Die Vidioten

A beautiful majestic and taut thriller set against the backdrop of a suburban video arcade. Joe Don Baker gives us a towering performance as the cliched angry parent wanting to shut the arcade down. It's amazing that even now, 20 years later, the film still inspires, still excites and still amazes even the most jaded movie viewer. If there is a God, I know that even he must get a smile on his face from the pointless nudity and hours upon hours of video game playing that this movie portrays with such raw tenacity and such POWER! 10/10. Long live "Joysticks!"

The dubious honors given this film are well supported. This is, without question, among the most moronic comedies ever made. Quite interesting as a time capsule of the early 1980s, however, and a real gas for anyone who was a youngster at that time. The plot concerns a popular video arcade in danger of being closed down by nogoodnik Joe Don Baker. Who cares about that, though...

...you rented this to see boobs.

Oh, yes you did!

Singular boobs. Pairs of boobs. Clusters, caboodles, and constellations of boobs. Yes...JOYSTICKS is a veritable wall of boob, and while you're bouncing in Boobtown, you can also enjoy some of the most sophomoric humor ever offered in the long, rich history of teen sex comedies. As an extra bonus, you get a Valley Girl, and a gang of comically overaccessorized "punkers", the likes of which were commonplace as guest villains on network crime shows throughout the 80s(tri-color frightwigs, bondage gear, eyeliner to the ankles, heavy chains...yeah, you remember...).

Shamefully fun trash, if you don't mind hitting the kill-switch on your brain for 90 minutes. Wakka Wakka Wakka.

4/10.

I love eighties movies of all kinds, yet I have been neglecting the great eighties sex comedy for a while. I decided to finally catch up on some of them, and I figured JOYSTICKS wasn't a bad place to start.

The local video arcade is the greatest hot spot in town for the teens, but it's not too popular with the richest man in town. Can the manager's grandson (who runs the place, since his grandfather is out of town), his nerdy co-worker, and the arcade's gaming champion stop him from shutting it down for good?

Even if it's not the greatest, JOYSTICKS still manages to entertain despite itself. It's your stereotypical eighties comedy, with lots of sex jokes, boobs, and all the caricatures you'd expect to find (the fat guy, the nerd, the suave guy, the punk, etc.). This kind of familiarity gives JOYSTICKS a very comfortable feeling, like homemade cooking.

Fans of eighties nostalgia will have a lot to love as well, with a classic soundtrack filled with cheesy tunes (including a title song), as well as all (or at least most of) the arcade games you can remember. The film does have its funny parts, and they're funny in the "that's-so-stupid" kind of way.

However, for every funny part, there are at least two jokes that fall flat on their face. This leads to some groan-worthy moments where you wonder why they would even put a joke like that in the film. For one, there's the rich guy's daughter, who they try to make funny by making her voice squeaky and making every third word she says, "Like." There are also the bumbling nephews who go into the arcade incognito with one of them dressed in drag.

JOYSTICKS really isn't that great, but it provides for a fun night of late twentieth century nostalgia. I'm being really generous by awarding it a 7/10, but no one can deny how fun it is.

There are obviously better eighties comedies out there, but this one will still entertain in a C.H.U.D. II: BUD THE C.H.U.D. kind of way.

It was that bad. I've occasionally rented a video that I fell asleep during and didn't bother to rewatch, or just didn't finish watching--period. But this was the only movie I ever paid admission to see that I didn't finish watching--and that's saying a lot for me. Joe Don Baker must have really needed some quick money to star in this stinker.

Right, well I wasn't overly expecting much from a movie such as this, but I must admit that I was actually pleasantly surprised that the movie turned out to be as entertaining as it was.

Sure, this was corny and very 1980s in terms of how the movie fared and went. But it was that exact corny level of nerdiness and glorious old fashioned video arcade and the games that added to the charm of the movie.

The storyline in "Joysticks" was basically as simple as they come. A local video arcade is in risk of having to close as a local powermonger has taken a personal quest to see it closed. The youth of the video arcade must come together in order to ensure the survival of their beloved video arcade.

As for the acting in the movie, well it was adequate. And let's just say that you will get exactly what to be expected for a movie such as this. However, having been watching movies since the early 1980s, then there is definitely a heap of familiar faces on the cast list. Including the names such as Jon Gries, Joe Don Baker, John Diehl, John Voldstad and Corinne Bohrer.

While "Joysticks" by no means is a classic, then there is definitely some nostalgic value to it, especially if you grew up with video arcades around. "Joysticks" is worth watching a single time, but hardly can sustain more than a single viewing.