MovieChat Forums > Bugsy Malone (1976) Discussion > Man, this did not hold up well!

Man, this did not hold up well!

posted 10 years ago by jgroub
6 replies | jump to latest

I must have missed it when I was a kid 37 years ago, although I do have a vague memory of the pie fight scene. (Maybe it was in the trailers?) But I just watched it as a middle-aged adult, and P.U., what a stinker! I think if I had seen back in the day - I was 11 - I wouldn't have liked it back then either.

I was showing it to my 14-year-old daughter, and she got up and walked out, it was so bad, saying "I would have been too old for this movie 5 years ago." And she's right. Was this movie made for 7-year-olds? Because that's the age you'd have to be to like this. Woof.

The idea of kids playing adults was cute - for about 10 minutes. But the music was god-awful. The dubbing of the music was even worse. Not that it was out of synch with the kids' mouths, but the voices didn't match at all. Blousie's acting, if you could call it that, stunk on ice. And the "Get Babyface" scene, wow: they couldn't find 10 kids in England who could do a convincing Noo Yawk accent? They had one line! ONE LINE!

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] snelling 10 years ago

It was a great idea for a movie and I liked it a lot as a kid. And although it's not a work of art, it's still entertaining for all those people who are still young at heart. There is a lot of context beneath the surface; it's not all sweetness, silliness and light. I will find my copy soon and watch it for the first time in ten years. I'll report back afterwards.

"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley

[–] Blueghost 10 years ago

I tried watching it again either last year or the year before, and I got real uncomfortable seeing little girls in "hoochie" dancer outfits in the opening scene.

Bleh

If you can get by that, then the rest of the film is about how adult mobsters / gangsters are essentially violent kids who want their way, no matter what. They act and address the part of adults, but are just not fully developed upstairs.

Me, I actually thought it was an okay kids' film. And, to be honest, I enjoyed it when I was younger. Now? Eh, not really, but I'm middle aged now.

[–] BethH24 7 years ago

I noticed another goof. Leroy pronounces "stupid" as "styoopid", like British people do, instead of pronouncing it as " stoopid" , like Americans do.

[–] BugisStreetAnnie (1294) 6 years ago

One of the reasons I thought it was a good film because the 3 leads - Scott Baio, Jodie Foster, John Cassisi - were basically playing themselves. No acting required. It made it seem real because they really talk like that and probably acted that way in real life too.

[–] BourbonKing (5612) 4 years ago

It was a cute movie back then and it is one today.

Your daughter walked out because she's typical of today's mass media distracted youth.

I bet if you showed her Lawrence of Arabia she'd do the same thing

[–] Jc1305us (25) 4 years ago

Couldn't disagree more! Saw it last night for the first time expecting it to be truly awful, but it is great! When you realize that you had two certified geniuses in charge of the movie and the music, (Alan Parker & Paul Williams) you have something special. Such a fun movie with the BEST music. I can't believe I'm saying that, but it is fun, and it looks like the cast was having a ball.