Truly Dreadful Film

just watch it!

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

This was a movie that I used to get a kick out of checking out of the video store when I was a kid because I remember finding it so very, very oddball. Its about an East German scientist that invents a car that can run on vegetables (and can run up to 200 miles per hour doing so!) He comes to L.A. to try and sell the invention to a businessman and try and make some money to save his hometown which is about to be bought out by a rich industrialist and turned into a factory town or something like that. Almost as soon as he comes to L.A. the car gets stolen by none other than the mean detention giving vice principal from the Back To The Future films. (the rest of the movie is mostly made up of his and Billy Dee's attempts to get the car back) Re-watching it again tonight for the first time in what had to be like at least 17 or 18 years (I bought the VHS of this from a CVS pharmacy sometime in either 97, or 98 from what I remember and hadn't played it since and was eager to see it again with a friend of mine who wanted me to try and find some of the more obscure movies in my VHS collection--why? because obscure movies are awesome!) I realized that the movie wasn't nearly as oddball or as inventive as I had originally thought. Its basically kind of a German take on "Young Einstein" where a wacky outsider stumbles or invents something astounding and then spends the movie trying to get the other people around him to comprehend the value of his invention. (and along the way he finds love and friendship and some hearty adventure as well)Seeing as how I very much loved Young Einstein when I was a kid, its not that big a leap to see why I liked this one as well, since the two movies seem to have quite a bit in common humor wise at least in the first 20 minutes before the scientist comes to America.It was interesting watching it again, I honestly quite enjoyed the set up of the film in the small East German town, and I enjoyed seeing Dom Deluise looking like he was having fun hamming it up in his villainous role when he turns up, which he doesn't until the last half of the movie. Meanwhile, Billy Dee Williams while commanding a screen presence as always does not appear to be enjoying himself as much, but i'm not sure if that's him or if that's the role he was playing--which was more of a straight man to the wacky German. There was one scene tho where he takes over as auctioneer at the auction that has people bidding on the vegetable car--and he's trying to describe how fast the car can run--and well its hard sometimes to not wanna make a Star Wars reference when it would seem to really fit the scene.Anyways I was surprised that the movie wasn't nearly as much fun as I thought it was when I was 10 or 11, but there were moments where I was really happy to be seeing it again for the first time in a long time. Moments such as the random Super Mario Bros. 3 references, or the Bart Simpson T-Shirt the German sports in an effort to look more American..or of course his attempt at a street name "M.C. Schmidt" (rolls eyes) No if you can allow yourself to enjoy silliness, you might enjoy it, but its also no Collision Course if oddball humor that happens while cultures clashing is what you seek. (Collision Course--aka Pat Morita and Jay Leno's version of Rush Hour from the mid 80's) I'd also like to say for the record that the friend I watched the movie with tonight kept asking throughout the entire movie why the scientist doesn't just try to rebuild the car himself rather than chase all around L.A trying to get it back. The ending while I won't spoil it here basically came down to that very question ironically enough meaning my friend even while more than half asleep was able to accurately predict what was the one thing in the movie that needed to be answered before the movie could successfully end. I gotta give him credit here, he was dozing off pretty soundly in the last half hour but he got the main flaw of the movie right off the bat without missing a beat! Also what the heck was Milton Berle doing in this movie? Did he owe someone a favor or something? His part is so thankless too--he plays a hotel manager who refuses to budge from his spot at the front desk while an earthquake is going on. That's the former king of TV ("MR. TV" himself in this movie, and what is he even doing here?!?!?!?)

Where to start, first the movie was filmed around the fall of the Berlin wall, a bit of intentional dating of a time period, and actually filmed in Germany, so the filmmakers get a few plus points for that. Technically it is about the fall of the inner German barrier, between east and west Germany and a wacky inventor who wants to cross it, and doesn't due to the fact that by the time he is done with his invention to cross it, the wall is torn down.And that is the waste of a good idea, a great movie could have been made about a man trying to cross the barrier, and not suceeding until Oct 1991, when the barrier was opened. Instead what we get is a version of the fish out of water scenario with wasted cameos, wasted talent, and shoddy writing.First off, I had this movie as a kid, the supermarket had it for sale from their previewed video aisle, all copies I have seen on the market have been previewed from rental stores, I doubt this movie saw a wide retail release, or even a wide theatrical release. Just to write a review I tracked down another copy on VHS and watched it, and it was just like I remembered it, except my tastes had changed and i found it to be rather dreary and a chore to sit through, with occasional laughs from the cameos that are very much wasted.Where to start with describing the actual film, what was put out on VHS back in 1992. it starts out with some classical music and scenes of the town that reflects the change from communist names to non communist names, it isn't important to the film, just a cheap joke. After the credits you get a voice over describing the inventor and some of his silly inventions. His final invention after 5 or so years of experimentation is a Trabant that is capable of high speeds and is powered by reuben (turnup) and the wall gets torn down before he gets to use it. later an American investor comes to town to become wasted cameo #1, George Kennedy gets a few scenes where he plays a generic American businessman. For that actor it is not really that much work, it was an easy paycheck and a trip to Germany. After two scenes, which for this film warrants a box cover photo to make it seem like you are in the entire movie, the inventor enters into an agreement to help save his town by sending his car to America for an auto show, where wasted cameo #2 gets started, Milton Berle playing a hotel clerk who isn't flummoxed by any earthquakes. He also meets one part of wasted talent, Billy Dee Williams, who is underused in this movie as a valet parker who was also a car thief at one time, who helps our inventor after the car is stolen. The entire movie then starts to become a traditional fish out of water story, the car gets found at wasted talent #3's house, played by Dom DeLuise, doing a mafia impression. Along the way we see Richard Moll, James Toklian, among other actors in roles that are more or less cameos. The movie resolves after they steal the car back and find an invenstor to save the town.Now that the plot is out of the way, time to get down to the crux of the problem. The movie is full of bait and switch moments, the movie baits you with a story about a wacky inventor like the absent minded professor, but switches to a political commentary and fish out of water story that is not pulled off well at all. Half the jokes are "in east Germany this and that." It is not funny, the jokes get stale after the first 20 minutes as they are all retreads of the same joke. The guy has never been in a normal supermarket, show him amazed at that. The guy has never been in a huge city, show him amazed at that, rinse and repeat that joke. That is how most of the humor in this movie works. This film could have aired on a weekend TV movie show in the 90s like the NBC Sunday night movie, not a theatrical release.In conclusion, avoid this movie unless you are a fan of cheesy comedies from the 90s that are boring and clichie beyond belief

I stumbled across this film on one those free movie networks. I thought I would watch for a few minutes to laugh at some of the cheesiness of the late 80's/early 90's, and I ended up watching the whole thing. The movie was indeed cheesy with mostly bad acting and a plot full of holes, but it's packed full of cerebral jokes and period references. Watch it by yourself, or with someone who appreciates that era, so you can relax and not feel guilty about laughing out loud. The lead actor does a good job and holds the movie together. There are blatant plugs for some of the products from that year. Also, Star Wars fans will recognize and appreciate a scene by Billy Dee Williams that parodies one of his scenes from Empire Strikes Back.Overall, a fun movie for anyone 35 or older. The young and/or cynical are just not going to get it.

This movie was bad. Painfully bad. I am one of the ten or so people who actually saw this in the theater. I went with two friends on opening night and we were the only three people there.The first hint that the movie was bad was the premise: An East German inventor creates a car that runs on potatoes--or as he continually calls them "tubers." After the Berlin Wall falls, he moves to the U.S. to try to sell his invention. Most of the movie consists of painfully obvious "fish out of water"-type jokes. My assumption is that every actor and crew member who worked on it took the money and ran to cash their checks as quickly as possible.Avoid this movie like the plague. Please. Your brain will thank you.