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Rating:  -
What more could possibly be said about a movie that almost wasn't.....? Originally titled "The Brave Young Men Of Weinberg", MAD magazine entered the picture early on and bought the rights and titled it "MAD Magazine Presents...Up The Academy". This movie was filmed in Salina, Kansas at an actual boys military academy and I was an extra, in the bleacher shots during the soccer scenes. I met Ralph Macchio, and this was his first movie, and he was quite excited about it. He was discovered tap dancing in a laundromat.... true story. This explains the no-reason scene of him tap dancing in the barracks on his way out of the room. Anyway, he went on to be the new cast member (a rebellious teen character) on EIGHT IS ENOUGH, before taking off in films like KARATE KID, etc. I still have the copy of the check I was paid for my 3 weeks as a stand-in/extra. Ahhh, those teenage memories,lol. True, this movie would never have won any awards, but sometimes teenage movies are made for teenage minds. And this is one of them. Ranks right up there with OVER THE EDGE and MEATBALLS. Enjoy.
Rating:  -
Okay. This movie is amazingly stupid. I will readily admit that but damn, sometimes stupid is so enjoyable. I can't believe it's FINALLY available on DVD. I never thought I'd see the day. Ron Leibman's performance is one of the best comedic villians of all time. Funny thing is, he saw the role as a pox on his career. Think again, Ron. His performance makes the whole film and God bless him for it. And the soundtrack...so damn good. Do yourself a favor and pick this up if you'd like a good bite of late seventies-early eighties teen exploitation frivolity. And Stacey Nelkin is none too shabby either as the inevitable teen "love interest". Her "babeosity" is drool inducing. Just a lot of un-PC fun for all! Buy and enjoy!
Rating: -
I'll be the first to admit that, if you haven't grown up with this movie, it's gonna stink like the bushes outside your high school on prom night. But I did grow up with it. It was a cable staple in my young youth. Stacy Nelkin's cleavage was sexier then than most full-frontal shots are today (please don't take this as one of those old-fart paeans to "leaving a little to the imagination." It's just that Nelkin's breasts were/hopefully still are glorious, period). If you know someone who knows this movie, it's instant Bad Dialogue Code; you can say "Say it aga-yan!" or "Tickle your ass with a feather?" or "Be a billow of smoke...blowing across the moors" and they get it. And the soundtrack is a perfect crappy pop soundtrack. I only hope all the songs made it to the DVD without any substitutions being necessary.
As for the comment that this used to be known as "Mad Magazine Presents Up the Academy," I could be wrong, but I don't think anyone involved with the magazine had any say in the movie. Mad was published by Warner Brothers, and the movie was produced by Warner Brothers, and I think the suits decided to co-opt the name to, indeed, make it a potential Mad Magazine movies franchise. I'd even go so far as to say the movie looks like it was produced and THEN a decision was made to make it a Mad Magazine Movie. Either that, or they thought giving it the Mad Magazine name would forgive it for it's badness, since that's what Mad does, doesn't it? Skewer bad movies? (Shows you what the suits know). Watch the end of the movie, where all of a sudden Ron Liebman (who apparently disowns this movie, he is the star and his name is nowhere in the credits) is running towards the kids in the car, and he runs past a guy dressed up like Alfred E. Neuman. Can you say "body double?" Can you say "Reshoot?" That ain't Liebman, is what I think.
So if you're in your thirties and remember a time when a movie's soundtrack was just as important, if not more so, than who was starring in a movie, you will get a kick out of this flick.
Rating: -
I haven't seen this movie in years, but I check every so often to see if it has been released yet on DVD. What I remember most about the movie is the line, "You stand out like a turd in a punch bowl.". Then they later put a turd in a punch bowl.
Rating: -
When UP THE ACADEMY was released in theatres, it was called MAD MAGAZINE PRESENTS UP THE ACADEMY. After the success National Lampoon had with ANIMAL HOUSE, they wanted to try getting involved in film production.
The film, written by two writers of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW and other sitcoms and directed by Robert Downey Sr is actually at times quite funny. Mainly because of the performance of Ron Leibman as the head of a military academy. He honestly gives one of the funniest comic performances of all time. Every line he has works because of the delivery. Unfortunately, Leibman was so embarassed by the film, he had his name taken off before its release. Tom Poston and Ralph Macchio also appear. The film also has an excellent soundtrack.
After its theatrical run, MAD became embarassed of it (even ran a parody of it in their magazine, essentially disowning it) and paid Warner Brothers to have all references to MAD taken out of the film. Alfred E. Neuman (or, a guy in a big, rather scary Neuman mask) appeared in a few scenes and those scenes were cut out.
For the VHS, while all the artwork was changed (Alfred E. Neumann originally appeared on the poster), no MAD references appeared on the box, the film actually still included the MAD references. Warner had to refund the money to MAD. I'm not sure if later copies of the VHS were changed, but the first batch accidentally carried the MAD scenes.
For years, the TV prints were free of MAD references. Comedy Central used to show it almost weekly with all the MAD scenes cut out. But in the past few years, it has been showing on TNT and other channels with not only the opening and closing credits letterboxed (it was a widescreen, Panavision film), but with all the MAD references intact.
I don't know if because of the controversy it has a chance of ever getting a DVD release. But, I for one would love to see Warner release it on DVD, fully letterboxed with maybe a documentary on why MAD and Leibman wanted to disown it.
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