Where the Boys Are

I'm absolutely astonished at the negative and even erroneous comments people are making about this film. I loved it! For an '80s teen-sex-beach party type of film, what other film could compare? "The Beach Girls" (1982), "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982), "Foreplay" (1982), "Goin' All The Way" (1982), "The Last American Virgin" (1982), "Porky's" (1982), "Spring Break" (1983), "Screwballs" (1983), "Loose Screws" (1985), "Summer School" (1987), "Hard Bodies" (1989)? I've seen most of them, and for my taste none of those even come close to having simultaneously such good music, good humor, and good scenery as this one.

My favorite scene in this movie is in the intro when the girls first hit the road and the great song "Hot Nights" is playing, with nice aerial photography of their convertible zipping along en route to Florida. Lynn-Holly Johnson is one foxy lady! In that (pre-Internet) era when I was just starting to get interested in tracking down films with Lynn-Holly in them, the combination of my having found her by accident in this film, the great music, the aerial photography, and the nice Florida scenery really did it for me. I was thrilled. This became my favorite recent movie for the next several months, and I still haven't seen anything in the same genre that compares since then.

The music is generally good throughout this whole film, which I can't say for the 1960 version or any other teen-sex comedy I've seen. "Hot Nights" is by far the best song, but "Be-Bop-A-Lula," "Slow Down," and "Seven Day Heaven" are good, too, as are the Rockats songs in general. The inflatable man scene, the drunk driving accident scene, and the mansion party scene are high points of humor. The overall upbeat feel of the film is good, and it looks and feels like it was set in Florida, just as it was supposed to. If its goal was to capture the party atmosphere of spring break in Fort Lauderdale in the '80s, it succeeded admirably.

It's hard to compare this film to the original 1960 version because the two versions were set in such different eras that they are almost completely different films. The 1960 version may have been cute in some ways, but it is *so* old-fashioned with its euphemistic talk about "playing house" and the girl being traumatized just because she lost her virginity that it's painful to even watch at some points. In contrast, this 1984 version has freewheeling drugs, drunken driving, and stripping. Nobody's striving to land a husband, and it even has a few topless shots in it. This is a real party movie. To hell with the plot. Who needs a story line in a film like this?

It is not true that there are only non-nude bikini shots in this movie: see the Mister Bullhorn part and the Hot Bod Contest part for topless shots. I also think Lorna Luft has a great body, so I don't understand the criticisms about her being in the Hot Bod Contest. I also didn't notice that the girls looked too old for college, either, since college is full of students of all ages. Also, the criticism that this movie was a "career stopper" for Lynn-Holly and others just isn't logical since it might only be coincidence that those stars didn't go on to make any more significant movies, and other actresses have starred in turkeys and their careers still survived. Also, Lynn-Holly was *not* a Playboy magazine Playmate. She appeared under some bed covers in one photo in the June 1981 issue of Playboy at the time of "For Your Eyes Only" (1981), but I believe that's all. Therefore I don't think many of the criticisms about this film and its actresses are valid or even factual.

A deeper criticism might be that most of the humor relies on sex, alcohol, and drugs: the M*A*S*H syndrome. I've watched this film at times when I thought all the humor was funny, and at other times when I thought all the humor fell totally flat, so apparently it depends on your mood and your perception of those topics. In any event, this film definitely captured a freer, more tolerant era, just before the War On Drugs became oppressive, just before the AIDS scare became serious, and before the city of Fort Lauderdale harassed spring breakers nearly out of existence in that city. I never thought I'd look back on the '80s with affection, but considering America's post-9/11 Zeitgeist, the '80s are starting to look pretty darned good in comparison.

No matter how you look at it, this film definitely deserves a *lot* higher rating than its current 2.5/10. I give it 8/10.

This is one of my top spring/summer movies to watch every year. The movie emits a signature 80's aura to it that has me longing for the year it was released - 1984! A time when college student revelry during spring break was a must! I love each character and the Florida scenery, even with all the cheesy scenes, like the bouncy dance competition. It's still nostalgic and that's right up my alley. You could even see hints of homosexuality where muscle men are riding on each other's shoulders, lol! To me, it's just good amusement. There is also something about road trips and checking into sleazy, run-down beach motels that I love. Probably because I remember staying in those places where the beds had loud flower covers and the vending machines only produced warm soda. Sure it was hard time, but plenty of us still have fine memories surrounding these little misfortunes. 1984 was perhaps the best year of my life (I wore a pair of checkerboard VANS!) and this movie brings it all back so well. People who never experienced being a young adult in the 80's will never understand how much of a blast the decade was. Louise Sorel and Wendy Schaal are two 80's actresses I admire for their class and talents, both have a history of comedy/drama roles and are definitely underrated, not to mention gorgeous. The producers also did a great job of actually making wealthy characters likable. You even felt sympathy for them, especially when Camden performs his heart out to Jenny on piano, competing with Scott. Giving a hoot about "snooty" characters like these is a rarity in flicks now. No one will ever change my opinion about this movie because it's so well rooted into my past and, of course, it makes me wanna go back to 1984 every time I watch it, even if all I do is grab a warm DrPepper from a vending machine at the beach RAID house. I'm packed.

I saw the original in 1960 and it was a piece of fluff even for back then. What I can't understand is who would want to remake a bad movie, except, perhaps, if your goal was to end the collective careers of everyone in the cast. All the actors were a little long in the tooth for the roles they played. Lisa Hartman Black looked like she may have been a professor at Heidi Fleiss University but a 21 - 22 year old co-ed? I don't think so. This movie was so awful, I felt embarrassed for the actors. Come to think of it, it did effectively serve as a career-ender for several of them. On the whole, I think it's only marginally better than the "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes," which is generally believed to be THE worst movie of all time.

The real charm of these 80's beach movies like "Where the Boys Are '84" is that it brings back the memories of days long gone...especially for us 40-somethings! As for you movie critics that slam this is as a bad flick, get over it! I get as much of a laugh at watching these movies as I do reading the in-depth, serious critiques that condemn the acting and the plot. OK, so this is not academy award material. But so what? It was never meant to be. Its a lot of fun to watch these films and see how Spring Break was represented by these movies makers during the legendary Ft. Lauderdale Spring Break days. That glory will never be again. Today, Ft. Lauderdale has been taken over by convention centers and up-scale hotels. Boring! Almost all of the famous landmarks that made Spring Break in the 80's worth remembering are gone. "The Button", "The Candy Store", and "Cunningham's" to name a few, are all history. "Where The Boys Are '84" and "Spring Break" are the ultimate in nostalgia for anyone that has spent a drunken, crazy night down there during that one week in March when we all went nuts! This film (and "Spring Break") should be forever immortalized in DVD and put in the "80's Hall of Fame" as representative of an era that was a little more innocent (and a lot more brainless) than the sagging, HIV scared, terrorist terrorized, politically-too-correct life we live in now. I say its time for another re-make! "Where The Boy's Are '07" and "Spring Break...Again"! Long live "The Oberlin Student"! Wasn't he in both movies?

If you're into Spring Break flicks about Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. in the 1980's you'll probably enjoy this silly romp. These actors are all a little too "over-the-hill" to play college students! Keep an eye on Lorna Luft (she's Judy Garland's daughter & Liza Minelli's half sister) she spends a a lot of time mugging for the camera. She tries very hard to make you believe she's a college kid, but looks more like a 30-something housewife who belongs in a station wagon, not a convertible. An attempt to give her a younger appearance with pigtails (in a beach scene) only makes her look retarded, not youthful. Unintentional laughter will take hold of you when Luft's character, Carole Singer, enters a "Hot Bod"(?!) contest & wins second place!!! The soundtrack is good, with the standout tunes "Seven Day Heaven" by Shandi, & Lisa Hartman's remake of the Connie Francis classic "Where The Boys Are".