National Lampoon's Animal House (Widescreen Double Secret Probation Edition)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: John Belushi, John Vernon, Tim Matheson, Tom Hulce, Verna BloomBrand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 109 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-26
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of National Lampoon's Animal House (Widescreen Double Secret Probation Edition)
Movie Review: Comedy classic that invented the genre
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is everything I hate about modern comedies. It is stupid and relies entirely on the more primitive aspects of our sense of humor. But it works.
There is one reason that the modern comedies that follow in its footsteps always fail. They lack the invention that John Landis showed in his debut film. When the comedy appeared here, it was new, something entirely original. The shock of these outlandish images inspires laughter, and rightly so.
"It was new then, so what? I've seen these jokes a thousand times before in its ripoffs. It's not new anymore, the novelty is lost."
Wrong! This film seems as fresh today as it ever did before. Landis makes films with the energy no one else can provide(fine, early Mel Brooks too). The actors provide grace to their performances. The characters know they're being childish, but they just love it so much. Belushi's Bluto isn't even a character. He's an event!
Moreover the film has an underlying intelligent charm about itself. The motto of Faber College, "Knowledge is good!" is a paraphrase of every single motto of every single school in the country. The Deltas are mischievous and cruel, but so are the ones punishing them. One thing that seperates the Deltas from their oppressors: the Deltas are honest about their transgressions by being out in the open about it, the Dean and the Omegas are hypocrits. The film achieves brilliancewhen it exposes the hypocrisy. "If you mention extortion again, I'll have your legs broken."
It's a stupid movie with balls enough to reach for greatness. Donald Sutherland's allusion to Milton's Paradise Lost is a perfect example of how the film justifies its blatant hedonism. The Deltas rule in Hell while the Omega's serve in Heaven.
The movie is smart, not only in its over the top stupidity and clever satire (I'm quite aware that's paradoxical). It also knows just how to generate a laugh, which is more than I can say for most comedies. When Boone enters his girlfriend's house and hears movement in the back, it's understood that she's been cheating on him. He storms out. In any lesser film Neidermeyer or another Omega would've turned out the transgressor, giving the film greater meaning. Donald Sutherland was the last person we expected to see emerge from the bedroom. That's what slapstick is all about: surprizes.
Modern slapstick seems to heed the orders of the Dean, "No more fun of any kind!" The protagonists are too typical. The villains, to villainous. The cattle, raped. Animal House is over the top brilliance that works, but it also set the convention that ruined its followers. But as Satan always said, "Better to rule in Hell [college spoof films], than serve in Heaven [respectable drama]."
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Summary of National Lampoon's Animal House (Widescreen Double Secret Probation Edition)
THE DELTA HOUSE IS SCHEMING TO KEEP ITSELF FROM BEING KICKEDOFF CAMPUS, AND LED BY BELUSHI'S BLUTO, THEY DO SO WITHOUT MUCH HOPE--BUT WITH MANY LAUGHS.This is one of those movies that works for all the wrong reasons--disgusting, lowbrow, base humor that we are all far too sophisticated to find amusing. So, just don't tell anyone you still think it's a riot to watch John Belushi as the brutish Bluto slurp Jell-O or terrorize his less-aggressive fellow students. This crude parody of college life in the '60s spawned many imitations, but none could match the fresh-faced talent or bad taste of this huge box office success. (Remember all those toga parties in the '80s?) The first of the National Lampoon movies, this was originally released as National Lampoon's Animal House. Keep an eye out for a very young Kevin Bacon in his first credited screen appearance. --Rochelle O'Gorman
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