Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.
- Awards
- 11 wins & 24 nominations
- Nicola
- (as Aviva)
- Homeless Guy
- (as Clement E. Blake)
- Liquor Store Clerk
- (as Joseph A. Nunez)
- Jesse
- (as a different name)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWriters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg started this script when they were just thirteen years old, because "we just wanted to see if we could write a movie."
- GoofsAfter Seth dances with the period blood girl, she goes away and he tries to stash a bottle in his pocket. When he goes to put the bottle in the pocket, we see the blood stain is not on his pants yet.
- Quotes
Fogell: Yo guys! Sup?
Seth: Fogell, where have you been, man? You almost gave me a goddamn heart attack. Let me see it. Did you pussy out or what?
Fogell: No noooo, man. I got it; it is flawless. Check it!
Evan: [examining the fake ID] Hawaii. All right, that's good. That's hard to trace, I guess. Wait... you changed your name to... McLovin?
Fogell: Yeah.
Evan: McLovin? What kind of a stupid name is that, Fogell? What, are you trying to be an Irish R&B singer?
Fogell: Naw, they let you pick any name you want when you get down there.
Seth: And you landed on McLovin...
Fogell: Yeah. It was between that or Muhammed.
Seth: Why the FUCK would it be between THAT or Muhammed? Why don't you just pick a common name like a normal person?
Fogell: Muhammed is the most commonly used name on Earth. Read a fucking book for once.
Evan: Fogell, have you actually ever met anyone named Muhammed?
Fogell: Have YOU actually ever met anyone named McLovin?
Seth: No, that's why you picked a dumb fucking name!
Fogell: Fuck you.
Seth: Gimme that. All right, you look like a future pedophile in this picture, number 1. Number 2: it doesn't even have a first name, it just says "McLovin"!
Evan: What? One name? ONE NAME? Who are you? Seal?
Seth: Fogell, this ID says that you're 25 years old. Why wouldn't you just put 21, man?
Fogell: Seth, Seth, Seth. Listen up, ass-face: every day, hundreds of kids go into the liquor store with their fake IDs, and every single one says they're 21. Pssh, how many 21 year olds do you think there are in this town? It's called fucking strategy, all right?
Evan: Stay calm, okay? Let's not lose our heads. It's... it's a fine ID; it'll... it's gonna work. It's passable, okay? This isn't terrible. I mean, it's up to you, Fogell. This guy is either gonna think 'Here's another kid with a fake ID' or 'Here's McLovin, a 25 year-old Hawaiian organ donor'. Okay? So what's it gonna be?
Fogell: [grinning] ... I am McLovin!
Seth: No you're not. No one's McLovin. McLovin's never existed because that's a made up dumb FUCKING FAIRY TALE NAME, YOU FUCK!
- Crazy creditsDuring the end credits, Seth's compulsive drawings appear in better detail.
- Alternate versionsWhen released on home video, the film was made available in an unrated version that had approximately 6 minutes of extra footage (most of which is extensions to existing scenes.)
- SoundtracksToo Hot to Stop
Written by Fred Freeman and Harry L. Nehls
Performed by The Bar-Kays
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
In the spirit of a horny teenage boy awkwardly confessing his love to his crush of forever, I'm just going to list everything I love about this comedy classic.
The ambiguous time period. Superbad looks, sounds, and feels like the 1970s (hence the title), with warm browns and oranges, a grainy "shot-on-film" feel, and a killer funk inspired soundtrack. Yet, it's clearly a movie set in the 2000s, with the cellphones, and the PS2s and the cars in the background. It's almost as if the movie is sub-communicating how timeless it would eventually become. Which, whether intentional or not, is telling as to how brilliant this raunchy, vulgar comedy truly is.
Jonah Hill and Michael Cera's chemistry in this film is UNREAL. They sound, act, and feel like actual friends and the reality that they've never done another movie together sort of propels their dynamic in this film to LEGENDARY status. There's nothing to compare them to really; they are one of cinema's all time duos in this one, perfectly balancing off one another.
It calls back to another amazing aspect of this film; how realistic the teenagers look and act in this film. Clearly everyone is in their mid 20s, but most of the teens look like seniors on the cusp of graduation. More than that, they ACT realistically. One thing American high school films always get wrong is the "clique." They're really not as rigid as films and TV portray; people frequently talk to, hang out with, and befriend people outside of their clique on a regular basis. Superbad nails how high school isn't a straightforward tribal hierarchy. It's a web of relationships.
I know that sounds like a weird thing to praise this movie for, but it all culminates in one of the best party montages I've seen put to film. It's super satisfying not just to see our heroes finally get to the Promised Land, but for it to be a party filled with generally realistic people. It harkens back to parties I went to back in the day; maybe that's why this movie speaks to me so much.
Speaking of realism, this film managed to impact pop culture going forward with the inclusion of the iconic Christopher Mintz-Plasse as McLovin. It's kind of appropriate he came and went; I'd be surprised if he could ever top this role, to be honest. A testament to exceptional casting throughout this film, there's no one else I could imagine possibly being McLovin than this dude.
What else can I say? The writing is basically perfect, with so many jokes crammed into this that you can watch it dozens of times and still find new things to laugh at. The performances are top notch from absolutely everyone, whether they're minor characters or romantic interests. The movie's real message about friendship and growing up is unbelievably heart warming.
AND THAT ENDING. Would anyone have expected a movie about two horny teenage boys trying to deliver alcohol to a party for the express purposes of getting laid to end like this? For it to tug at your heart strings and wish there was another movie right after? I don't think so.
Bad: It's Super.
The Ugly: I'm going to say it. Superbad is probably the last great American comedy film. There have been good comedies since, for sure, but do any of them even come close to Superbad? It'll be 15 years in 2022 since this movie came out, and honestly, it hasn't been topped. All hail the baddest of them all.
- ryanpersaud-59415
- Jan 28, 2022
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Súper cool
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $121,463,226
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $33,052,411
- Aug 19, 2007
- Gross worldwide
- $170,812,574
- Runtime1 hour 53 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1