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Starring: John Belushi,  Tim Matheson,  John Vernon,  Verna Bloom,  Tom Hulce, 
Directed By: John Landis, 
Rated: R (Restricted)
Release Date: 1978-07-28
Studio: Universal Studios
Format: Anamorphic,  Closed-captioned,  Color,  Dolby,  DVD-Video,  Subtitled,  Widescreen,  NTSC, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information

Amazon.com
This is one of those movies that works for all the wrong reasons--disgusting, lowbrow, base humor that we are all far too sophisticated to find amusing. So, just don't tell anyone you still think it's a riot to watch John Belushi as the brutish Bluto slurp Jell-O or terrorize his less-aggressive fellow students. This crude parody of college life in the '60s spawned many imitations, but none could match the fresh-faced talent or bad taste of this huge box office success. (Remember all those toga parties in the '80s?) The first of the National Lampoon movies, this was originally released as National Lampoon's Animal House. Keep an eye out for a very young Kevin Bacon in his first credited screen appearance. --Rochelle O'Gorman

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Customer Reviews

I must admit...
...the forced previews and trailers before the movie are annoying. I couldn't believe that I couldn't skip through that crap... I also must note that there was no use of the pause button while the movie was playing. If I wanted to pause the film to go to the kitchen, I had to stop the DVD.

But seriously...
THIS IS ANIMAL HOUSE!
Who really cares about the five minutes of previews and the inconvenience of not being able to pause the movie?
It's Animal House!
It's a classic!

5 stars.
Sit through the previews. Take that time to run to the kitchen. Come back and enjoy one of the all time great American comedies.

Delta and Omega
Part of what made NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE so beloved when it came out in 1978 was its spirit of anarchy, embodied by John Belushi as the frat house hero Bluto Blutarsky; people who have heard about the film who watch it for the first time may be surprised how few lines he actually has in it (still, he seems to preside). The film's climax, which involves the title fraternity of Delta House wreaking utter havoc on a parade in their college's small town is nothing more than a celebration of the pleasures of pure chaos, and the film is at its funniest when it shows the rules of society utterly breaking down. The plot mechanism, which has been celebrated countless times since, is that the more the evil Dean Wormer (John Vernon, having a grand old time with a scenery-chewing performance) imposes restrictions on Delta House, the more wild their counterresponse. The film's popularity centered upon the beer bashes, food fights, toga parties, and roadtrips that get completely out of hand.

Yet watching it again, it is amazing that despite the film's celebration of anarchy the two central figures are really the two smug frathouses smoothies, Otter and Boon (Tim Matheson and Peter Riegert) who smirk and ooze their way through the plot and are responsible for most of the story's machinations. They're not very funny, and are the direct ancestors of such similarly insufferable entitled rich boys from film comedy as Ferris Bueller and Van Wilder. Certainly Otter and Boon are better than their despicable counterparts in the Omega fraternity (who enjoy mocking fat pledges and scheming with the Dean); the film constantly sets it up spatially (particularly in the student court's hearing scene) as if these are the only two possible choices in life: you're either a Delta, or you're an Omega. This seems to belie the spirit of social anarchy the film elsewhere so happily and rudely celebrates. The likable and funny two actors who begin the film, Tom Hulce and Steven Furst, as Pinto and Flounder, skate right past this uncomfortableness, as does the wonderful comic actress Martha Smith as a Southern-belle co-ed (she has some of the film's funniest moments).

Tour de Force
There are few films I treasure as much as Animal House. It is to creative comedy what Mozart is to music. I've seen it about 20 times and used to sneak out past my bedtime during childhood to watch it on our family room's television. Every performance--particularly Belushi's, Matheson's, Hulce's and Furst's--was outstanding. Every character resonates and the send up of the fraternity system changed our culture. Animal House is gloriously politically incorrect and harkens back to a time when we used to accept the inconsistency, selfishness, and unpredictability of human nature. Of course, you don't have to appreciate it for high-minded reasons because it's a rollicking laugh riot and it lifts your spirits.

National Lampoon's Animal House
This DVD is a classic. It was fun watching this again, last time seeing it at the theatre and a couple of times on TV. I would recommend it to anyone that was in college in the 60's or 70's.

Wild with Traditional 70's-style Humor
This is a classic that no one can afford to miss out on. It's for all generations as long as the viewer is old enough for an "R" film.

See Belushi at his best. The film has well known actors and those who play good support roles.

It's a superb film for Tim Matheson. He's got a great role as do others who fit in excellently with the dialogue and scenes. You'll be rolling on your couch, even if you've got a son considering joining a frat.

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