Van Nuys Blvd.

I watched VAN NUYS BLVD as part of BCI Eclipse' Drive-in Cult Classics (featuring Crown International Pictures releases) on DVD.

As a teenager growing up in the 70s the only thing I remember about the movie is my friend telling me about the mooning scene during the opening of the film.

I had never seen the film until now, so it seems tame; and, in the director's words "almost innocent." That is certainly true by today's standards; but I am sure it was quite scandalous for the times.

VAN NUYS BLVD is about Wednesday night's cruise scene in Los Angeles, on the boulevard of the same name. It packs in a lot of drag racing, super cool cars, dumb cops; and, hot chicks, with a side trip to Magic Mountain, to boot!

The musical score features a pulsating disco beat; and, the opening song is fun and funky!

VAN NUYS BLVD is very much in the same vein of the more famous (and better movie), "American Graffiti" released two years earlier.

My friend and I ended up in LA in 1986; but by then the cruise scene was gone forever. Nevertheless, for those that have been there, VAN NUYS BLVD is a nice bit of nostalgia for 1970s California living.

I appreciate that having been born in 1946, I don't really have the right to review this film. My period is 1968/69, some ten years before this and boy does it show! Here, the car has already become God once more, the dancing looks more like aerobics and the music! Well, I got through prog rock and even punk but this disco sound was beyond me. Amazing though just how early the 'eighties' began because this really looks absolutely on the button for the eighties and yet was presumably made no later than 1978 if it came out in '79. As others have mentioned no plot to speak of, lots of very cute naked bodies, but, for me, too much motoring, too much fairground riding and too much of that music. For anyone ten years younger, however, probably absolutely essential viewing.

VAN NUYS BLVD. is a near-plot less slice of late '70s exploitation from those guys at Crown International Pictures. This one attempts to gather interest from various sources so it comes across as a mix of road movie, disco flick, and teen sex comedy. There's nudity thrown into the mix, along with scenes of racing and even long, protracted moments of disco dancing that go on for twenty minutes or more.

None of it particularly sticks, and I think it's fair to note that this is a dull and relatively pointless movie. Unless, that is, you're interested in the era, in which case it's a fun snapshot of its time allowing you to checking out the fashions, the cars, and the music scene in the wake of GREASE and Saturday NIGHT FEVER. The young actresses are attractive, but the male performers are pretty hopeless, and the tries-to-be-funny script just doesn't cut it. Writer/director William Sachs also helmed THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN, which on the strength of this I would say was his best movie.

This movie has nothing but scenes stitched together BUT it's oddly fun and charming if only because its so aimless. Lots of nudity and clips of amusement parks and disco dancing make this a real treat for late 70's fans.

VAN NUYS BLVD is another Crown International teen film that shows what a different place America was in the 1970's. Kids cruise around for sex, drugs and bad disco music. They also get to go to jail and then go to Magic Mountain the next day. Why I live for these movies I'll never know. Lots of drag racing, cool cars and hot chicks round out a film about doing nothing that totally makes a movie-watching SESSION a memorable experience. Recommended for the right people.