The Van (1977) User Reviews (34)

we made love in my Chevy van, and that alright with me

[StLouisAssassin · 4/10 · 5 February 2007]

The title song for this movie ...........is the greatest free spirited ballad ever written! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

I first saw this movie back in 1978-79 when I first subscribed to cable. In 1979 cable was just starting to become common place in homes. (or at least that when it was becoming common here in Missouri).

This might very well be the first movie I ever watched on the pay channel called "The Movie Channel" - which was called "The Star Channel" back then, they changed the name to "The Movie Channel" in the early 1980's........I received a free month of "The Star Channel" with my new cable subscription. "The Van" was one of the movies that was in heavy rotation on that network at that time.

I remember watching this movie back then, and thinking it was a typical teen flick(along the same lines as other medium budget teen flicks) ...the ones where the plot revolves around nudity and parties.

I totally forgot that this movie even existed until I recently seen this movie again after having not seeing it for decades( I found a copy of it on DVD for sale in cheap bin) I recognized it, and bought it for a mere $4.99.

Seems like I had remembered this film being much better that it was(is). However watching it back then was a different experience than watching now(30+ years later).

It was fun to see the kids listing to rock n roll music, smoking weed, and having sex in the back a fancy van(often all at the same time). This is what a good teen party movie should be.

There isn't much of a plot other than the fact that the main character fantasizes about having sex with his arch rivals good looking girlfriend ...he blows all of his college savings money to purchase a tricked out Dodge Van(with shag carpet walls . mirrored ceiling and a water bed in it)to get her attention, and he eventually gets to have sex with her. But his arch rival finds out and comes looking for him (so that the two of them can settle their differences by drag racing their vans)....he and his arch rival end up wrecking both of their vans, and instead of stealing away his arch rivals girlfriend, he wins over the heart of a preppy(lesser attractive) girl that he half/ass dates through most of the movie and he decides he is happier/better off and the movie ends.

the movie does have it's funny moments. But watching this movie 30+ years later, it becomes more of a trip down memory lane. Because I still can remember Pizza parlors, pinball arcades, It also brought back memories of cruising around a small town while we smoked pot as we would yell at good looking girls and hoping to get laid (sometimes I'd get lucky and get some decent looking girl to share a joint with me and we'd screw in the backseat afterwords, I also remember many of the songs in this move(when they were new)......this movie serves as a perfect time capsule for that era in those regards (brought back lots of memories)

the one thing that is depicted in this movie that I honestly can not remember is ....I never remember a time when full sized vans were as popular as this film depicts them as being. I remember that era very well, and I don't young men going around wishing they had a van. Instead I remember young men in the 70's (self included) wanting a Pontiac Trans Am, Chevy Camaro or a hot rod Ford Mustang, but never a van. This movie makes it appear as if vans were most popular item going and that every young man wanted one(which just wasn't true of that era)

Wheels Need Some Alignment

[BaronBl00d · 4/10 · 4 July 2004]

Coming-of-age fare from the 70s; you know that period where a new van supposedly meant high living, fast girls, and tons of laughs. Hmmm. Anyway, The Van is not entirely bad. I mean let's be realistic. This film wasn't trying to be anything grandiose or even a cheap imitation of American Graffiti. Thank goodness because it would fail miserably. A teen-aged Stuart Goetz, giving a very energetic performance, works at a carwash and finally saves enough to get his loaded van. It seems to have everything in it including a water bed, mirrored ceiling, and a toaster. The van symbolizes this teen's ability to get women to sleep with him. All he does is mention he has a van in some instances. Well, naturally this ploy doesn't work all the time and romance buds with a girl that doesn't seem all that impressed with his wheels. The film is very formulaic and has its expected dose of naked girls and sexual situations. Nothing special here but oddly the film has heart. Goetz, if nothing else as he bobs his head up and down and side to side through most of the film wildly grinning, adds a life to this film that would otherwise be even more irritating. It is this energy which also makes him get quite annoying after awhile as well. Certainly a Catch 22! The other cast members are nothing special. Danny Devito; however, has one of his first roles as Goetz'z boss. Connie Lisa Marie as a roughneck's squeeze is gorgeous. The hit song "Chevy Van" plays throughout the film. Not a bad way to take one down memory lane, even if it is an askewed point of view.

we made love in my Chevy Van..and that's alright with me

[TexasRedge · 5/10 · 14 June 2002]

this film is one of lifes little pleasures...................and it is a must see for fans of the street car flick, its about a teenager who blows his entire college savings on a coustom chevy van as a way to lure girls in for wild sex parties. there are 2 versions of this film the edited version and the original version, unfortunately the edited version is the only one that remains in circulation. the original version included several nudity scenes,and some pot smoking scenes. the re-released version has all those scenes removed. however there is some great 1970's music in this film - and its funny to watch --- I never knew Danny DeVito was ever that Young. this is a fun movie and its a perfect break(getaway)from the period dramas and war movies that I love so well. The most memoriable thing about this film is it's theme song. --- even if you dislike this film, you will still find yourself walking around for several days singing the theme song.

A true drive-in experience!

[S<()>F · 10 October 1999]

It may seem like a dumb sex comedy from the 70's but it's more like a window to the decade of decadence.This movie has it all!Sex,pot smoking,a car wash,super-cool vans,cool clothes,a pimp,hookers,van racing,the continuous playing of Chevy Van and other Sammy Johns songs and more!If you want to know what people were really doing in the 70's,get this movie.It will make you want to go FUN TRUCKIN'.

Dude gets a sweet van and gets laid

[jellopuke · 5/10 · 16 May 2019]

The plot, as much as there is one, is about a guy buying a van to get laid, then getting laid. That's pretty much it. The main character has a goofy grin on his face 90% of the time and the music is painfully literal, but you know what, this is a cute 70's time capsule with the fashion, locations, cars, and hairstyles. Not gonna win any awards, but still worth a late night watch.

Very dated '70s sex comedy

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 21 October 2015]

Let's be fair: THE VAN hasn't aged very well as a film. It stands as a workable snapshot of its genre, a portrayal of a long, hot summer in the late '70s, when things were somehow simpler and life was all about having fun. The plot is so slim that it barely sustains the running time; a geeky guy buys himself a new van and then does his very best to bed a succession of women within its confines.

It's lowbrow, dumb, and frequently offensive to women, not to mention incredibly dated in terms of the mannerisms and fashions. Apparently it was a big hit at the time, although I suspect that was more down to the familiarity of the material to the audience of the era rather than anything else. Certainly it has no right to be: the characters are thinly drawn, the acting verges on the wooden, and random scenes of van chases thrown into the mix don't really contribute much overall. It does have copious female nudity, if you like that sort of stuff, and a minor role for a pre-fame Danny DeVito, if you like him.

This review may contain spoilers. And spotlights. And an air horn.

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 28 January 2013]

Car-wash employee Bobby (Stuart Goetz) doesn't have much luck with the girls, so to improve his chances at getting some action he puts a down payment on a custom van, which comes complete with fur interior, mirrored ceiling, water bed, hideous round side window, television, toaster, fridge, 8-track stereo, and a nasty paint job that makes the thing look like a courier vehicle. Amazingly, it has the desired effect on certain females, but fails to work on Tina (Deborah White), the girl of Bobby's dreams.

The Van wants to be a sweet coming-of-age tale with it's happy go lucky protagonist learning that, to win over the true object of his affections, he doesn't have to rely on his flashy vehicle—just being himself is enough; it's a fine sentiment, except that Bobby is such an unappealing character that the whole thing falls flat on its face.

Once he has his tricked-out wagon on the road, Bobby acts like a jerk, luring girls onto his water bed with the promise of drugs. He drives like a complete maniac with no regard for anyone else's safety. He thinks nothing of slugging back booze while behind the wheel. When he fails to win over uptight Tina, he sneaks out to Sally's place to try his luck there—much to the annoyance of Sally's brutish boyfriend Dugan (Steve Oliver). And he abducts Tina and threatens to drive them both off a cliff if she doesn't listen to his excuses.

With Bobby completely undeserving of our sympathy, the film proves a rather frustrating affair, one that fails to fully engage the viewer and ultimately disappoints despite delivering in the titillation department and providing a few chuckles at the sheer tastelessness of the custom van culture (Bobby's impressive range of tacky van themed t-shirts making me laugh the most).

This Van is a lemon.

[happyendingrocks · 2/10 · 17 June 2020]

The simplest way to sum up the plot of this single-minded caper is thus: a freshly graduated high school lad fantasizes about having a pimped out van with a waterbed inside so he can lure women into the back of it and get them naked, so he purchases such a van and starts doing that. That's pretty much the gist of this flick, and while it's a decent outline for a teen sex comedy, much of what actually happens in The Van (both the movie and the vehicle) is so gross and wrong that the frolicking carefree ambiance the film seems to be aiming for ends up accidentally morphing into something decidedly morbid instead.

The biggest problem right off the bat is the woeful miscasting of Stuart Getz as Bobby, the sex-wagon enthusiast whose exploits we're expected to vicariously delight in throughout the movie. Granted, it's not necessarily Getz's fault that he looks like a cross between Beck and Ted Bundy, yet rather than diffusing that association with charisma or a benevolent disposition, the role he brings to life on the screen amplifies it by being far more predatory than personable. Though this may merely be a side-effect of Getz not knowing how to act, Bobby comes across as a legitimate sociopath and he looks downright evil when he smiles, so his myopic obsession with ensnaring female strangers in the back of his van immediately takes on an unintentionally sinister character.

And that's not even taking into account what Bobby actually does throughout the movie. His first van outing finds him at a pizza parlor indiscriminately hitting on every girl in the joint until one finally agrees to jump in the cabin of the newly procured "Straight Arrow" to smoke some pot. When she resists his advances inside the vehicle, Bobby viciously sexually assaults her, a horrific attack which the film indifferently shrugs off as just one of the skits, complete with goofy hijinks music, a sight gag punchline, and Bobby's own tickled laughter. Elsewhere, his endeavors lead him to admit two different prostitutes into his love den (who were both hanging out at the same pizza place, evidently) and subsequently a heavy-set burger joint counter girl who is used as the trigger for a particularly mean-spirited joke when her weight pops his waterbed. Another scene depicts Bobby prowling up beside one of his scantily-clad would-be conquests as she's washing her car, and while his facial contortions are ostensibly meant to convey, "man, that girl is hot," his expression looks more like that of a hunter sizing up a trophy kill and picturing what its head would look like on his wall; he also underscores his fixation on this particular target later in the film by parking outside her house to watch her undress through the window with binoculars. Yet another stymied attempt for Bobby to score inspires him to vigorously rock his own van from the inside while blasting a conveniently available audio recording of a woman in the throes of carnal ecstasy so that his friends watching from the outside will think he's having a wildly successful encounter with the disinterested date they set him up with.

Just to keep the timeline straight, this latter event happens after he perpetrates his second sexual assault of the movie upon that very same disinterested date, but it occurs before he kidnaps her and threatens to drive them both off a cliff if she doesn't give him a chance to confess his feelings for her. Clearly, this is not the most stable protagonist in the annals of this genre. Then again, what do I know? That kidnapping and confession ultimately lead Bobby's victim-slash-bae to realize how much she really liked him all along, and the two of them end up using that waterbed after all. Evidently, I've been tackling the dating scene all wrong all these years.

Danny DeVito's presence is especially puzzling; this film landed right between his appearance in the Oscar-winning One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and his break-out success with Taxi, so it's hard to imagine what appeal this particular project held for him. Nevertheless, his part does contribute a few mildly humorous moments, so it's nice to have him aboard. But the real star of this movie is "Straight Arrow", a truly impressive recreational vehicle that not only includes the pivotal waterbed, but also mirrored ceilings, multiple televisions, a killer 8-Track deck, and a refrigerator (I'm assuming Bobby also has a drawer full of duct tape, zip ties, and knives in there somewhere, but that feature is strangely never mentioned).

The basic premise of The Van could have easily been shaped into a wacky and fun slice of '70s camp. Unfortunately, following this slavering stalker around while he devotes his every waking moment to badgering women into sex by any means necessary isn't a very enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes. By the time the action culminates with a climactic death-defying van race (because of COURSE it does) and we're still being encouraged to root Bobby on, it becomes abundantly clear that the people who made this film are even stupider than they assumed their audience would be.

Rest assured, I have spent countless hours of my life watching unwatchable flicks because I love ineptly-made low-budget crap cinema as much as anybody. But The Van is a comprehensively awful movie by any standards, and unfortunately I don't mean that in a good way this time.

Terrible

[Lord_of_TERROR · 2/10 · 19 May 2008]

This film was abysmal. and not in the good way as some have claimed. First off the main character is a very unattractive gingerman. Second - WTF is going on with this van love. The plot, basically, is: boy wants sex so buys a van (which, in fairness is quite cool). Unbelievably given that he looks like a newt he scores with lots of chicks! And he fails with some. Then he scores with a really hot chick and realises he loves this dowdy bird who played hard to get. Then he drag races with the hot chicks boyfriend. And he tips his van. At which point danny devito saves the day. Although he didn't need to because in tipping the van the ginger kid crossed the line first. I gave this 2 *'s as i'm willing to assume that there's some sort of 70's Vanning subculture i'm not getting and also because there's some 70's boobage too.

A Time Capsule-worthy '70s artifact

[kingdaevid · 7/10 · 11 September 2003]

...this is, above all else, the typical Crown International Pictures drive-in (read "passion pit") programmer. The 1975 Sammy Johns hit record "Chevy Van" is heard repeatedly on the soundtrack (this movie has even been reissued with the title CHEVY VAN), despite the film's title vehicle being a Dodge. Danny DeVito makes only six minutes of on-screen appearance, but countless VHS reissues falsely credit him as the star of the flick. The movie is a comparatively sexist morality tale -- will Bobby find sexual satisfaction through the one-night-stand his customised van facilitates, or must he wait until Tina, the girl of his dreams, gives him the time of day? Still, it is representative of the prevailing carnal dream of male American high schoolers of the time, and on that basis alone THE VAN has, almost in spite of itself, become an artifact of the period that must be referenced in any honest retrospective of the period's popular American cinema...

The Van had some laughs in the beginning before going downhill later on

[tavm · 4/10 · 4 August 2010]

Okay, the VHS I bought of this movie at Grand Cinema Station was from a bargain basement company called Gemstone Entertainment. With that being the case, I should've known better than to even expect that the movie shown on it would play without cuts what with both cuss words blanked out and no nudity (good thing that some of the scenes shown on YouTube did have some skin). And as one would expect, it also is dishonest in showing Danny DeVito prominently on the cover as if he's the star, which is sooo far from the truth. The actual star is Stuart Goetz-best known for a guest appearance on "The Brady Bunch"-as just graduated teen Bobby who uses his college money to buy a, you know. DeVito plays his car wash boss Andy who has a weakness for gambling. Deborah White plays Tina who Bobby likes but she doesn't feel the same about him. Then there's a sexy blonde called Sally played by Connie Lisa Marie and her Neanderthal boyfriend named Dugan Hicks (Stephan Oliver who would reprise this role on Malibu Beach). Okay, I thought the first 45 minutes were pretty funny and hearing Sammy Johns "Chevy Van" and some of his other tunes were fun to hear. But then Bobby's constant pawing of Tina and her incessant rejection of him gets irritating real quick and "Chevy Van" gets played too many times, not to mention that director Sam Grossman does too many travelogue scenes whenever those songs play. And I thought the ending was definitely contrived. Also, the parents were wasted in their brief scenes though I did like Bobby's scene with his mother. Still, there was a nice montage of various vans as Bobby and Tina walk around the beach, there were some amusing undercranking when there were car chases, and Danny DeVito had a hilarious opening scene. So on that note, The Van is worth a look and if I ever see the uncensored version, I may comment further. Update 3/24/12: Just watched all the nude scenes on the full YouTube upload. Ms. Marie's with Goetz are especially hot with him and Ms. White a close second...

oh what great memories

[dbatt06 · 10/10 · 28 August 2006]

In 1979, I was a boy of 12 years old, My parents had just got the home box office which was pretty new to our neighborhood. As a 12 year old boy, this was the first time I saw boobs on television. I will never forget the joy of those times. Racing vans, the total ass-wipe with the baddest van, the water bed, the smoking of herbs, the hot 70's chicks, the 'makin love in my Chevy van song, it was all so new to me. A complete movie with all of the memories you could hope for. I own it and enjoy it about once a year. When I watch this movie, it makes me want to get my skates, with 4 wheels, not in a strait line, go to the park and hunt down some babes with feathered hair. truly great memories of young adolescence!

"I want to take out ALL of you in my van, not just your nose!"

[OKCRay · 7/10 · 29 October 2007]

OK, our hero doesn't REALLY say that line in this movie, but if you haven't figured it out already, Stuart Getz is mostly known to millions as Charley in that legendary Brady Bunch episode where Marcia gets hit in the nose with the football (he was the dorky one with the wallpaper samples).

Anyway THAT'S where you've seen our "star" before... now on to the movie.

This was a big drive-in hit in the summer of 1977 and is a pretty good time capsule for that era. Guy hopes to impress chicks with tricked-out van, gets challenged to drag-race by rival. Lotsa partying and late-teen hijinks ensue. Feather-light script would probably take at least 24 hours to hit the floor if it were dropped from the ceiling, but it's still a fun (albeit hokey) remnant from the "drive-in swill" days of the '70s. The Rhino DVD is probably the best version (it's not heavily edited like other versions out there); the only drawbacks are it's full-frame, there are a few imperfections in the print and some of the color didn't age very well, but that doesn't really detract from overall enjoyment of the movie (if anything it enhances the "70s feeling"). Fans of "Joe Bob Briggs-type" movies will enjoy!

Thought it was Supervan- jipped!!!

[featherfinder66 · 2/10 · 25 January 2003]

This movie was packed pull of endless surprises! Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, they added more joints and more pink fuzzy-lined vans with raunchy sex scenes. As you can guess, I was a victim of the original version. We were tricked into watching it thinking it was Supervan, the host box which promised lasars, jail breaks, and much more. Who would have thought a Dollar Store Christmas present could have been so much fun!

Den of Sin on Wheels -- Toaster Included

[gortx · 19 June 2007]

The cult of personality has elevated the status of Roger Corman, Sam Arkoff, Lloyd Kaufman etc. as kings of the B's. Because the folks at Crown International were so key, they haven't been elevated to the status they richly deserve. A film like THE VAN may now seem like a disposable piece of Drive-in esoteria, but it was a sizable hit when it was released (not to mention subsequent re-releases as a double feature with other Crown hits).

THE VAN was a perfect example of Crown's hit strategy of seizing upon the mood of movie-goers at the time of a film's release. Here, it was sex, drugs, rock 'n roll and the brief "Custom Van" fad. As others have noted, it is ironic that the "hit" song in the film refers to a Chevy when the title vehicle is a Dodge in the film itself. I had a town Selectman where I was at the time even declare these vans to be "dens of sin on wheels!" A perfect ad line for the film!

There are the usual assortment of "good" and "bad" girls, muscle-heads and low-brow hijinks (including a supporting bit by Danny DeVito). In many ways this isn't much different from the old Beach Party movies of the 60's, but now spiced up with Nudity and Drug use. Obviously done on a limited budget and a limited schedule, the film coasts along pleasantly enough with a breezy charm that compensates for some, by today's standards certainly, un-PC views of women.

The classic touch is a Toaster for Bobby's den of sin on wheels. Yes, a Toaster! Hey, you gotta have something hot for those munchies!

Grindhouse Fest.

Truly terrible

[kiwigoldfish · 2/10 · 30 May 2008]

Bobby is a goofy kid who smiles far too much and wants sex. So he buys a van to aid in this quest. The acting is lame, the comedy is pathetic and the script is no more than a loosely strung chain of clichés and cheap thrills. The makers of the film obviously wanted to capture some of the out there craziness of other films of the time, but fell a long way short. They even resort to Bobby slipping on a banana skin, because this will supposedly add comedic value.

I'm struggling to find a redeeming feature of the film. If you like DeVito, this is another classic DeVito kind of role - but he's only a supporting actor and there for cliché value.

Funny piece of garbage

[grybop · 2/10 · 31 January 2002]

The Van is a feelgood movie about a guy who tries to lure girls into his new van, in order to seduce them. The only thing this movie doesn't fail at is precisely depicting the van fad in the US in the late 70s. It looks like it was totally made by amateurs. It's trash, but I loved it! I have to admit I am a fan of 70s trash! Hope this one makes it to the IMDB bottom 100!

2

Seemed better at the time

[wjones-57006 · 5/10 · 10 October 2023]

Let me start by saying that I saw this movie during its (short) original release. The drive-in had a couple dozen custom vans along the rear wall. I can only assume the shenanigans on the screen were being duplicated in the row of rolling bedrooms. Hey, it was the '70s.

This time I watched on Prime, some 56 years later. How the times have changed. While I still find the film amusing, some of it is a little hard to watch. What may have been considered acceptable by 1977 morals would never fly today. Apparently no didn't mean no, it meant "that's ok, keep trying, she'll come around eventually." That said, it's still an interesting piece of '70s culture. Custom vans, CB radios, 8-tracks and pot. Lots of pot. It was the end of the free love generation.

It's certainly not for everyone, but for those looking for an entertaining trip back to their own teen years it's worth a watch.

Relatively simple and outdated

[Floated2 · 2/10 · 8 August 2023]

The plot outline and description is quite simple and about what to expect. This is a 70's teen comedy featuring a teen character (whom looks older than his character's age), who has an interest for a certain girl but she is with the school tough bully.

Eventually somehow near the end he ends up sleeping with her, behind the bully's back. Unrealistic to a degree, he barely did anything to get her.

The film is quite cheesy, not very funny, has some moments but overall things just pace quite predictably.

The main problem with the film is the lead. He's someone we're supposed to root for yet he comes off as quite a creep (he has a silly grin on his face throughout- overly aggressive with the lead brunette). The friend sidekick was better. Overall the characters were just generic.

There are some explicit scenes with nudity but most are very quick glances. Nothing too special, besides a scene with him and blonde Sally. In comparison to other 1970's explicit teen comedy Blue Summer, that film was superior, had better characters and generally more funny.

The Van is quite a one time watch and outdated in today's time.

The Van

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 16 April 2023]

The song in this movie, "Chevy Van" by Sammy Johns*, is a lie, because the protagonist of The Van, Bobby (Stuart Goetz), drives a 1976 Dodge B200 Tradesman customized by George Barris.

As for me, I grew up with two Ford Custom vans, one a basic panel van that I used to be a landscaper and the other a fully customized one with tables and chairs and shag carpeting. Yeah! 9 miles to the gallon!

Crown International Pictures took what worked for American-International Pictures and their beach party movies and added sex and drugs. This movie comes from the days before AIDS, before women truly being characters with agency in movies (well, not all the time) and even before Porky's.

What it does have is Danny DeVito as Bobby's friend Andy. And such well-known vans that two of the automobiles from this movie, Straight Arrow and Van Killer, were released as toy cars.

Bobby wants Sally (Connie Hoffman) but she's already dating tough guy Dugan (Steve Oliver). So he tries to get with Tina (Deborah White), who is way too good for him, before racing Dugan and rolling his van. He survives and moves on vanless.

Director Sam Grossman only directed this film. Writer Robert J. Rosenthal also wrote The Pom Pom Girls, Malibu Beach and Zapped! While Celia Susan Cotelo was also a writer on Malibu Beach.

If you liked this, I can also recommend Van Nuys Blvd. And, of course, Supervan.

*Nine other songs by the artist are in this: "Early Morning Love," "Jenny," "Rag Doll," "Hang My Head and Moan, "Country Lady," "You're So Sweet," "Peas in a Pod," "Bless My Soul" and "Hey, Mr. Dreamer."

Breezy Fun

[jfgibson73 · 6/10 · 19 February 2009]

The Van benefits from having a very strongly established setting. As important as Minnesota is to Fargo, summertime in the 70's is what transported me into this story.

It's just a kid trying to get laid with his generation's version of a tricked out whip. No big whoop.

The comedy is pretty silly at times, but for the most part, I enjoyed the fact that this was written before the age of irony.

Similar recommendations: Gas Pump Girls and The Cheerleaders.

I would have liked it to be a bit raunchier, but there's no reason to complain. Just a bit of fun.

One of the greatest movie lines ever

[ca_skunk · 10/10 · 22 July 2006]

"It wasn't me! It was, er, my twin brother Rupert!" Bobby says to Dugan when confronted about being over at Sally's place. I have used this line dozens of times over the years (no one has yet to believe it, though).

This movie is one of the all-time best for sheer fun and nonbelieveability. Steven Oliver was perfect for the part of Dugan, so much so that he was in 1978's "Malibu Beach" as the same character (not nearly as much screen time, though).

"Nobody calls Dugan a turd!" is another line for the ages. This classic film was definitely worth the price of admission.

I really dig this groovy 70's drive-in hoot

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 6 December 2005]

I am proud to say I own an uncut copy of this choice chunk of 70's Crown International drive-in sexploitation comedy cheese on DVD. It's a really goofy and enjoyably inconsequential flick with a nicely breezy'n'easy 70's vibe to it. It does attempt to make a sincere point about true love and friendship being more important in life than a cool set of wheels and a quick piece of tail. Sure, it's essentially a blatant adolescent male fantasy pic -- the main teen goofus character Bobby Hamilton gets the girls, the respect of his friends, and a chance to show-up a local van-racing bully -- but it's way too dopey and good-natured to hate. Stuart Getz as our gawky protagonist makes for an endearingly dorky lead, Deborah White as the main object of Getz's affection is a definite cutie, Connie Lisa Marie is likewise quite luscious as a beauteous blonde babe, and sneering beefcake Neanderthal Stephan Oliver (a 60's biker movie perennial) is wonderfully hateful as the brutish Dugan Hicks. A pre-stardom Danny DeVito in particular is an absolute riot as Getz's cranky carwash owner boss Andy, a lovably cantankerous ne'er-do-well slob who wears very ugly loud Hawaiian shirts and suffers from a severe gambling habit. I especially love the scene where two thugs brutally beat Danny up -- one holds his arms behind his back while the other guy works over Danny's torso! And Sammy Johns' insidiously catchy fluke hit theme song will be bouncing around your skull for at least a week. In short, it's great groovy retro-70's fun!

Not too realistic perhaps, but fun document of the 1970's

[lazarillo · 9 September 2007]

The teen sexploitation comedy had its heyday in the early 1980's with movies like "Porky's" and a brief revival years later with "American Pie" (and perhaps we're experiencing another right one now with the new movie "Superbad"). But these movies can really be traced back into the 1970's,(and perhaps even earlier in a much tamer form). The 70's movies were a little different, however, in that it was never clear whether they were trying to "exploit" the actual teenage audience of the era or just exploit the bodies of the "teenage" characters (almost always played by older actors) for the benefit of perverts of all ages. (Just look, for instance, at all the 1970's movies about cheerleaders, babysitters, and sexy female hitch-hikers).

This movie is somewhat unique then because, though it certainly fulfills its quota for female nudity, it really does seem to be aimed at actual 70's teenagers. It has a believable (relatively) and likable (very relatively) protagonist with a (somewhat)realistic problem: he wants to improve his love life by buying a customized van. It doesn't work too well at first, but eventually he has some success although not in the way he planned. This movie is not particularly funny, nor is it exactly neo-realism, but it does capture the spirit of the times enough to achieve a kind of nostalgia (which certainly can't be said about stuff like "The Cheerleaders"). I was actually just a kid at this time, but I remember being disappointed when I reached adolescence in the "just say no" Reagan era that my female peers weren't quite as, uh, fun as my teenage babysitters seemed to be back in this era. (At least, I personally never owned a van with a waterbed, a mirrored ceiling, and, for some reason, a toaster).

I'm sure this isn't a totally realistic movie about being a teenager in the 1970's, but it's as close as THESE kind of movies are probably going to get.

It's Van-tastic!

[Dashner · 10/10 · 9 February 2003]

Simple-minded but good-natured drive-in movie about a simple-minded but good-natured high school graduate who has dreams of owning the coolest custom van in the world to use as his "ballroom".

Bobby, our hero, spends his entire savings to acquire the vehicle of his dreams. Joint sharing and love making quickly commence with girls Bobby has picked up at the local pizza parlor, but he finds out much responsibility, danger and heartache come with being the owner of such a mechanical marvel.

The Van is a guilty pleasure of mine. It captures the laid back mid 70's mood and has enough unintentional humor to put it into the "so bad it's good" category.