Benedito Dias Rodrigues Certainly the best Rodney Dangerfield's comedy,every single moment your have a gag,in every comment,he really is factory of new ideas,improvising all the time,such line as "l love teachers","they are my nieces","what's world you live...Fantasy Island??" Rows of endless smart gags....even given a pizza to the monkeys...besides from some scenes are contrived like jumping in the swimming pool and few more,the casting are superb,mainly the young Robert Downey Jr,unfortunately this comedy didn't come out yet in Brazil.Resume First watch: 1989 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD-R / Rating: 7

richspenc This was definitely one of my numerous childhood memory movies from the 1980s along with "Back to the future", "The breakfast club", "Ferris bueler", "Caddyshack", The "Karate kid" films, and the "National Lampoon vacation" films. And many others."Back to School" and Rodney Dangerfield went together like cake and icing. The movie would obviously not been the same without him, it would've then been another quirky raunchy college comedy.I liked Rodney's (Thorton Melon's) tough friend Lou (Burt Young, who also played a tough "you better not mess with me" character in "Rocky"). Lou didn't hesitate to take care of a bully picking fights in a bar. Even Thornton's son's friend Robert Downey Jr. cries to Lou during the fight "where you been Lou? I've been getting my a** kicked all over this bar!" Downey did toughen up some in later years, but not always in good ways.Thornton's son Jason was played by Keith Gordon, another one-hit wonder actor that I never remembered from any other movies. Jason complains how he only got onto the diving team and the fraternity because Pops bought his way onto it all, which was true. Before that, he was no one special to anyone really and shared a little dorm room with his only friend Downy. Jason didn't make the team due to the coach (Emett Walsh) saying he wasn't that good. Rodney has Jason dive doing the "two and a half", which does flawlessly, causing the coach to reconsider his opinion. Thorton also reminds him about his legendary dive "the triple lindy", which the coach once saw not knowing it was Thorton. Thornton was a man with money from owning his "Tall and fat" stores ("well, you're short and ugly" Thornton tells a wise** kid who points out that he's "Tall and fat"). Thornton really did buy a lot of Jason's newfound success, including hiring a work team to do his and Jason's homework, much to Jason's dispair and his dad then retorting "kids, they always wanta do it the hard way". Also a funny joke is that Thorton hires 'the' Kurt Vahnaghan himself to write his term paper on Kurt Vahnaghan, leading to another funny joke when Thornton's told by sultry teacher Sally Kellerman that "whoever wrote that paper doesn't know the first thing on Kurt Vahnaghan". Thorton takes a "drinks for everybody" approach at the university, according to Roger Ebert. That he does. He buys everybody's schoolbooks who's present at the college store, he hires staff to do his and Jason's homework, he hires Oinga Boinga themselves to perform live at his frat house party (and pays the police to bring the beer, much to stuffy teacher Paxton Whithead's dismay), and he dedicates a wing at the college to himself while getting dirt thrown on Paxton with the ceremonial shovel.Thorton paying Jason's way also gets attention of the obnoxious William Zabka character, he tells Jason at the swim meet "your father already bought your way onto the swim team, I'm sure he bought off the judges too". Zabka does not play the same kind of menacing bully in this movie that he played in "Karate kid" and "Just one of the guys". Here he plays more of a yuppie snob, and Jason is actually the one that punches him, and Zabka never even hits him back or comes back onto him later about it. It was kinda like the tables had turned here on Zabka. I also like the classroom scenes and still find them funny. The late Sam Kinneson going "Ahhhhhhh!!!! Aaaaaahhhh!!!!". The sultry Kellerman (who Thorton very keenly starts dating) who reads a romantic poem with Thorton almost unknowingly standing up in class saying aloud " yes!! yes!!!" Then the stuffy Paxton Whithead's business class teaching how to build a business from the ground up and Thorton, who has a lot of hands on experience in the business world and is rich "Tall and fat" business owner himself, corrects Paxton making him look bad at every turn. Also is the "what's a widget?" line. Answer being "a fictional product, it doesn't matter". They should've waited another 20-30 years to mention that one in the world of the internet. No longer a fictional product and widgets do matter.

zoellern back to school is a great movie,and it would be nice if they made the soundtrack available to buy,because I would buy it.I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to see the soundtrack on compact disk.if anyone has heard anything please post.I have looked all over the internet.I came up empty.I checked amazon,nothing.it must be a hard compact disk to find.I don't think that they have put it on compact disk yet.I'm hoping they will.it would be nice.it's a great movie and has a great soundtrack.I have watched it many many times,it gets better each time.not sure if it will ever go to blu-ray,but that would be nice also.lots to like about the movie,and good actors.rodney dangerfield is always funny,as well as Sam Kinnison.they are both missed.I had no idea that Jim Carrey was considered for the movie.it's definitely one of the top comedy movies of all time.it would have been nice to see Sam Kinnison in more movies.this movie will be remembered as a great comedy,and will make anyone laugh.one of my favorite movies for sure.

Woodyanders Blithely loud and vulgar self-made millionaire Thornton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield in terrific lovably crass form) goes back to college to complete his education and help out his son Jason (a fine and likable turn by Keith Gordon). Thornton discovers that college is harder than it looks and must learn to be more responsible for his academic studies or he'll get expelled. Director Alan Metter, working from a bright and witty script co-written by Harold Ramis, keeps the pace hurtling along at a constant zippy rate, maintains a winningly wacky tone throughout, and, most of all, gives Dangerfield free reign to really strut his hilariously hearty and obnoxious stuff. The supporting cast are likewise on the money excellent and effective: Sally Kellerman as sexy and passionate English professor Dr. Diane Turner, Burt Young as Thornton's grubby, loyal chauffeur/bodyguard Lou, Robert Downey, Jr. as Jason's sarcastic misfit roommate buddy Derek, Paxton Whitehead as stuffy, pompous economics professor Dr. Phillip Barbay, Ned Beatty as the jolly, unprincipled Dean David Martin, Terry Farrell as the sweet, fetching Valerie Desmond, Sam Kinison as crazed, irate history Professor Terguson, William Zabka as mean, cocky frat jerk Chas, M. Emmet Walsh as nice guy diving Coach Turnbull, Severn Darden as the flaky Dr. Borozini, and Adrienne Barbeau as Thornton's shrewish adulterous second wife Vanessa. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. has an amusing cameo as himself. Comic highlights include a wild barroom brawl, a rowdy frat bash (Oingo Boingo appear as themselves singing the great "Dead Man's Party"), and Thornton doing his famously dangerous Triple Lindy dive. Danny Elfman's jaunty score, Thomas E. Ackerman's slick cinematography, and the cool rock soundtrack are all up to speed. But it's Dangerfield who makes this picture such an always enjoyable and often sidesplitting treat to watch: The Rodman's obviously having a ball in a tailer-made lead role and brings a positively infectious sense of incredibly lively and zany fun to the whole film that's impossible to either resist or dislike. An absolute hoot.