Killer robots. Lascivious coeds. Lisping Kung-Fu heroes. Bad odors. Dead kids.
They’re all part of the landscape of “Kentucky Fried Movie,” the brainchild of the driving force behind “Airplane,” “The Naked Gun” and “Ruthless People.” Long before Peter Graves asked a young boy if he liked gladiator movies, “Airplane” creators Jerry Zucker, James Abrahams and David Zucker were known for their stage antics at the “Kentucky Fried Theater” in Los Angeles.

A wild combination of skits and improv, the Kentucky Fried Theater allowed the writers/directors to hone their off-beat sense of comedy, which eventually became “The Kentucky Fried Movie.” Lots of bawdy, edgy humor and naked women sealed the film’s reputation as the perfect drive-in movie. Miss one joke? Don’t worry, another will be along in a few seconds.

The jokes in “Kentucky Fried Movie” were all over the place. Some were clever. Some were juvenile. Some were so juvenile they were actually clever. A lot of the humor was day and date, mirroring society and media. Television commercials are spoofed, as are disaster and kung-fu films. Some of the references are so dated that anyone under 30 won’t get them.

Time may have taken its toll on some of the topical humor of “The Kentucky Fried Movie,” but that won’t stop audiences from appreciating the film’s broad humor and wicked stabs at convention.

Shot on the cheap, “The Kentucky Fried Movie” still holds up by today’s standards. The film’s minimal production design serves the joke and nothing else. To fully appreciate how director John Landis and the writers accomplished all of this, listen to the engaging and lively audio commentary on the DVD. Their entertaining exchange (along with producer Robert K. Weiss) exposes the film’s seams, showing us the man behind the curtain in this wild trip to Oz.

Basically a series of skits and sketches, “The Kentucky Fried Movie” had something for everyone, and something to offend everyone. Familiar faces (Bill Bixby, Donald Sutherland) mixed it up with fresh young faces, creating a surreal blend of fact and fantasy. A seemingly innocent school documentary on Zinc Oxide turns into a maelstrom, while Henry Gibson of “Laugh-In” appeals for rights for the dead.

A lot of the skits are extremely high concept (a movie theater that features “Feel-A-Round”, an exploitation film called “Catholic High School Girls in Trouble”), while some are really sly. The film’s calling card is “A Fistful of Yen,” a send-up of Bruce Lee films in general and “Enter the Dragon” in particular. Everything comes together in this hilarious spoof. Clever writing, no-nonsense direction, and a hilarious Lee impersonation courtesy of Evan Kim.

There’s also a wild and wacky courtroom scene that features some unexpected guests and wild accusations. The courtroom scene also features what I believe to be the first use of a dildo in a mainstream film.

Director John Landis, who would go from here to direct “Animal House,” understands the silliness of the material and works against it. By playing everything straight, the humor seems even more twisted.

Twenty-three years after its release, “The Kentucy Fried Movie” still manages to make me smile. It’s amazing how well most of this holds up.

COMPLETE CHECK-UP

VISION: 20/20

Widescreen 1.85:1

Full Frame

16:9 Enhanced

Handsome widescreen presentation, enhanced at 16:9 for widescreen televisions. Nicely rendered colors and strong, impenetrable blacks. Clean negative allows for superior whites and shadows. The colors are strong considering their low-budget origins and time issues. Flesh tones are realistic, while depth of field is amazing. No noticeable artifacts or compression noise.

HEARING: Excellent

Dolby Digital Mono

The digital soundtrack recreates the original mono soundtrack with perfection. Not much to brag about here except that the soundtrack sounds terrific with little or no hiss or distortion. The dialogue mix is strong and demanding, while the highs and lows show no signs of wear and tear. Nice job. The only thing missing is a drive-in speaker effect.

ORAL: Poor

No closed captions or subtitles

COORDINATION: Good

One of the most engaging, honest and entertaining audio commentaries with director John Landis, producer Robert K. Weiss and the writers. These guys are genuinely funny, and their observations are plentiful. There’s hardly a moment of silence as these guys reflect on the past and compare their careers. Not only do you learn a lot about the men behind the camera, you learn a lot about what they had to do to get those images in front of it. Good stuff, great time.

An eye-opening behind-the-scenes photo gallery.

An excellent sampling of the on-set home movies taken by the filmmakers. Just as good as a documentary without all of the gabbing.

Sketchy talent bios and filmographies.

The film’s original theatrical trailer.

PROGNOSIS: Excellent

Thanks to Anchor Bay and the filmmakers of “The Kentucky Fried Movie” for breathing new life into this outrageous comedy.

VITALS: $29.98/Rated R/83m/Color-B&W/24 Chapter Stops/Keepcase

ATTENDING RESIDENT: John Larsen
PATIENT: KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE

BIRTH DATE: 1977

HMO: Anchor Bay Entertainment

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 11th, 2004 at 2:01 am and is filed under Film Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.