MovieChat Forums > Van Nuys Blvd. (1979) Discussion > Total Crap.

Total Crap.

posted 13 years ago by SunCanyonRoad
12 replies | jump to latest

Okay, got the flick because I wanted to get a feel of the Van Nuys scene in the late 70's and all I got was about 4 minutes of b-roll footage which (by the way) they REPEAT frame for frame at the end of the film. Talk about cheap. One night on the strip with a skeleton crew should have been able to get more b-roll if thats what they were going for. As for the script, or lack there of, I've read better scribbled on bathroom walls. Generally, I love drive-in type 70's trash flicks, but this is really, really awful. Van Nuys Blvd. is also a horrible title as they spend all of 5% of the film there. They had more time filming at Magic Mountain and a go-cart track. Just forget this one. Its not even "funny" bad.

[–] gnome-5 13 years ago

Agreed. Also, it tries to use some of the elements that made American Graffiti great (the aging racer, getting payback on the cops, etc), but does them badly. I mean, the race at the end is between two crappy vans. The one thing this has over AG is skin, but they made the women look pretty bad. I couldn't believe the brunette was a beauty contest winner...

[–] rtlh1982 11 years ago

This movie has no plot, no point, and no punch line. I was only able to watch as much as I did because it has some cool cars.

[–] Galagatron 11 years ago

Having seen many of these movies, I kind of knew what to expect, and got it. The Van, Pinball Summer, California Dreamin', Skatetown USA...same thing.

[–] dunbar7 11 years ago

The thing that amazed me about this movie was that the fades to black lasted an entire 10 seconds...TEN! And I counted! What a cheap POS this movie was. The brunette was piping hot, but the rest of the movie was beyond bad (and yeah, not fun bad). Also, the theme song...did it really need to last through the entire first half of the movie?

"She's, like, a biscuit older than me..."

[–] eagle79-1 11 years ago

Hey dunbar7,

did you catch this film on Netflix streaming just like me? I also noticed the long fades to black. Coupled with the extreme framing of some scenes - and the outright snipping of others - designed to obliterate any nudity - I quickly realized that this must be a regular TV version of it. It totally killed for me a film that was already mediocre for its kind - Crown International cheese.

[–] dunbar7 11 years ago

Yeah, I watched it on NetFlix. I didn't dawn on me until I read your post that there was no nudity. Now that I think about it, that is really strange (and so, so wrong). I watched something else on NF (a made-for-television Christmas movie) and I noticed that the fades were also long there (although not nearly as long as Van Nuys). I think what we saw, eagle79-1, was the USA Up All Night version. Still, this movie is total crap.

"She's, like, a biscuit older than me..."

[–] Galagatron 11 years ago

I wonder why Netflix gets those versions. They did the same thing with "The Van".

[–] Jerry02149 11 years ago

Netflix didn't get an edited version of this, I first saw this 34 years ago and the Crown DVD version I have is the same one I saw back in '79. The only thing edited is in the disco when Camille is trying to tell Bobby that Moon really likes him. The DVD is dubbed and I'm assuming Netflix is showing this version too "You wouldn't know dog $hit if you stepped in it" is what Camille originally says, the DVD is dubbed "dog poop" though you can clearly see her mouth saying the scripted word.

Loved this movie back in '79...still love it. Great 70's cheese.

[–] g_monte 11 years ago

Netflix Instant for me too. It pisses me off when they show edited versions of films. I don't pay for that. They need to start paying attention. Movies like this exist solely to show nudity, sex and vulgarity. It's pointless to exhibit them sans adult content.

[–] SunCanyonRoad 10 years ago

"The Van" is Gone with the Wind compared to Van Nuys Blvd.

"I don't want your watch, man. I want your friendship!" - Lightfoot

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Randy-144 8 years ago

IOW you thought it was this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=dog+crap+on+street+sidewalk&hl=en&gl=us&authuser=0&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0-LeJ99TJAhUJ92MKHV7bCP0QsAQIHA&biw=1680&bih=872