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Back to School
Back to School
Actors: Rodney Dangerfield, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Keith Gordon, Robert Downey Jr.
Director: Alan Metter
Genres: Comedy
PG-13     2003     1hr 36min

Rodney Dangerfield (Caddyshack, Meet Wally Sparks) makes the grade with this laugh-riot comedy that's in a class of its own! Higher education will never be the same when co-stars Sally Kellerman, Robert Downey, Jr., Sam Ki...  more »

     

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Movie Details

Actors: Rodney Dangerfield, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Keith Gordon, Robert Downey Jr.
Director: Alan Metter
Creators: Rodney Dangerfield, Dennis Snee, Greg Fields, Harold Ramis, Peter Torokvei, Rich Eustis, Steven Kampmann
Genres: Comedy
Sub-Genres: Romantic Comedies, School Days, Harold Ramis
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Format: DVD - Color,Widescreen - Closed-captioned
DVD Release Date: 06/26/2003
Original Release Date: 06/13/1986
Theatrical Release Date: 06/13/1986
Release Year: 2003
Run Time: 1hr 36min
Screens: Color,Widescreen
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 0
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Languages: English, French, Spanish
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
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Member Movie Reviews

Bryan L. (50kmwalk) from PT REYES STA, CA
Reviewed on 3/6/2012...
As others have said this is Rodney Dangerfields best comedy and I heartily agree. It has some great one liners and its the perfect vehicle for Rodney to mock everyone he comes in contact with in the movie including Kurt Vonnegut! What's also nice about this movie is the relationship Rodney has with his son throughout the film. When things aren't going well at College for his son he decides to go help him out by enrolling--ergo "Back to School". Rodney it turns out is the Dad we all would have wanted to have; loving, loaded, and a total goofball. Adrienne Barbeau plays Rodney's Wife at the start of the movie and the scenes where Rodney just tears up her rich, snooty friends before they divorce, are priceless. I roll this film out about every 5 years or so to watch and it just gets funnier and sweeter with time. Rodney Dangerfield was a hoot!
1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Movie Reviews

Funny, but make sure you get the NEWER DVD release!
06/13/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)

"After his appearance on Leno recently, it seems Rodney Dangerfield is losing his touch due to age and his admitted pot smoking. He still had it in Back to School, however. This has always been a good way to spend 90 minutes or so to get some laughs. Along with Caddyshack and Easy Money, it's his best work.Be careful of which DVD version you buy. There are two floating around out there and they both look the same until you make a close inspection of the back cover. MGM quietly slipped this new transfer out there with the same cover without as much as a peep. The original copy was non-anamorphic widescreen and was a poor transfer with some framing issues. The new one is a great improvement with anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 Surround Sound. You have to look at the bottom left of the back cover. You will see 16:9 Widescreen 1.85:1 versus the old one which did not have the '16:9' printed above the word Widescreen. The free booklet with the older copy was nice but the new anamorphic transfer and 5.1 trump the importance of the little booklet included in the older DVD release. I don't know why they didn't throw in the old booklet but its importance is negligible. You don't buy DVDs for booklets anyway.One more thing. Always buy DVD releases of films in their OAR(Original Aspect Ratio). Don't buy Fullscreen copies if the movie was originally released in Widescreen to theaters. The only time you should buy (Fullscreen, 1.33:1, 4X3) is if that was the OAR, which is usually only television these days and much older films from the early 50's and beyond. Why would you want to watch a film with the sides chopped off? You'll learn to live with the 'black bars' and realize that you're not losing any picture on the top or bottom."
Farewell, Rodney, You've Graduated At Last
Kevin Killian | San Francisco, CA United States | 10/06/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"As the word reaches us that Rodney Dangerfield has died without waking up from his coma, we take this occasion to salute him by viewing one more time his comedy classic, "BACK TO SCHOOL." Adrienne Barbeau is in it, playing a trophy wife of yesteryear, grasping and unfaithful, she's only in it for the money any more. Thornton Melon runs a men's store called, "TALL AND FAT," and I would have liked to see a whole sequel to BACK TO SCHOOL that focussed on the day to day life of running this haberdashery. Anyway he's rich enough to be able to afford to hire Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. to write a term paper for him. Sam Kinison is in the movie too as the history professor--crazy and out of this world! And Sally Kellerman is more subdued than usual playing Diane Turner, the English professor who, in a memorable scene, makes Rodney analyze the meaning of Dylan Thomas' famous poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."

Robert Downey Jr is in the movie too, he's always good for a laugh or two. And Keith Gordon plays the son, maybe his best part after the young son of Angie Dickinson in DRESSED TO KILL. But most of all the picture belongs to the one and only Rodney Dangerfield. Rodney, we will miss your attitude and your "I get no respect" whining. You always saw things the way the common man did. We salute you for your tremendous achievements. As Dylan Thomas said,

"And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.""
Rodney's All Time Best Comedy Get's Straight A's!
Mr. | USA | 06/05/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Don't you just miss 80's movies like Back To School? A film starring one of the funniest men on the planet (Mr. Rodney Dangerfield) with an ensemble cast of famous names unto themselves, has got to have SMASH MOVIE written all over it, and it does! A simple premise: Thornton Melon (Dangerfield) has become a wealthy millionaire even though he dropped out of high school, and now his son, Jason (Keith Gordon) wants to drop out of college, so in order to keep him from leaving, Thornton decides to go to college too! There are so many hysterical moments I just can't print them all. But some favorites are the big scene with Sam Kinison as the crazed history teacher, Professor Terguson ("Good teacher. He really seems to care. About what I have no idea".), Thornton doing the Triple Lindey swimming dive (with Derek[Robert Downey Jr.]distracting the rival diving team with loud noise and reflecting light to the face), Thornton's rendition of "Twist And Shout" at a local bar, and of course, the party in Thornton's dorm room, with Danny Elfman's band, Oingo Boingo and a killer hot tub, complete with BUBBLES! ("Now that's what I call marine biology".) But a truly winning comedy can't be completely great without heart, which is what this film has. Keith Gordon (John Carpenter's Christine), who is sorely missed in the acting world since he changed his profession to directing, is great as Thornton's son, Jason, who loves his father a lot but feels like Dad's always trying to do too much to make him happy when all he wants to do is live his own life. Terry Farrell (TVs Star Trek: DS9 & Becker) makes a good love interest for him too. I always knew she'd make a name for herself one day. Of course you can't make this sort of film without the bad guys and both father and son have each of their own: William Zabka (who we all should remember as bad boy Johnnie from The Karate Kid) as Chas, the snotty swim diver, and Paxton Whitehead as Philip Barbay, Thornton's economics professor are both out to give our duo a not so sweet time at college. But with Sally Kellerman as the funloving literature teacher, Diane, helping Thornton with reading (and biology) just made things a whole lot more fun. This film has such a great mix of comic chemistry and one-liners that you may miss after the first viewing from laughing so hard. But it's also a movie that just makes you feel good when it's all over.The DVD isn't much on special features, only a trailer, which has a scene not in the film of Thornton and his bodyguard, Lou (Burt Young of the "Rocky" movies as Paulie) looking at a college sex book ("Well, they left out the most important thing...where to get it"). But at least they give you a letterboxed version (1.85:1) as well as a full framed version. But for the asking price, this disc is worth it. Maybe someday they'll get the gang together and make a documentary and audio commentary. Until then get this DVD. I haven't seen the picture look this good in years. The VHS pales in comparison. So, if you're tired of all the bland humor that seems to be coming out of the Hollywood machine these days, go Back To School with Rodney Dangerfield, who will show you just how funny Comedies should be. "Ooh, I'd love to tame your shrew!""