It’s all fun and games in the 1980s at the arcade in Joysticks. New to Blu-ray from MVD Entertainment.
The Film
You can see how they pitched it. “It’s Porky’s but at an Arcade”. A few dollars into the pot. Casting Joe Don Baker. Viola! Joysticks was released in theaters!
There isn’t much to the plot of the film. A town’s local Arcade is run by a too-cool-for-school dude, aptly named, Jefferson Bailey (Scott McGinnis), who rubs old man wanker Joseph Rutter (Joe Don Baker) the wrong way. Rutter begins to attempt to get the Arcade closed down. But with the help of his friends Eugene (Leif Green) and McDorfus (Jim Greenleaf) and lots of scantily clad girls, they’re able to defeat Rutter and his lackeys.
The film isn’t terrible. Most of the work here is solid. It’s the lack of a good script. There isn’t a cliché the script doesn’t love. Everything from jokes about nerdy guys (Porky’s) to slobs being slobs (Animal House) to competitions (Meatballs) to public hearings (Animal House) come from a different Raunchy Teen comedy. Together they form an innocuous bit of entertainment that relishes nudity as much as it does unfunny comedic bits. There are moments of fun but it’s all momentary because if you’ve seen a few of the 80s comedies there isn’t going to be a surprise through the entire runtime.
A smile will be put on anyone’s face seeing Jon Gries show up as King Vidiot. In fact, Gries steals the show as his PG Punk Rocker who at one point shows up on a mini-cycle riding around with his gang of Lady Punks. The second smartest move Joysticks makes is making Vidiot the agent of chaos in the film.
The smartest move of the film remains their licensing of the various popular, now legendary, Arcade titles. Joysticks has just about every title of the era on display here. Smarter still is the way the film uses the visuals from the games in the film so perfectly. Everything from the Pac-man screen wipes to the actual footage from Super Pac-Man or Inferno that are vital to the film’s plot.
Though there is something entertaining about watching this relic from the 80s one that with an ample amount of beer and pizza will make for an entertaining viewing.
The Transfer
The 2K scan and restoration in (in 2015) from 35mm film elements and presented in 1080p HD in 1.78:1 aspect ratio is a solid representation of the film. The image is consistently sharp and colorful throughout.
The Extras
They include the following;
- Audio Commentary with Director Greydon Clark
- NEW! Fan commentary featuring MVD Rewind Collection’s Eric D. Wilkinson, Cereal at Midnight host Heath Holland, and Diabolik DVD’s Jesse Nelson
- Interview with Director Greydon Clark
- “Coin Slots” – “faux” trailer short written and directed by Newt Wallen and starring Mr. Lobo & Eric D. Wilkinson
- Original Theatrical Trailer
The archival Audio Commentary with Director Greydon Clark opens with his production schedule, location, and budget. Some of the other details include how he wanted to set the tone of the film with the opening title sequence; the box office success of the film; stealing scenes aka shooting without a permit and how he dealt with those; working with cinematographer Nicholas von Sternberg; how he was able to get the iconic games that are featured in the film; how he was able to get a van with a hot tub in it; the testing and release of the film; the creation of The Arena – the big screen championship style game; a larger discussion throughout of the various behind-the-scenes crew members that worked on the film and their contributions; a larger discussion about the casting and working with the young actors in the film – the difficulties with a lower budget and shorter production schedule; and much more. Clack provided a relaxed commentary track that has a surprising wealth of knowledge.
The all-new Fan commentary featuring MVD Rewind Collection’s Eric D. Wilkinson, Cereal at Midnight host Heath Holland, and Diabolik DVD’s Jesse Nelson opens with their credentials and a fun anecdote about the Menu Screen for the Blu-ray. Some of the other details include their first viewing of the film; getting into R-Rated movies as you’re underage; how much the film is of the 80’s teen comedy era – something of the moments that could never be done in our current era; a discussion of the 80’s teen comedy genre as a whole – comparisons to Joysticks; a discussion of the videogame movies in the era; a discussion of the McDorfus character and the whereabouts of the actor Jim Greenleaf; a discussion about Joe Don Baker “slumming it” in this and other films; a discussion of the various videogame licensing – including Pac-man and the appearance of Super Pac-man; the nudity in the film – a larger conversation how female nudity for comedic effect has changed to male nudity for comedic effect, with the king of comedic male nudity Jason Siegel; a side discussion of Streaking – an actual video that was released that the modified to Stripper for the film; a discussion of the packaging that MVD produced for the Blu-ray edition; a side conversation about John Don Baker’s “Pilipino Car Racing Movies”; a great story about another Clark film (Dark Future) and a huge chunk of missing footage they were trying to release at MVD Entertainment; a discussion about a screening of the film that never happened with Buckner and Garcia – and them doing their entire Pac-Man Fever Album; the films that were released at the time this film was; a larger discussion of the various videogames that appear in the film – including various factoids about those games; a larger discussion throughout about the various “plot issues” – lovingly ribbing them; a discussion throughout about the various actors that show up in the film; and much more. This group “fan” commentary is a great entertaining track that has a wealth of information on the production itself.
Interview with Director Greydon Clark (17:44) – in this archival interview begins with the origins of Joysticks and how a preview screening began the notion of building a story around videogames. Clark also discusses the surprising success at the box office success; working with Joe Don Baker in his first film (a film called Wacko) and how that relationship sealed Joysticks and an action Final Justice; how tax law affected his productions; the various films he made including Lambada the Forbidden Dance – with some great anecdotes about that and his other films; working in Russia for Cannon Films; working with Janus Kaminski; and much more. The interview is much more about his overall career than Joysticks, still an informative interview.
Coin Slots – faux trailer short written and directed by Newt Wallen and starring Mr. Lobo & Eric D. Wilkinson (2:49) – a homage to Joysticks that manages to be pretty closely hued to the film but its own thing.
Original Theatrical Trailer (2:09)
The Final Thought
Joysticks has been persevered in all its un-PC comedic glory. Recommended for those lovers of all things 1980s.