Better Off Dead [Region 2] |  | Director: Savage Steve Holland
Actors: John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Kim Darby, Demian Slade, Scooter Stevens
Category: DVD
This item is no longer available
Rating:  220 reviews
Sales Rank: 203015
Format: Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5014437838438
ASIN: B0000C88KA
Theatrical Release Date: October 11, 1985
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Lane Myer (John Cusack) is stuck in a personal hell. A compulsive, adolescent Everyman growing up in Suburbia, USA, not only does he fail to make the prestigious high school ski team (again), but his beloved sweetheart, Beth, also leaves him for Roy, the team's popular, arrogant captain. If this isn't bad enough, he's stuck with a mother who frighteningly experiments--rather than cooks--with food, a brother who builds rockets out of models, and a best friend so desperate for drugs that he settles for snorting powdered snow. Faced with these prospects, Lane opts to end it all ... until he comes up with a ridiculous plan to gain acceptance and win Beth back. Director Savage Steve Holland warps this simple, cliched premise, letting his wacky imagination twist it into a fairly original, slightly dark, and completely hilarious '80s teen comedy. Not as serious a "suicide-attempt" movie as, say, Harold and Maude but just as funny, the film's more a collection of screwball sketches than a narrative. Holland livens the high jinks with surrealistic fantasy touches, including Jell-O that crawls, a hamburger that sings Van Halen, drawings that mock its creator, Japanese race-car drivers who only speak Howard Cosell, and a psychotic paperboy seeking blood over a missing $2. Cusack puts the whole thing on his shoulders and carries the insanity with another one of his touching, obsessively romantic performances, which, along with Say Anything, The Sure Thing, and One Crazy Summer, made him the quintessential (and appealing) personification of lovestruck adolescence and suffering. --Dave McCoy
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| Customer Reviews: Read 215 more reviews...
 looks great May 2, 2009
Charles B
I purchased this movie because I thought it was hilarious. The DVD version looks really good.
Great timeless comedy.
 Corny, cliche filled and idiotic April 30, 2009
Roy Berger (Pismo Beach, CA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I can't begin to tell you what a terrible bomb this is. Every corny, cliche known to man is in this pukey show.
One of the best April 27, 2009
Christy K. Bunting (Greenville, NC)
Love this movie, and have since childhood. A must see for any John Cusack fan.
I want my two dollars!!! April 16, 2009
Kristine Flint
This movie is a classic! I've had it on VHS (taped from t.v.) for years and I finally had to order it on DVD. The characters are hysterical. My favorite line is the newspaper boy's constant chant, "I want my two dollars!" If you love teen movies, '80s movies, classic camaros, and/or moms that make scary dinners, you'll love this movie. If you're tired of dramas, the bad economy, etc. you need to watch a comedy!
How funny can it get March 3, 2009
Illya's Grrl (LeftCoast, USA)
This movie had me laughing so hard it hurt. I was laughing so hard when the mom was cooking that seafood creature - what the heck was that thing? It looked like an octopus with lobster claws. And the blue glob that slid off the plate - omg. i couldn't hardly breath. John Cusack's one of my top 5 favorite actors and this was a great comedy for him. His subtle despair and turn around hit the mark. Sweet, hilarious, creepy, exciting (ski scenes! wow) Great flick.
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