GusF A tribute to late-night TV channel surfing, this is a dreadfully unfunny comedy. I was expecting it to be similar to the other sketch / anthology films that I have seen: occasionally excellent and occasionally very bad but generally good overall. Unfortunately, the writers Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland left out the good and excellent parts and overdid the very bad ones. The film has five directors: Joe Dante, Cart Gottlieb (the only one of whom I never previously heard), Peter Horton, John Landis and Robert K. Weiss. That said, I only know Horton as an actor and Weiss as the co-creator of "Sliders".I am a fan of both Dante and Landis' films (including "Twilight Zone: The Movie", another anthology film on which they collaborated) so my hopes were high. They were dashed pretty quickly but I soldiered on, both because I promised myself that I would always finish every film and because I figured that there would be at least one brilliant sketch by the law of averages, if nothing else. Well, this film broke the law of averages so that's something at least. I understand that it is a spiritual successor to "The Kentucky Fried Movie", which was likewise directed by Landis. I haven't seen that film but the fact that it was written by Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker means that I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and assume that it is funnier than this film. It pretty much has to be, really.According to the opening credits, the film stars "lots of actors" – when one of the best jokes in the film comes in the opening credits and it is not even terribly funny, you know you're in trouble – but none of them are used well. They include Steve Forrest, Steve Guttenberg, Steve Allen and other people not named Steve such as Horton, his then wife Michelle Pfeiffer, Ed Begley, Jr., Ralph Bellamy, Carrie Fisher, Rosanna Arquette, Henry Silva, Robert Picardo, William Marshall, Marc McClure, Arsenio Hall, Lou Jacobi and David Alan Grier. I don't think that I have ever seen a worse film with a better cast, frankly. Dante's "mascot" Dick Miller appeared in a scene that was cut. I hope that he realised how lucky he was.The major problem with the film is not that the ideas for the sketches were unfunny – quite the opposite, in many cases – but that they are almost all executed terribly. The jokes miss their target with about as often as the Stormtroopers from "Star Wars". The 1950s sci-fi film parody which gave the film its title could have been hilarious but it didn't even raise a smile. The Universal Monsters parody "Son of the Invisible Man" could have been hilarious but it barely raised a smile. The "Roast Your Loved Ones" segment could have been hilarious if they had hired better comedians. Steve Allen was the only one worth mentioning, let alone watching. At about eight minutes, that is one of the longest sketches and it sure as Hell feels like it. Even some of the sketches which were less funny in their concept – such as "Murray in Videoland" in which a man is zapped into his television, "Two I.D.s" in which a young man's lack of consideration for the women that he dates is exposed by a compatibility analyser and "Titan Man" in which an embarrassed 17-year-old boy tries to buy condoms from his local pharmacy – could have provided a few good laughs but no such luck. It was not exactly up against stiff competition but my favourite sketch was the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" / "In Search of..." parody "Bullshit or Not?" presented by Silva (playing himself) in which it was theorised that the Loch Ness Monster was in fact Jack the Ripper. I laughed out loud for the only time in the entire 84 minutes when I saw Nessie dressed as a Victorian gentleman and hiring the services of a prostitute before promptly murdering her. The film could have done with at least 20 more moments like that. "Blacks Without Soul" was probably the second most successful sketch, for what it's worth.On the bright side, I did like the design of the film in several segments such as the pitch perfect recreation of the disparate styles of 1930s social guidance films, 1930s/40s horror films and 1950s sci-fi films. As you would expect, many films are parodied or at least referenced in some way: "The Invisible Man", "Forbidden Planet", "Destination Moon", "King Kong", "Back to the Future", "Sophie's Choice", "Out of Africa", "Gandhi", "Ghostbusters", "Iceman", etc. That was probably a mistake since it is not a very good idea to remind people of good or downright brilliant films when they're watching your very, very bad one. I'd even take some of the bad ones that it references as they are probably more enjoyable than this.Overall, this is a terrible waste of both comic potential and talent.

poe-48833 While it's not as outrageously over-the-top as KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE, AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON indeed has its moments. It's a minor thing, but the opening credit sequence had me smiling ("Starring: Lots of people..."). Unfortunately, the opening skit is easily the least of the offerings this time around- but, if you can make it through it, there are rewards to be had. Henry Silva's deadpan delivery makes BULLSHIT- OR NOT? one of my favorite segments: finding out the "truth" about Jack the Ripper is worth the price of admission. It was great to see the late William Marshall (BLACULA himself) as the leader of a band of VIDEO PIRATES (who Tape and Pillage) and the black and white sequel to THE INVISIBLE MAN, SON OF THE INVISIBLE MAN, was as inspired as YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Another highlight was seeing the late Forrest J. Ackerman as The President in AMAZON WOMEN ON/OF THE MOON. The "roast" of the dead man was chock full of classic comedians who were still capable of "killin' 'em" even that late in the day. "Miracle Pictures: If it's GOOD, it's a Miracle!"

utgard14 This is a mostly funny sketch comedy movie with some hits and some misses that obviously will divide the audience. The two sketches that are total stinkers: - Rosanna Arquette and Steve Guttenberg sketch about a woman running a different kind of credit check on a blind date. This was my least favorite sketch. Up until this point, I was laughing steadily at the movie but here I didn't laugh once. Really derailed the movie's momentum. - The comedy roast funeral with a lot of old comics like Steve Allen and Rip Taylor. Terribly unfunny and it goes on forever. Very painful to sit through.The funniest sketches: - Opening sketch with Arsenio Hall as an accident-prone man having the worst day ever in his apartment. Lots of old school slapstick comedy that won't be to everyone's tastes but I laughed out loud through the whole thing. - The Pethouse Video sketch mocking vacuous centerfolds. In addition to being funny, it features the gorgeous Monique Gabrielle walking around naked the whole sketch. - Henry Silva sketch mocking In Search Of type shows - A man has his life reviewed like a movie by two Siskel & Ebert-type critics - Son of the Invisible Man - Teenager trying to buy condoms with frustrating results - Video date sketch with Marc McClure - Amazon Women on the Moon sketch that lovingly mocks 50s sci-fi. This one runs throughout the film and is very amusing, particularly if you're a fan of those types of films. - Another running gag: Lou Jacobi as a man zapped into his television and appears in various sketches throughout the movie looking for helpAs you can see, there's more good than bad. The rest of the sketches in the film are brief but chuckle-worthy. The only two that are absolutely terrible are the ones I listed above. Make sure you sit through the credits for the Reefer Madness spoof with Carrie Fisher and Paul Bartel. It's worth it.

dwpollar 1st watched 2/25/2007 - 7 out of 10(Dir-Joe Dante, Carl Gottleib, Peter Horton, John Landis & Robert K. Weiss): Funny compilation of shorts mostly masterminded by comedy director John Landis with a few other directors getting involved as well. The focus of these parodies are mostly television and old movies with the title being one of the bits parodying a science fiction movie of the 50's that is interrupted throughout the movie for commercials and other small funny scenes. One of my favorites is an un-cool black performer singing various non-funky toons with B.B. King asking for donations to help the cause of this afflicted black man without soul. Don't run away when the titles come at the end because it's interrupted by a very dead-on funny bit copying the 30's exploitation movies warning the viewer about the dreaded social diseases with Carrie Fisher playing the title woman character. One of the least funny bits is a funeral where it's played out like a celebrity roast with various schtick comedians doing one-liners about the deceased. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that this is a very funny escapism movie setup similar to Woody Allen's "Everything You Wanted to Know about Sex" and "The Kentucky Fried Movie" without as much sick humor and a few more running gags to keep the movie flowing despite it being a group of disconnected bits otherwise. If you want to laugh, watch this one.