Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland

.... in that it gives closure on an awesome TV show in a more entertaining than expected fashion. Fans will love it!

Granted it's not all exactly the same. Different Goathouse, not all the cast is there (but more than I expected really) and it's just not the same without Rev Theory, but other than that....

DUDE! This is what fans have been waiting for!!! Thad was only a supporting character on the show at first and like Urkel on steroids (or rabies) he immediately became the star of the show and thus the center of the movie. But really Thad is BMS! And his story is our story. Only with more sloots.

The trailer only covers like the first half hour of the movie so there is much more to see I promise. We do see what has become of the other characters... Larry for instance. Radon and even Craig Shilo make an appearance. Coach has an interesting little plot line that is pulled from the headlines. Donnie has an arc of sorts... Sammy and Mary Jo are there and I dare say even Alex gets a sort of closure. But remember... This all takes place before the start of the season so there is plenty of room to add future BMS adventures!

It's not perfect but it's better than we could've hoped for, waaaaay more graphic than Spike would allow (language, full frontal sloots) and drug use galore!!! If you get past the party scenes the story picks up a bit more and there are even a couple of their trademark film spoofs. Alan Ritchson has made a name for himself doing a variety of film roles but will always be known as Thad Castle. He's a producer on this piece and hat's off to him and the whole team who kept the dream alive and made this awesome film. Watching the behind the scenes stuff on YouTube really makes one realize how limited they were filming; I'm glad they pulled it off. Kudos.

THADLAND is a must see for any true BMS fan and gives the characters and this world the over-the-top; egotistical; insane yet cathartic send off that the show never could. God Bless America and God Bless Blue Mountain State!

I never even knew this existed - though to be fair now with the Reacher tv show it does make sense to bring this back to those who missed out on this. So as you can tell I have never seen the tv show, but since this was part of a deal with the streaming service I opted to watch it. And I'm fairly certain this works well even without having seen the show. Although I guess I would have been more in the know if I had.

Whatever you think of the man or the G. O. A. T (pun intended, you know if you've seen it) - the humor is quite gross at places to say the least. Now you either stoop down to that level and get jiggy with it or you will hate this and be annoyed by it. But the actors are really good in it. They really just let themselves lose and roll with the flow. I mean acting the way they do ... just plain crazy. There are more than a few cringe worthy moments and even "hotter" moments are intercut with something completely ridiculous. So while any of the females (and a few of the males) would be able to attend a model/walkway event, this is not meant to titilate you as much. And don't expect too much in the nudity department. There is a bit - no pun intended, especially to the one male nude scene. I might even watch the tv show one day ... why not? Even if I was never in a fraternity and I don't believe this would be something I could do. It's just a movie, right? Never forget that.

Blue Mountain State was a series that was absolutely hilarious, celebrating the college campus drinking culture of many US establishments of higher education, bro culture, near complete disregard of women beyond their physical attributes and despite purportedly being about a football team a single game was seen across 3 complete series. Backed up by a cast of 1 dimensional characters the TV show BMS was a hedonistic feast for male 13-20 something viewers everywhere.

The Rise of Thadland however did not capture this same magic in any respect. Although featuring that same cast of characters they seem slightly out of place in this new feature, hollow renditions of previously well loved caricatures. The plot of the film is simple enough and totally predictable in as many aspects of a traditional BMS episode. However where the TV show's plot lines were funny the film's felt as though a single BMS episode had been stretched to the 90 minute mark. Unfortunately such stretching left the film mostly mirthless and in many respects just plain sad as there weren't enough jokes to go around despite some brief moments of hilarity.

Overall I give credit to the showrunners in trying to milk what was a very entertaining golden calf. However they ended up merely flogging a dead horse.

A Little Out There, A Lot of Chaos, But Still Got That BMS Heart

Let's not pretend it lived up to the show - because it didn't. Rise of Thadland is what happens when you let the party run a little too long and the keg's been tapped one too many times. It's over-the-top, self-aware, and completely unhinged - which is BMS, to be fair. But the difference here? It starts to feel like a parody of itself instead of the cult classic that earned its name.

What Worked Thad Castle (Alan Ritchson) is still an unstoppable force of absurdity. He is the movie, and without him, this whole thing would collapse like a beer pong table under a linebacker.

Moments of nostalgia hit right - especially if you were ride-or-die for the show. The characters still have chemistry, and when the jokes land, they really land.

The party scenes were turned up to 1000 - wild, ridiculous, and basically a fever dream with glitter and steroids.

What Fell Flat The plot? Barely there. It's a vibe more than a story.

Too many gags pushed the envelope without a real payoff. It was chaos without the clever.

Missed that balance the show had - where the insanity still had some kind of anchor. This one drifted a bit too far off the rails.

Bottom Line

It's not terrible. It's just not Blue Mountain State at its best. Think of it like that one last round at the bar you probably didn't need - fun in the moment, but not something you'd call a classic the next day.

Still good. Still got laughs.

But the original series? That was legendary.

If you're a fan of the BMS series, then you will without a doubt have a blast watching Rise to Thadland. I felt a bit skeptical at first that the film will fall short from it's original feel, but boy was I wrong! I felt ecstatic to see the producers still keeping the original uncensored comedic feel that we all know and love from the series! In addition I was glad to see most of the side characters (Donny, Harmon, Larry, etc) getting a respectable amount of well deserved screen time. We were also introduced to several new characters which made for a refreshing experience.

I am truly grateful that the cast came back to create this film. This movie is perfect to watch if you're in college! Overall, Rise to Thadland far exceeded my expectations for a comedy, and as much as I would love for them to continue the series...there is no better ending to the BMS franchise than this film. Thank you.