Gas

Notable only as the screen debut for hyper-comic Howie Mandel, "Gas" is so unforgettable that not one moment of the movie stuck in my mind except for the scene where Sterling Hayden berates his two incompetent nephews and blows them away with his six-shooters that are then revealed to have been loaded with blanks. And that was the closest to a funny joke in "Gas." Donald Sutherland appears as a traffic reporter in what looks like a tacked-on (and pointless) cameo to add a "name" to the cast.

This Canadian-made crap is my vote for worst film of all time. I noticed that the writer never wrote anything after this -- that is a good thing, obviously Hollywood never beckoned after witnessing this witlessness. The director made a handful of films I never heard of -- fortunately for us, nothing since 1987. Perhaps he's retired and living off of his "Gas" royalties. The plot concerns some nonsense about a fake gas shortage, obviously trying to strike a chord with the U.S.-OPEC based gas shortage problems in the early-mid '70's. Stupid, not the least bit funny. I wonder what the actors were thinking of when they signed on? The same year Donald Sutherland made this he also did "Ordinary People." I wonder if he bothers to list this one on his resume?

The writing is cheap and horrible, the jokes are pathetic, and I'll be nice about my opinion of the acting by not saying anything...

I saw this movie broadcast on television, and I found myself actually looking FORWARD to the commercials! The only thing I found half interesting was seeing Peter Aykroyd in a movie - one of the few he has made. His voice is almost identical to his brother Dan's voice.

Please spare yourself the trouble. This one isn't even worth watching as a joke. It makes me cringe at being Canadian, as it's a Canadian movie!

Unbelievable bad acting, writing, production, and director. I've seen B movies that were Oscar winners compared to this train wreck. No funny moments whatsoever. Just lame one-liners within a horrible script. The director should have been shot.

Aside from a couple reviews which were probably jokes (giving the film 10s), nearly all the reviews give this Canadian film a 1 or 2 at best. Clearly, "Gas" is NOT a very good movie...which is odd, since it stars (among others) Donald Sutherland...who had just come off his great performance in the multi-Oscar winning "Ordinary People". According to IMDB, he needed money badly and so he made this clunker. It's a shame...he was a terrific actor but I guess even terrific actors make some bad films.

The story in "Gas" is VERY episodic--with lots of frequent edits and not a lot in the way of plot. A really WEIRD guy (Sterling Hayden) has bought up all the gas in town and has created an artificial shortage. Folks' reactions to this constitute most of the film.

This is a bad film....a really bad film. Much of it is because the script lacks real laughs...a problem when it's supposed to be a comedy. Additionally, the acting is generally bad. Sterling Hayden, a man who had been a truly fine actor, was in his late phase as an actor...when he honestly behaved (on and off screen) as if he'd lost his mind. He's supported by the untalented Peter Aykroyd...who sounds like his brother but lacks comedic talents in the movie. He also wrote "Nothing But Trouble"...'nuff said. Howie Mandel is also there (in his first film) and he's actually a bit better than I expected. But pretty much everyone else is at their worst...including the director.

So is this worth seeing? No. It's not bad enough to merit viewing by bad film buffs...it's just bad and incredibly broadly acted and written. Not fun...more like a long, extended migraine.

By the way, while this is a terrible movie, I can't quite give it a 1. This is reserved for the truly astoundingly awful movies...and this one narrowly missed this wretched score.