Rating: 
Summary: The First of all Feel-Good 50s Films!
Review: "American Graffiti" is the best trip back to the summer of 1962 Hollywood ever had to offer! The eventful night when freshly graduated high school friends contemplated their futures while immersed in small town America's car-hops, drive-in movies & doo-wop music, is shown in "real time". Richard Dreyfuss is perfect as the smart kid, ready to drive off to college the next morning, but wondering if he's doing the right thing. Ron Howard and Cindy Williams get some practice for their soon to follow "Happy Days", while Charles Martin Smith and Candy Clark are wonderful as the goofus who wants to show a pretty girl a good time. Wolfman Jack plays himself (and cupid) when he plays a very special request going out from Richard Dreyfuss to his dream girl Suzanne Sommers. Look for a pre-teen McKenzie Phillips and a young Harrison Ford in minor roles. This film is a big winner in my book!
Rating:
Summary: An American Classic
Review: This movie is way before my time, but i still can't help but love it. I live in the small town that this film was made in, Modesto California, and was reminded about the film by the annual graffiti festivil this weekend. It is true to Life, and still holds true in the most basic senses with my generation, I graduated High School in 1998 and my friends and I were always cruising, racing and having a good time any chance we got, and the mucle cars are still alive, they may be a little different but still alive. I rate this movie 5 out of 5 because it still relates to teenagers even after all these years, I believe this movie can bring generations together.
Rating:
Summary: Joyride back to 'Cruisin' '62' -- First and Best in Genre!
Review: This multi-layered DVD version of "American Graffiti" is the best trip back to the summer of 1962 Hollywood ever had to offer! The eventful night when freshly graduated high school friends contemplated their futures while immersed in small town America's car-hops, drive-in movies & doo-wop music (the soundtrack is one of the best featured in ANY film!), is shown in "real time". Richard Dreyfuss is perfect as the smart kid, ready to drive off to college the next morning, but wondering if he's doing the right thing. Ron Howard and Cindy Williams get some practice for their soon to follow "Happy Days", while Charles Martin Smith and Candy Clark are wonderful as the goofus who wants to show a pretty girl a good time. Wolfman Jack plays himself (and cupid) when he plays a very special request going out from Richard Dreyfuss to his dream girl Suzanne Sommers. Look for a pre-teen McKenzie Phillips and a young Harrison Ford in minor roles. This film is a big winner in my book!*****
Rating:
Summary: The 'forties were even better, except '41-'45
Review:
Director: George Lucas
Format: Color
Studio: Universal Studios
Video Release Date: December 26, 2001
Cast: Richard Dreyfuss ... Curt Henderson
Ron Howard ... Steve Bolander
Paul Le Mat ... John Milner
Charles Martin Smith ... Terry 'The Toad' Fields
Cindy Williams ... Laurie Henderson
Candy Clark ... Debbie Dunham
Mackenzie Phillips ... Carol
Wolfman Jack ... XERB disc jockey
Bo Hopkins ... Joe Young
Manuel Padilla Jr. ... Carlos
Beau Gentry ... Ants Harrison Ford ... Bob Falfa
Jim Bohan ... Officer Holstein
Jana Bellan ... Budda
Deby Celiz ... Wendy
Lynne Marie Stewart ... Bobbie Tucker
Terence McGovern ... Mr. Bill Wolfe
Kathleen Quinlan ... Peg
Tim Crowley ... Eddie
Scott Beach ... Mr. Gordon
John Brent ... Car salesman
Gordon Analla ... Bozo
John Bracci ... Station attendant
Jody Carlson ... Girl in Studebaker
Del Close ... Guy (man at bar)
Chuck Dorsett ... Man at accident
Stephen Knox ... Kid at accident
Joe Miksak ... Man at liquor store
George Meyer ... Bum at liquor store
James Cranna ... Liquor store thief
Johnny Weissmuller Jr. ... Badass #1
William Niven ... Clerk at liquor store
Al Nalbandian ... Hank Anderson
Bob Pasaak ... Dale
Chris Pray ... Al
Susan Richardson ... Judy
Fred Ross ... Ferber
Jan Dunn ... Old woman
Charlie Murphy ... Old man
Ed Greenberg ... Kip Pullman
Lisa Herman ... Girl in Dodge
Mark Anger ... Mr. Kroot
Kay Lenz ... Jane (girl at dance)
Caprice Schmidt ... Announcer at dance
Joe Spano ... Vic
Debralee Scott ... Falfa's girl
Ron Vincent ... Jeff
Donna Wehr ... Carhop
Cam Whitman ... Balloon girl
Jan Wilson ... Girl at dance
Suzanne Somers ... Blonde in T-Bird
Warren Knight ... Herby And The Heartbeats
Sam McFadin ... Herby And The Heartbeats
Kris Moe ... Herby & the Heartbeats
Linn Phillips III ... Herby and the Heartbeats
George Robinson ... Herby & the Heartbeats saxophonist
Linda Christensen ... Girl A classic depicting the youth of the 1950s as they would like to have been. They are sooo young! One especially good scene is where the kids chain the rear axle and differential of a parked police car to a fixed pole, the draw the cops into giving chase. This is the story of young people who are faced with great changes--heading for college, leaving their childhood behind, giving up old relationships including "puppy love", and facing the future, with all of the pain, humor, hubris, pathos and pain that follows. This is really a great film with, just maybe, a hint of what the 'fifties were really like. Joseph (Joe) Pierre
author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books
Rating:
Summary: American Graffiti for the male mind
Review: Set in 1962, this coming of age story for California guys showcases the pop world from a male perspective. In dusk-to-dawn fashion, they guys face their respective turning points in their lives -- where boys turn into "men". The goils exist as foils or fantasy fluff for male consumption. A classic example of Inez Hedge's central thesis in "Breaking the Frame" where she explores film language and the experience of limits. Film viewers are rarely shown what is going on inside the minds of the women's characters. Females exist as subjects within a frame that assumes the male perspective. Women's passive positioning in film language is reinforced by two directorial tactics: 1) most point-of-view shots are from a male perspective; 2) males originate most of the action.
Rating:
Summary: American Graffiti (1973)
Review: I can't say enough about how truly classic and great this film is. Without a doubt deserving of its AFI 100 Greatest Films of all time list. And I think this film even surpases Lucas' most known films - "The Star Wars Trilogy". The basic theme of this film is -- "the end of eras".It was the end of peace im America, before the war in Vietnam broke out. It was before America's rock n roll suddenly became Englands rock and roll. It was the end of cruising, a very popular American mating ritual. The Nostalgia showcased in this film is quite thick. And although it is a comedy, it is also a drama and its the best kind of drama. It isn't in your face - you have to find it in the end. This film perfectly showcases the end of the GOlden days in AMerica. Its here in all its glory. Superb acting, directing, and the ammount of classic cars and classic rock n roll tunes from the 50's and 60's alone is worth 3 stars. 10 minutes into this film - you will be hooked. You will want to see it over and over again. It is truly an American classic from one of America's Greatest Filmakers!
Rating:
Summary: Where Was I in '62? In My Mother's Womb
Review: Let me preface it to say that there are few films that I would give more than the 5 stars allotted to reviewers. To say that I love this film is an understatement. When I saw this film theatrically in 1978(it was the extended director's cut not the original version that played theatres in 1973) I wished that I was in Modesto, California cruising the streets to the sounds of the Wolfman. This film suggests the kind of director George Lucas could have become if he had not become engrossed with "Star Wars" and ILM. Our loss. The story deals with young people on the cusp of adulthood going out for one last fling. Their stories aren't earth-shaking ones. John, the rebel, has to usher around an underage girl. Steve, the responsible one, is trying to patch things up with his girlfriend, Laurie. Terry, the geek, is trying to make it with a Sandra Dee wanna-be. Curt, the brain, is pursuing the elusive blonde in the white T-bird. Along the way various things intrude on these pursuits. A drag race, a gang initiation, etc. Lucas has crafted a dream world here that is every much as wonderous as that of "Star Wars". Enough cannot be said of the period music that comments on the action of the film. And of course Lucas assembled a largely unknown cast (Richard Dreyfus, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith, Paul LeMat, Cindy Williams, Harrison Ford, etc.) who portray young people not dumb teenagers. One of the devices that Lucas uses to illustrate that youth is a temporary state is show title cards about what happened to the principle characters later in life. This film illustrates the innocence that was contained in this country prior to the social upheavals that occured later in the 60's.
Rating:
Summary: American Pop At It's Best
Review: Early George(Star Wars)Lucas outing with Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Richard Dreyfuss, underated actor Paul LeMat, a cameo by Wolfman Jack and more. I deen this movie 84 times. 73 in the theater when it was first released. The film lasted over a year in the theaters and had a 41 track soundtrack that was popular because the 50s music had made a comeback in the early 70s. TV Shows like Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Sons And Daughters and a hill of other movies based in the era never to outdo the popularity of this movie. It's all for fun anyways. The happy music, the pranks, the gorgeous cars....you just get that feeling that you are there having a good time with the cast. There is nothing bad to say about the movie and you will definately end the movie with spirits up...........well until the end credits....you'll see.
Rating:
Summary: A great movie about ordinary people
Review: I grew up a few years later than the main characters in this movie, in a society in which millions of people were unlikely to agree about what life was all about, or whether anyone had the right to consider that a fair question. Listening to the documentary on this DVD, I was reminded of how many people would end up being nobodies in my society, and that being in a movie like this, which was about as big a hit as anyone with less than a million dollar budget was likely to make even once, could be just a start for the people who would have the opportunity to do things like say something and have everybody hear it.
If this movie was what being a teenager was all about, I missed my teen years completely, being even more of a geek than the geek character in this movie. I was even taught by some serious adult people that I knew at church when I was a kid that the music that the teen characters in this movie listen to was lame. It took me a long time to figure out how different most things are from whatever adults are thinking, and this is particularly true of some early rock songs that still sound good, even after they are no longer in the top ten. I had to count songs in this movie to find about ten songs that are still really great, and some of those songs are used in 2004 for exercise classes at the YMCA in Saint Paul, Minnesota, if you really want to know what little old ladies listen to before they do can-can kicks in the swimming pool. I was never a fanatic about cars, so that large element of this movie and the local cops were never a significant part of my life.
The best thing about this movie is that everything happens all at once. The documentary on the DVD explains how many years it took to get this movie written (by George Lucas, Gloria Katz & Willard Huyck), cast, filmed, edited to be less than three hours long, and marketed for showing in theaters. Most of the people making this movie were young, and have now been around so long that looking back so far makes them think they really were nobodies once. Harrison Ford in the movie is the only character who plays a big shot and tells Toad `I'm not a nobody.' The way the movie ends, he is just another loser, and even the guy who beat him can't see the sense of racing these nobodies. Cindy Williams complains in the documentary about having such a sad part, while the other girls get to have fun, but being head cheerleader with one more year of high school to go is the top of the social heap at that level, and knowing what she wants, by the end of the movie she has latched on to something.
I have often complained that entertainment values have become the main economic motivator of changes in American society. While this movie is a nostalgia boom that won't let go of a teen culture still unaware of the changes that were going to hit American society after 1962, the success of the movie started a drive to reproduce elements of youth culture in forms that millions of people could relate to on a personal level, as a form of entertainment that is superior to the extreme themes and clear villains of myths that have an obvious message. Consider the drunk Terry the Toad telling someone, `You are talking to the woman I love,' when she happens to be the first woman in the movie who would even go out with him. This is an easy mistake for someone in Terry the Toad's position to make, and laughing at him hardly helps to make the situation any better, but it is so damn funny that it even makes Curt Henderson's best line, about wimps getting all of the snatch, sound a little lame.
Three scenes that were deleted for the theatrical release of this movie have been restored in the film on videotape and DVD, and those scenes might be surprising for people who have not seen them before. The documentary on the DVD explains which scenes were cut to save six minutes. It didn't hurt the film much, but if you have not seen the long version, consider buying this DVD just so you can hear Terry the Toad telling a used car salesman, `For God's sake, leave me alone!'
Rating:
Summary: Nostalgia and Fun
Review: This piece of nostalgia is both entertaining and sentimental. Humor and emotion play an equal roll in this movie, making it heart touching to all audiences.
For those of us who are too young to have experienced the early 60s this film is the next best thing. We get to see the styles of cars, clothing, and hair as well as hear the music of the era. We get to see many of todays most recognizable faces long before they were famous. It's also fun to chuckle at how very little teenage life has actually changed.
George Lucas is a fabulous director,and the actors all deliver convincing performances. Whether you're laughing with them or feeling the sting of their heart break, we can all relate to what they're going through.
Regardless of your generation, watching this movie is sure to bring back a flood of memories of first loves and old friends.
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