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Released by: BCI
Released on: 9/26/2006
Director: Lawrence Bassoff
Cast: Patrick Houser, Chip McAllister, D.W. Brown, Peter Ellenstein
Year: 1984
The Movie:
Four guys - hunky Webster Adams (Patrick Houser of Hot Dog… The Movie), former gang leader Bunker Hill (Chip McAllister), comedian Paul Fricker (D.W. Brown of Fast Times At Ridgemont High) and nerdy Lester Gidley (Peter Ellenstein) - fresh out of the Naval Academy, are given a seventy-two hour weekend pass to enjoy before their tour of duty gets under way. They rent a jeep and jead into the city to look for fun and to try to score with the ladies of Los Angeles. Their first stop is a gentleman's club called the G-String where they try to pick up a dancer named Tuesday Del Mundo and enjoy a performance from the Party Hearty Dancers.
From there, they hit Venice Beach where Bunker falls hard for an aerobics instructor. Meanwhile, Paul books himself a gig at the Comedy Castle (where the late, great Phil Hartman plays an M.C. named Joe Chicago) where he hopes to make his stand up debut, Lester arranges to go on a blind date and Webster makes plans to reunite with a girl he knew back in highschool. Along the way the guys get Lester a massage from an Asian masseuse named Chop Suzy, almost get beaten up by Bunker's former gangmates, the Mau Mau's, at a soul food joint, and before it's all over and done with, each of the lead stereotypes ends up with an equally stereotypical ladyfriend.
There were a lot of bad eighties sex comedies but few of them are as awful as Weekend Pass. The humor is completely awful, every character is as a stereotype of some sort and the story is completely predictible. The acting ranges from bad to awful across the board and the script is full of scenes that are obviously there for the sole purpose of padding out the running time of the film (the strip club scene and the comedy club scene are both guilty). What the film does do well, however, is paint a picture of mid-eighties era Los Angeles by letting us tour the city with the four navy cadets. This might not be reason enough for most viewers to want to subject themselves to ninety-two minutes of some of the worst comedy ever committed to celluloid but those who dig on time capsule cinema might get a kick out of seeing the Pussycat Theater show up in one scene as well as a few other recognizeable California landmarks here and there.
This mess of a film also has the distinct honor of being set to an equally horrible soundtrack that sounds like it was done on a Radio Shack keyboard in one take. Somehow, it fits. Add to this an unhealthy amount of dancing (on stage at the G-String, and in the aerobics club a few different times) and you're left scratching your head wondering what the big-wigs at Crown International were thinking when they bankrolled this turkey (someone probably smelled 'cash-in' potential).
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that BCI has provided for this release is surprisingly crisp and detailed. Color reproduction is strong, there are no problems with print damage save for some really fine grain and the occaisional speck here and there, and edge enhancement is kept to a minimum. Mpeg compression artifacts are never a problem and skin tones look lifelike and natural.
The kickin' Casio soundtrack courtesy of Mr. John Baer (just try and get that theme song out of your head!) comes through loud and clear as does the dialogue and the sound effects on the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track that adorns this DVD. No alternate language dubs or subtitles have been included but the track here is fine.
Aside from a nifty animated menu and chapter selection, BCI has provided trailers for four other Crown International comedies: Jocks, The Pom Pom Girls, My Tutor and Tom Boy.
The Final Word:
As horrible as Weekend Pass is (and it is horrible) it does have some value as a curiosity item thanks to all the mid-eighties footage of Los Angeles and its various burroughs contained within. The humor is awful and every character a cliché but eighties comedy buffs will get some enjoyment out of it.