JOYSTICKS (1983)
Collector's Edition
Label: MVD Rewind Collection
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 86 Minutes 56 Minutes
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Greydon Clark
Cast: Becky LeBeau, Corinne Bohrer, Jim Greenfeaf, Joe Don Baker, John Diehl, Jon Gries, Kym Malin, Leif Green, Scott McGinnis
The Greydon Clark (Without Warning) directed video arcade-set 80's boner-comedy Joysticks (1983) starts off with virginal-nerd Eugene (Leif Green, Grease 2) driving to his new job at a video arcade when two gorgeous 80's babes, Lola (Kym Malin, The Dallas Connection) and Alva (Kim G. Michel), pull up beside him at a stoplight, make some small talk and then flash their titties at him. What is this, a nerd's dream come true? Nope, it's a sorority prank that involves snapping a humiliating polaroid of poor Eugene with his pants down. The ruse works, and the poor guy shows up to his first day of work without pants,.
The Greydon Clark (Without Warning) directed video arcade-set 80's boner-comedy Joysticks (1983) starts off with virginal-nerd Eugene (Leif Green, Grease 2) driving to his new job at a video arcade when two gorgeous 80's babes, Lola (Kym Malin, The Dallas Connection) and Alva (Kim G. Michel), pull up beside him at a stoplight, make some small talk and then flash their titties at him. What is this, a nerd's dream come true? Nope, it's a sorority prank that involves snapping a humiliating polaroid of poor Eugene with his pants down. The ruse works, and the poor guy shows up to his first day of work without pants,.
The arcade is run by handsome dude Jeff (Scott McGuinnis, Wacko), and video junkie-slob Jonathan Andrew McDorfus (Jim Greenleaf, Evil Speak) aka Dorfus, who is quite clearly modeled after John Belushi's "Bluto" Blutarsky, character from Animal House, complete with poor grooming habits and a disgusting, grease-stained t-shirt, both of whom decide to prank the girls that stole their new employee's pants. Their revenge involves Jeff treating them to a game of "strip video" in a private room off the main floor, only to have Dorfus set off a fire-extinguisher into the ventilation system to emulate smoke and make it look like the arcade is on fire, sending the nude teens running for the exit and straight into the arcade totally, where they are ogled by all. Enter the film's baddie, grumpy businessman Joseph Rutter (Joe Don Baker, Charley Varrick), an influential businessman, who just at that moment came into the arcade looking for his errant valley girl daughter Patsy (Corinne Bohrer, Zapped), and he ends up getting his picture snapped with the two naked babes. From that point on Rutter has it out for the arcade, seeing it as an immoral den of teen delinquency, recruiting his dipshit nephews Arnie (John Diehl, National Lampoon's Vacation) and Max John Volstad, Stripes) to sabotage the place, while raising a moral-panic stink in the local media and petitioning the city council and the mayor (Logan Ramsey, Walking Tall) to shut it down.
It quickly becomes a 'we gotta save the arcade' comedy, oozing with lots of jiggly boobs and totally 80's non-PC sex-comedy shenanigans, all of which would be classified as sex-crimes by contemporary standard - but, hey, it was the 80's, it's cool. It plays out as less a coherent film and more of a moronic series of male teen-fantasy vignettes, but I thought they were pretty funny, but keep in mind I am an old fart and I was ten when this film was released, I absolutely loved all the sex comedies that late-night cable and VHS tapes brought my way at that age! When the local media and politicians prove unable and/or unwilling to shut down the arcade the fate of the arcade boils down to a video game duel between McDorfus and new-wave punk arcade junkie King Vidiot (John Gries, Terror Vision), who Rutter co-opts into becoming his willing-minion by promising to buy him his own arcade machine, to battle Dorfus. Unfortunately Rutter's nephews sabotage the duel by kidnapping Dorfus prior the match-up, leaving Jeff, who for reasons involving a bizarre past-trauma does not normally play video game, be he must now to save the arcade.
This low-rent, lowbrow 80's boner-comedy shouldn't actually work, it's bad carbon-copy of Animal House and Porky's; sure, it's chock full of T&A, but the cast are rote one-dimensional archetypes, it's absolutely dumb and trashy, and a lot of the jokes fall flat on their face, but somehow it still works gangbusters for me. It's not a good film, but maybe because I saw this multiple times on cable as a kid, more than likely on the beloved USA's Up All Night, which I watched a ton of as a kid, it just hits that totally nostalgic sweet spot for me, and the sight of titts is still quite a thrill if I am being honest.
Also, the film's opening theme song in a cheese-tastic banger, it's an earworm of 80's awesomeness you will not soon forget, you will be singing the line "Totally awesome video gaaaaames!" all dang week, I swear. Some of the other non-pc shenanigans not previously mentioned include Eugene and Dorfus breaking into Rutter's home and covertly horn-dogging his obviously sex-starved wife in the middle of the night while she sleeps, plus an errant hotdog erroneously flying through the air and landing between ample breasts of a surprisingly not too displeased arcade customer, and Dorfus ripping far too many horrifying wet-farts to count, so much so that it actually becomes a plot point!
Also, just as a kid of the 80's I loved seeing all the classic and not-so-classic video games, we get Pac-Man, the then-unreleased Super Pac-Man, Mrs. Pac-Man, Defender, Pole Position, Centipede, Star Castle and weird oddities like Satan's Hollow, Naughty Boy, Streaking, and Space Dungeon which I'd never heard of. I was a bit disappointed I did not see my all-time favorite arcade video game, Galaga. Also cool, screen-wipe transitions that feature Pac-Man devouring the screen, imagine licensing that today?
Anyway, is Joysticks a good movie? Heck no, but it is an entertaining trashy low-rent Porky's knock-off set in an early 80's video arcade - heck yes! I love that MVD Rewind Collection are putting this back on the market, the previous Blu-ray had a too-small pressing and became a near instant collector's item, so I love that it's finally getting a wide release that doesn't cost and arm and a leg.
Audio/Video: Joysticks (1983) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from MVD Rewind Collection in 1080p HD widescreen framed in 1.78:1 widescreen, advertised as 2K scan and restoration in (in 2015) from 35mm film elements, which dates this back to when Scorpion Releasing released their extremely limited 1000 print run, so I am assuming this is the same HD master as the Scorpion edition. That said, t that release was pretty scarce and expensive to pick-up after it quickly sold-out, to pricey for me to upgrade at the time, so I appreciate MVD for stepping in and making this widely available for the first time in nearly a decade!
Onto the extras, carried over from the Scorpion release are the Audio Commentary with Greydon Clark, and the 17-min Interview with Director Greydon Clark wherein he discusses first seeing kids lined-up for entry into an arcade and thinking now there's a idea he could exploit for a film. Also getting into how the distributor went bankrupt despite the film's success, and he never recouped his profits. Working with Joe Don Baker on several films (Wacko, Joysticks and Final Justice), what a solid guy he was. He also talks about the importance of tax laws, how they changed when he made Final Justice, leading to him to shoot outside the U.S. for the first time. He touches on shooting Skinheads, Out of Sight Out of Mind, Lambada - The Forbidden Dance, the latter of which went from writing the script to showing theaters in 90 days, plus making Dance Macabre with Robert Englund, Killer Instinct, Russian Roulette, Dark Future in Russia, and the sci-fi flick Star Games.
New to this edition are the 2-min “Coin Slots” – Faux “Trailer” short written and directed by Newt Wallen and starring Mr. Lobo & Eric D. Wilkinson, which is certainly inspired by the Porky's at an arcade idea of Joysticks; plus a new Fan Audio Commentary featuring MVD Rewind Collection's Eric D. Wilkinson, Cereal at Midnight host Heath Holland and Diabolik DVD's Jesse Nelson which is just good fun as they talk about seeing the film for the first time formative movie going experiences, and all the crazy, non-PC 80's shenanigans in the film that just would not go over so well today. The disc is buttoned-up with a selection of MVD Trailers: Ski Patrol (1:58), Hardware Wars (1:28), Dirty Laundry (2:21), Hail Caesar (2:15)
The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Sleeve of Artwork , the the reverse side deftly replicating an Atari game cartridge. The first-pressing also includes a very retro-cool Limited Edition Slipcover that replicates the look of an 80's Atari video game box cover artwork, which is just super-cool. Inside there's a Collectible 2-Sided Mini-Poster featuring both artworks from the wrap.
Special Features:
- “Coin Slots” – Faux “Trailer” short written and directed by Newt Wallen and starring Mr. Lobo & Eric D. Wilkinson (2:14)
- Interview with Director Greydon Clark (17:44)
- Audio Commentary with Director Greydon Clark
- NEW! Fan commentary featuring MVD Rewind Collection's Eric D. Wilkinson, Cereal at Midnight host Heath Holland and Diabolik DVD's Jesse Nelson
- “Coin Slots” – Faux “Trailer” short written and directed by Newt Wallen and starring Mr. Lobo & Eric D. Wilkinson (2:14)
- Interview with Director Greydon Clark (17:44)
- Audio Commentary with Director Greydon Clark
- NEW! Fan commentary featuring MVD Rewind Collection's Eric D. Wilkinson, Cereal at Midnight host Heath Holland and Diabolik DVD's Jesse Nelson
- MVD Trailers: Ski Patrol (1:58), Hardware Wars (1:28), Dirty Laundry (2:21), Hail Caesar (2:15)
- Audio: LPCM 2.0 Mono
- 2K scan and restoration in (in 2015) from 35mm film elements and presented in 1080p HD in 1.78:1 aspect ratio
- Limited Edition Slipcover (First Pressing Only)
- Audio: LPCM 2.0 Mono
- 2K scan and restoration in (in 2015) from 35mm film elements and presented in 1080p HD in 1.78:1 aspect ratio
- Limited Edition Slipcover (First Pressing Only)
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Collectible 2-Sided Mini-Poster
- Reversible Artwork
Screenshots from the MVD Rewind Collection Blu-ray:
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