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Summary: Reefer Madness and NIKE--Play Hard.
Review: UNlike some of the other reviews, I found the film to be thought provoking and pretty darn funny. UNderstanding the zeitgeist releases an unusual perpective taking platform. One must understand the attempts that were taken to deliver an aversive attitude amongst the youth of that time.In one sense, we look at it and laugh only because we know (or at least some of us) the effects that are protrayed are exaggerated and/or false. However, when looking at the film as it was protrayed is quite another factor. Quite scary. The lies or maybe simply misinformation that powers-to-be were trying to invade us with are probably similar to things going on now that we are simply not aware of. What and who really is behind NIKE? Hee Hee.
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Summary: The movie we all laugh at now
Review: This movie was made to scare its generation away from marijuana. Now, its extreme exagerations and ludicrousy make it cult classic. From saying that the new "drug menace, marijuana" is far worse than cocaine or heroin to an introduction that states the film will only be a success if you are too scared to ever think marijuana has any good intent, the film goes too far to ever be considered serious. The film fails at its mission of scaring the public away from marijuana, but allows us to laugh at just how far the US Government went to continue the prohibition. All and all, the film is best if you see it with you "buds."
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Summary: Reefer Madness
Review: I first saw this film in the auditorium of a SCHOOL, as a member of the entire student body (that was a while ago)! Though it wasn't shown for laughs, that was the end result. In society now, where "Pot" isn't something in which to cook dinner -- it was a hoot to see by the acting while seemingly "high," no one on-screen had ever smoked pot. Yes, it's a "Don't Do This" type of film, but funnier, and much scarier than the "Duck and Cover" films, or the ones shown to servicemen before they were about to set foot on foreign soil in the second World War. -- (Sigh) -- We age...we learn. Sometimes.
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Summary: Bargain grab for the stoner crowd...
Review: Reefer madness is a cult classic with the stoner crowd for the extreme comedy used with the "doped up" crowd of kids in the 30s. I have tried a few times to watch the whole movie and have yet to make it all the way throug, it's just far far too boring. There's a few really funny bits along the way such as the piano player who constantly plays faster and faster but overall it's not worth the time you have to invest. being on dvd you'd expect a restored print perhaps or redone sound but that is not the case here. the film looks horrible as would be expected from a 30s film and sound is scratchy and painful to the ears when turned up loud. Avoid it even at bargain costs.
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Summary: Hit play and pass the pipe
Review: Now I know where my mother learned every thing she knows about the 'killer weed'. Watch it stoned or straight, keep this disk in your collection to pull out when friends are over. It's one big laugh.
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Summary: The funniest movie next to Plan 9 From Outerspace
Review: Next to Plan 9 from outerspace, this movie is one of the funniest I have ever seen. It was originally filmed so that it would end all use of pot, but it failed miserably. However its terrible dialogue, and so-bad-its-funny acting make this film a cult classic that everyone has to see once in their life for no other reason than to laugh at it.
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Summary: Humorous
Review: Made in the 1930's, it appears to be made as an educational film about the dangers of smoking marijuana. As society's awareness and knowledge about drugs has grown since then, this movie would flop as an educational film. Today, the viewer should watch this film and enjoy, with humor, the silliness of it.
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Summary: This is your brain on propoganda
Review: This is a hilarious flick. It was a part of the hysteria over marijuana that afflicted America in the thirties. Prohibition of alcohol was repealed in 1931 and Prohibition of marijuana was about to be born. While this film was NOT financed by the government as many people believe, it did play right into their hands. Many had a vested (as in financial) interest in making marijuana illegal. Certain corporations that shall remain nameless had a stake in eliminating industrial hemp. Creating a mythology about the evil menace marijuana was a way to achieve that end. This film is hilarious due to the poor acting and mediocre special effects. It is about the quality you would expect if Barry McCaffrey decided to direct a film today. Of course this film is as comical as most of the rhetoric we still hear today. The blatant lies about reefer are still spread in some circles today. It is sick to admit to gaining such comic pleasure through misfortune but being in on the lie helps. It is a funny flick for anyone interested in drug laws and in use of film to spread propoganda. It is hopped up lunacy at its best.
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Summary: Poor Quality DVD
Review: I found the quality of this DVD unwatchable. It was unclear, grainy, and had brightness levels that changed throughout the film. I wasted $$$$
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Summary: The Greatest Exploitation Flick of the 30s!
Review: In the 70s, NORML spread the myth that the government sponsored Reefer Madness. The truth, however, is that the film was made to play the Exploitation circuit... and was made with tongue firmly planted in cheek.Thelma White (Mae) has said that the cast was specifically asked to "hoke it up." And the scene in which Ralph demands that the piano be played "Faster... Faster!" comes straight out of 42nd Street--a film in which actor Dave O'Brien (yes, Ralph himself) had played a chorus boy. So, if the makers of this film weren't serious about their message, why did they make the movie? Well, why did anybody make an Exploitation film in the 30s? To show more skin than the Hays Code allowed, of course, and to capitalize on public fears. Simply put: they wanted to make money. And make money they did. Unlike most Exploitation fare, Reefer Madness was shot over a period of three weeks, on a relatively large budget (by sub-Poverty Row standards). Using an experienced director and a couple of actors who would go on to do respectable work in Hollywood, this production is the creme-de-la-creme of 30's Exploitation cinema. Reefer Madness is every bit as hyperbolic as it was intended to be. Just watch it knowing that its makers are laughing at you, and you'll realize that this film is perhaps one of the greatest jokes ever played on an audience in the history of cinema. It's certainly one of the most entertaining.
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