The Big Bus
Paramount (7/16/2002)
Comedy
In Collection
#44
0*
Seen ItYes
09736088234
88 mins USA/English
DVD  Region 1   PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
René Auberjonois
Selma Archerd
Dan Barrows
Ned Beatty
John Beck

For anyone who's wallowed in the inanities of 1970s disaster movies, The Big Bus is not only witty but downright endearing. Instead of an endangered airliner or a capsized cruise ship, this dippily deadpan parody features a block-long, atomic-powered, luxury super-Greyhound setting off on its first transcontinental run with a garish cross section of humankind programmed for redemption, retribution, or just sublime ridiculousness as they roll toward Doom--or Denver, whichever comes first. Writers Fred Freeman and Lawrence J. Cohen, who penned the daffy historical spoof Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), twist the sententious ironies of disaster-movie dialogue into pretzels (priceless scene: Richard B. Shull, as a "terminal traveler" with six months to live, and Bob Dishy, a discredited veterinarian who fitted a rabbit for an IUD, debating who knows more about bitterness). James Frawley's direction is drolly cliché-savvy, but his touch proved too delicate for 1976 audiences; it remained for Airplane! to grab the disaster-spoof brass ring four years later. Still, it's not too late to climb aboard. --Richard T. Jameson
Edition Details
Distributor Paramount
Release Date 7/16/2002
Screen Ratio 2.35:1
Subtitles English
Audio Tracks English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
No. of Disks/Tapes 1
Personal Details
Purchase Price $19.99
Links Amazon US