The Big Bus (1976)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

James Frawley

Writers:

Lawrence J. Cohen (writer)
Fred Freeman (writer)

Release Date:

22 October 1976 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Action

Tagline:

Join the passengers on The Big Bus - the craziest spoof movie of them all

Plot:

The ultimate disaster film parody. A nuclear powered bus is going Non-stop from New York to Denver and...

Plot Keywords:

Disaster | Bus | Bowling | Pool | Cannibalism

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Joseph Bologna	...	Dan Torrance
Stockard Channing	...	Kitty Baxter
John Beck	...	Shoulders O'Brien
Rene Auberjonois	...	Father Kudos
Ned Beatty	...	Shorty Scotty
Bob Dishy	...	Dr. Kurtz
José Ferrer	...	Ironman
Ruth Gordon	...	Old Woman
Harold Gould	...	Professor Baxter
Larry Hagman	...	Doctor in parking lot
Sally Kellerman	...	Sybil Crane
Richard Mulligan	...	Claude Crane
Lynn Redgrave	...	Camille Levy
Richard B. Shull	...	Emery Bush
Stuart Margolin	...	Alex

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Netherlands:AL (orginal rating) | UK:PG | Finland:S | USA:PG | Australia:PG | Argentina:Atp

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

On the news van that appears near the beginning of the film, the call letters are WZAZ. These call letters also appear in many comedies from what's known as the "ZAZ" team--Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker--though they had nothing to do with this film. See Airplane! (1980).

Goofs:

Plot holes: This bus is supposed to be departing from midtown Manhattan and traveling to Denver by way of regular highways. This bus appears to be 20 feet tall. It would not fit under any of the many overhead clearances along the roads, especially those of any of the Hudson River crossings from Manhattan to New Jersey.

Quotes:

Dan: Now I know it looked like I fell... but it was all part of my plan.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Speed (1994/I)

Soundtrack:

Six Months to Live

Every Bad Gag, Done Well...

Saw this when first released, and it was a howler...but only to a genuine movie and TV fan.

In addition to the various disaster films of the 1970s, it also harkens back to some classic WWII films, the smarmy romances of the 60s and 70s, and not a small number of tidbits from television.

Our circle of friends who saw it together are all film nuts, and we spent days picking the film apart and identifying all of the references and parodies, and still find ones we missed whenever we catch it again.

It's not a spectacular film...hell, it's not even that great of a comedy if you don't get the parody references...but it _is_ one of those films that "hangs together" into a working product.

If you aren't a film buff, then simply sit down on the couch with your favorite nosh, and empty your mind to accept the totality...

And don't cut yourself on the broken milk carton.