IMDb RATING
4.5/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Bobby blows all his college savings on a van and tries to get the girl of his dreams. It's a wild time with Bobby and his friends.Bobby blows all his college savings on a van and tries to get the girl of his dreams. It's a wild time with Bobby and his friends.Bobby blows all his college savings on a van and tries to get the girl of his dreams. It's a wild time with Bobby and his friends.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
Stuart Goetz
- Bobby
- (as Stuart Getz)
Harry Morgan Moses
- Jack
- (as Harry Moses)
Steve Oliver
- Dugan
- (as Stephen Oliver)
Connie Hoffman
- Sally
- (as Connie Lisa Marie)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Positively THE definitive film about toaster-equipped van lovin'. A must for anyone who loves insanely bad movies - I saw this movie by accident 8 years ago, and now own 3 copies of it, and have watched it at least a dozen times. Do yourself a favour, and hop on board with Bobby and his pals(?)... and remember, "There ain't a woman around who don't like the sound of a zipper goin' down!"
this film is one of lifes little pleasures...................and it is a must see for fans of the street car flick, its about a teenager who blows his entire college savings on a coustom chevy van as a way to lure girls in for wild sex parties. there are 2 versions of this film the edited version and the original version, unfortunately the edited version is the only one that remains in circulation. the original version included several nudity scenes,and some pot smoking scenes. the re-released version has all those scenes removed. however there is some great 1970's music in this film - and its funny to watch --- I never knew Danny DeVito was ever that Young. this is a fun movie and its a perfect break(getaway)from the period dramas and war movies that I love so well. The most memoriable thing about this film is it's theme song. --- even if you dislike this film, you will still find yourself walking around for several days singing the theme song.
10dbatt06
In 1979, I was a boy of 12 years old, My parents had just got the home box office which was pretty new to our neighborhood. As a 12 year old boy, this was the first time I saw boobs on television. I will never forget the joy of those times. Racing vans, the total ass-wipe with the baddest van, the water bed, the smoking of herbs, the hot 70's chicks, the 'makin love in my Chevy van song, it was all so new to me. A complete movie with all of the memories you could hope for. I own it and enjoy it about once a year. When I watch this movie, it makes me want to get my skates, with 4 wheels, not in a strait line, go to the park and hunt down some babes with feathered hair. truly great memories of young adolescence!
Coming-of-age fare from the 70s; you know that period where a new van supposedly meant high living, fast girls, and tons of laughs. Hmmm. Anyway, The Van is not entirely bad. I mean let's be realistic. This film wasn't trying to be anything grandiose or even a cheap imitation of American Graffiti. Thank goodness because it would fail miserably. A teen-aged Stuart Goetz, giving a very energetic performance, works at a carwash and finally saves enough to get his loaded van. It seems to have everything in it including a water bed, mirrored ceiling, and a toaster. The van symbolizes this teen's ability to get women to sleep with him. All he does is mention he has a van in some instances. Well, naturally this ploy doesn't work all the time and romance buds with a girl that doesn't seem all that impressed with his wheels. The film is very formulaic and has its expected dose of naked girls and sexual situations. Nothing special here but oddly the film has heart. Goetz, if nothing else as he bobs his head up and down and side to side through most of the film wildly grinning, adds a life to this film that would otherwise be even more irritating. It is this energy which also makes him get quite annoying after awhile as well. Certainly a Catch 22! The other cast members are nothing special. Danny Devito; however, has one of his first roles as Goetz'z boss. Connie Lisa Marie as a roughneck's squeeze is gorgeous. The hit song "Chevy Van" plays throughout the film. Not a bad way to take one down memory lane, even if it is an askewed point of view.
...this is, above all else, the typical Crown International Pictures drive-in (read "passion pit") programmer. The 1975 Sammy Johns hit record "Chevy Van" is heard repeatedly on the soundtrack (this movie has even been reissued with the title CHEVY VAN), despite the film's title vehicle being a Dodge. Danny DeVito makes only six minutes of on-screen appearance, but countless VHS reissues falsely credit him as the star of the flick. The movie is a comparatively sexist morality tale -- will Bobby find sexual satisfaction through the one-night-stand his customised van facilitates, or must he wait until Tina, the girl of his dreams, gives him the time of day? Still, it is representative of the prevailing carnal dream of male American high schoolers of the time, and on that basis alone THE VAN has, almost in spite of itself, become an artifact of the period that must be referenced in any honest retrospective of the period's popular American cinema...
Did you know
- TriviaThere is a podcast that references The Van in every single episode. The podcast (The Grindbin Podcast) discusses the many drive-in exploitation films of the 1970s and 1980s, and the hosts of this podcasts finish each episode by imagining how the two main protagonists of The Van would fit into the world of the movie they discussed that week.
- GoofsWhen the two police officers take off after the yellow and green van when they are drag racing down the street, you can see the reflection of two crew members operating a camera and a third gentleman standing there watching the filming reflected in the rear passenger side window.
- Quotes
Dugan Hicks: NOBODY calls Dugan a TURD!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 2 (1996)
- How long is The Van?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Piège à nana
- Filming locations
- 7910 Katella Avenue, Stanton, California, USA(pizza place)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $352,000
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