thanks to faded film color), and a Merlin the Magician make appearances. The 'plot' has the creatures and their Santa fighting off an Ogre, who is never actually seen. (Because the people that made this didn't have the extra 5 bucks to make an Ogre costume heh.) Totally ridiculous, totally cheeseball, and lots of fun, especially since not many 'Santa's Workshops/Villages' seem to exist anymore.

No, really.

I thought a movie about man's favorite form of short-term disruption would be a little better than this. But it isn't even a 'movie'-its a long form video that KINDA looks like film, except for the bad choppy edits to disguise flubbed lines, etc.

Its that bad.

The 'college students' are played by men who are balder than the tires on my old Ford Tempo. That's a sign that something's wrong.

Basically this is a really bad college movie that attempts to use fart jokes to staple everything together. It doesn't work. The 'bad cop' who harasses our 'heroes' never gets any come-upance. The scenes of Artie's whacked out 70's parents (Hair that long in '76? Come on) are there for no reason. And the ability to pass wind at will doesn't fix any problems for our characters, nor is it cured by finding love. Its like someone threw a bunch of ideas into the air and filmed the ones that landed in the circle on the floor.

On top of that, its a cheap-o DVD too, with no title menu or even chapters. There are 'bloopers', but in a movie full of mistakes, who'd notice a blooper?

Man I'm glad I only paid $4.80 for this. I think I'll save it as a present for whichever of my loved ones ends up getting a lobotomy in the future. I can't fathom who else would actually like this thing.

Someone recently mailed me a few of those 'Dollar Store' DVD's, two of which contain Three Stooges cartoons.

They can actually be quite entertaining when enjoying a 'night-cap' after the bar closes, right before bed.

It helps to remember that this was a CHILDREN'S show, hence the Stooges assault was toned-down and simplified for that audience.

These poor guys were so past their prime when these were made, but with just short filmed segments and the rest being cartoon voices, they were probably talked into 'easy money.' But yea, viewed in the right context and keeping in mind that this was never, ever meant to compete or add to the classic Stooges legacy, you might find yourself smiling or even chuckling at this charmingly bad show. ;)

This movie can be seen on the 'Educational Archives: Driver's Ed' DVD. (Put out by Fantoma and available on good old Amazon.com.)

The copy of the film used for the DVD appears to be heavily scratched-up and worn-out, but for all we know, its the last copy on earth.

What I found interesting about this movie is, apart from the narration, its basically a silent movie. All the other music and even sound-effects are done with one of those cheesy Moog synthesizers. (70's synthesizers were more of a real instrument than today's; You still had to be able to PLAY them. Nothing was sampled or programmed, as far as I know.) Whoever scored this short film was an amazing player-I hope they went on to have a successful career as a musician!

That soundtrack combined with a sing-song rhyming narration, funky animation, and the great colorful clothing and decor of the 70's, make this a fun little film long after you've finished your own Driver's Ed class!

I first saw 'Morons From Outer Space' on cable television when I was 12 years old. (1986.) Recently I spotted it for sale on DVD, and what, with a price tag of only 10 dollars, thought I couldn't pass up owning this cinematic masterpiece.

So how does it look now that I am older and more sophisticated? (Or at least just older...)

Its 100 times funnier now. I actually GET the jokes I didn't when I was 12 because I have seen the other movies they reference (Cuckoo's Nest, etc.) I also have a better eye for subtly and timing. The other IMDB reviewer here was right-there is a lot more to this film than there appears to be at first viewing. Not to mention the nice part where the Aliens are brought 'down to earth,' metaphorically speaking.

If you have seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail 2000 times and are sick to death of it, well, go and watch it again. But after that, see Morons From Outer Space. Every scene in it is like a small sketch and will actually get funnier with repeated viewings, much like Python.

Favorite scenes: The 'therapy' at the psycho ward with the Iron Maiden record, and the sneeze inside the space helmet. Classic!

This show drove me nuts for one reason-they SPELLED THE NAME OF THE SHOW WRONG. 'Whoops' has an 'H' in it. This tells us a lot about the people who were behind it. Not one person caught this simple error. The show itself was pretty dumb, as I recall.