AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON -- Joe Dante, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Horton, John Landis, Robert K Weiss, dirs

©1987
studio: Universal Studios
directors: Joe Dante, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Horton, John Landis, Robert K. Weiss
cast: Arsenio Hall, Donald F. Muhich, Monique Gabrielle, Lou Jacobi, Erica Yohn, Debby Davison, Rob Krausz, Phil Hartman, Corey Burton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Peter Horton, Griffin Dunne, Brian Ann Zoccola, Joe Pantoliano, Stanley Brock, Steve Forrest, Robert Colbert, Joey Travolta, Forrest J. Ackerman, Sybil Danning, Lana Clarkson, David Alan Grier, B.B. King, William Bryant, Roxie Roker, Le Tari, Christopher Broughton, Rosanna Arquette, Steve Guttenberg, Henry Silva, Sarah Lilly, Archie Hahn, Belinda Balaski, Justin Benham, Erica Gayle, T.K. Carter, Phil Proctor, Ira Newborn, Bryan Cranston, Karen Montgomery, Robert Picardo, Rip Taylor, Slappy White, Jackie Vernon, Henny Youngman, Charlie Callas, Steve Allen, William Marshall, Tino Insana, Donald Gibb, Mark Bringleson, Frank Collison, Vistoria Ann Lewis, Bill Taylor, Ed Begley, Jr., Vivian Bonnell, Jenny Agutter, Chuck Lafont, Raye Birk
screenplay: Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland

A spoof of 1950's sci-fi movies, complete with spoof commercials.

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Oh lord this was dreadful. Is it possible that this was funny back in 1987? Perhaps, to a small segment of the population ... the late night, drunk, college crowd. But generally...I doubt it.

So why did I watch it? It's been on my list of movies to watch for quite a long time. Back in the mid-1980s I knew a woman moderately well who was in this film. She didn't say much about it at the time (now I know why), but that she was glad to work with a well known director. Looking through the credits list, I see that I know at least three people in the film (not surprising, since it has a cast of thousands), and not one of them has ever mentioned making it.

The film relies on the kind of sophomoric humor that makes movies like Airplane and Naked Gun funny. The difference being that this movie isn't really funny. I think that the lack of focus (you can see the lack of focus just by the fact that there are five directors!) really hurts. A spoof of 1950's sci-fi movies is a decent idea (not terribly original), and perhaps even the addition of spoof commercials is okay. But where do the scenes with Arsenio Hall and Michelle Pfieffer and Griffin Dunne and all those other extraneous scenes fit in? They aren't part of the spoof movie and not part of the spoof commercials, so ... what? And the comedian roast for the deceased ... ?! Just watching it I thought I could see on the faces of Steve Allen and Slappy White and Henny Youngman, the question ... "Why the hell are we doing this?"

Looking for a laugh-out-loud comedy? Then keep looking.