National Lampoon's Movie Madness Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

National Lampoon's Movie Madness Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf December 2, 2021

“National Lampoon’s Animal House” was released in July 1978, and went on to become a massive success, delighting audiences with its raunchy sense of humor and nostalgic groove. It was the second highest grossing picture of the year (coming in below “Grease” and above “Jaws 2”), putting National Lampoon in a unique position of power, capable of doing anything they wanted to with their follow-up project. The company had a prime opportunity to showcase their talents, creativity, and abundant supply of mischief. And so they made 1982’s “National Lampoon’s Movie Madness” (a.k.a. “National Lampoon Goes to the Movies,” with this title still included on art in the feature), which is a complete and utter dud, even shelved for over a year while studio executives decided how to deal with a surefire bomb. Whatever audience goodwill developed with “Animal House” was wiped out by “Movie Madness” (and 1982’s equally lame, “National Lampoon’s Class Reunion”), which is shockingly awful at times, with the end product resembling a production largely fueled by cocaine (this was actually the case) and zero vision for what this oddball collection of non-ideas was supposed to be.

In “Growing Yourself,” Jason (Peter Riegert) is a corporate lawyer who’s had enough of his life, looking to ditch everything, encouraging wife Susan (Candy Clark) to leave him and their four children to find herself. Jason wants to be a mother, embarking on a mission to care for his kids and seek employment as a gardener. However, after setting his house on fire and dealing with work responsibilities, Jason’s sex life begins to suffer, juggling the disappointment of his 14-year-old girlfriend, Liza (Diane Lane), and the demands of his lover, Diana (Teresa Ganzel).

“Success Wanters” explores the desperation of college graduate Dominique (Ann Dusenberry), who becomes a stripper to pay the bills, soon assaulted by a group of dairy executives. Seeking revenge, Dominique decides to take her rage to the margarine industry, seducing Paul (Robert Culp) to help achieve complete control of Everest Margarine, launching an attack on butter tycoons, including Greek shipping magnate, Naxos (Bobby Di Cicco). Becoming a major force for the margarine cause, Dominique soon sets her sights on ultimate power, out to claim the President of the United States (Fred Willard) and his wife (Margaret Whitton).

In “Municipalians,” rookie cop Falcone (Robby Benson) is partnered with veteran Nagurski (Richard Widmark), with the pair hitting the streets of Los Angeles, on the hunt for the Driver’s License Killer (Christopher Lloyd), who’s terrorizing the women of the city. Trouble is waiting for Falcone, whose inexperience on the job finds him trying to become a positive presence in the community, receiving multiple bullet wounds for his efforts, complicating his law enforcement mission while Nagurski sits back, working on his alcoholism.

“Movie Madness” opens with a celebration of movies, supported by a Dr. John tune that’s repeated between segments. The production offers a series of caricatures, which display National Lampoon humor mixing with familiar images from features such as “Jaws” and “The Wizard of Oz,” suggesting that the picture is going to be some type of parody endeavor, with the brand name taking on the big hits from film history. “Movie Madness” doesn’t do that, instead presenting three shorts that have nothing to do with cinema triumphs. They’re just brief examinations of behavior and power, lacking any sort of connective tissue or appreciable humorous intent. It’s a comedy that doesn’t have any comedy, which would be more interesting to watch if the shorts offered anything remotely interesting to follow.

With the exception of “Municipalians,” “Movie Madness” is almost a dramatic endeavor, with the opener, “Growing Yourself,” a semi-sincere look at a bumbling character trying to better his life through a different level of domestic and financial responsibility. Riegert plays it straight for the most part, and the short seems to be a vague mash-up of “Kramer vs. Kramer” and Woody Allen, which might explain the “joke” about a 40-year-old man obsessed with Fassbinder films who’s sleeping with a 14-year-old girl. The Lampoon-iness of it all doesn’t emerge in “Growing Yourself,” which offers a muddled take on midlife crisis fears and male needs and desires, eventually working its way to dismal sex jokes and a non-ending.

For “Success Wanters,” some form of farce is detected, as Dominique embarks on a journey of vengeance after being “butter banged” by old dairy executives at a strip club. She takes on Big Margarine, using her sexuality to charm and destroy an executive, which offers her greater opportunities for revenge. There’s a germ of an idea here, but “Movie Madness” doesn’t know how to develop it, content to rest on the concept of the margarine business as the height of comedy. Things get weirder in the short, which introduces Naxos, an Anthony Quinn-type who has sex with his son, and the story eventually reaches the U.S. President, with his wife attracted to Dominique, giving the college grad access to real power.

“Municipalians” has the oddity of being directed by Henry Jaglom, a man not known for his broad sense of humor, and he brings nothing to the short, which plays like a satire of a T.V. series, not a feature film. At least there’s a more identifiable comedic vibe to “Municipalians,” with Falcone routinely taking bullets for his efforts to keep L.A. safe, gradually losing his boy scout attitude. There’s potential in the whole Driver’s License Killer idea, but the writing basically ignores the menace until the very end of the story. On the plus side, a brief cameo from Henny Youngman manages to supply the only laugh in the entirety of “Movie Madness.”

National Lampoon's Movie Madness Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is a stronger catalog offering from MGM. Detail is generally quite good, exploring a range of textured costumes and facial surfaces from the large cast. Interiors are open for inspection, and exteriors retain dimension, with "Growing Yourself" and "Municipalians" offering a good look at street signage and activity in 1981. Colors are secure, with bright primaries and deep greens for plant life. Skintones are natural. Grain is fine and film-like. Source is in excellent condition.

National Lampoon's Movie Madness Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA supplies an inviting listening experience, with dialogue exchanges clear, capturing performance choices and extensive looping for the "Municipalians" short. Musical moods are set, with the Dr. John song offering crisp instrumentation. Scoring cues are also satisfactorily defined.

National Lampoon's Movie Madness Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:29, SD) is included. Interestingly, it contains the "National Lampoon Goes to the Movies" title, and included a few shots from the deleted short, "The Bomb."

National Lampoon's Movie Madness Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"National Lampoon's Movie Madness" was originally shot with four shorts, eventually cutting a disaster parody, "The Bomb," also directed by Jaglom. It's hard enough to make through a 90-minute film, so perhaps the producers were doing the world a favor by losing the last story. In fact, this project should've never gone forward, as it's so ill-conceived and poorly assembled (performances are committed, but in service of terrible material), suggesting it was a manufactured in a panic to put something, anything out there to sustain the National Lampoon brand.