Spikeopath Come the 1970s we British really began to love our smut, it was a constitutional right to enjoy bawdy humour. Of course the quality was rarely above average, where the "Carry On" franchise would plunge the bawdy depths to try and get its laughs, and the "Confessions Of" series was never really any good to begin with anyway, but as long as they had people like Robin Askwith larking about amongst boobs, buttocks and innuendo unbound, then it was often enough for Brit cinema goers of a certain age.On the Buses was a hugely popular TV series in the UK that ran for 7 series from 1969 to 1973. As was the case with many British situation comedies in the 70s, big screen outings would follow for the On the Buses crowd, three of them in fact, of which Holiday on the Buses was the last, and for many it was mercifully the death knell for such ventures.It's a tired looking film when viewed now, the makers straining every sinew to keep the bawdy formula working, with much loved characters thrust into ever stupid situations to try and get laughs. Yet for fans of the series there is still some rewards to be found, but for interested outsiders looking in it's unlikely to generate more than a smile on the comedy scale.It's hard to believe now that the likes of Stan Harper (Reg Varney) and Jack Harper (Bob Grant) could ever be seen as good looking enough to womanise and get sex on tap! But that's exactly what 1970s audiences were asked to buy into.Just because there's snow on the roof doesn't mean the fire has gone out down below.So here Stan the bus driver and Jack the conductor are now working at a Pontins Holiday Camp (how 70s British is that?!) and they basically try and get laid at every opportunity. As does Stan's sexually frustrated sister, Olive (played by the wonderful Anna Karen), only she just wants a bit from her husband Arthur! (Michael Robbins). Even widowed Ma Butler (Doris Hare) is up for a bit of the other, courtesy of the king of dirty old men, Wilfrid Brambell.Naturally nemesis Inspector Cyril 'Blakey' Blake (Stephen Lewis) is on hand to provide the roguish lads with some japery opportunities, with the Hitler lookalike even getting a love interest himself here in the form of the holiday camp Nurse played by Kate Williams.There's some good moments such as a swimming pool sequence of events, or Arthur Mullard attempting to dance (you have to know the actor to understand how funny that can be), while even Brambell doing his normal pervy routine is fun enough at times, but ultimately it rounds out as a picture for fans only, and even then it asks much of us to forgive it its lazy sins. 5/10

garry0707 Its a 1970's British comedy - what you get is a slice of comedy history, typical of its time and place, nothing more nothing less. A bit of slapstick, plenty of innuendo, very loose plot line and full of sexism, ageism and any other -ism going around at the time. Quite simply it is Britain of the 1970's tied up in a 90 minute package. And if you are of a certain age it certainly brings a smile of nostalgia and sometimes incredulous horror. There are not many belly laughs but that's because comedy today is far more sophisticated and we like all our cinema highly polished.Enjoy it for what it is - don't put too much onto it. After all it's not meant to be a cinema classic just a bit of a laugh.

manchester_england2004 In the 1970s, lots of movie spin-offs of popular British sitcoms were produced. Most of them turned out to be total disasters and were produced solely as lame attempts by ailing film companies, often working in a different genre (Hammer for example), to stop themselves from going under following the withdrawal of American financial investment. Having said that, ON THE BUSES was one of the few sitcoms that actually made a successful transfer to the big screen. Three movies were produced, more than any other sitcom managed to spawn.The movies are actually better than the TV series in some respects. For one, the daily goings-on at the bus depot receive a lot more focus. And they also use the medium of film to showcase some excellent outdoor scenes that were not possible in the series (due to both lack of budget and the fact that videotape equipment was much heavier to carry thus making location work very difficult without using very grainy film stock).The movies also capture the heart of the TV series, which is probably the biggest factor behind their amazing commercial success. All of the characters from the series are here and are played by the same actors. They behave the same as they would in any given episode, with Stan and Jack making fun of the inspector, Arthur insulting Olive and so on.This particular spin-off sees Stan, Jack and Blakey losing their jobs at the bus depot after Stan's bus ends up in a collision with that from another company. This is basically the set-up for the rest of the movie, which sees all three of them working at Pontins holiday camp at Prestatyn, Wales. Stan invites the rest of the family there for a holiday. That's basically the whole plot of the movie. The gang all go about their usual stuff. But, there are a few differences compared to the two previous movies:Stan and Jack cop off with more young women than usual and go through more comical escapades (like having to find ways to get the women by themselves, something that wasn't a problem in the previous movies or the TV series);Blakey has a love interest for the first time;A lot more outdoor scenes are used here and surprisingly the weather's decent with the movie obviously having been filmed in the summer compared to the previous ones that were filmed in the winter;And the movie benefits much more from a strong supporting cast, with first-rate talent involved in the form of Wilfrid Brambell, Kate Williams, Arthur Mullard, Queenie Watts and Henry McGee (all of whom were well known to British audiences at the time).It's all very dated and politically incorrect and could never be produced today due to fear of being branded with some undesirable label such as "sexist". But it is harmless fun and does never descend into vulgarity. There is very little, if any, swearing at all and sexual situations and gags are handled through innuendo. This movie goes a step further than the previous two by including a brief flash of bare breasts. But it's otherwise more of the same innocent fare.As usual, the main cast do a great job and are backed up by a strong supporting cast as mentioned earlier. The late Bob Grant stands out more in this one than usual and his performance is a true testament of his ability as a fine comic actor. May he rest in peace knowing he managed to bring such joy to the world.The one thing I find very puzzling about this movie is its low rating on the IMDb - 2.8 out of 10 at the time of writing this comment. What's going on there? It's really no worse than the first two movies yet for some reason it has a much lower rating that puts it in danger of being in the bottom 100.I wasn't alive in the 1970s so I am not able to say whether or not it truly reflects what Britain was like back then. But I can certainly say that the society expressed in this movie is far more pleasant than the one I live in today. The 1970s is portrayed as a simpler time when teenage pregnancies, family breakdown, and alcohol and drug-fuelled violence were problems that did not exist (at least not on the scale we have now anyway). In other words, it shows a society that wasn't broken, unlike the one that Britain has today.Overall, I would definitely recommend this if you're a fan of the TV series or have seen either of the other two movies. For those who haven't seen the series, I would recommend the movie if you are a fan of either the CARRY ON movies or Benny Hill-style humour.

Andrew-1589 The film is a third film, after On The Buses, Muninty On The Buses. Story Line: Stan & Jack also Inspector Blake loose there jobs, when Stan its the manager's car also causes damages to the bus as the Inspector Blake gets in trouble for not telling him about the bus coming. but Inspector Blake gets a job, why Stan & Jack cannot get a job. Why Arthur as to figure away for to get money for the hole family, but Lucky Jack finds a job in the paper, when it says busmen wanted for Pontings holiday camp, in Wales.& they both get jobs as busmen at pontings, but Inspector Blake as got a new job there as well as security guard, they met as Stan tries to get out of through the gates.but at the time Inspector Blake his going out with the nurse, but Jack his sneaking the nurse room, & benting to have broken his leg. but Blake must not find out because he would kill Jack, also the butler family stay with Stan at Pontings as well oh no trouble.-but I don't understand I thought Stan had went to work in the midlands in a factory, Arthur had divorced Olive, & Olive in Munity was excepting a baby in that, but there was only little Arthur.