Used Cars | | Cast : | Kurt Russell | | Director : | Robert Zemeckis | | Studio : | Columbia/Tristar Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | July 11, 1980 | | DVD Released Date : | April 01, 2003 | | Language : | Unknown (Dubbed), English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 08, 2005 | | Summary | Blast! | Content
 | One of the best comedies ever made--and that's saying a lot, because comedies are toughest to pull off. Russell's timing is spot on. Hilarious flick! Jack Warden had me in stitches.
There is so much here that will simply keep you laughing your behind off. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 29, 2004 | | Summary | "He thinks I'm lyin', Jim." | Content
| An uneven, but very funny film with some spectacular laughs. "Used Cars" emerges as the best of the big budget, overblown comedies that had run rampet in the late 70's/early 80's ("1941" stands as the ultimate budget-breaker of the time).
Kurt Russell is dead-on perfect as Rudy Russo, used car dealer and wannabbe local politician. His effort to raise $60,000 to "buy" a seat on the city council seems in peril when his boss (Jack Warden) unexpectedly (but hilariously) dies of a heart attack. The boss's no-good evil twin brother (also Warden) plots to take over the car lot. So Russell and his rag-tag bunch proceed to hide the body of the boss and made outrageous tv commercials in order to raise the money and save the lot.
The supporting characters range from underused (SCTV's Joe Flaherty as a lawyer) to drop-dead funny (Frank McRae as the oversized, single-minded Jim the Mechanic). But Gerrit Graham shines as the nuerotic Jeff whose phobias (such as his avoidence of the color red) are very funny indeed.
The funniest parts of the film deal with the three tv commercials Russell and crew produce. The first one takes place during a football game when Jeff discovers the car he's selling is red. The second one uses strippers and a "disco" theme which must've seemed quite odd to those watching the film at theaters since disco itself had "died" a year earlier. Still, it's pretty funny stuff.
The third one, perhaps the most hilarious single scene ever filmed (well, that's a bit much, but still...), takes place during President Carter's address to the nation. In it, Jeff proceeds to destroy the evil brother's cars as Marshall Lucky. As testiment to how funny this scene is, I've seen no fewer that ten people actually drop to the floor and pound the carpet with their fist in histerics...and that includes my mother.
"Used Cars" also has countless great lines, a wonderful turn by "The Munsters" Al Lewis as an honest, if tough judge, and the beautiful Deborah Harmon as the boss's daughter who unexpectedly shows up and throws a kink into Russell's plans.
The only problem with the film, and it's a fairly big one, is the final twenty minutes which dissolves into an uninspired car chase across the desert and a tacked on "happy" ending. Still, "Used Cars" is really funny and for those of you over 18 (this is not for the kids), a really enjoyable experience.
Note: Look for a scene in which Kurt Russell gets out of bed to answer his phone (the first time, after the "disco" commercial). He points "Elvis-like" to a cheap, two-foot statue of Elvis that he has on his headboard. Kurt Russell played Elvis just two years before on network tv.
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| Rating | | | Date | September 20, 2004 | | Summary | Great movie and great commentary!! | Content
| One of the funniest movies I ever seen. Its too bad back in 1980 this movie was overshadowed by Airplane, which was also a great movie. The studio should have released Used Cars later in the year. The commentary with Kurt, Bob Gale, and Zemeckis is hilarious! They give detailed insight about the actors and what went on during the making of the movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 08, 2004 | | Summary | Lost Gem | Content
| Zemeckis' second film really embodies those gas guzzling films from the late 70s (i.e. Smokey and the Bandit; The Gumball Rally; Freebie and the Bean, etc). No, its not a Merchant-Ivory film, BUT far more enjoyable. The secondary roles are the glue that holds Used Cars together (particularly the guys from Laverne and Shirley, and ridiculously superstitious character). Although now extremely dated - one can watch it now to have reveries of the inflation/gas shortage era. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 10, 2004 | | Summary | A gut busting classic! | Content
| BEHOLD! PERHAPS THE GREATEST COMEDY EVER MADE,USED CARS IS A MUST HAVE ON DVD.I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THE BONUS FEATURES ARE NOT LISTED ABOVE SO HERE THEY GO:VINTAGE ADVERTISING GALLERY,AUDIO COMMENTARY:ZEMECKIS,GALE,RUSSELL, OUTTAKES,RADIO @ TV PROMOS,PRODUCTION NOTES AND A COOL THING FOR TRUE FANS OF RUSSELL,A TV AD FOR THE ACTUAL CAR LOT,WITH THE REAL OWNER INTRODUCING RUSSELL WHO THEN GIVES A SALES PITCH FOR A CAR ON THE LOT! |
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