UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ National Lampoon's Animal House -- in 4k (1 Viewer)

[Sam Favate]

I think you also have to remember that upon its release, there was a lot about Animal House that was forbidden fruit. (It even starred the leader of those Not Ready For Prime Time Players.) It was an anti-authoritarian comedy at a time when there were few of those. Throw in the language, nudity and over-the-top physical comedy, and it’s easy to see why audiences loved it. It was really giving us something that hadn’t been seen before. The fact that it’s had countless imitators doesn’t diminish its original impact. I can see that would hard to get a sense of if you only experienced the movie as one of a pack of such films.

 

[sleroi]

So I opened up my steelbook of this today and there was no artwork on the 4k disk. It plays fine and looks great.

 

[B-ROLL]

So I opened up my steelbook of this today and there was no artwork on the 4k disk. It plays fine and looks great.

According to BBY it should look like the screen printed one on the bottom - which looks the same a my "plain Jane" version ...

The Target Version looks to be the same ...

 

[titch]

I think you also have to remember that upon its release, there was a lot about Animal House that was forbidden fruit. (It even starred the leader of those Not Ready For Prime Time Players.) It was an anti-authoritarian comedy at a time when there were few of those. Throw in the language, nudity and over-the-top physical comedy, and it’s easy to see why audiences loved it. It was really giving us something that hadn’t been seen before. The fact that it’s had countless imitators doesn’t diminish its original impact. I can see that would hard to get a sense of if you only experienced the movie as one of a pack of such films.

I definitely see your perspective. Many films I that saw in my youth, when they originally came out, have other values than just the actual story and acting. I was watching The Spy Who Loved Me yesterday with my 14 year old nephew, and I was pointing out to him how exciting and ground-breaking the film was when it premiered during the summer of 1977 (look: a jet-ski!).

I probably would feel differently about Animal House, if I had seen it upon its original theatrical release. I saw many of the films it subsequently spawned: Porky's, The Last American Virgin, Bachelor Party, Hot-Dog: The Movie on VHS. For a horny teenager, the titillating (sorry) covers, titles and tag-lines were then worth investing my hard-earned pocket-money in for a rental.

 

[jayembee]

The subjectivity of humor strikes again! It's the main reason why I would never recommend a comedy to anyone including my own family.

I've always said that there's nothing more subjective than a sense of humor, except perhaps a sense of beauty.

I've always loved Animal House, though generally not its various imitators or even other "National Lampoon" films. I remember seeing it on its first release, and then finding out that friends of mine had the same "problem" with it that I had: we had to see it a couple of more times because we'd miss a lot of the jokes because we were laughing so hard at the previous ones.

 

[Jeffrey D]

Watching now. Does anyone agree with me that the image is a tad dark?

 

[sbjork]

Watching now. Does anyone agree with me that the image is a tad dark?

I think that it may depend on how your display tone maps. On my JVC, it looked a bit dark on the Mid settings with the newest Optimizer firmware. It looked fine on high. But as good as JVC's tone mapping is, it still isn't perfect set-and-forget so I do have to adjust occasionally.

 

[Christian D66]

ANIMAL HOUSE may have set the template for the modern gross out comedies but it's pretty sedate compared to most others and even the amoral magazine. There's a nice atmosphere to the film and a lot of political wit and Landis really has a gift for directing comedy. I saw it in 8th grade on HBO back in the day and it made me nostalgic for college! Years later in the late 90s I snuck it into a B-films of the 70s class I was co-teaching at Berkeley and it played like gangbusters to the college kids.

 

[sbjork]

ANIMAL HOUSE may have set the template for the modern gross out comedies but it's pretty sedate compared to most others and even the amoral magazine. There's a nice atmosphere to the film and a lot of political wit and Landis really has a gift for directing comedy. I saw it in 8th grade on HBO back in the day and it made me nostalgic for college! Years later in the late 90s I snuck it into a B-films of the 70s class I was co-teaching at Berkeley and it played like gangbusters to the college kids.

It isn't really a question of gross out humor, which has gotten infinitely more gross in the years since 1978. The thing with Animal House is that some of the non-consensual humor has aged poorly. It doesn't seem like "harmless good fun" anymore, nor should it.

That isn't enough to ruin the movie, though, and I still love it on the whole -- and that really isn't my kind of comedy in the first place. The jokes are not necessarily the funniest, but the timing of their delivery & the editing seems perfect to me. Landis was kind of inconsistent that way -- some of his movies telegraph all the jokes and then hammer them home, but he had a much more deft touch on Animal House. The humor still isn't particularly subtle, but the execution is more low-key than you might expect.

 

[Christian D66]

It isn't really a question of gross out humor, which has gotten infinitely more gross in the years since 1978. The thing with Animal House is that some of the non-consensual humor has aged poorly. It doesn't seem like "harmless good fun" anymore, nor should it.

That isn't enough to ruin the movie, though, and I still love it on the whole -- and that really isn't my kind of comedy in the first place. The jokes are not necessarily the funniest, but the timing of their delivery & the editing seems perfect to me. Landis was kind of inconsistent that way -- some of his movies telegraph all the jokes and then hammer them home, but he had a much more deft touch on Animal House. The humor still isn't particularly subtle, but the execution is more low-key than you might expect.

That didn't work for me as a teen or now. But that was the NL and the era. I think BLAME IT ON RIO and every beloved 80's teen comedy is probably more offensive.

Think of how PERFECTLY Landis opens the film. And the beautiful series of cuts from when Pinto and Flounder step in front of Delta House to the mannequin flying out the window through Belushi's introduction.

What I do love is when Boone tries to shout his white boy solidarity at the Black club and Otis Day looks out like, "Who are you?"

 

[sbjork]

That didn't work for me as a teen or now. But that was the NL and the era. I think BLAME IT ON RIO and every beloved 80's teen comedy is probably more offensive.

Think of how PERFECTLY Landis opens the film. And the beautiful series of cuts from when Pinto and Flounder step in front of Delta House to the mannequin flying out the window through Belushi's introduction.

What I do love is when Pinto tries to shout his white boy solidarity at the Black club and Otis Day looks out like, "Who are you?"

That was Boone.

 

[Christian D66]

That was Boone.

Right! All those dumb names...

 

[sleroi]

The thing with Animal House is that some of the non-consensual humor has aged poorly

Just curious what the non-consensual humor was?

If you're talking about Pinto and the teenager, even though the headline said "local teenager molested," we had already seen him listen to his shoulder angel and ignore the devil. Plus she was happy and eager to see him again towards the end of the movie.

If you're talking about the road trip, yes the premise of getting the date is dishonest but she was more than willing to oblige. And after the girls were abandoned we see them walking back home, with Fawn's roomate still smitten with Frank/Otter.

The only non-consensual bit in the movie was when the guys commandeered Dorfman's brother's car.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

The only non-consensual bit in the movie was when the guys commandeered Dorfman's brother's car.

And Bluto driving off with Mandy. And the woman Otter introduces himself to at the start. Neither are as egregious as what happens in Revenge of the Nerds.

 

[titch]

It isn't really a question of gross out humor, which has gotten infinitely more gross in the years since 1978. The thing with Animal House is that some of the non-consensual humor has aged poorly. It doesn't seem like "harmless good fun" anymore, nor should it.

That isn't enough to ruin the movie, though, and I still love it on the whole -- and that really isn't my kind of comedy in the first place. The jokes are not necessarily the funniest, but the timing of their delivery & the editing seems perfect to me. Landis was kind of inconsistent that way -- some of his movies telegraph all the jokes and then hammer them home, but he had a much more deft touch on Animal House. The humor still isn't particularly subtle, but the execution is more low-key than you might expect.

It really is a time capsule though. Our views on sexuality, medicine, education, child-rearing, women's suffrage and masculinity are not the same as they were 40 years ago, and will be different again in another 40 years. Probably why comedies tend to date worse than other genres. That said, take a look at Buster Keaton's nearly 100 year old masterpieces - they are still considered universally funny by almost everyone. Young and old, who have never seen a silent, black and white or Buster Keaton film before, laugh. The only thing that really dates them in the humour, is the occasional brief black-face or racist gag.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

That didn't work for me as a teen or now. But that was the NL and the era. I think BLAME IT ON RIO and every beloved 80's teen comedy is probably more offensive.

Like how the "hero" of "Revenge of the Nerds" pretends to be someone else to trick the hot girl into sleeping with him?

 

[Peter Neski]

its a shame they didn't include the far better and longer making of Documentary which was included in the dvd Box set (which was from tv) instead we get a second best shorter thing
To me people comparing this to John Hughes movies are totally nuts ,its far funnier than any of those, or Fast times

 

[sbjork]

It really is a time capsule though. Our views on sexuality, medicine, education, child-rearing, women's suffrage and masculinity are not the same as they were 40 years ago, and will be different again in another 40 years. Probably why comedies tend to date worse than other genres. That said, take a look at Buster Keaton's nearly 100 year old masterpieces - they are still considered universally funny by almost everyone. Young and old, who have never seen a silent, black and white or Buster Keaton film before, laugh. The only thing that really dates them in the humour, is the occasional brief black-face or racist gag.

That is exactly what I called it when I reviewed the disc: a time capsule of a different era. There is nothing wrong with enjoying material with outdated content, but by the same token I think that there is nothing wrong with addressing it. Reality lies between the extremes that we tend to see when people argue about such things -- no, such content should not be altered or removed, but by the same token it should not simply be dismissed as a "product of its times." Watch it, enjoy it, but talk about it. What could be more fun than talking about movies, the good, the bad, and the ugly?

 

[sbjork]

Just curious what the non-consensual humor was?

If you're talking about Pinto and the teenager, even though the headline said "local teenager molested," we had already seen him listen to his shoulder angel and ignore the devil. Plus she was happy and eager to see him again towards the end of the movie.

If you're talking about the road trip, yes the premise of getting the date is dishonest but she was more than willing to oblige. And after the girls were abandoned we see them walking back home, with Fawn's roomate still smitten with Frank/Otter.

The only non-consensual bit in the movie was when the guys commandeered Dorfman's brother's car.

Bluto's upskirt viewing and other peeping Tom activities, for a start. And yes, Otter's manipulation of women on false pretenses. The fact that she was "more than willing to oblige" is how she is presented in the movie, not necessarily a believable reaction. It was part of how movies made non-consensual activities "fun" -- by having the women appear to go along. (Think of Susan George's "asking for it" rape in Straw Dogs.) That gets even more problematic with Sarah's "happy and eager" to see Pinto. 13 is a tad below the age of consent. I assume that you are not arguing that sex with minors is fine as long as they are "happy" about it. The devil/angel scene was also only one of the times that he was with her, and it cuts away from the second part after she announces she is 13 so we do not know what happens afterwards. She does announce to her parents at the end that she and Pinto have to get married, which could imply that something did happen, or that she was ignorant of how pregnancies occur. Either way, you cannot argue consent of any kind with a 13 year old.

Again, none of that changes the fact that the movie is hilarious. That doesn't meant that it doesn't have some issues when watched today.

 

[sbjork]

Like how the "hero" of "Revenge of the Nerds" pretends to be someone else to trick the hot girl into sleeping with him?

And as presented in the movie, she likes it. I still enjoy the movie, but boy, that scene is uncomfortable.