Jocks

Released by: BCI Eclipse
Released on: September 26, 2006.
Director: Steve Carver
Cast: Scott Strader, Perry Lang, Mariska Hargitay, Richard Roundtree, R.G. Armgstrong, Christopher Lee, Donald Gibb
Year: 1987
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The Movie:

Continuing to release anything and everything from the vaults of the Crown International libray, BCI dips their toes into the world of the eighties teen sex comedy genre with their relase of Jocks. This is one of those films that always stood out on the video rack thanks to its racy cover art, but one which this reviewer never got a chance to see until the release of this disc. How does it shape up? In a word, weird. This is a really odd film considering that target audience it was shooting for. Let's start with a quick rundown of what the movie is about…

Coach Chip Bettlebom (R. G. Armstrong of Predator), the man responsible for the tennis team, hasn't delivered a championship title in decades. President White (Christopher Lee of Hammer films galore!) has essentially told him that if he doesn't bring home a trophy this year that he's going to cut the tennis program and give the funding to the football team. Bettlebom gets his crew of rowdy tennis players together and takes them off to Las Vegas for a shot at the championship where the find girls, booze, and a rival team to square off against. It's all landing on the shoudlers of The Kid (Scott Strader of The Karate Kid), the hopeful of the team. Will he be able to take home the win and save the day or will the snooty guys from the other school score the points and the chicks?

Take a look at the cast list for this film and you'll find yourself wondering just how the producers got some of the people to appear in what is otherwise a pretty standard sex comedy. Sir Christopher Lee shows up here, as does Richard Roundtree of Shaft. Mariska Hargitay of C.S.I., the daughter of Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield, shows up here playing the love interest while Donald Gibb, best known as Ogre from The Revenge Of The Nerds has a part as Ripper, the big tough tennis player on The Kid's team. It's a really bizarre mix of truly talented and respected thespians and bit part B-movie performers and as such, it all feels very… odd. Particularly any time that Christopher Lee shows up (it'd be interesting to see how he feels about this role in hindsight).

In terms of the story, well, it's not all that good. Setting the action in Vegas allows for some fun gags and the footage of the late eighties era strip is nice to see (it's interesting to see just how much it's changed in the last two decades) but really, you can see most of this coming from a mile away. The movie is never the less entertaining as a sort of trip back in time. Everything about it from the script to the fashions to the hair to the soundtrack just screams eighties so there's some unintentional camp value to be taken away from the film even if the jokes, while amusing enough, are childish and dumb. That being said, childish and dumb is sometimes the name of the game, and you could do a lot worse than to kill a few brain cells and sit back with this one. It's not a good movie at all but it's hard not to have fun with it.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Jocks arrives on DVD in a surprisingly crisp 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that looks to be the correct aspect ratio for the film. There aren't any problems with cropping and while there is some mild film grain and the odd speck here and there, print damage is minimal. This is a pretty clean, colorful and detailed picture here and fans of the film should be pleased with the presentation.

The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track is free of hiss or distortion. Levels are well balanced and there aren't any problems understanding the dialogue. Background music and sound effects sound nice and don't overpower the performers. No subtitles or alternate language dubs are included here.

Aside from menus and chapter selection for the main feature, BCI has included trailers for four other Crown International titles, but no trailers for the feature itself.

The Final Word:

While a few more extras would have been nice, you can't argue with the price point and the presentation is quite nice. Jocks is far from the best 80s sex comedy to come out of the era but the unusual casting and a few good gags make this one worth a look.