tdrish Ohhhhhhhh, Joysticks. How I want to tell you what a wonderful movie this is, I just want to go on and on about the great acting, the plot twists, the key points to the film, and the never ending magic it contains. I can't! It's not in the mix. What Joysticks has to offer you, is outdated arcade scenes, mediocore acting at its best ( and worst), and nonstop bare female nudity ( guess which part they bare?) Good movie? Oh, hell no. However, watching a girl play Pac Man on an arcade without a shirt or bra on? PRICE LESS, even to my standards. I technically frown on these raunchy 80's sex comedies, but there's something about Joysticks that what just plain fun to watch. ( The Pac Man cut scenes? AWESOME! GUYS! AWESOME! LOVED IT!) It brought back memories, it brought me back to a time when we didn't care about graphics, we cared about high score. Altogether, Greydon Clark has just offered us a look at a silly boob comedy. He'd be grateful if you appreciated it, trust me. I mean, he would be grateful, but I'm just as certain he would understand if you didn't like it, never the less! 4 out of 10 stars. Get your game on!

bensonmum2 A powerful businessman starts a crusade aimed at shutting down the local video arcade. He's concerned about the effects the arcade is having on his daughter. The arcade's Manager, a nerdy employee, and a slovenly obese gamer will do battle to save their arcade. I remember seeing Joysticks in the 80s and "enjoying" it. I use quotes because I'm not sure I ever found it all that great, just a decent enough time killer. Re-watching last night, the movie doesn't hold up for me. I know that based on a lot of the schlock I watch, you might think a movie like Joysticks would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, it's got a world of problems that keep me from finding much in the way of entertainment. Chief among my issues with the movie is it's actually pretty boring. For a sub-90 minute film, this thing seems to go on and on. The drawn out video game contests, the community hearing scenes, and all the lame attempts at humor that completely miss their mark really put a drag on things. And I found the scene where the nerd and the fat guy end up in the lady's bedroom troubling and disturbing to watch. There's nothing funny at all about the idea of raping a semi-conscious woman. You might have been able to get by with this kind of thing in the more innocent 80s, but by today's standards, it doesn't fly. I generally enjoy Joe Don Baker, but not so much here. It's too obvious he's only in it of the paycheck. Instead, the lone highlight of the film for me is Jim Greenleaf as Dorfus. His fat dude shtick is occasionally laugh-out-loud funny.

Scoopy I feel guilty of litotes in stating that this is merely the best film in the history of cinema, because it is much more than that. It is probably the greatest artistic achievement in any field, and arguably the crowning achievement of mankind in our stay on this big blue marble. Many people believe that all of existence and all of evolution took place just so all the DNA tumblers could turn, making our brains large and sophisticated enough that Joysticks could be created. It pains me that Robert Duvall won the Oscar for Tender Mercies when Joe Don Baker's poignant performance in Joysticks failed to score even a nomination, and that the great Jon Gries (later to become the legendary Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite) would receive no recognition for having portrayed the full gamut of human emotions so evocatively in his sensitive turn as King Vidiot.

Scott LeBrun Although I was of the right age to have gotten caught up in the video game fever of the early 1980s, somehow this silly, obnoxious, but entertaining film managed to escape my notice (I wasn't as into movies as I am now). What it does best is capturing a fad & era on film; it's very much a snapshot of the time. It's also good natured raunch; there's a lot of very attractive young ladies on hand who do show us the goods. I would agree that there isn't much finer in life than sexy young gals jiggling and shaking while totally getting into the playing of the games. Of course, a youth oriented sex comedy of the time isn't complete without an antagonist, and Joe Don Baker fills that bill admirably. Having also starred for director Greydon Clark in the slasher spoof "Wacko", he's an uptight citizen & businessman named Joseph Rutter, who schemes to shut down a popular video arcade, convinced that it's a den of depravity. Opposing him are the amiable operator of the arcade, Jefferson Bailey (Scott McGinnis) and master video game player Jonathan Andrew McDorfus (Jim Greenleaf), while ultimately assisting him is weirdo King Vidiot (Jonathan Gries), who's already constantly butting heads with Jefferson. And the two who are more of a hindrance than a help are Rutter's two moron nephews, Arnie (John Diehl) and Max (John Voldstad). You get a lot of flash with this one, folks: the colours just leap off the screen. This is exceptionally loud 'n' lively stuff, maybe too much so at times, but in the end the movie's hard not to like, even as subtlety is in short supply. The characters are genuinely entertaining, especially scene stealer Gries. Get a load of Diehl's wardrobe, as well. The pop songs are all catchy, and Clark keeps the movie running smoothly along, with episodes such as dweeb / new arcade employee Eugene Groebe (Leif Green) turning on Rutter's neglected wife. Among the lovely ladies are perky Corinne Bohrer as Rutter's daughter Patsy, Playboy Playmates Kym Malin and Lynda Wiesmeier, and B movie babe Becky LeBeau. All in all, "Joysticks" (which never passes up an opportunity for a sexual joke), is irresistibly cheesy and thoroughly unpretentious stuff. Seven out of 10.