Hot Dog: O Filme

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 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 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!