UnowPriceless
hyped garbage
Rosie Searle
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Josephina
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Pozdnyshev
I'm giving this a "9" not because it's a great, well-crafted, well- scripted movie, like I think most people would agree "Chinatown" or "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is. I think it deserves a 9 because it's just an unfiltered extension of Frank Zappa's music, which I love already: weird, unique, often rambling, with astonishing gems here and there. "Mystery Roach" and "Magic Fingers" stand out as favorites. But Zappa was better at music than he was at filmmaking. 200 Motels is an annoyingly opaque in-joke, a surreal jumble of skits with psychedelic video filters, weird-looking people in funny costumes, and cheap sets. They're not really funny or interesting, either, they're just weird. It pulls off a lighthearted vibe like Sesame Street, only the characters talk about the "penis dimension," how depressing it is for whores to sleep with traveling musicians, and people taking too much acid. That may sound dark, even offensive, but the tone of 200 Motels is just so silly that it's hard to take any of it seriously.I think there are deeper meanings woven into this thing, but they're odd, half-baked and just not interesting. For instance, there's a recurring theme of nuns doing dirty and undignified things like having sex with Alladin's Lamp (wtf?) and taking pills. I would actually rather NOT take that seriously because even though it comes from the mind of the great Frank Zappa, it's... stupid. Juvenile. Hurrr you don't like religion, let's flick a booger on a nun. Without going deeper into why he wants to depict nuns in such an undignified way, it's just more tacky and nonsensical stage-dressing.It's kind of like the Monkees' "Head". It's stupid, pointless, and self- indulgent, but it's also a feature-length music video for a popular band, if you're into them anyways. And the over-the-top psychedelia is interesting at times.
alienbx-1
I saw this movie on opening day in NYC in 1971. I wish I could get a DVD copy of it. It was beautiful then and I bet it is still beautiful. Yes, I still have the double album and the poster that I bought at that time. Long live Zappa! And also yes, Johnny Depp should play Zappa in the biopic!!! It is truly a great example of the rock opera that The Who tried to do a few years previous. This is it... a bit different, but still as great a rock film as "A Hard Days Night!! Zappa was a consummate politician, philosopher, musician and theoretician. This movie shows him pull it all together. And dig that amazing animation stuck there in the middle. True genius!
languedoc-586-836028
I see that this fallacy (to remain polite) is taken from the credits as they appear in the DVD booklet... Yet ANOTHER thing to be hated about this release!... Ruth Underwood (born Komanoff) is credited by Zappa in the soundtrack album as the player of the ORCHESTRA DRUM SET, and she can be seen playing it and reading her parts on a photo of the album's booklet! So every time you hear a drummer playing along in the highly complex orchestra-only pieces (and not with The Mothers' electric combo), it is she, the highly accomplished virtuoso percussionist!Yes, it is a poor film, regardless of the format, print and transfer, and I agree with most of the recent reviews here. However, the live music (band, orchestra and virtuoso soprano and bass singers) remains fantastic, even deeply moving in parts, and includes one or two major pieces otherwise unavailable so far on any official recording.
ericpepke
The music alone in this film makes it worthy of comment, and also the fact that it did more to influence band films than anything else.It's a difficult work. The music alone is difficult. When I first saw this, I hated it, despite being a Zappa fan. Every time I watch it, I see more and more, and the experience is richer and richer. No, this is not the film that Frank wanted to make, but it is multilayered, and the social commentary was years ahead of its time. The more you look, the more you will see. The sets are cheesy, and the recording fairly bad, but isn't this part of it? The madness of touring, the furtive sexual relationships, the hostility of rednecks, the sleep deprivation, the unceasing march of plastic hotel rooms.
