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| The Lucas time capsule that is MORE AMERICAN GRAFFITI-out now on Blu-ray. Images: UNIVERSAL PICTURES. |
MORE AMERICAN GRAFFITI
Starring
Paul Le Mat, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Charles Martin Smith, Bo
Hopkins.
Written
and Directed by B. L. Norton
Produced
by Howard Kazanjian
Executive
Produced by George Lucas
Released
on Blu-ray from UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Reviewed by Scott
Weller
In 1973, everyone
went to see George Lucas’s AMERICAN GRAFFITI for it’s big screen nostalgia
celebration and colourful music look back at 1962 small town Southern
California, amidst the life and times of a charmingly realised core group of
young characters about to be let loose on the world. But with its sequel, MORE
AMERICAN GRAFFITI, originally in cinemas in 1979 (I vividly remember the movie
poster outside the Croydon ABC cinema as a nine year old!) finally and
deservedly released on Blu-ray after years in the wilderness from UNIVERSAL
HOME ENTERTAINMENT, that same innocence and lively sense of the past evolves, bringing with it a darker, more grown up taste to the mouth against the
backdrop of an often heady and tumultuous period of late sixties America which, I think, audiences weren’t quite prepared for, or, at that particular time of
the late seventies, didn’t quite want to see. And it’s a shame, really, as the film,
though no classic, is hardly the cinematic dud I’d expected in my
re-visitation.
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| Terry (Charles Martin Smith, left middle) is having a bad, and darkly comic, time in Vietnam! |
Beyond UNIVERSAL’s
commercial need to make a hit sequel to GRAFFITI (after having made so much
money on what had once been considered a very small indie film), I genuinely think
that Executive Producer George Lucas and writer/director Bill Norton (considered
a safe pair of hands for the project by Lucas, who grew up within the same kind
of backdrop that he had) wanted to make a decent, entertaining, slightly
different sequel to what had been gone before, giving us a further interesting
slice of history/comedy that was also, perhaps, a little bit more
thought-provoking and responsible, representing the changing times and the
changed characters seen here in the mid to late sixties, in a time of Vietnam,
student uprisings, the birth of the drug culture and the emergence of flairs, hippies,
peace and free love.
Unfortunately, Norton
just doesn’t have the cinematic touch here to make a whole film that’s sustainably
good (Lucas himself not being available to write and direct due to his heavy
behind the scenes commitments to another LUCASFILM sequel then in the works:
the rather more successful, and ultimately less frustration inducing, STAR WARS EPISODE V:
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK), though there are some bright flashes of humour and
visual panache dotted throughout, including some colourful drag racing moments
that help break the gloom. The aforementioned time frame, of which the film's closing moments reflect a distinctive melancholy seriousness, must have come across as pretty grim to late
seventies audiences after the sweetness of AMERICAN GRAFFITI: the sequel's real-life events probably too fresh in their
mind’s eye to enjoy- especially with the lingering bitterness of Vietnam lying
at the main centre of the movie-at a time when people really went to the cinema
to get away from all that- noticeably with the fantasy environs Lucas himself
had reawakened with the first of the Classic Trilogy STAR WARS movies!
Additionally,
unlike the innovative and ground breaking way that Lucas and co. effectively
used music to convey the fun, angst and comedy of AMERICAN GRAFFITI, the selections here, though again well chosen (including the likes of Percy Sledge, Donovan and Simon and Garfunkel amongst others), ultimately feel muted in their
collage use in comparison to the brilliantly loud and emotive mixing and matching
that helped make the original such a successful enterprise.
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| Ron Howard returns as Steve Bolander. |
Set over four New
Year’s Eve’s from 1964 to 1967 (with various back and forths between the years
that ultimately proves easy to follow), pretty much all the original cast, with
the exception of Richard Dreyfuss, slip effortlessly back into their character
roles after a six-year absence (including Ron Howard as moustached square Steve
Bolander, Cindy Williams as his life frustrated wife Laurie, Paul Le Mat, as
need for speed drag car racer John Milner, Charles Martin Smith as geeky Vietnam
solider-to-be Terry (The Toad) Fields, the amiable Candy Clark as his once bee-hive
haired girlfriend, Debbie Dunham and, often heard in the background, the
unmistakable voice of iconic DJ Wolfman Jack), though sadly for us there’s only
one main reunion scene bringing them together at the film’s start. Of our stars, Charles Martin Smith has some of the films best and funniest scenes, his
character stranded in Vietnam with ex-Pharaoh’s
gang member Joe (Bo Hopkins) for helicopter gun duty company amidst a band of
incompetent gung-ho military men and incompetent politicians, and trying
desperately hard to injure himself in order to escape on medical grounds.
Additionally, Ron Howard and Cindy Williams renew their volatile relationship,
now married family life, with some creditable comedy. But those are just about
the best moments, really. There’s also occasional pleasure to be had here and there
seeing the movies other rising stars, including Scott Glenn, Delroy Lindo, and
Rosanna Arquette, as well as character acting stalwarts like Richard Bradford,
in their prime and mixing in.
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| Officer Falfa (Harrison Ford) makes an arrest! |
For all STAR
WARS fans, though, how could we not mention Harrison Ford’s ultra brief, uncredited
cameo in MORE, once more as Bob Falfa, now cowboy hat free and instead wearing the helmet and
leathers of a motorcycle cop. The actor's late seventies winning and cocky Han
Solo half-smile making a welcome showing here!
Additionally, there’s also an appearance from the mysterious, almost Luke Skywalker, Will Selzer: the other actor who would have
been with Christopher Walken and Terri Nunn had Lucas decided to go in a more
different way with his heroic trio casting choices. Here, Selzer plays Andy
Henderson, Shirley’s peace activist student brother, who gives a competent performance
throughout the film, though I couldn’t really imagine him in the role of Luke-Mark
Hamill would prove just too well cast, too good and deservedly iconic, and I
doubt STAR WARS would have had anywhere near the impact it eventually had with
audiences without his serious but kind-hearted presence.
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| Dragster racer John Milner (Paul Le Mat) wins another award! |
Capably produced
by later RETURN OF THE JEDI's Howard Kazanjian, MORE AMERICAN GRAFFITI
has fine cinematography from Caleb Deschanel, solid sound design from the reliable
Ben Burtt (of which he includes the all-important Wilhelm scream at one particular
point!), and some noteworthy experimental editing from Tina Hirsch (backed up by later Lucas regular Duwayne Dunham
and Marcia Lucas, following an aborted conceptual idea originally thought up by
George for the first film), with the kind of inter cutting, differing
frame points and changing aspect ratios for the various years and characters that
wouldn’t be out of place in TV’s 24 years later, alongside other psychedelic switcheroo’s. The inclusion of real
life Vietnam War footage mixed in with the specially graded material of Charles
Martin Smith’s Terry Fields is also well handled. (Most of which ended up being shot by Lucas
himself, having always been fascinated with the conflict, alongside a second
unit.)
The picture and
sound transfer for this Region Zero release is excellent, and, as usual, full
marks to the UNIVERSAL STUDIOS behind the scenes team for their great transfer
work. Sadly, the lack of any good extras on the disc, not even a trailer or commentary
from the likes of someone like Kazanjian (which could have been
intriguing), is disappointing.
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| Debbie (Candy Clark) and Rainbow (Mackenzie Philips) enjoy the late sixties. |
Available at a
decent price, MORE AMERICAN GRAFFITI finally emerges from its once movie vault
limbo status in pristine quality, and, above all else, is definitely worth
seeing for its curiosity value-as shown by its very brisk sales on the likes of
AMAZON UK since its release earlier in the month. An interesting look back to a
time when LUCASFILM was still young and developing it’s cinematic output (oh,
and it’s great to see the original green block LUCASFILM logo at the start of the
film, too! Welcome back!), the sequel is certainly a more interesting and
experimental movie than the likes of some recent projects to have come out from
the Presidio Ranch.
AFICIONADO RATING: Movie: 6 out of 10.
Extras (none): 0 out of 10. Overall picture and sound quality: 9
With thanks to UNIVERSAL PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
UK for all their help with the preparation of this feature.
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