The greatest movie ever made..!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Just stumbled upon this movie by chance. What a great musical time piece it turned out to be! Nonsensical, quirky road movie with Meat Loaf (excellent acting), Blondie and others in a B-movie made for the ages. Keep an eye out for cameos, there a a handful not emphasized or dwelled upon. Heard of The Blues Brothers? Don't blink and you might see them (both movies came out the same year).

Sheer, unbridled, let it all hang out somethin' crazy lunacy is the order of the day in this raucous rock'n'roll comedy which features the almighty Meatloaf in a disarmingly sweet and robust performance as Travis W. Redfish, a naive, innocent, but eager, resourceful and quick-thinking Texas hillbilly whose natural skillfulness with electronic equipment gets him a gig as a dependable roadie supreme on a frantic traveling rock show. Redfish's off-beat initiation into the sprawling fracas of the manic, anything-goes nuttiness and rootlessness of the peripatetic rock'n'roll lifestyle hooks him up with flighty underage aspiring groupie Lola Bouillabaisse (an endearingly daffy'n'dippy portrayal by thin, perky, squeaky-voiced "Porky's" film regular Kaki Hunter), who wants to surrender her virginity to Alice Cooper. Artsy-fartsy art-house pic maestro Alan Rudolph's uncommonly boisterous, freewheeling, wild-spirited direction allows the skimpy plot to spiral delightfully out of control, punctuating the goofy, insane and increasingly surreal mayhem with mondo destructo car chases, frenzied barroom fights, divinely asinine dope humor, and hilariously crude dumb redneck gags. Besides the two terrific leads, the excellent supporting cast includes Art Carney as Redfish's cranky inventor pop, "Soul Train"'s Don Cornelious as a mean promoter, Joe Spano as a sleazy manager, Gailard Sartain as a rowdy truck driver, and Sonny Carl Davis (Cowboy in the splendid seriocomic indie sleeper "Last Night at the Alamo")as a perpetually inebriated hanger-on. Moreover, there are uniformly outstanding musical appearances by Hank Williams, Jr., Roy Orbison (in one of the movie's funniest moments Roy and Hank pacify a brawling tavern audience by breaking into an impromptu a cappella duet on "The Eyes of Texas"!), Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Asleep at the Wheel, Blondie (who do a great thrashy New Wave rave-up rendition of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"), and, of course, Alice Cooper. In short, this gloriously gaga, sometimes downright bizarre, and frequently berserk romp certainly has the correct right-on rambunctious rock'n'roll attitude, thereby making it one of Alan Rudolph's breeziest, more accessible, most unpretentious and hence quite hugely enjoyable pictures that he's ever made.

The movie slows down abit after the Austin bar fight scene. But before, the movie is tight and has good dialog. I probably am biased because I am from Texas. Everything from Roy Orbinson, to the Shiner beer truck to the armadillos, and especially to Muhamed Johnson mispronouncing Redfish's name is great. Other than King of the Hill it is probably the best caricature of Texas that I have seen. Now as a band cameo movie it isn't that great but Meatloaf in brainlock is worth watching just to hear what he says.It's a classic in my opinion.

I'm probably one of about 5 people in the world who actually saw this in the theatres back in 1980, and I am absolutely thrilled it's now out on DVD. The film is a bonafide B-movie cult classic. Anyone who has ever lived in Austin, particularly in the pre-90's high-tech boom, will treasure the asthetics of the film. It has all the elements that make Austin the weird, unique town that it is. It totally stereotypes Texans, which makes it all the more funny to this Texan. People who don't understand Austin (or Texas) won't get the film, and probably won't like it.High points of the film include a Hank Williams Jr./Roy Orbison duet singing "The Eyes of Texas" (the school song of the University of Texas at Austin) to break up a bar brawl; a high-speed chase through downtown Austin involving Austin police, a Lone Star Beer truck, and a limousine; and an outdoor rock concert, the "Rock N Roll Circus", featuring Blondie singing a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". Notice the racetrack to the above right of the stage, which is supposed to be located somewhere in Idaho. Austinites will recognize it as Manor Downs.I recommend the film to anyone who enjoys a mindless, entertaining movie. Brain power is not needed to see this film, and is actually discouraged.