Human Highway

This is one of those movies that there is no in between on. You'll either love it or hate it. The thing is, those who hate it will hate for the very same reasons the others love it. Let's make no bones- This is a BAD MOVIE. And that's what makes it so great. The performances range from surprisingly decent (in the case of Devo) to ridiculously over the top (Neil Young) to barely coherent (Russ Tamblyn and the ever bizzare Dennis Hopper). The script is scattered and confusing, but contains flashes of inspired hilarity. And it somehow manages to be about something in the end! The highlights are a song-and-dance finale reminicent of Monty Python's Life of Brian and a brilliant deconstruction of Young's classic Out Of The Blue (performed by Devo and Young) which starts as a fairly straight ahead rendition and quickly devolves (so to speak) into a frenzied, chaotic "Screw You" to the fans of Young's sixties and seventies hits. So don't be a spud. Seek the movie out and savour it's delicious stench for yourself.

When you've got movies like this to watch! This is one of the oddest things you'll ever see. Seems like Young, Stockwell and co. had ideas for several movies but decided to put them all into this one. Part musical, part comedy, part fantasy, part anti-nuke message film, all filmed on a stylised set somewhere between Pee Wee's Playhouse, One From The Heart and The Wizard Of Oz. You've got Neil Young with goofy teeth, and a supporting cast of solid cult types like Stockwell, Hopper, Kirkland and Tamblyn, plus Mary from Eraserhead and DEVO! Can you dig it? If you can pick up a copy of Neil's unfairly maligned album Trans too. The guy isn't just a folksy singer-songwriter and the Godfather of Grunge, he's a freakin' VISIONARY people. Well if not a visionary, a wacko with a loony sense of humour.

No doubt about it, most of these posts are on the money in describing this movie. When I slipped it into the VCR, I had no idea DEVO were in on the proceedings, but I was pleasantly surprised. These guys are so aggressively strange, anything they are in is worth watching at least once and this is no exception. The movie does ramble on and on with not much holding it together, and there are some weak romantic subplots, but I was looking forward enough to what came next so I kept watching. I loved "Booji Boy" and although the dream sequence with Young and DEVO seemed tacked on to give them an excuse to "Rok Out", Rok they do. And am I the only one to think Neil looks like he's on drugs? Plus, Dean Stockwell and Russ Tamblyn together at last and writing screenplays. Might David Lynch have given some advice on this one? It wouldn't be hard to believe, but he would have had better miniatures... This movie is easily whack enough to be worth seeing, especially if you are a DEVO or Young fan.

Those aren't spaceships, those are nuclear missiles ...

A treat for Devo fans, as well. This came out at the time that Neil Young was experimenting with the New Wave musical style himself with his album "Trans", several tracks of which can be heard in the film.

This film displays a very unselfconscious Punk/New Wave aesthetic. Sure, it's disjointed and nonsensical, but everyone's obviously having a lot of fun, and the set design is quite effective, and some of the special effects are interesting as artifacts of the time it was filmed.

Can you identify the four cast members who have also appeared in David Lynch films?

When hearing about Human Highway I had some doubts about a film made by a musician. Then I saw it. Had I died and gone to heaven? The experiance of watching this film was almost biblical. I have seen this film literary 50 times, each time it got even better then the last. If my life has a purpose, it is to watch Human Highway 1000 times. The film is extrordinarily well written, by the end of the film I was in tears. It has superb wit and sentimentality. The directing is prehaps the best to grace our screens bar none. When seen at face value the film looks like an absolute piece of crap, but when seen in context with the subtext and style it is one of the most powerful movies in existance. In this reviewers opinion it is the greatest of all anti war movies. The acting is top notch, the greatest surprise was the versitilty of Dennis Hopper playing 4 characters each played with masterful skill. Neil Young's acting displays the trials and hardships of the little man, never is it patronising. My life is complete. 1/10