- Actors: Ned Beatty, José Ferrer, Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, John Beck
- Directors: James Frawley
- Producers: The Big Bus
- Format: Import, PAL, Widescreen
- Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 15
- Run Time: 85.00 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B003TNCSQE
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 142,574 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Italian ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Arabic ( Subtitles ), Czech ( Subtitles ), Danish ( Subtitles ), Dutch ( Subtitles ), English ( Subtitles ), Finnish ( Subtitles ), French ( Subtitles ), German ( Subtitles ), Greek ( Subtitles ), Hebrew ( Subtitles ), Hungarian ( Subtitles ), Icelandic ( Subtitles ), Italian ( Subtitles ), Norwegian ( Subtitles ), Polish ( Subtitles ), Portuguese ( Subtitles ), Romanian ( Subtitles ), Slovenian ( Subtitles ), Spanish ( Subtitles ), Swedish ( Subtitles ), Turkish ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: The ultimate disaster film parody. A nuclear powered bus is going Non-stop from New York to Denver and... ...The Big Bus
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Before there was `Airplane!', there was... The Big Bus.
In fact, it was three years before Airplane, that this prototype disaster movie spoof appeared, directed by James Frawley who also directed `The Muppet Movie'. Although similar in tone, the humour is less one liner and more atmosphere driven - and on the whole works. OK, it's a bit hit and miss, and it's clear why `Airplane!' is so much better known -but this movie definitely does not deserve to be forgotten.
First there's that high concept idea - a nuclear powered bus on its maiden transcontinental journey, beset by sabotage and a driver who has a reputation as partial cannibal and a co-driver prone to blackouts ("it's ok, it's only when on the move").
Then there's the characters - Father Kudos (Rene Auberjonois, LONG before his Star Trek Deep Space 9 days) who is having an Exorcist-like faith crisis, the couple who are celebrating their divorce, the man with 6 months to live who argues in the lounge with the failed vet over who understands bitterness the most... and of course, that ever cheerful lounge piano player who smiles and sings at whatever comes his way. Robert Bologna and Stockard Channing headline, in extremely similar roles to the pilot and stewardess from Airplane!. Even smaller roles are filled by well known names - Ned Beatty, Jose Ferrer (the man in the iron lung, masterminding the demise of the bus at the behest of the oil industry..).
And one cannot forget, that wonderful bus! The size.. the bad 70's taste décor.. the gadgets! One moment encapsulates the humour the movie is aiming at - with the bus building speed and the brakes failing, the driver suddenly has a brainwave.. the flags of all nations! A button is pressed, and up come the fluttering flags from the roof, helping slow the bus down. Or the bar fight spoofing West Side story when someone shouts `Look out! He's got a broken milk carton!' as the man (John Beck, as `Shoulders' O'Brien) says `I hate to see a man down when he's kicked'.
The wonderful thing about the humour is that it parodies a genre without concentrating too much on parodies of specific movies, the modern day spoofs so often do.
In short, it isn't subtle, it's certainly over the top, it's as hammy as the lead actors name suggests, but if you have a funny bone, this should tickle it.
In fact, it was three years before Airplane, that this prototype disaster movie spoof appeared, directed by James Frawley who also directed `The Muppet Movie'. Although similar in tone, the humour is less one liner and more atmosphere driven - and on the whole works. OK, it's a bit hit and miss, and it's clear why `Airplane!' is so much better known -but this movie definitely does not deserve to be forgotten.
First there's that high concept idea - a nuclear powered bus on its maiden transcontinental journey, beset by sabotage and a driver who has a reputation as partial cannibal and a co-driver prone to blackouts ("it's ok, it's only when on the move").
Then there's the characters - Father Kudos (Rene Auberjonois, LONG before his Star Trek Deep Space 9 days) who is having an Exorcist-like faith crisis, the couple who are celebrating their divorce, the man with 6 months to live who argues in the lounge with the failed vet over who understands bitterness the most... and of course, that ever cheerful lounge piano player who smiles and sings at whatever comes his way. Robert Bologna and Stockard Channing headline, in extremely similar roles to the pilot and stewardess from Airplane!. Even smaller roles are filled by well known names - Ned Beatty, Jose Ferrer (the man in the iron lung, masterminding the demise of the bus at the behest of the oil industry..).
And one cannot forget, that wonderful bus! The size.. the bad 70's taste décor.. the gadgets! One moment encapsulates the humour the movie is aiming at - with the bus building speed and the brakes failing, the driver suddenly has a brainwave.. the flags of all nations! A button is pressed, and up come the fluttering flags from the roof, helping slow the bus down. Or the bar fight spoofing West Side story when someone shouts `Look out! He's got a broken milk carton!' as the man (John Beck, as `Shoulders' O'Brien) says `I hate to see a man down when he's kicked'.
The wonderful thing about the humour is that it parodies a genre without concentrating too much on parodies of specific movies, the modern day spoofs so often do.
In short, it isn't subtle, it's certainly over the top, it's as hammy as the lead actors name suggests, but if you have a funny bone, this should tickle it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This film is the original disaster spoof predating the Airplane movies and is truly magnificent. A nuclear powered bus is making its maiden voyage from New York to Denver with Captain Dan Torrence at the helm (with a slight leniancy toward cannibalism). On board is bus designer Kitty Baxter (brilliantly played by Stockard Channing), a vet with a crisis of confidence, a vicar who has lost his faith, a man with six months to live, a cheesy cocktail bar piano player and a couple celebrating their divorce. Add two bombs, a St Christopher's Medal, two incidences requiring foam, a stroppy mission control assistant and a man in an iron lung and you honestly have a brilliant, brilliant film. You will enjoy this. I first watched this as a child and I could watch it again and again.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A superb film, similar to the Airplane humour, and indeed, this was made before the Airplane films. Plenty of slapstick humour and familiar faces, such as Larry Hagman and Stockard Channing -better known for her performance in Grease. The nuclear powered bus is equipped with an Oriental Lounge, a bowling alley and a swimming pool! But when a bomb is discovered, it becomes a great 70's disaster film spoof.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
fun
I remember this film. I actually saw it at the cinema back in 1976. I had forgotten that it predates Airplane, and as another review said it was/is not hung up on cheap references... Read more
Published on 26 July 2009 by D. C. BROWN
Truly Awful
The best place for this film is in your memories if you ever saw it on TV all those years ago. To say it hasn't aged well is the biggest understatement since " Joan Rivers looks... Read more
Published on 12 Aug 2007 by 70s
still good, 12 yrs on!
i saw this first when i was about 12, and i enjoyed it to the last, its very well thought out, and at that age i was also into every piece of machinery out, suffice to say a BIG... Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2005 by "doughboy170"
The Big Bus
The film is truly amazing the story is so original and comical it deserves viewing by the whole world.
Published on 15 Jan 2004
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