Regular Price $14.98

Starring: Robert Downey Jr.,  Kiefer Sutherland,  Bruce Dern,  Mariette Hartley,  Winona Ryder, 
Directed By: Ernest Thompson, 
Rated: R (Restricted)
Release Date: 1988-11-18
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Format: Anamorphic,  Closed-captioned,  Color,  Dolby,  DVD-Video,  Full Screen,  Subtitled,  Widescreen,  NTSC, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information about 1969

Description
Scott and Ralph (Sutherland and Downey), two small-town class-of- 67 high school graduates, venture off to college to sow some wild oats and stay one step ahead of the draft board. But when Ralph is expelled from school, he suddenly becomes a prime candidate for serving in his country's armed forces. And when the lifelong friends take drastic and illegal measures to ensure Ralph's freedom, they trigger a chain of events that will forever change theirfriendship, their lives and how a town thinks of war.

Customer Reviews for 1969

Cliche-o-Matic
This movie rolls out every cliche of the coming-of-age and anti-war genres. Sensitive future writer protagonist? Check. Equally sensitive but troubled buddy? Check. Frigid [...] mom and hardass dad? Got it. Older brother shipping out, only to become cannon fodder on practically his first day in country? Yep.

(Warning: there be spoilers ahead.)

This movie feels as if it was transcribed directly from the writer/director's personal experience. That is not necessarily a good thing. The plot hits all the usual tropes - pot-smoking college students avoiding the draft, road trip in a VW van, budding romance with the best buddy's little sister. The film reaches its unlikely climax at the funeral of the previously mentioned older brother, in which Buddy's Little Sister delivers a tired anti-war sermon as if it's the first time anyone has said anything so brilliant. And to top it all off, the entire little town marches on City Hall to spring Buddy from jail (don't ask).

The only thing that saves this from a one-star rating is the cast. Keifer Sutherland is adorable as the sensitive future writer protagonist. Robert Downey Jr. plays the troubled best buddy (of course); he does what he can but the character is written inconsistently. Why would the free-spirited draft-dodger suddenly want to return to his hometown and get a job? Winona Ryder is cute as Downey's younger sister and Sutherland's love interest. Bruce Dern, Mariette Hartley and Joanna Cassidy are okay as the parents, but some of their actions seem to be without motivation.

I saw "1969" on cable at 2:45 a.m. That's exactly where it belongs.1969

Classic Movie / Awesome Soundtrack
Greetings,

This was a classic movie with a feel close to home, even though in the movie they delt with Vietnam its a real good movie today with the war in Iraq. The soundtrack brought back memories of the late 60's and the story balances out the music. If you enjoy Winona Ryder and Kiefer Sutherland than this is the movie for you..1969

1969
great movie, very emotional at times..long list of stars and music that brings back a flood of memories...good movie to watch for what was happening in the late 60's not only with vietnam but on the homefront to all the families.1969

Everlasting human conflict
between peace and war - and to sue one's one goals by force or flee from it.1969

When We Were Young
Dopy yet captivating, 1969 wears its heart on its sleeve. Winona Ryder has beautiful hippie outfits. Robert Downey Jr is fascinating to watch. His character just seems like him. Because he always plays drugged-out losers whose worlds are about to collapse, his movies always seem to be his autogiography, just like the old time-stars like Lana Turner or John Wayne. Yet in this film Kiefer's the real star, and he isn't bad. With his blond, blond hair he looks very much as though he might actually have been the son of Mariette Hartley.

The anti war stuff was a little cimplified but good. Winona makes a startling speech at her high school graduation, asking the crowd why we have to go fight a war that no one in the US actually understands. Watching it today, we realize we should be asking ourselves these questions all over again. I wonder if the movie might have been more of a success today than in 1988. Ryder made this film right between BEETLEJUICE and HEATHERS, when she was still a giant star, and yet it barely saw release.

Among the elders, Bruce Dern, Mariette Hartley and Joanna Cassidy are all excellent. Joanna Cassidy isn't as lean and mean as she is on SIX FEET UNDER, she has more flesh on her, but she looks marvelous, like Claudia Cardinale playing a hippie.

There's a scene where Sutherland's VW van, decked up in hippie colors, passes a convoy of soldier boys on a lonely highway, and Ryder leans out the window and makes the peace sign at them with a beatific smile. At first the soldiers respond violently and obscenely and then, as more and more trucks are passed, the mood of the soldiers seems to shift and a few give the peace sign back. Then more and more of them. All the while on the soundtrack "Wooden Ships" is playing (the Jefferson Airplane version). Some of the scenes were touching, others a little goofy.1969