The Big Bus

Rewatch: 27/7 2019 31%

Tragically awful, and yet hysterically funny in spots. Six months to live, just six months to live . . . a disaster in every respect.

As noted by others, an early stab at an Airplane-style film that doesn't quite come off. Most of the film is dry and a little boring, but it's punctuated by occasional moments of genius (the flags of all nations, milk carton duel, etc). Worth a watch if you're a fan of the Zucker films, but it never comes close to their level.

Yeah, Airplane! basically perfected this formula, mostly by including more jokes per minute, but this has ambition and a few decent chuckles.

Pretty much the same movie as Airplane!, but less funny.

An early attempt at an airplane/flying high style satire that kinda works but only at certain times. Love the bus itself though

"Raise the flags of many nations!" Not really good, but it means well, and some of it is actually funny.

THE BIG BUS, if nothing else, has a place in film history as a sort of proto-AIRPLANE!, and the later (and better) film does in fact owe a deal to it--THE BLUES BROTHERS and SPACEBALLS also took a joke or two from it. On its own, it's uneven; the script is weak and the directing merely adequate. Generally solid performances, though, Stockard Channing and Murphy Dunne in particular. Also, a duel with a milk carton and a candle. Decent fun, but more a curiosity item than anything else.