5.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 1.8 |
A drug-oriented comedy about the wacky antics of a group of waiters at a summer camp in upstate New York.
Starring: Michael Lembeck, Dennis Quaid, Philip Casnoff, Fran Drescher, David HuddlestonComedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
When “National Lampoon’s Animal House” destroyed the box office competition in 1978, a string of knockoffs were all but guaranteed. One of the strangest to emerge from the mist remains 1980’s “Gorp,” a summer camp festival of sophomoric behavior that strains to ape “Animal House” tomfoolery in every way. Director Joseph Ruben (“Sleeping with the Enemy,” “The Stepfather”) and screenwriter Jeffrey Konvitz largely invest in chaos to bring the strangely titled “Gorp” to life, believing that noise and aggressively odious behavior is the key to acquiring audience approval. Unable to land a single joke, the feature quickly transforms into an endurance test with painfully exaggerated characters and dispiritingly desperate attempts at juvenile humor. There’s not even a plot to help tie it all together, rendering the effort a highlight reel of unimaginative monkey business that often feels like it’s never going to end.
The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation only modestly captures the low-budget achievements of "Gorp," missing a needed refreshing, with a degree of baked-in filtering present. Colors are generally satisfactory, capturing the greenery of the camp and more vivid hues emerging from costuming and prank extremes. Skintones are on the bloodless side. Detail isn't compelling for this type of entertainment, with period cinematography battling softness and focus issues, and textures aren't rich, never acquiring deep facial particulars and set decoration achievements. Delineation is only passable, handling evening events with some solidification. Source is in fine shape, with only some minor speckling and scratching encountered.
Inherent production issues tend to hamper the 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix, which doesn't provide a consistent listening experience. The Blu-ray does what it can, but levels fluctuate and reach points of muddiness. The problems aren't drastic, but they are heard. Dialogue exchanges lose some potency along the way, with the group dynamic melting into a cluster of voices. Soundtrack cuts fare better, with decent instrumentation to enjoy, boosting the feature's cinematic presence. Atmospherics are sharp and crudely defined. Again, this isn't a top-shelf production to begin with, leaving the BD at a disadvantage, but it manages what's here adequately.
If one can survive group masturbation sessions, visits to a caricature of a gay bar, and non-sequiturs that include one kitchen worker dressed as Dracula (and for reasons unknown, the production proudly bills the introduction of Rosanna Arquette, making her film debut), there's mayhem waiting at the end of "Gorp," which becomes a camp-wide war, battling for…well, the right to be awful human beings. There's nothing wrong with lowball humor, but for juvenile antics to succeed, they need leadership willing to challenge bad ideas, inspiring the professionals to dream up tomfoolery that surprises, even when dealing with pure ugliness. "Gorp" doesn't have the energy to snowball into something delightfully ludicrous. Instead, it's a lazy, unfunny entry in the summer camp high jinks subgenre. While it aims to be another "Animal House," it's more of a dreary, directionless rip-off in dire need of a rewrite and a funny bone transplant.
1983
Special Edition
1984
2019
Collector's Edition
1988
2021
2017
1983
2015
Slipcover in Original Pressing
1986
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