That was an excellent one.

hyped garbage

Admirable film.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Two stoners unknowingly smuggle a van -- made entirely of marijuana -- from Mexico to Los Angeles, with incompetent Sgt. Stedenko on their trail.Although Cheech and Chong made several films together, they will probably always be best remembered for this one, their first. There are so many moments that have since become a part of pop culture. The use of War's "Low Rider", the smoking of the Labrador... when watching it for the first time you might feel like you have seen it before.Those into drug culture may appreciate the film more, but being a stoner is certainly not required to laugh at the antics of these two luckless losers.

The first Cheech & Chong stoner comedy of errors "Up in Smoke" consists of gags lifted from their comedy albums about marijuana usage tacked onto a rolling paper thin plot about smuggling a fortune in pot into the U.S. by two dopers desperate for some weed to puff. The message is that if our heroes get high enough that all their troubles will disappear in a purple haze of smoke. Freshman director Lou Adler learned on the job with this occasionally funny comedy that never advocates the legalization of pot. You won't find anything remotely subversive and "Up in Smoke" doesn't take any chances. Adler and scenarists Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin may have gotten high when they contrived this harmless nonsense, but they have no lofty aims. They ridicule their own clueless characters as well as a cadre of hopelessly inept but zealous narcotics police officers who pursue them. "Up in Smoke" amounts to a stoned version of the Keystone Kops, except that the cops are narcs. Of course, Pedro De Bacas (Cheech Marin) and Anthony Stoner (Tommy Chong) are a pair of misguided stoners who encounter each other after Anthony's intolerant father Arnold (Strother Martin of "The Wild Bunch") threatens to pack him off to military school if he doesn't get a job. Anthony's Volkswagon Beetle conks out on him on the highway and he winds up spending the night in a ditch before Pedro mistakes him for a woman and tries to pick him up.Several mildly amusing scenes follow without apparent much apparent motivation. Everything centers on the efforts of our duo to find some good marijuana. One of the funniest scenes in the first 30 minutes shows them smoking a hilariously huge joint that consists of Maui-wowie strained from the turds of Anthony's Labrador. According to Anthony, he caught man's best friend chowing down on his stash and then followed him around with a baggie. Smoke pours out of their car as Pedros cruises the freeway. Inevitably, the police pull them over and pack them off to court with Anthony the worst for wear. During their arraignment in court, Anthony partakes of water from the judge's carafe. He spews the contents and announces to everybody that the judge has been drinking vodka. Our heroes are released after this alarming incident.Later, they visit one of their friends, Veteran-veteran Strawberry (Tom Skerritt of "M.A.S.H.") who has a huge discolored birthmark looking scar on his face. Before Strawberry can goad Anthony into confessing that he is staring at his skin problem, Pedro gets him to embark on a search for some reefer. They leave Anthony at Strawberry's house and Anthony monkeys around with some Comet so that it appears to be cocaine. Party girls snort it up and raise hell. Strawberry has a Vietnam flashback and dons his combat gear, while Pedro warns Anthony of an impending bust by Sergeant Stedenko. No sooner do our heroes escape from the cops a second time than they are caught in a raid organized by INS agents and bussed back across the border. The catch is that the rest of the Mexicans deliberately informed on themselves so they could get a free ride to the border prior to a wedding.Pedro and Anthony go to an upholstery shop run by an uncle to acquire the means of getting back across the border. Predictably, they enter the wrong shop and find themselves in a massive pot smuggling enterprise. They are given a van to drive back to L.A., but what our protagonists don't realize is that they are driving a van constructed of fiberweed. Meaning, the dope smugglers have converted the THC resin found in marijuana in a fiberglass-like substance. Just when it looks like our heroes will be busted at the border, Anthony thumps a roach into a station wagon full of Catholic sisters. The authorities allows our heroes to pass through, but they bust the sisters.Once they are back in L.A., Pedro and Anthony decide to compete in a battle of rock bands. They dress themselves in outlandish costumes and manage to sing a ridiculous song that turns the entire audience into a raving room of fans. The general idea here to keep our heroes off balance as they look for pot and Alder and company shun any political positions. No, this is not an imaginative comedy, but it marked not only their debut but the biggest depiction of a counter-culture duo that spawned a number of lesser films.

Cheech and Chong were already insanely popular with their comedy record albums and were contracted to make a movie. Hoping to make the "big score" they go to Mexico and end up driving a van built entirely of Weed back across the border. Many reviewers have already commented on the classic "stoner" humor, and I won't add to that. If you get this movie get the DVD with the extended commentary. In it you find that they were on the cutting edge of the Punk Rock revolution. The battle of the bands features some of the earliest LA punk rock bands.My favorite gags. 1) Cheech and Chong get in their car, do a U - Turn, park on the other side of the street and get out.2) The Van Scene - This literally made the phrase "If this vans rocking, don't come a-knocking" part of our popular culture. Whats so amazing about this scene was that it wasn't even in the original script! The actress, who played Chongs girlfriend was telling the story of a roommate who was a "screamer", while they were on lunch break outside of the battle of the bands show. Cheech and Chong said that sounds funny, lets film it. It just goes to show you that sometimes the best comedy can be the spontaneous type.Finally students of film comedy should rent this movie for an unusual reason. Watching this movie in 2010 is like a going into a time warp. This movie could never be made today, and I'm not referring to the drug humor. The pacing of the gags is so slow compared to today. It's weirdly funny when you watch and notice it like I did. Sadly most comedies today don't give their actors time to develop their gags. If you wan't a harmless (except for the drug humor) movie, buy this movie. It is the best of the Cheech and Chong movies

Cheech and Chong movies will honestly never get old. This is the original movie that started it all and it is honestly the funniest of all they're films. This movie is entirely what the comedy of Cheech and Chong always was. This movie is the only movie in which Cheech and Chong do not play themselves as the titles characters, but still this movie is a laugh riot. A definite classic for all comedy genre fans to see. It may seem old school and not all teen sex related like todays comedies, but this is really what comedy is all about. This movie really hit it big and is still enjoyed today. Now that Cheech and Chong have reunited are we in for Up in Smoke 2 soon? Hopefully so.10/10