Rating: 
Summary: Don't Mess With This Babysitter!
Review: In the tradition of the "Goonies," Elisabeth Shue shines in her first starring role as Chris, whose day starts out on a bad note. After her boyfriend cancels their date, Chris decided to babysit for a couple who are in dire need for her services. In care of charges, Brad and Sarah, Chris believes this will be an ordinary job, however trouble comes knocking, first when Brad's pest of a friend, Daryl comes to stay over, and then when Chris' best friend is stranded at the bus depot in downtown Chicago.What follows are a series of madcap adventures that take these suburban kids into the heart of the city. After their car's tire goes flat, the Chris and the kids must find a way to find their way back home and go help her friend at the same time. However, when they run into a car-theft ring headquarters, their night won't be the same again. Featuring a wonderful cast including many actors unknown back then (Penelope Ann Miller as Chris' friend; Vincent D'Onofrio as the mechanic, etc.), "Adventures in Babysitting," marks the directorial debut for director Chris Columbus ("Home Alone"; "Stepmom"; the upcoming "Harry Potter" film adaption) who does an excellent job of making this film work. His ability to stretch character limits works well here, as he is able to place the kids in nearly impossible scenarios. The most memorable scene in this film that captures Columbus' imaginative directing features Sarah scrawling the windows of the towering building in downtown Chicago where her father works at night. As she scrawls the windows in fleeing from a member of a car-theft ringleader, she sees her parents at their party from the outside. Who could have thought of such a funny way of seeing your parents at the wrong place and wrong time? Similar to other amazing average-day adventure films such as "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and the "Goonies," - "Adventures in Babysitting," is still as entertaining today as it was over a decade ago. Truly this is one of the late 1980's hidden comedic gems.
Rating: 
Summary: Nobody gets this DVD without singing the blues.
Review: Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) is all set for an anniversary date with her boyfriend, when he cancels on her, citing a sick little sister. With nothing better to do for the evening, she accepts an offer to babysit for the Andersons. She settles in with Brad (Keith Coogan) and Sara (Maia Brewton), her charges, for a night of boredom, when her friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) calls from a downtown bus station, saying that she ran away from home and then chickened out. Bundling the kids and Brad's friend Daryl (Anthony Rapp) into the car, she goes to get Brenda. The mishaps start with a flat tire, and go downhill from there.
Subplots include a chop-shop, a Playmate who looks like Chris in the current issue of Playboy, and Brenda's waiting at the bus station; where she loses her glasses, mistakes a sewer rat for a kitty, and finds out that snack bars don't take checks when she tries to get a hot dog, with the classic line "But I don't have cash!" "Then I don't have a wiener!" The movie was a smash hit, and launched many a career. The main actors are great, with the secondary actors doing a fine job as well. The story seems like "Vacation" in the city, but that's its charm. Chris Columbus' directorial debut, and would later direct Home Alone, "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone" and "Mrs. Doubtfire". The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen, and has some grain, but is good. The audio is a clear Dolby Surround 2.0. The extras are a huge disappointment, with the only extra being Touchstone's Film Reccomendations (One of those stupid screens where you get movies the distributor thinks you will like). Nice DVD, but it warrants a special edition. ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
(1987, PG-13) Chris Parker: Elisabeth Shue
Sara Anderson: Maia Brewton
Brad Anderson: Keith Coogan
Daryl Coopersmith: Anthony Rapp
Joe Gipp: Calvin Levels
Dawson/"Thor": Vincent D'Onofrio Director: Chris Columbus
Writer: David Simkins MOVIE: 5
VIDEO: 4
AUDIO: 5
EXTRAS: 0.5
MENUS: 3
OVERALL: 4
Rating:
Summary: stray dog
Review: if i've said it once, i've said it a million times: keith coogan, where are you? this 1987 flick is hysterical! ya think?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent movie...not too many great DVD features, though
Review: This is an 80's classic! I have always loved this movie...and I was pretty shocked when I found out that Anthony Rapp...aka Mark in RENT is in it! That was soo cool, especially since I liked his character alot. If you've never seen this movie, you should check it out, but if you're going to buy it, unless it's to add to your DVD collection, I'd stick with VHS.
Rating:
Summary: All A Movie Should Have!
Review: "Adventures in Babysitting" mixes humour, horror and action together in this amazing, live-action "babysitting" flick! There is so much to love about this movie. One is the opening scene where Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) is dancing to the goldie "And Then He Kissed Me." Two is the humour. You'll be blue in the face when it is done from laughing so much. The Anderson children and their friend Daryl are the funniest if you want my opinion. Oh...There is so much to list. When Chris Parker's (Elisabeth Shue) boyfriend, Mike Todwell, cancels their anniversary date to a french restaurant, Chris is asked to watch the Anderson children while their parents go out. Over at the Andersons' home, Chris's best friend, Brenda, calls and tells Chris she has run away to the city of Chicago and needs a ride home. So now Chris takes the children into the city, be-friended by their neighbour, Daryl, to come across very exciting adventure. * * * * *! I also would recommend these films: POLTERGEIST I, II, III (* * * * *) - ALEX KINGSTON/MOLL FLANDERS (* * * 1/2) - THE MATRIX (* * * * 1/2). All excellent films. Thanks and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: My Babysitter was NEVER this Fun!
Review: Elisabeth Shue is Chris Parker, a normal seventeen year old who begins the night with an ordinary babysitting job, sitting two normal suburban children, Sarah and Brad. After her friend - Brenda (Penelope Anne Miller) -- calls from a bus station in the city (Chicago), stating that she has runaway from home and needs Chris' support, Chris takes off to the city with Brad, Sarah, and Brad's friend, Daryl. What should have been a 30 minute ride to the bus station turns into a run through the city as the group of four encounter car thieves, weird mechanics, and a place where nobody leaves without singing the blues. Adventures in Babysitting is THE fun movie of the 80s. Well, THE fun movie that doesn't contain little monsters, goonies, or Tom Hanks. As we follow the quartet through Chicago, we are introduced to hilarious scenes and crazy antics as they get themselves in the middle of a car heist, a cheating wife and her enraged husband, and many more. I must say that one of the biggest highlights of the film is the Blues Bar scene where Elisabeth Shue and the kids absolutely have to sing before leaving the bar. It's great. The films is full of great characters. Elisabeth Shue is vibrant as Chris Parker, the babysitter gal. Her interaction with the kids was great, and she handled her leading status with ease. Maia Brewton is little Sarah who offers a lot of the laughs in the movie. She was awesome - I wonder where she is now? Keith Coogan and Anthony Rapp (Rent! Mark in Rent! I love Rent!) are Brad and Daryl, and both stay true to their roles and make them entertaining. But did anyone else want to occasionally strangle Anthony Rapp for that laugh?! We also see the likes of a young Penelope Anne Miller and Vincent D'Onofrio in cameo roles. Although Miller's role is a bit bigger, and very hilarious. Although the DVD release is bare, without even a nice trailer to suit a fan, we do get a nicely widescreen anamorphic presentation with nice picture (Although there are signs of an aged film) and good audio.
Adventures In Babysitting is definitely one of my favorite 80s movies. For the fact that it's a great, fun, and crazily adventurous comedy.
Rating:
Summary: Elisabeth Shue's Babysitter Blues - a fun romp for the kids
Review: Beginning your movie with the right song can get you off to a good start and "Adventures in Babysitting" gives us that golden oldie "And Then He Kissed Me" as Chris Parker prepares for her big date with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, this clown promptly proceeds to dump our heroine, which only proves he is a fool because Chris is played by Elisabeth Shue. Those of us who remember "Call to Glory" already knew that Shue was a babe and so does Brad Anderson (Keith Coogan), the kid who is too old for the babysitter on whom he has a mondo crush. Into the mix we add Sara Anderson (Maia Brewton), the adorable kid sister who has a thing for the Mighty Thor from Marvel Comics (she must have got the cool Thor helmet from Stan Lee, Jack Kirby or somebody in the ol' Bullpen), Daryl Coopersmith (Anthony Rapp), Brad's best friend who has yet to learn when to shut up, and Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller), Chris' best friend who is stuck in downtown Chicago at a bus depot without her glasses, having decided that running away from home was a bad idea. Unfortunately for our heroine, deciding to simply go down and pick up Brenda proves to be a bad idea. With the three kids in tow, Chris takes off for the big city. When the station wagon gets a flat tire that is only the first in a massive chain of misfortunes that befall our plucky lass. There will be a tow truck man with a claw, street thugs with knives on the El, gangster in a chop shop, a college frat party, a close encounter with the parental units at a party high at top a skyscraper, and a delightful session of singing "The Babysitter Blues." In its own way, "Adventures in Baby Sitting is in the mold of the Indiana Jones films, where the cast of characters are stuck on a roller coaster of exciting encounters. Our harried heroine puts up with all of this in order to save her friend and get the kids home before their parents find out they have spent the night narrowly escaping death instead of being safe at home watching the tube. Even though there is a running gag that Chris looks exactly like the Playmate of the Month, this is a movie aimed for kids in the age range of her charges. There is enough of a cartoonish element to the bad guys to take the edge off of the dangers involved and of course we know from the first note of the movie that everything will turn out okay in the end and Chris is going to top off the evening by getting kissed by someone who might actually deserve her. Shue's natural performance holds the film together and although she has gone on to decidedly more dramatic roles in her more recent films, she evinces a natural flair for comedy in this one. However, be warned: once your kidlets have seen this 1987 Disney film they are going to be grossly disappointed in whoever you pay to watch them the next time you go out for a night of fun. Final note: Be sure to watch the entire credits at the end.
Rating:
Summary: It has been my Favourite since 1994!!
Review: Ever since I saw this back in 1994 in California, I have loved it ever since! It has a good cast of characters along with a good message that I am sure we all know! The story is about 17 year old Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) who has to spend her evening babysitting after her date is cancelled by her boyfriend. Brad Anderson (Keith Coogan) likes Chris alot and is excited when he hears that she will be coming to watch himself and his younger sister Sara (Maia Brewton) When Chris gets a phone call from her best friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) saying that she has run away to downtown Chicago and can't get back home, Chris must rush to rescue her....bringing the 2 Andersons and their annoying neighbour Daryl (Anthony Rapp). This movie has lots of surprises so you will just have to watch and see what happens in the end. This movie is rated PG-13 for some Profanity and Mild Violence. Distributed by Disney/Touchstone Home Video in 1987.
Rating:
Summary: WHEN THE SHUE FITS
Review: ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING is a wonderfully entertaining film from the late eighties that still resonates almost 20 years later. Chris Columbus (the future director of the first two Harry Potter films) brings us a series of vignettes resulting in Elizabeth Shue's Chris Parker babysitting for the precious Maia Brewton and the mooneyed Keith Coogan. Shue is marvelous; Coogan and Anthony Rapp are delightful; and little Maia is appropriately cute and loveable. Penelope Ann Miller as the nearsighted Brenda is a riot...especially when she picks up a stray "cat" at the bus station.
Of course, the primo scene is the "nobody leaves till you sing the blues" with Albert Collins. Shue's transformation as she gets into the "Babysitter Blues" is priceless.
This is one feel good movie, and in spite of some of its profanity, a film everyone should enjoy.
It's a minor classic to me!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Brenda's waiting in the bus station while Liz sings Blues!
Review: The scene where Elizabeth Shue sang the Babysitting Blues will remain in enfamy. Well-executed cute film ! nothing deep here... no earth shattering social mores discussed; society's ills are not cured. It;s just a feel-good, sit back and enjoy it kind of movie.
| 
