Sleeper

Rating:
Summary: Classic screwball sci fi comedy
Review: Whatever you think of Allen, this film was fun. Allen and Keaton are charming and likeable, and the set designs and costumes are excellent. The film also has a nice style to it, clean and streamlined. The dixieland soundtrack music is provided by Allen himself, an accomplished clarinetist. The first half of the movie is packed with great jokes and gags, and the second half gets a little self-indulgent here and there (the re-creation of "Streetcar Named Desire" for one). But there's a cute love story amidst the madcap antics and you're on the edge of your seat in the final crazy scene, where Keaton and Allen impersonate two doctors about to demonstrate how to clone the deceased "Great Leader" from his...nose...I'm sure there was a fair bit of improv in this film.

Rating:
Summary: Should Be A Cult Classic
Review: When you mention Cult Classics...This is not on any list. But it is on top of mine. Woody takes the "Rip van Winkle" concept and puts us in a future which is...well. filled with gagas or funny insights. I love the "Orgasmatron"...it is funnier than anything done in the last decade or so. Plus I love the health food of the future...make sure all your health food conscience friends watch this.....Becasue you never know!

A great film to watch with friends....

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF WOODY ALLEN'S FUNNIEST MOVIES.
Review: Woody Allen is a genius. And perhaps his best decade was the 1970's. His early movies were more joke oriented than his later movies, but even tough they have a lot of Woody's trademarks like the social satire or the elaborated jokes.

"Sleeper" isn't the exception. Actually is one of Woody Allen's funniest movies, is packed with imaginative and unforgettable sequences. "Sleeper" is not only one of Woody's finest comedies, but also it's one of the best of that decade. Some details might seem a bit dated, but overall the movie has a futuristic atmosphere.

Joining Woody is Diane Keaton as Luna, a beautiful and clueless artist. Diane really was a gorgeous girl in this movie, and also helped Woody to create several of his finest films.

"Sleeper" is recommendable for any fan of Woody Allen or the comedies in general.

Rating:
Summary: The Woodman contracts "future shock"...
Review: Woody Allen pulls out all the comic stops here, utilizing everything from Orwellian social satire, sci-fi movie parody, Harold Lloyd-style pratfalls,and a scene involving giant fruits and vegetables that has to be the funniest sight gag ever committed to celluoid. The one or two minutes of screen time involving the "Orgasmatron" alone is funnier than all the gags combined in any entire Farrelley brothers or Jim Carrey movie you'd care to name. By the way, am I the only person who noticed that the 1993 Sylvester Stallone film "Demolition Man" ripped off at least a half dozen comic premises directly from "Sleeper"? Granted, the "Rip Van Winkle" concept wasn't invented by Allen,but still...the gag about junk food being considered health food in the future--(just for starters) that's too specific to be coincidence! Oh well,there hasn't been an original thought in Hollywood since the mid-70's anyway- so why should we lose sleep, eh? Don't miss this 'sleeper'!

Rating:
Summary: A world filled with frigid women and impotent men
Review: Woody Allen's dystopian sci-fi adventure, "Sleeper" is an amusing film filled with experimental elements. The comedy ranges from over the top sight gags (canoe sized bananas for one), to Allen's typical neurotic ravings, to Allen performing some "Blanch Dubois" dialog during a hilarious reenactment of a "typical" Jewish dinner scene performed in the middle of the woods.

The movie is very silly, and is more an anthology of short Allen-esk gags (visual and verbal) knitted together by the story of a man frozen in 1973 and awakened 200 years in the future to find the United States replaced by a police state. He meets a woman with a Ph.D in oral sex (Diane Keaton), and funny things happen during their "struggle for freedom".

Bottom line: If you like Woody Allen, and enjoy his brand of humor, you will enjoy this film. While retaining the elements that make Allen's films unique, the sci-fi / futuristic setting of "Sleeper" makes it a refreshing change of pace from Allen's other works.

The DVD itself leaves a lot to be desired, as do most DVD's produced for older films. The only "extras" on the disk are the theatrical trailer for the film. The menus and scene selection screens are static (no motion or animated transitions). The only interesting component to the menu is an unusually long piece of soundtrack that plays while the main menu is displayed. A surprising omission is the absence of English subtitles, which come in surprisingly handy when dialogue is obscured by sound effects, too many people talking at once, etc.

The DVD transfer itself is quite good. There is very little dirt on the film, and the overall picture quality is quite good.

Movie
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Originality: B+
Creativity: A
Complexity/Depth: C-
Relevance/Message: C-
Artistic Merit: B-
Overall Entertainment Value: B+

DVD
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Transfer Quality: A
Extras: D-
Use of Medium: C-


Rating:
Summary: Science Fiction version of Bananas
Review: __________________

Sleeper is not Woody's best "early, funny" movie, and there's the same soapbox as Bananas, but even the look of the film is better. Although it wasn't just an excuse to set up a banana-peel gag, that scene is pretty d- funny. Some of the jokes have lost their timeliness, but that's the nature of jokes.

Considering that Allen put out "What's Up Tiger Lily" and inspired (among other things) "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (a concept that was tired the first day it aired, IMHO), it's not too much to claim that Allen also pioneered the sci-fi spoof with "Sleeper". This is a no-brainer, you will enjoy it, just buy it already.

"Bananas" is among Woody's worst, but if you liked that POS, you'd have to be completely brain-dead not to like Sleeper. People who are fans of "Bananas" are not really fans of Woody Allen as far as I'm concerned. I don't advocate prison sentences for that lot, but I do lean toward exile on some kind of island prison.