It was OK, my little brother seemed to enjoy it. It had some laughs, but it was dumb, stupid, no plot-line, but it was funny in parts, and had some good "stunts". 5 out of 10 or ** out of ****
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MovieFan9837 December 1998
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zimbo_the_donkey_boy24 October 2007I am heartened to see that, for a change, most others agree with me on the dopiness of this flick. Therefore I shall simply add that this has nothing to do with Yellowstone National Park. The "filmmakers" knew nothing about it but that Old Faithful is there and knew nothing about national parks but that rangers wear uniforms. I watched this to see how goofily unrealistic the geysers and hotsprings would look. Surprise, there aren't any, besides a spout of water in the background (Old Faithful) and a love scene in a hot-tub (the hidden hotspring). Disney couldn't even be bothered to make some plastic scenery! Yes, along with each other Hollywood film, they simply set everything in the studio's grassy fields with California's generic mountains in the background. The park's geology and animal-life are joyfully manipulated by the HEROES as the SOLUTIONS to the villain's evil actions. To the filmmakers, the only difference between commercial tourist attractions and national parks is that national park employees wear ranger uniforms. And these are the same people getting worked up over global warming? For sure. But any film with A J Langer is worth at least 3 stars.
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LD Kant28 December 2006This movie blew my mind. Seriously. I was watching it and about every 5 minutes Paul Walker would say something that would make my head feel like I was about to have an aneurysm. Do not watch this if you have any congenital heart defects. Or you will die. Or have diarrhea. Paul Walker is such a bad actor. Did you see that movie with Steve Zahn and that semi-truck? That semi-truck was the best actor in that movie and if he had been in this movie he would have been the best actor in this movie too. Only watch this movie if you have an IQ under 60. If you watch this movie with an IQ over 60, you will watch the credits with an IQ under 60. I can't do math anymore.
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Paul_Rudd_has_a_sweet_ass30 November 2003As another reviewer said; "I recommend it for Paul Walker fans and immature people." Being both these things I was wetting myself laughing at a fair few points of the film. Mainly because I find farts very very funny indeed. I had a rip-roaring hangover this afternoon and decided to put on a film that was so simple it required no thinking whatsoever to watch. This was the ideal thing. It's cringe worthy and very tacky at times but that doesn't mean it's absolute rubbish. Worth a watch if you're into tacky comedies that rely heavily on bodily function jokes or if you want to see Paul Walker in a wetsuit. I'd like him to put a Deedle in my haystack.......
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"Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" had a certain charm to it. A wit if you will. It chronicled the lives of deep, yet shallow-acting characters. They were entertaining to see on screen; the situations they got into even more so. But alas, there is none of this obvious humor in the most heinous rip-off of Bill and Ted to this day, "Meet the Deedles."
"Meet the Deedles" was a movie made for one reason, and one reason only: To cash in on a once-was film franchise. Bill and Ted's two adventures were time-pieces; a look into the eighties. But one can see why this technique failed in the sequel, "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey," because by then (1991) audiences had grown weary of eighties teenagers in heinous situations. Film companies should have learned then that while Bill and Ted were once good, and always will be, MORE of the same kind is tiring. They tried a lot of films in the same tradition, but they all flopped. ("Bio Dome".)
The original is the only thing worth seeing again; not sequels or rip-offs, because their time has passed. But "Meet the Deedles" ignores this and gives the audience something about ten years too late for its own good. The movie's only true ambition is to create mindless slapstick and generate a series in the tradition of the ``Bill & Ted'' movies. It really does neither.
The story involves twin brothers Stew and Phil Deedle (Steve Van Wormer and Paul Walker), slackers from Hawaii who find themselves in the middle of a fiendish plot to sabotage Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.
One day Stew and Phil are hanging beneath a balloon being towed above the Hawaiian surf, while being pursued by a truant officer on a Jet Ski. When they reach ground, their millionaire father (Eric Braeden) realizes he must put a plan of his own into action: Send the two surf-bums to Camp Broken Spirit, a monthlong experience in outdoor living that will turn them into men. Through a series of truly mind-numbing and brain-tumbling actions, the Twin Deedle Dudes, who may as well be referred to as Bill and Ted, are mistaken for park ranger recruits upon their arrival at camp. They come under the command of Ranger Pine (John Ashton), and stumble onto the solution to a mysterious infestation of prairie dogs.
Prairie dogs. My, oh my. Praire dogs. Where do I start? Perhaps I'll tell you why millions of them are scurrying about. It's quite simple, really. Too simple.
An evil former ranger named Slater (Dennis Hopper) has trained them to burrow out a cavern around Old Faithful, allowing him to redirect the geyser's boiling waters in the direction of New Faithful, to which he plans to sell tickets. A whole lot of work when he could just use some machinery to re-route the water. But that would be too basic for a film as stupid and mindless as this. No, Slater as to have prairie dogs chew around the geyser. Truly awful.
Hopper lives in his underground cavern, along with his sidekick Nemo, played by Robert Englund, Freddy of the ``Nightmare on Elm Street'' pictures. At one point he explains how he trained the prairie dogs, and I quote, ``Inject kibble into the dirt, and a-tunneling they would go.'' I never thought I would ever hear Dennis Hopper say such a thing. But he did, and I am forever scarred. While he schemes, the Deedles fumble and bumble their way through ranger training. None of these scenes are remotely funny, nor hilarious as they should have been.
Yet with all this criticism, "Meet the Deedles" is also kind of fun to watch. It's so lousy that it almost comes off as original. It's worth seeing alone just for Dennis Hopper's crazy line I mentioned above. But I would not recommend you go out and rent the film; rather, wait until it is on TV.
I am split between my outlook on "Meet the Deedles." It is certainly one of the worst films I have ever seen, but it is not unwatchably bad like other bad children's flicks. I saw a TV-film two years ago named "P.U.N.K.S.", and while the lousiness of it is much on the same level as "Meet the Deedles," its watchability (yes, I made up that word) differs. "Meet the Deedles" is just awful. "P.U.N.K.S." is even worse.
Only watch "Meet the Deedles" if there's nothing on TV. But I don't recommend it to you as a good film, but rather an awful one. See it and witness pure stinkiness on film.
Whatever it tried to steal from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" is not apparent. Whatever was stolen was not stolen properly. .5/5 stars (half a star).
John Ulmer -
xxlittlekittenxx20 April 2003There are many kinds of bad movies. Some are just lame (the recent 'Star Wars' movies), others are so bad they're actually good ('Xanadu'), and there's that rare abomination that's just too horrid for words. Folks, this is 'Meet the Deedles'.
This movie isn't even worth a lengthy review, except that it truly must be seen to believe. I sat through it ONCE when it was on TV, never again.
Oh it made me laugh all right, but not in the way it was supposed to. I just couldn't believe this movie was actually MADE. Let me put it to you this way: Take the most horrible thing that's ever happened to you, and keep on multiplying it by a thousand. 'Meet the Deedles' is even worse than that.
...This movie just plain terrified me. It's not even worth renting, unless you just love self torture. -
Don't waste time seeing this movie! It's not funny, the actors are bad, and there is absolutely no moral in the story! It's a waste of money and time. I'm really disappointed to see Dennis Hopper starring in this movie. I hope he donated the salary to poor people, because otherwise he shouldn't have a reason to be there! I don't understand why they made such a brainless movie! The circus animals were the best actors there! And what a bad commercial for Yellowstone national park. They should sue the producers of this movie. Who said yes to this project in the first place? They must have known this movie didn't sell... Do yourself a favour. Buy all copies of this movie and recycle it. It doesn't belong anywhere.
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Gary-12023 May 1999Man this wasn't even a decent kids movie! The only funny part was the cross dressing. Don't even rent this one, at the risk of stinking up your house.
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pennywise103113 July 2005I was a kid when I first saw it, but when it was on TV a couple years ago I realized how confusing it was because they're twins and you think both of them are equally hot, but Stew has the best hair, but Phil is better because the ranger girl wants to go out to the forest to eat worms (like the gross white maggot kinds!), but Phil put gummy worms out instead so he doesn't have to kiss a girl with worm-breath.That was the nicest thing ever!
It's pretty wild how Phil Deedle grew up to become Paul Walker and the other guy was in Bubble Boy or something. Paul Walker is pretty hot and you can tell he's smart cuz he helped figure out about the P-Dogs. Petey the P-Dog was cute, but not the same way Paul Walker is! -
Hypnotic3114 January 2000Okay, so maybe I'm a little biased by the fact that I'm in my late teens, but personally, I wasn't a big fan of this movie. Very unrealistic, cartoony...in short, standard Disney live-action material. As adult fare, it definitely doesn't get a high rating in my book. BUT, the movie does have its merits. Specifically, like all Disney movies, it has an ability to enchant just about every young child under the age of 12. I saw it while keeping an eye on a group of 9-year-olds, and while I found myself glancing at my watch to see if the film was almost over, the children (boys AND girls, I might add!) were sitting on there seats watching in rapt fascination, wishing that they could BE the Deedles. I had the same experience recently when I watched in on TV with pair of 11-year-olds I was taking care of for the evening...they loved it! So, in short, I'd warn adults away from it, but don't ban it from your house, as it could come in handy if you have some unruly kids around!
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"Meet the Deedles" is the ultimate groovy 90's filmography dude! Well, not really. It's one of those movies that wants to be like "Wayne's World" and "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" so bad that it becomes like a fossil in cinematic history. The film might have had an audience once, but those were all 11 to 17 year old boys growing up in the 1990's and have since grown up. Just look at the cover of that VHS tape, and you'll immediately know that this is going to be irritating and not the list bit funny. It's as ridiculous and stupid as you can expect from a title like "Meet the Deedles".
It's about two surf-loving free spirits that reject authority, Phil Deedle (Paul Walker) and his brother Stew Deedle (Steve Van Wormer). After being kicked out of school for what they perceive as being "Too Cool", they are sent to a boot camp to be straightened out. Instead, their vehicle takes a wrong turn and they end up In Yellowstone National Park! From there you can see where everything is going to go. They meet the authority figure of the park, they run around him while he screams impotently. If this movie follows formula, they're going to screw up something big, like destroy Old Faithful, but prove to everyone that with surfing and the power of being an awesome slacker with no real responsibilities, you can make everything go right in the end. Tell me when my prediction turns out to be off.
Looking back at this movie fills me with shame. I was the target audience for this film when it came out. I was 11 years old in 1998 and you bet if I had seen the film at that time, I would have thought it would have been hilarious! Thankfully, I've grown up. Nowadays I empathize more with the people who want to destroy these fools than the surfers themselves. It's almost funny in an ironic way, like watching a map of the earth as the center of the universe, and a flat earth at that! The difference is that this movie lasts 93 minutes and looking back and laughing at our ancestors, that takes just a few moments. Without any brains, Interesting twists on the formula and a fair bit of annoying moments, "Meet the Deedles" is best left forgotten. (On VHS January 31, 2012) -
"Meet the Deedles" is a relatively unknown film with Paul Walker in a lead role early in his career. My kids and I enjoyed watching this movie together several times when they were young (ten and under). A lighthearted family comedy, it's both silly and sweet, with a number of memorable funny phrases that still make us laugh over ten years later.
"Meet the Deedles" includes positive messages about taking responsibility for yourself, learning to be independent, having goals, working hard, and being close with family. While it may not be Academy Award material, "Meet the Deedles" has a certain simplicity and innocence that is refreshing--including a happy ending, which is really nice for a change.
While still feeling shocked and saddened by Paul Walker's recent death at such a young age, I am thankful for his contribution to this film and hope more people will now watch and enjoy it. -
sarah-923 August 1999Many would say this movie is stupid, i thought it was great. It was so dumb it was funny. The Deedle Boy lingo is tops in my book. I rented it once, watched 15 minutes of it and turned it off, but then I was flipping through channels the other day and landed on it. I figured my brother and i would watch a few minutes and laugh at how foolish it was but then it was killing me! It was so funny! Not just stupid humor, but actually some clever stuff too. What a great movie!
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Floated230 June 2023In one of his earlier films, Paul Walker stars in this comedy and overly silly Disney film. This is a film that apparently seemed to be inspired by the Bill and Ted films and possibly Dumb and Dumber.
The acting is as one would expect. Over the top and generic from each character. The plot is predictable and not too interesting. Nothing exactly memorable here. It's a film centered towards a younger audience as those older Paul Walker fans may fight it unfunny and just too childish.
There are great live action Disney films but Meet the Deedles isn't one. It's no surprise that this film has ultimately been forgotten. -
desensitized_uk_horror_fan15 July 2002This is simply just another of those predictably lame "family" movies that makes a huge effort to be hip and cool. It will come as no surprise to those familiar with such high-budget / low-ambition junk to learn that this film is neither hip or cool. The two lead characters, the "Deedle's" of the title are a pair of nimrod's who's constant stupidity is neither amiable or endearing it's just damned irritating and the allegedly comical scrapes they get into are too improbable and silly to ever raise anything more than a half-forced smile. Being a horror fan it was inevitable I would dislike this movie. The only reason I bothered watching it is because it features the mouth-wateringly sexy A.J Langer, who also starred in Wes Craven's excellent "The People Under The Stairs". She is the only real reason for watching this film. One to avoid on practically all levels.
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IonicBreezeMachine15 August 2021Following their latest truancy from school getting them expelled, fraternal twins Phil (Paul Walker) and Stu (Steve Van Wormer) Deedle are sent by their fed up father to Wyoming for a month for a character building exercise with their Father's old army buddy from Vietnam. When the duo arrive to find their coordinator a disheveled unhinged mess, a series of contrivances results in the Deedles getting lost and eventually through a case of mistaken identity winding up at Yellowstone National Park where the duo are thought to be Prairie Dog experts by Ranger Capt. Douglas Pine (John Ashton) who are there to stop the prairie dog's havoc before Old Faithful's billionth birthday celebration in a week. While Phil just wants to go home, Stu sees this as an opportunity to earn their father's respect while Phil sees it as an opportunity to make a move on Capt. Pine's daughter, Jesse (A. J. Langer). Meanwhile, a deranged former ranger named Frank Slater (Dennis Hopper) is behind the prairie dog activity and has his mind set on Yellowstone's destruction.
The first live-action film by DiC entertainment following its acquisition by Disney in the 90s, Meet the Deedles feels very much like a late move on the 90s buddy/slacker comedies of the era like Dumb and Dumber, Bill & Ted, or Wayne's World. Directed by veteran stunt performer Steve Boyum, one would think this laidback, slapstick heavy comedy would be serviceable if unremarkable entertainment, but unfortunately that's simply not the case.
I think the biggest issue is there's very little comic friction built around our comic leads because not only do they not feel all that well defined, but the movie can't seem to decide if they're supposed to be annoying chaos engines or underdogs we're supposed to root for. Much of the Deedles shenanigans consists of them shouting at the top of their lungs while engaged in some manner of slapstick or extreme sports inspired setpieces and there really isn't anyone serving as a straight man to the Deedles antics with their behavior often feeling like action without reaction as scenes will often just end. One scene where Phil tears a picture of Frank's face and wears it while skirting himself with a drinking fountain just abruptly cuts with a feeling more of confusion than humor because the set up, action, and payoff didn't have the proper coordination to be funny. Even when we are given a full "joke" it's so slowly delivered that there's no surprise factor or punch to the gag meaning it lust limps across the screen until the next sequence. The film's cast is truly bizarre with reliable character actors looking either very confused or embarrassed with Robert Englund terribly miscast as a derby barely vocal throwaway henchmen, and Dennis Hopper basically recycling his Speed character Howard Payne down to the fact his lair is filled with TV screens for him to mug at.
Meet the Deedles just isn't funny. The leads don't have any character or substance to make them funny and since the movie's loose narrative is just a string of comic set pieces the movie's a humorless slog that doesn't raise a smirk let alone a laugh. -
StevePulaski4 December 2013NOTE: For the sake of utilizing the abundance of slang words and incomprehensibly stupid jargon I learned from the Disney film Meet the Deedles, I am prepared to review the film in a more informal way than I'm used to.
Like, how come every time Disney tries to make one of those live action films it turns out to be totally bogus? From George of the Jungle to Max Keeble's Big Move to The Country Bears to now the totally uncool Meet the Deedles that tries too hard to be hip and in touch with the youth of today. To quote Phil Deedle, "it's so diculous it's ridiculous."
The oh-so stupid plot revolves around Stu and Phil Deedle (Steve Van Wormer and Paul Walker), two California surf bums who are sent to a camp by their totally loaded father who believes he has given them way too much in life and they must give him something back. The camp is located in the bogus state that is Wyoming (and when their plane lands is looks like one of those flight simulator computer games), but when the Deedles land there they realize that the camp had been shut down and the owner is a psycho-dude. They wind up becoming park rangers at the wicked Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming because of mistaken identities and now must find a way to solve the park's prairie dog (p-dog) problem. But would you believe these dudes discover this big park conspiracy involving a geyser that hasn't gone off in years? This all could've been pretty radical, but the approach to the film is just so uncool and lame.
Meet the Deedles plays like a dude who has lived in his house for far too many years, rarely leaving his confines, trying to write and illustrate a film about teenagers when he hasn't spoken to one in years. The film feels like somebody's image of traditional teenagers rather than actual teenagers. This is the kind of film that makes people hate teens and give them a poor view. And if you're gonna hate them, at least hate them for what they really do and not what you think they do.
I always complain about the bogus films aimed at the demographic of kids and Meet the Deedles fits right in that demographic. The kind of film that is so lame and stupid it does nobody any good, unless you find shortened attention spans and a hunger for more simplistic films a good thing. This film exercises its right to be stupid and idiotic with no conceivable reward. It reminds me of that "no" phase tykes go into around age four or five, where they say "no" to everything and feel like rebelling for the sake of rebelling. The Deedles seem to have never escaped that phase. Society seemed to want their sentences structured and their thoughts to make sense, but they just weren't gonna listen.
The film was directed by ex-stuntdude Steve Boyum and written by that same guy Jim Herzfeld, who wrote Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers. I don't know what to tell this guy but stop introducing us to totally lame people.
Meet the Deedles was made during that totally lame time in Disney's history when they thought every kid in America was into surfing, so they made, like, a ton of stupid movies centered around surfing. Boys got this travesty along with the Disney Channel movie Johnny Tsunami and girls got the network's original movie Rip Girls. I question the relevance and the purpose of the latter films' existence, but I hold optimism for them if I ever seek them out solely because they seem to be in English.
Movies are supposed to be enjoyed. Meet the Deedles is a movie to be endured. And that's just not gnarly, man. An apology to the surfer community and the filmmakers of Bill and Ted is in order.
Starring: Steve Van Wormer, Paul Walker, Robert Englund, Dennis Hopper, A. J. Langer, John Ashton, and M.C. Gainey. Directed by: Steve Boyum. -
Meet the Deedles (1998): Dir: Steve Boyum / Cast: Steve Von Wormer, Paul Walker, A.J. Langer, Dennis Hopper, M.C. Gainey: Disgusting juvenile comedy where the heroes cram worms into their mouths. Throw in a bear with human characteristic and a witless plot and you have the bases of stupidity. Two moronic surfers are sent to camp after missing class for the umpteenth time. They are mistaken as park rangers, which means that they will spend the remainder of the film trying to conceal their identities and go with the flow. There is a scheme by an old ranger who uses prairie dogs to do his bidding and the rangers are enlisted to deal with the problem. Director Steve Boyum creates a shameful mess that wouldn't hold interest on a half hour slot on prime time television. The production couldn't have been any worse than if it was done by a kindergarten art class. Steve Von Wormer and Paul Walker act pre-school foolish with A.J. Langer as a female ranger who is there to be hit on and have a tomboyish sexual appeal. The fact that she would even consider dating one of these morons reduce this garbage to total fantasy that goes beyond the prairie dog subplot. Dennis Hopper should fire his agent after this. It is disappointing to see an actor of his potential wasting time on garbage such as this. Pointless Bill and Ted clone show that should be thrown to the dogs. In this case, prairie dogs. Score: 0 / 10
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OK I admit it. I rented Meet the Deedles because my movie store gives me free old movies for every new release I rent. (I'm a Gold Club member-I rule!!!). I had narrowed my choices down to this one and that "Leonard" Cosby movie that got all those glowing reviews, but I figured what the heck, I didn't have a lot of time to watch two movies on this particular evening, so I could just FF to all of the AJ Langer parts (cos I think she's way cute) and that would be the end of it. To make a short story long, I rented Deedles. Why oh why have all the critics bludgeoned this movie? I'm sure that my sensibilities haven't left me, and I thought this silly, unpretentious kids' fluff was actually rather amusing. The Deedle boys are refreshingly inane, Freddy Krueger alarmingly inept, and AJ Langer bodaciously babealicious. So remember, next time you have to choose between oh, say, wading through all the intricacies and red herrings of "The Usual Suspects" and the mindless, fun drivel that is known as Deedlemania, think twice. Then take the Usual Suspects to the rental counter, pay the man, and walk out of the store. Of course, if you were a Gold Clubber like me (yessss!!!) you could have your suspects and deedle too. It's good to be the King. *** out of ***** on the Corkymeter. Note: Author of previous review just got his Gold Club membership from Blockbuster and hasn't been right since. Wait for revised review of "Meet the Deedles" in the near future.
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syleiling15 April 2008Well, I think the common theme from the reviews I've read is that kids love this movie. Which is not surprising since I believe that is what Disney's target market is.
And if you are a Paul Walker fan like myself, you will watch and enjoy the movie just for the eye candy.
This film is brainlessly funny or funnily brainless. Whatever. I got what I wanted from this film. I enjoyed it.
I knew that there will be slapstick comedy. That the humor will be childish. But I don't care.
I recommend this movie for those who felt like their brain has just been bludgeoned after a long hard day attending meetings, discussions, brain storming sessions, analyzing and calculating numbers... you get the picture. -
gcartmell16 March 2002This film has some of the worst effects I've seen, the story is totally stupid, and the characters are ridiculous. But somehow it all falls into place and makes this one of the funniest films I've seen in quite some time.
It stars Paul Walker of "Fast and the Furious," fame, basically running around doing silly things, as a make-up-less Freddy Kruger tries to stop him.
Watch it. -
HillaryP30 January 2000This movie served its purpose. It was incredibly ridiculous, fun to watch, and had Paul Walker shirtless in it. It is obviously a movie targeted at 5th graders, but die-hard Paul fans won't be disappointed. I hate to be a typical teenage girl about this, but who wouldn't want to see a movie w/ Paul Walker shirtless? This movie by no means stresses his acting ability, but he looks great. Warning: Some scenes involving AJ Langer will make you want to hurl. But of course, that is what the fast-forward button is for.
I recommend it for Paul Walker fans and immature people. -
kos5f@virginia.edu6 October 2002I'm sorry, but this movie is hilarious. I don't know why, and I'm reasonably embarrassed by finding it humorous, but something is just great about it.
I'd rent it just to see the nurse say, "And, I hand washed your panties!" to that guy from Varsity Blues.
This high quality film has an abundance of excellently quotable absurd Deedle-lingo, so grab a pen and paper why you watch.
Also, wait out the credits for a great song featuring Rivers Cuomo of Weezer fame. -
tomgonzo10 April 2022Best movie that I have ever seen. Acting, jokes, and most of all the p-dogs are all deedleicous!
I don't see how people can give this a 1/10. They must have not watched it because meeting them is the number 1 thing i would ever want to do. -
hmusol20 August 2020Sure, the gags might have you cringing more than once but it is sweet,simple pleasureful viewing for the family. Paul walker moved on to greater things obviously but this was a great indicator of things to come, RIP. John Ashton from the BeverlyHills Cop movie is a great balance to his surfer vibes and like why did Dennis Hopper agree to this? But he was a blast most definitely.