Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)

Mike Judge, the creator and voice of MTV's insouciant Beavis and Butt-head characters, made his feature film directorial debut with this full-length B&B misadventure, which finds the boys going on a cross-country adventure after their all-important television set is stolen. Fans of the now-defunct TV show will obviously enjoy this film the most, though almost anyone with a passing awareness of the characters will find something to chuckle about. (The funniest recurring gag finds beleaguered B&B neighbor Tom Anderson constantly sabotaged by the guys while on vacation.) Celebrity voices are fun to pick out, particularly that of David Letterman, who rather appropriately plays Butt-head's long-lost father. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

A Pretty Good Synapsis Of 1990's Americana

"Beavis And Butt-Head Do America" came out to a lot of fanfare in the mid-1990's, and I was one of many who went to the theater to see it, and someone in the row behind me summed it up pretty good: "...I can't stand it, I'm laughing too hard!..."

There is a lot of extremely low-brow humor in this film, but it is actually a sophisticated screenplay, with a lot of nuances to it; it isn't just a bunch of sight-gags aimed at stupid people. The plot follows our heroes from their home in Highland, Texas to Washington, D.C. via many scenic and historic places, where they meet many eccentric characters and get into several scrapes, all the while remaining oblivious to how dire their situation really is. Their TV has been stolen, and they just want to get it back, or maybe get a new one. They unwittingly become pawns in a murder-for-hire plot, as well as an international bio-terrorism scheme. They unknowingly smuggle a device to the White House which, if detonated, or even damaged, will unleash a super-virus which will bring about a nightmarish outbreak of illness unlike anything many have ever seen. Their motivation? They believe they will "score" with an extremely sexy woman who will give them a lot of money, just to go to Washington. When she discovers what naieve kids they really are, she sews the doomsday device into Beavis' pants (he took them off, thinking he was going to take her to bed), and tells them to take a tour bus to Washington. To them, it is a fun trip, despite some inconveniences, but they only see it as a road trip. They just want their TV, and they want to "score."

This movie was my first taste of the work of Rob Zombie. I'm not really a fan of his music, I don't hate it, but I don't get into it either. While the story takes us to the desert, there is a peyote-induced hallucination sequence devised by Rob Zombie, accompanied with music from his band, White Zombie, with a selection called "Rat Finks, Suicide Tanks, And Cannibal Girls." This is an outstanding piece of film. I have this movie on tape and on DVD, but seeing this sequence on a big screen in the movie theater, was very memorable. This bit wasn't really part of the story, but worth the price of admission nonetheless.

Of course, as per the TV series, Beavis and Butt-Head cause bedlam everywhere they go. They don't mean any harm, they just don't have a clue. And coincidence keeps making them cross paths with poor old Tom Anderson, who just wanted to see the sights on his way to Washington, and visit the White House. On the surface, nobody deserves the hassle he goes through, poor guy, but he is SO clueless, he virtually asks for all his woes. So it's no surprise when he goes down with the villians as a conspirator.

This review is based on the original VHS release and the first issue of the DVD. In this format, there are no extras, apart from two short movie trailers. The tenth anniversary release may have a lot of extras, I don't know. But really, who actually NEEDS all that? Sure, it's nice to have all that, but why do you buy a movie on tape or disc? To watch the movie, at your convenience.

As earlier stated, this is a very funny, very well-made movie, which always gets a laugh, from me, anyway.

July 11, 2008

Puts South Park to shame.

South Park is nothing compared to B & B.
Yes, SP is great but BB is better hands down.
The movie? Genius.
I'd give anything if Mike Judge would go back and do more of these.
A brilliant and offensive cartoon movie.
A must see!!! June 13, 2008

A great film - but be sure you get the collectors edition!

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is directed by Mike Judge, and features the voice talents of Mike Judge, with co-starring roles voiced by Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Robert Stack, Cloris Leachman, Greg Kinnear, and David Letterman. John Frizzel contributes the musical score.

Beavis and Butt-Head have had the thing dearest to them stolen - their television set. After an unsuccessful attempt to take another one from the school, the twosome are caught up in a cross-country journey, seeing various locales across the country and spreading their ignorance and destruction. What the twosome doesn't know is that a biological weapon has been planted on them - and they are now being pursued by the ATF.

Bringing a TV series from the small screen to the big screen is never an easy task. If you're one of those people who is like me, and was dreading whether or not this series would make the transition successfully, fear not. MTV's crudely-drawn adolescent morons have made the switch from small screen to big in fine form.

The voice acting definitely deserves its share of recognition. Mike Judge, the show's creator and director of the film, voices the title duo and countless other supporting characters. He's no less excellent here than on the small screen. The supporting cast includes Demi Moore and Bruce Willis as divorced smugglers, the late Robert Stack as a cavity search-obsessed ATF official, and even David Letterman as Butt-Head's biological father! Judge and these various celebrity performers are great in their respective roles.

Mike Judge is a genius when it comes to crafting satire. It's a shame that so many people reject Beavis and Butt-Head and fail to give the series a chance. There's more to this series than toilet humor and unnecessary violence. It's a beautifully-crafted satire that shows the world through the eyes of two Generation X teenagers that couldn't care less about world issues - and the movie sums this up perhaps even better than the series. Judge even throws in a few gags with the ATF using unnecessarily excessive force in numerous situations that only add to the more intelligent, less obvious thought-provoking side of things. The film is Judge at his finest - enough said.

There are tons of great scenes in the film. In addition to the obligatory humor you've come to know and love from the duo, there's a hilarious opening scene inspired by seventies cop shows, a pre-credits dream scene of the twosome as giants terrorizing a city, and even a semi-music video hallucination scene using Rob Zombie's artwork!

The movie clocks in at only eighty minutes, probably making it the shortest film in this critic's DVD collection. Because of this it never outlasts its welcome - this is just about the right length for something like this. However, because of the short length, not to mention that the bulk of the film takes place outside Highland, numerous beloved characters in the Beavis and Butt-Head universe get very limited screen time (McVicker, Van Driessen) and some don't appear at all! (Buzzcut, Todd, Stewart) I sorely missed these classic characters, no questions asked. But just the same, this didn't keep me from loving the movie.

John Frizzel, a frequent collaborator of Judge projects, scored the film. For his score, he opts for a more traditional score than one that reflects the humorous tone of the movie. And like the great spoofs and satires of the past, it works excellently. Numerous bands of various genres contribute to the soundtrack as well, including White Zombie, No Doubt, and Ozzy Osbourne. The mix of soundtrack and score is well crafted, and suits the film perfectly.

The film has been released on DVD twice. The original DVD release was a weak, bare-bones issue devoid of extras other than trailers, and it lacked the deleted National Archives scene from the MTV airing of the film. The more recently-released Special Collectors Edition, sadly, STILL lacks the Archives scene! But it DOES include far more extras than the earlier issue:

-Feature length commentary by Mike Judge (creator of Beavis and Butt-Head and director of the film) and Yvette Caplan (animation director): Probably the most interesting extra on the disc. Judge and Kaplan discuss numerous aspects of the film, including jokes that were cut, the effectiveness of certain scenes, feedback from the test screening, the list goes on. If you liked the movie, you owe it to yourself to sit through it with this commentary track. It's more interesting than you might think (81 minutes.)

-The Big Picture "making of" featurette: Another fantastic extra. Judge and numerous others discuss the early genesis and success of the series on MTV, as well as events leading up to the creation of the movie. A great behind-the-scenes look at things (23 minutes.)

-We're Gonna Score music featurette: Interviews with the films composer John Frizzel, and his inspiration for the direction he ultimately took with the film's score. A nice look at an aspect of the filmmaking process that (particularly in THIS case) gets overlooked (11 minutes.)

-Smackdown Montage: Totally pointless. Just a montage of all the characters fighting or getting hit/beat up, and various other "action" moments. Why did we get this instead of the National Archives scene, something we actually WANTED!? (3 minutes.)

-Celebrity Shorts: These are MTV News spots hosted by Kurt Loder, with interviews of celebrities who had crossed paths with the title duo - interviewees include Snoop Dogg and Steve Buscemi. Good for a quick laugh, but needless to say I would have aborted these in favor of the Archives scene (3 shorts, 4 minutes total.)

-TV Spots: Basically what you'd expect. These are the commercials for the movie while it was playing on the big screen. They range from the generic "now playing" commercials with a few clips, to the "on the set" commercials that aired around that time. Good for their novelty value, but nothing outstanding. (numerous TV spots, 6 minutes total.)

-Teaser Trailers: The teaser trailers from cinemas. They don't really reveal much and mostly just feature dialogue from the duo. Pretty short, but each one is most likely to get a laugh out of you if you liked the film (2 teasers, 2 minutes total.)

If you liked the movie, buy the DVD. But make damn sure you're getting the special collector's edition. The older release features a yellow "wanted poster" style back cover - do NOT get that version. The special edition has a mainly white back cover, and features a photo of the duo in front of the White House, and a list of bonus features at the top. Again, make sure you're getting the collector's edition!

Thumbs up January 16, 2008

Possibly the best movie ever.

I've lost count of the times I've seen this movie. It's possibly my favorite cartoon movie ever. Heck, one of the best MOVIES ever. November 14, 2007

A great animated comedy!

One morning, Beavis and Butt-Head (voiced by Mike Judge) wake up to find their TV missing and go out and search for it. During their search, they meet up with this criminal punk named Muddy (voiced by Bruce Willis) and their assignment is to go to Las Vegas and do his wife for 10 grand and expenses. They accept the assignment and head to Vegas, over there they meet his wife Dallas (Voiced by Demi Moore) and gives them a better deal if they take a tour bus across America to Washington D.C., then they can score and get money. She hides a deadly unit containing a powerful virus called "X-5" in Beavis's pants and the dumb-as-rocks duo head across America where they go to Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, meet a couple of familar former-Motley Crue roadies, one stubbon agent (voiced by Robert Stack), the president, a kind old lady (voiced by Cloris Leechman), Mr. Anderson (voiced by Mike Judge) and other colorful characters they meet.

Hugely entertaining and hilarious animated comedy epic from the creator of the series Mike Judge with an excellent soundtrack by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Engleberg Humperdink, Ozzy Osborune, Issac Hayes, Ll Cool J, AC/DC and more. The voice acting is excellent and so is the improved animation which is probably better then the TV series's animation with some good graphics and of course humor to go along with it.

This DVD special edition contains excellent picture and sound with cool extras like audio commentary, TV Spots, Trailers, two featurttes, celebrity shorts and a Montage. October 4, 2007

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