Beach Blanket Bingo

Rating:
Summary: MGM Drops the "Beach" Ball on this One!
Review: Serious collectors hoping for the "definitive" version of this beach classic, please be forewarned: MGM has inexplicably released the "edited for television" version rather than the original theatrical version! What a disappointment! It seems that years ago when "Beach Blanket Bingo" was shown on ABC, the network cut out a solo sung by Annette titled "I'll Never Change Him" to allow for more commercial time. When HBO released its VHS version, it was also the edited version and in fact, subsequent reissues by Goodtimes Video and Video Treasures apparently used the same print. It wasn't until a couple of years ago when the movie started showing on cable networks such as Cinemax and American Movie Classics that the restored theatrical version finally was seen and for those of us who weren't lucky enough to see it on the big screen, it was quite a surprise that we had been watching an edited version all these years. The song is a bouncy upbeat tune and in my opinion, it's Annette's best song in the series. In fact, it was even recycled later the same year in "Ski Party" with the title and lyrics slightly changed to "We'll Never Change 'em" and this time warbled by Deborah Walley. On the upside, the transfer is crisp and the colors breathtaking in this widescreen edition. But if you want to see the original theatrical version, you'll just have to be content to tape it the next time it plays on AMC's American Pop series.

Rating:
Summary: Not good, Great!
Review: This movie has it all. Singing, surfing, skydiving and more.It's about some teens at the beach. If you like old movies you just might like this.

Rating:
Summary: Not great but good.
Review: This movies got it all.Surfing,skydiving, and singing.Great movie for surf lovers. It's about teens at the beach, what else can one say. The jokes are so corny ,your not laughing about the joke, your laughing at it. It's not amazing but I'd still recomend it.

Rating:
Summary: Warning About Tape Quality
Review: While the other reviews profile the movie itself, you should be aware that this VHS tape was recorded in LP (long play) mode. Most decent movies are recorded onto the VHS tape in SP (standard play), which is the fastest speed and therefore will give the best picture quality. I knew something was up when I pulled the cassette out of the box and noticed there seemed to be only about 30 minutes of tape inside. Indeed, the picture quality and sound are noticeably poor. Using the slower LP speed for a pre-recorded video tape is an inexcusably cheap way to mass produce video tapes. You are far better off recording this movie off of AMC (American Movie Classics), which occasionally shows this movie. The picture will look far better. In looking at the box, it appears that Orion now has the rights to this movie, which was originally produced by American Internationals Pictures Inc. At the end of the movie is a trailer that says "Good Times Home Video". I don't know who's responsible for the poor quality of the tape, but my rating of one star is due to the tape quality not the movie itself. At the time of this review, BBB is not available on DVD. Orion are you listening?

Rating:
Summary: Great transfer!
Review: Wonderful, crisp transfer-finally you can pitch those horrible EP VHS copies! Robert is right about the missing song, so I had to dock it a star, but a must in any case!