- Actors: Frank Zappa, The Mothers Of Invention, Ringo Starr, Theodore Bikel, Keith Moon
- Directors: Frank Zappa, Tony Palmer
- Format: Colour, Full Screen, HiFi Sound, PAL
- Language English
- Classification: 18
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- VHS Release Date: 1 Aug 1994
- Run Time: 96 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004CJ26
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,727 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
Fz had by 1971 spent large chunks of the preceding five years on the road,and had been sporadically writing music based on these experiences.This is the fundamental problem of "200 Motels" if you've never been on tour with a rock band-it's so full of in-jokes and references that nobody but a touring rock musician would recognise as to be incomprehensible to non-combatants.
Sure,there's some funny lines,and some of the music is pretty tasty("Magic Fingers",for example)but the acting is hopeless-what do you expect from musicians who are not and never will be trained actors.The script was more or less improvised while shooting was ongoing.Ther best bits are some animation sequences.
In short,awful.FZ fans by and large think it's abysmal,and it's rare that you'll hear a FZ covers band play any of the music.The soundtrack is available on CD,after a very long period of unavailability,and,as FZ was a musician first and foremost,any Zappaphile would be better off with this rather tahn the film.If you have to watch it,buy it secondhand.
Sure,there's some funny lines,and some of the music is pretty tasty("Magic Fingers",for example)but the acting is hopeless-what do you expect from musicians who are not and never will be trained actors.The script was more or less improvised while shooting was ongoing.Ther best bits are some animation sequences.
In short,awful.FZ fans by and large think it's abysmal,and it's rare that you'll hear a FZ covers band play any of the music.The soundtrack is available on CD,after a very long period of unavailability,and,as FZ was a musician first and foremost,any Zappaphile would be better off with this rather tahn the film.If you have to watch it,buy it secondhand.
Format:VHS Tape
This film is a totally original, wacky, weird, hilarious work of genius, the whole film is orchestrated like one big symphony and the comic timeing is impeccable, it satirizes the rock culture brilliantly and I think the people that complain about this film just dont know what there talking about. Please could the Zappa Family Trust or anyone put this film to DVD, giving the time it was made it has historical significance and is an important part of the Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention Legacy.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
200 Motels is a major undertaking. Frank Zappa managed to make a serious mess of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and everyone else by luring them onto a project about which they had no idea. He made a mess of everything, including his own band, his own script, his own character and everyone involved. They hated him for it. And perhaps loved him, but.. However, it's interesting as an anthropological endeavour. It is presented as a film describing how crazy you can get touring endless venues as a rock band. This has been digested into a surrealistic, nay, say cubistic (in that it shows the production as you see the film, a technique more prominent in "Uncle Meat"), documentation of his experience. Having seen the inane Beatles films, this provides an antidote of a "sort- of" documentary of what it's like being on the road with a rock band. Zappa, however, never fit into any category, and has a different take on it and presents the whole mess in a rather evil god-like fashion as a director. In order to enjoy this film, you should be either natually evil, or aquainted with Zappa's style, lest you find yourself bewildered in the deep forests of his continent, which is vast. Live and learn. If you are interested, you must! get it. Otherwise go to David Bowie or the Residents. This film will require as much from you as you ask from it, which is precisely the genius of it. But if you are easily confused or disturbed, see your doctor first.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY...............THE FILM!!!!!
Whilst Frank Zappa was undeniably talented, I also feel he was the first musical nerd to realise that he could make a fortune out of other nerds who were into music. Read more
Published on 11 Dec 2007 by Mis R. L. Pearson
A self-indulgent mess
The only factor rescuing this mess from the ignominy of 1 star is that it clearly doesn't intend to be offensively bad, in the same way that a dog doesn't intend to cause trouble... Read more
Published on 2 July 2007 by Mr. D. D. M. Naish
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