Hot dog

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!

Previous entries have trashed this movie, as though it aspired to compete at Cannes and fell woefully short. Lighten-up. This movie was clearly made as a low-budget retread of the time honored "underdog overcomes arrogant favorite" and "boy-meets-girl, boy loses girl, boy wins back girl" themes played out on skis. Think Caddyshack with snow. Is it cheesy? You bet. Is it sophomoric? Certainly. Is it more fun than any other non-Warren Miller ski movie? No doubt. If you want a fun, sometimes silly, mindless ski movie, well, go no further. If you want a "highbrow" skiing movie, well, good luck, no one's made one yet. If you want painful, self important preposterousness try watching Aspen Extreme. Now there's a ski movie with delusions of grandeur. At any rate, Hot Dog never takes itself seriously, and if it suffers for it's gratuitous nudity and simple-minded plot, well, it isn't the first, and won't be the last. But it certainly never pretends to be anything other than what it is - campy low-budget fun with some good non-choreographed ski scenes. Disclaimer: If you don't ski, don't love skiing, or never lived in a ski-town for a season, some of this movie's "charm" may be lost on you.

I liked the movie from the 80s on. It's true that many of the activities portrayed are not appropriate today. Of course a lot of people hate this movie, but they generally hate this genre of movie, anyway, right?! I was especially moved by the sex scene with Harkin (Patrick Houser) and Sunny (Tracy N. Smith), the guitar serenade (written by folkie John Stewart), the hot tub scene with Shannon Tweed, and the gondola scene. It's very rare for such sex scenes to move me in other like movies of that period: I think that director Peter Markle handled the sex scenes very tastefully.... The skiing scenes were also really well done, also, but one often may see that the stunt skiers are different from the actors (duh!).

It's true, also, that some of the plot contains dumb male humor. However: I remember the names of the actors that I liked in the key romantic and sex scenes, and some others, so the movie did move me....

The plot couldn't possibly be more basic or paint-by-numbers, but overall it's an enjoyable romp through a prototypical 80's flick.

First came "Birth of a Nation," "Intolerance" & "The Battleship Potemkin," and stars like Fairbanks Sr., Valentino, Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo & Chaplin.

Next came sound and with it "Gone With the Wind," "Citizen Kane," & "Ben Hur." Garbo wanted to be alone, but Gable, Tracy, Cooper, Bogart, Wayne & Hepburn didn't.

Cinema was evolving. An art form was created.

Then came "Hot Dog ... The Movie."

David Naughton wasn't Paul Muni, John Garfield or Claude Rains, but he was like-ably talented.

And incredible babes Tracy Smith, Shannon Tweed and Crystal Smith weren't in the Myrna Loy / Claudette Colbert / Jean Arthur ranks - but then these gorgeous girls d a lot more, and show a lot more than Myrna, Claudette or Jean ever dreamed.

It's good vs. evil plot pitting the hero vs. the bad guy is classic - and, in it's own incredible T&A B movie fest, so is "Hot Dog...The Movie."