One Crazy Summer is perhaps might be underrated as it does get overshadowed by many other comedies from the 1980s, but I found myself laughing throughout mainly for the bizarre scenes alongside John Cusack’s deadpan line deliveries.
One Crazy Summer
— Warner Archive Collection —
(1986)
Genre(s): Comedy
Warner Archive | PG – 93 min. – $21.99 | August 10, 2021
Date Published: 08/25/2021 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 3¾/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: After graduating from high school, art school hopeful Hoops McCann (JOHN CUSACK) struggles to complete his application to the Rhode Island School of Design. Resigning himself to a summer of boredom, McCann agrees to go along with his best friend, George Calamari (JOEL MURRAY), on a family trip to Nantucket, Mass. But, after McCann and Calamari meet rocker-in-distress Cassandra (DEMI MOORE), it suddenly looks like it’s going to be “one crazy summer.”
Quick Hit Review: One Crazy Summer might not be a classic from the 1980s and doesn’t compare to the likes of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Stripes, Trading Places or National Lampoon’s Vacation, but this is one I probably saw somewhere in the 90s on Comedy Central or something, but never bothered to watch again despite owning the DVD. Now with this getting a Blu-ray release, decided to give it a go… and surprisingly while it doesn’t really have a signature sequence, I still found the humor to hit the right spot. This is a pretty bizarre movie for sure where you have scenes involving two girls with grotesque faces or a dog pushing another dog in a wheelchair. Kind of a good thing but the central plot is fairly mundane, where our intrepid “losers” take on a rich kid in order to get back a house the rich kid’s daddy has bought and plans to demolish.
The cast are all decent. John Cusack plays the lovelorn type seen before and after; Demi Moore is fine in the love interest role (although her lip synching needed a lot of work); Joel Murray (aka Bill Murray’s brother) is the outgoing bestie; and the rest of the supporting players are comedic fillers, like Bobcat Goldthwaite is, well Bobcat Goldthwaite of the 1980s, wild and extreme. Curtis Armstrong (one of the stars of another 1980s comedy classic, Revenge of the Nerds) was alright but more amusing than funny. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1½/5 |
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The features from the DVD were ported over: Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Savage Steve Holland & Actors Curtis Armstrong and Bobcat Goldthwaite; and the Theatrical Trailer. |
VIDEO – 4½/5, AUDIO – 4/5 |
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One Crazy Summer makes its debut on Blu-ray through the Warner Bros. Archive Collection, given a new 1080p high-definition transfer and presented in the original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio. Detail on this transfer does look decent enough, not incredible but certainly a significant improvement over the 2003 DVD. Colors are fairly vibrant but still evenly dispersed and the natural film grain does shine through. The disc includes a ordinary DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track. This is nothing exceptional but functional for a movie that is mostly dialogue (or whatever Bobcat does) with some okay depth, as singular tracks go, for ambient noises or the generic comedic score/soundtrack. |
OVERALL – 3½/5 |
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One Crazy Summer is perhaps might be underrated as it does get overshadowed by many other comedies from the 1980s, but I found myself laughing throughout mainly for the bizarre scenes alongside John Cusack’s deadpan line deliveries more than the basic plot. This Blu-ray released through the Warner Archive Collection does have impressive video and audio transfers. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.