Wild in the Streets/Gas-s-s-s

Description

WILD IN THE STREETS: Original Theatrical Trailer Widescreen (1.85) English (Mono) Subtitles: English, French, Spanish GAS-S-S-S: English (Mono), Spanish (Mono)

Customer Reviews:

Still wild after 40 years.......2007-05-13

Shelley Winters is again brilliant and the theme of the film hasnt dated(what gen Yers hasnt thought about getting rid of those pesky baby boomers) However Gas-s-s-s is unwatchable but I'll keep trying earlier in the night.

A Sixties Freak Speaks Out.......2007-05-13

"Wild in the Streets" is aptly named since it is a very wild film, very unusual and original in premise. Christopher Jones, a James Dean lookalike, who sounds like Brando when he speaks, plays a charismatic rock singer in the late sixties. When they lower the voting age to fourteen, he gets elected President of the U.S. and puts everyone over the age of thirty in LSD concentration camps. Shelly Winter provides one of her extremely over the top performances as his mother. You must see the scene where she is interviewed by Pamela Mason -- it is a scream to watch and hilarious! Also, the soundtrack is wonderful and one of the songs "Shape of Things to Come" was on the hit parade and is a great rock tune. The opening of the film literally jumps out at you, filmed during a rock concert featuring Chris/Max Frost and his band the Troopers (Diane Varsi, Richard Pryor, Kevin Coughlin) who all also give give good performances in the film. The movie is highly recommended and is one of my all time favorites. I even own the soundtrack album and also, the Max Frost & the Troopers original album, with songs that didn't make it into film. Go rent this or better yet buy it. You will definitely want to see it over and over again.

14 or fight.......2007-03-14

This is not a particularly good film, but it is an interesting look at the sixties through a somewhat astigmatic point of view. I use clips from the movie in a sixties pop culture class at the university level. The song Fourteen or Fight is a good example of the sixties attempt to "Rock the Vote."

"We suggest the required age for President be ....14.".......2007-03-03

Craziness from the 60's, man I love this movie.

A boy genius Max Frost grows up through chemistry experiments and social dissapointment to become sort of a Lex Luthor rock and roll star with significant charm, charisma, and influence over the kids of this country. Soon Max concocts a scheme to lower the voting age to 14 by whipping the kids into a frenzy with the war cry "14 or fight" that builds so much momentum that DC is overrun by children demanding the vote, which results in sort of a Kent St massacre that emboldens Max even further to arrange an acid trip for members of Congress in order to get them to lower the voting age. Next thing you know Max has been elected President at the age of 24, and legislation is soon passed to herd everybody over the age of 35 into internment camps where they are forced to take LSD as soon as they get off the bus. Some seem to genuinely like it.

This is sort of the ultimate revolution statement for children of the 60's, of which one I am as well so I remember the general climate and anger towards the "establishment" back then. In the end, Max is confronted by a bunch of angry 8 year olds an in a flash of recognition realizes what he's set into motion. Its all so deep. haw haw

Anyway, a very good cast including Hal Holbrook, Shelley Winters, Richard Pryor, Millie Perkins and a few other recognizables. Christopher Jones was sort of a cult icon in the 60's, and he was fantastic in this role, pretty cool for a Tennessee boy. Surprised his career fizzled so soon. The DVD sports an excellent transfer and soundtrack, much better than I expected on this double disk. Sorry, I had no interest in watching "Gas-s-s-s-s" 4 Rolls

A Pair of Duds.......2007-02-05

While now it is something of an art, the teen movie took a while to really get working right. Often many of the "hippie" movies of the late sixties were not very good, probably because they featured more stereotypes (especially as perceived by older adults) than real characters. The only exception that comes to mind is the very good Alice's Restaurant. Others, however, were not well put together and also seemed pretty dated pretty quickly. The set of Wild in the Streets and Gas-s-s-s are a couple of the poorer movies in the genre.

Wild in the Streets tells the story of a young rock star who becomes a political figure promoting giving the vote to 15-year-olds. Eventually, he completely transforms the country, becoming president and locking up all the adults. Although some of the music is passable, the story itself is silly, the sort that makes Legally Blonde 2 (the one where Reese Witherspoon goes to Washington) seem politically astute by comparison.

Part of the problem with Wild in the Streets and many other similar movies is that they treat their youthful subjects rather condescendingly (the title of this movie alone demonstrates the ultimate feelings about these youths). Even if adults have their faults, these films more often seem warnings about why you can't really trust anyone under thirty. At least Roger Corman treats his subjects more sympathetically in Gas-s-s-s, the tale of an Earth in which all adults have died due to a deadly gas and anarchy ensues. The movies follows a group of characters (including a young Talia Shire, Cindy Williams and Ben Vereen) as they seek a new home. Their quest takes them past various new societies, such as a community that takes football to a fascist level.

Gas-s-s-s was Corman's last movie for his longtime associate, American International (and one of his last directing gigs), and Corman does not go off with a bang. The writing and acting are pretty feeble, and the humor - never Corman's strong point - rarely works. I think I actually felt my brain melting as I tried to watch this movie. While Wild in the Streets may rate a high two stars, this is at best a low two stars. I suppose if you a real cinema buff, these may have some interest, but for most people, this set will be a waste of time.

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