Hot Dog ...The Movie

I saw this one in a Fairfield, Ct theater with a bunch of fellow tanked-up theater circuit employees, and we loved it! Sure it's stupid! Who cares? My cardinal rule with comedy is that it doesn't have to be highbrow to be funny; if a comedy makes you laugh, it has succeeded.

The predictable "snobs vs slobs" comedy is given the novel twist of having the slobs actually be highly proficient at their field of expertise, in this case "hot dog" skiing. While the comedy is pretty standard, the scenes on the slopes are standouts, particularly the spectacular Chinese Downhill race. And let us not forget that living proof of the existence of the Goddess, Shannon Tweed. The only thing that she's missing is the giant seashell that she looks like she stepped out of!!!

As for the heroes of the film, if you've ever gone seriously skiing, you know these guys. The raging alcoholic, the stoner, the foreign expert, the annoying new-kid-on-the-slopes/phenom, the thermonuclear ski goddess... They're all here. And don't miss the scene that features Mitch ryder's rockin' cover of Prince's "When You Were Mine." Kick back some tallboys and check it out!

First rate T&A flick. Bizarre party scenes, seemingly endless amounts of nudity and a guitar serenade so mind-numbingly awful, it leaves you screaming for more! Shannon Tweed looks superb in this, as do all the other featured babes. See how many times you rewind the scene in which our ski hero, commenting on his smarmy German idol, mutters "He's the BEST!" Horrible, yet curiously endearing. You be the judge. 9/10 on the mondo movie scale.

Aside from all the blatant content to attract attention (that can be skipped and doesn't really affect the main story), there's actually a lot of charm and personality to this movie.. and the stunt work was also quite impressive and well done! It does have a straightforward structure, but the plot is simple, interesting and appealing enough. Doesn't look cheap and I very much enjoyed the competition aspect.

This is the kind of movie that doesn't give you a lot of each character (not to get bored of them), but everyone introduced has the little moments it shows are well written and define each. The finale was very climatic!! And just ends in the right note.

PS. More Kendo!

With the possible exception of Cusack's Better Off Dead (which only includes a bit of skiing).

In response to whoever wrote something like "if you like Chocolat and the Piano, you're not going to like this." I loved Chocolat. I loved the Piano. And I also sincerely love Hot Dog the movie. And just so I don't seem like a simpering love-it-all. I hated Lord of the Rings, the Return of the King (the Two Towers was excellent, this one just did not know when to end and had nothing new to give). But back to Hot Dog....

This film actually seems more like a 70's flick than an 80's flick. Unabashedly sexual, friendly, self-absorbed but not self-conscious, Hot Dog is absolutely uncaring of the way the world takes it. It does not fit into the 80's scheme of things. It has more than its share of titillation, but it is not coldly calculated soft-porn trash ala "Hardbodies." Hot Dog is more like Caddyshack but with ski stunts instead of star power.

Hot dog is about the joys of hedonism and self assertion, plain and simple. It captures a brief moment in time just before Aids and the war on drugs would make everyone very nervous about who they are and what values they espouse. Which is also why no one has come close to making as good a ski movie as Hot Dog. What little I've seen since has been nothing but toned down Hollywood pap for the family market. Perhaps it cannot be done.

Despite Shannon Tweed's plastic tits (although, did they have silicone implants back then?) and some very bad singing (and I don't mean Duran Duran - which was awesome!) this is a very fun and strangely honest film. Definitely worth checking out.

Plus - it did coin the household phrase "Chinese Downhill." Which no one on the slopes I frequented had ever heard of before Hot Dog. How many B-pictures can claim that!

I saw this movie when I was 22. And I just saw the movie again at 52. I have seen it a few times in the past 30 years, and at 52 I think the movie is a great as it was when I was a kid just out of college. I am a skier and snowboarder, and I watch and love the Warren Miller films (may he rest in peace). I also watch and love "Hot Dog... The Movie" because it has great scenery, awesome skiing (though I don't understand the ski ballet bit, no wonder it never made it into the Olympics), epic partying, and the most awesome T&A. Yes, us 50 year olds still love the T&A. I have a Warren Miller film collection, and "Hot Dog... The Movie" sits right there alongside the them as a favorite ski theme movie that I plan to pass down to my children. Along with the Warren Miller films, of course.