Search - More American Graffiti on DVD

Excellent Sequel to Original Classic

brent been | Tahlequah, Ok | 06/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a fine follow-up.Some carp about this one.What some people don't understand is that this shows those same lovable characters in a different time(they are older, more tumultous events have transpired in America since 1962 such as assassination of JFK, Vietnam starts for real, psychedelic drugs take off, polarization of American society due to the escalation of Vietnam War, changing styles, values, attitudes, perceptions,etc.), and so naturally the film is not going to be the "same" as the first one.It was a perfect way to capture the transition of the characters to the latter part of the 60s. The soundtrack kicks too! Basically, everyone(except for Dreyfuss) is back for this one including Harrison Ford who is now Officer Bob Falfa. I liked the Vietnam scenes the best with Terry "Toad" Fields and Joe the Pharoh. I don't think there was any other way to pull a believable and successful sequel off than to do it the way Lucas and Co did(you will have to watch it to understand what I mean---be advised this is very different from the first one).Excellent film all the way."

A Fun and Entertaining Sequel!

Kenneth M. Gelwasser | Hollywood, Fl USA | 09/15/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

""More American Graffiti" is the underrated and delightfully entertaining comedy sequel to George Lucas'1974 classic film, "American Graffiti".In Lucas'original film he followed various cliques of teenagers (over a 12 hour period), who were on the cusp of adulthood,asking that age old adolescent question, "what will I do with the rest of my life?" In this humorous sequel, we follow most of the original film's main characters into young adulthood and find out what they have been up to as their lives play out against the turbulent backdrop of the 1960's. Essentially the movie is broken down into four main stories, each taking place on a different News Years'Eve during the 60's decade.We meet up again with tough guy, John Milner (Paul Le Mat)who has left his street rod days behind and is now trying to break into the dangerous world of 1960's professional drag racing. He's doing this while he tries to romance a beautiful foreign exchange student, who speaks not a word of english. The second story takes place in Vietnam, where Terry "the Toad" Fields (Charles Martin Smith) is a soldier serving in a U.S.Army Medivac helicopter unit. All around him he see's the absurdity and hopelessness of the war and will try anything to keep from becoming a casualty. The third story takes place in the Haight-Ashbury's 'Summer of Love', where Debbie Dunham (Candy Clark)has become a hippie, who gets mixed up with a crazy rock n' roll band, while trying to procure a gig for her musician, boyfriend. The final story involves Steve and Laurie Bolander (Ron Howard & Cindy Williams)who are raising a family in suburbia. The couple experiences marital discord, which inadvertantly leads them into the world of the college campus anti-war demonstrations and riots.Director and writer, Bill L. Norton has very innovatively told us a number of stories against a vast tapestry of recent history. These baby boomer characters all experience both joy and heartache in their lives.But hey isn't that what life is all about? The entire cast recreates their characters with great finess and energy. Le Mat and Smith are especially good in their roles.Also, look for cameos from Harrison Ford, Mackenzie Phillips and Bo Hopkins, who play their original characters from the first film.The movie makes interesting use of both editing and cinematography, that changes from story to story.I really like the creative use of split-screen during the 'Haight- Asbury' sequences, which highlights those colorful and frenetic times.The DVD picture and sound transfer are exceptually well done.The DVD also makes the most out of it's wide screen formatting (especially in the drag racing sequences). My only complaint is that this DVD has absolutely nothing in extras (not even a film trailer). This movie is both a fun and entertaining sequel. While it might not have the classic status of the original film, it is still highly recommended!"