More American Graffiti (1979) Reviews

• The original cast returns to adjust to life during the Vietnam Era.

  NickCage-21998-11-13

  This sequel to 'American Graffiti', the hit movie that spawned the 'retro `50s' fad of the early `70s, features everybody from the original cast except Richard Dreyfuss. Now older and wiser, the kids of 'Where were you in `62' learn to deal with life during the mid `60s Vietnam War Era. The film is unique in its filmmakers' method of juxtaposing frames of concurrent action from different scenes side by side with current scenes. The sequel's storyline idea takes its cue from the original film's end-credits, as all action again occurs within one day in their lives, but this time, in yet another original move, it's the same day, New Years' Eve, in 4 separate years in 4 of the different protagonists' lives. The film moves back and forth across the years effectively; to `64 with dragster John Milner in the race of his life, to `65 with Terry The Toad in Vietnam, to `66 with Terry's girlfriend Debbie Dunham, now a hippie chick in San Francisco just prior to the Summer of Love, to `67 with Steve & Laurie Bolander, the king & queen of the prom, now married with children in Modesto, CA. It explores the main themes of the `60s era: the war, muscle cars, drugs, campus protests, burning your draft card, police brutality `a la Kent State, "make-love-not-war", and more great music from the era. A must see for fans of the original film, the use of the inventive filming techniques is unusual and surely dismayed theatergoers upon its release as it bombed frightfully, probably due to the disdain for the `50s & `60s as being passe on the fringe of the `80s. But it is still a nicely-done film and quite enjoyable. It also features cameos from others in the original movie, including Harrison Ford reprising his role as Bob Falfa, now an S.F.P.D. motorcycle patrolman, plus Mackenzie Phillips & Bo Hopkins. A great study of `60s life and times.

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• yes, flawed, but entertaining

  thefensk2009-12-29

  First off, you can not expect a sequel to excel. We get lucky sometimes but usually they are either totally lame or they fall into some sort of formula hellhole. This film, as many many reviewers have pointed out, does have flaws. Most films do. It is not that different in structure from the original either, following different story lines with different characters, albeit in different years rather than in the same night. The Vietnam sequences with Terry the Toad and Little Joe from the Pharohs gang are the best part of the movie. They could almost have made a single full-length sequel following that story line. A lot of reviewers liked the Milner sequences more than the Debbie sequences. I sort of go the other way around. I thought the Milner storyline was weak and there just wasn't much there. Maybe the hippie sequences were more familiar to me, but I related to that and thought most of it was hilarious. They could have dropped the entire other sequence as well ... it just labored to tell their story against a backdrop that was much bigger than they were. Also liked the cameo by Falfa, Harrison Ford. Anyway, maybe someone will come back and make the rest of the Terry-the-Toad in Vietnam story. Feel the same way about D-Day "whereabouts unknown" in Animal House. There's a movie there waiting to be told.

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• Hard To Explain...

  The Terminator2001-05-15

  Being such a huge fan of American Graffiti, I was thrilled when I saw that it was out on video finally (we here in the UK have been deprived of it for 20 years). Checking out the IMDB while waiting for it to arrive, I was, however, weary of my purchase. An average 4 out of 10 did not look good. Of course, the mistake everyone makes though is that this should be compared to the original - which is impossible. AG was, and still is, a unique film that can never be replicated. Thus, I have to commend the concept behind this other unique gem, which follows four characters through four different New Years Eves. The return of so many original cast members is fascinating, even the little Pharoh is back helping Big John on his dragster! Yes, the split screens from Debbie's year was annoying, but apart from that I cannot really criticise this film. It is more of a documentary - style 'Where are they now' kind of thing, and it really works! So - here is my advise. Unfortunately this aint on DVD, so you'll need a VHS too. Watch the original and marvel at its delights. Then, the moment the credits finish rolling, whack this vid into your player. This way, you won't be disappointed. 10 out of 10.

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• Unnecessary, Nearly Unwatchable Sequel

  dglink2004-07-15

  The final frames of the original "American Graffiti" provide one-line summaries of the fates of the film's four central male characters. While somewhat sexist in omitting the female characters, the ending of the original film provided all the information about those people that even the most ardent fan of the movie would want. However, someone felt that mega-bucks could be made by detailing the dreary lives of these characters after the original film ended. Bad move. Making an insurance salesman and his wife, a nerdy private in Vietnam, a drag race driver, and a overgrown hippie into interesting characters in interesting situations was far beyond the talents of those who wrote this nearly unwatchable movie. While most of the original cast is back, with only Richard Dreyfuss having the good sense to stay away, "More American Graffiti" is a mess of silly situations that involve protests, car races, country singers, and the Vietnam war. The use of split screens, once thought innovative and daring, is overused here to the point of distraction and adds confusion to the already confused goings one. This is a sequel that demonstrates nearly everything that can go wrong with a sequel. Perhaps it should be screened in film schools as a lesson. Even the use of period music, which was a delight in the original, is poorly done here. If you want more "American Graffiti," see the original twice.

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• "More" is Less

  moonspinner552001-07-31

  Despite the fact the characters' futures were foretold at the end of the original, executive producer George Lucas went ahead with this follow-up to his directorial breakthrough, the 1973 hit "American Graffiti", with the novel idea that each person's story takes place on a different New Year's Eve--and that all the stories are intercut with each other (shuffled in order, so to speak). But with so little emphasis on the cast as a group, and with very little contemplation on the fates of the characters in the stories that precede that one we're watching, one gets a disconnected feeling that doesn't provide the nostalgia intended. Paul Le Mat is racing cars (and flirting with a pretty Swede) in the first episode; Charles Martin Smith is a soldier in Vietnam; Candy Clark has been a San Francisco hippie; and Ron Howard and Cindy Williams are battling marrieds with bratty kids (Richard Dreyfuss sat this one out, though Harrison Ford does make a sneaky cameo). Each installment has been filmed in a unique style tailored to the material, with Smith's Vietnam episode the most vividly captured (and the idea of him comically trying to blow off his own arm in order to get back home says more about the war than most anti-war movies do in two hours). Ultimately, the film's stylistic attributes are a colorful distraction. The multi-image cinematography and constant period music on the soundtrack can't deflect the fact the script is thin, while the actors (endearing at first) are encouraged to overact. Writer-director B.W.L. Norton bulldozes his way through; while the pacing seldom flags, his picture could use more of the cleverness, the humor and the sensitivity Lucas displayed in '73. There's a hint of melancholy sweetness at the end of Clark's installment, and a bit of it in Le Mat's story, but "More" turns out to be Less. **1/2 from ****

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