Up in Smoke

Rating:
Summary: "My mama's talkin to me, tryin' to tell me how to live!"
Review: Out of all the Cheech & Chong collaborations, their first film, 1978's Up In Smoke still stands as the best. A comedy classic that just can't be duplicated, not even by themselves. The plot (can you guess?) concerns two dudes, Pedro (Cheech) & Man (Chong) and their search for the best weed, rock music, and good times, man. Of course this journey comes with a price, evading a group of "undercover" cops led by the obsessed Sgt. Stedenko (Stacy Keach). If you like cars, you'll no doubt enjoy Pedro's Love Machine, which he decorated himself, and the van made completely out of pot! Watch out for that smoke. A few of the funniest scenes come from this van: 1. When the cop pulls them over and forgets why! and 2. When Stedenko and crew stand next to the smoking van and feel the influence, then order some pizzas! If you like to rock, then you've got that too. To quote the concert announcer - "...I don't know who they are, but here's ALICE BOWIE." Being a drummer myself, I'm more than a little jealous of Chong's gigantic drumsticks! However, I'm not jealous of Cheech's tu-tu! The characters Cheech & Chong created began to wear out in later films, but don't count this one out. Up In Smoke is when it was new and fresh and somehow it still "smokes" to this day.

Some comments on the DVD: One reviewer stated that the DVD doesn't have any features, but that's just not true. I just bought the 2000 Paramount DVD release and it has the following:

*Widescreen Version for 16:9 TVs
*Feature Length Commentary with Cheech Marin & Director Lou Adler
*8 Deleted Scenes (including Harry Dean Stanton as a security guard) with optional commentary by Cheech & Lou Adler
*Original Theatrical Trailer
*Dolby Digital: English 5.1 Surround/Restored English Mono
*English Subtitles

A great way to own a comedy classic and Paramount has given a little something to the fans with this DVD release. Don't even sleep on it, just get this primo disc, man!

Rating:
Summary: THIS ONE STARTED IT ALL.
Review: It's hard to believe this movie is over 25 years old because the humor still comes across as fresh. While little comments like "He <Strawberry> went over to Nam and came back all weirded out" may be slightly out of time-sync, the concept of the fried out junkie could translate easily to today.
The music is good. The comic skits are classic. The characters are truly priceless. Stacy Keach is a real treasure as Sgt Stedanko.
If, like me, you can sit on your big comfy couch and recite the bits by memory.." you get a ******* job before sundown or we're shipping you off to military school with the *****finkelstein **** kid..." then this movie is a must have. If you just want a mindless bit of fluff comedy then it CAN be viewed that way. But don't overlook the true comic greatness often blurred by thesmoke.

Rating:
Summary: Mexicans don't just like to get into gang fightsssssss!
Review: Quality stoner film. =)
You might even laugh if your not high, which is uncommon with these kind of films. Still, your better off high while you watch it.

Rating:
Summary: ..Buy It...
Review:

Rating:
Summary: I HAVE THE VHS
Review: I have the VHS and love the movie, i'm glad that the DVD is in widescreen. What i'm not happy is there are no special features on any of the DVD'S! Come on and put somthing besides trailers, and give these DVD'S the respect and give them that special treatment.

Rating:
Summary: SMokE HERB!
Review: Classic stoner flicjk and the best of the c & c series. Keep smokin Holmes

Rating:
Summary: The best
Review: Up In Smoke is C&C's best in my opinion. Their close brushes with getting busted, along with their 'innocently goofy' characters, and the tight chase by the incompetent Sgt. Stedanko make this a nonstop laugh. After watching this film several times, "Next Movie" was kind of a let down because of long, slow periods in the plot as compared to Up in Smoke.

Rating:
Summary: Plot-Free Pot-Fest -- Big Whoop about Very Little!
Review: Definitely DATED, this film has 70s "High Times" written all over it. These guys have not much more than "pot" on their brain. All jokes lead to the same subject...dope, man!

Cheech and Chong, already celebrated novelty song artists with several best-selling albums to their credit just had to take their "message" to the next level. "Up In Smoke" gave them plenty of exposure and secured a solid fandom. 25 years later, though, the laughs drop drastically on the dime-bag-scale.

When I was still in high school (and I didn't give in to the smoking of anything, then or now), I may have enjoyed this sort of nonsense more. As a middle aged intellectual, I can offer only a few tired smirks. Give me Laurel & Hardy instead!**

Rating:
Summary: ganja jokes galore!
Review: the genesis of stoner humor. cheech marin and tommy chong are among the best comedians out there. this has more mexican jokes and comedic drug escapades are what you'll find in this movie.

Rating:
Summary: AS GOOD AS CHAPLIN'S BEST, SET IN THE L.A. OF THE 1970's
Review: It is obvious that this flick has been reviewed by a lot of ex(?)potheads. I am not one of them, but I lived in L.A. during that dynamic era and, though never a smoker, I can fully identify with the movie, the characters, and the attitudes depicted.

To me it is as free wheeling and zany as the best of Chaplin. It is difficult to know where to begin in praising this film. It is a great commentary on the times. Sometimes the jokes were exaggerated parodies of real situations, and sometimes they were all too accurate. For example the hilarious sequence when the matronly socialite was turned on for the first time and everything was funny. She noted that the stoplight had such pretty colors.

This film can't be taken in in only one viewing. The stacatto of fast moving jokes and surrounding unrelated actions are too numerous and sometimes too subtile to be caught on the first go-around. It took the 4th viewing for me to recognize the entrance to the comedy club that Cheech, Chong, their friends, and Pee Wee Herman performed in in the film as the old Whiskey-a-Go-Go in Hollywood that I've been in so many times. It is now called simply "The Whiskey," I believe. In real life Cheech started out as a singer in Chong's band in Canada, and they incorporated these roles in the film in hilarious ways. Cheech made up some of the funniest lyrics you will ever hear, and Chong was constantly blowing out high powered amplifiers.

When I'm stressed out and want a relaxing escape into pure humorous whimsey I stick this film in the mchine and watch it again. It always gets me in a better mood.

You don't have to be a pot head to enjoy this movie. It seems fresh every time I watch it.