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The Big Bus (1976) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
5.3/10   1,174 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

James Frawley

Writers:

Lawrence J. Cohen (writer)
Fred Freeman (writer)

Contact:

View company contact information for The Big Bus on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

22 October 1976 (West Germany) more

Genre:

Comedy | Action more

Tagline:

Join the passengers on The Big Bus - the craziest spoof movie of them all more

Plot:

The ultimate disaster film parody. A nuclear powered bus is going Non-stop from New York to Denver and... more | add synopsis

Plot Keywords:

more

Awards:

1 win more

User Comments:

A spoof B.A. (Before "Airplane!").... more (42 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Joseph Bologna ... Dan Torrance

Stockard Channing ... Kitty Baxter
John Beck ... Shoulders O'Brien

Rene Auberjonois ... Father Kudos

Ned Beatty ... Shorty Scotty
Bob Dishy ... Dr. Kurtz
José Ferrer ... Ironman

Ruth Gordon ... Old Woman

Harold Gould ... Professor Baxter

Larry Hagman ... Doctor in parking lot
Sally Kellerman ... Sybil Crane

Richard Mulligan ... Claude Crane

Lynn Redgrave ... Camille Levy
Richard B. Shull ... Emery Bush
Stuart Margolin ... Alex
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Additional Details

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

On the news van that appears near the beginning of the film, the call letters are WZAZ. These call letters also appear in many comedies from what's known as the "ZAZ" team - Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker - though they had nothing to do with this film. See Airplane! (1980). more

Goofs:

Errors in geography: During the entire trip from New York to Denver, the only scenery we see is that along mountain roads east of Los Angeles. more

Quotes:

Dan: Now I know it looked like I fell... but it was all part of my plan. more

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Speed (1994/I) more

Soundtrack:

Six Months to Live more


FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
9 out of 9 people found the following comment useful.
A spoof B.A. (Before "Airplane!")...., 11 September 1999
10/10
Author: George Litman from Marietta, OH USA

The sight gags are all there, there's silliness to spare and there's not a ZAZ (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker - the creators of "Airplane!") member in sight.

Yep, "The Big Bus" was the predecessor to the long and luxuriant line of disaster spoofs you see lining the video shelves today. And to tell the truth, as a groundbreaker in this field, this movie is pretty funny.

Bologna is a down-and-out bus driver who is given one shot at redemption by being picked to man the Cyclops, the biggest single bus ever created, driving it coast to coast.

His old girlfriend (Channing) is a kind of bus stewardess on board and an old driving buddy (Beck) is also by his side. But so are a load of passengers as diverse as your average "Airport" or "Poseidon Adventure" movie, not to mention an inept terrorist (Margolin) trying to sabotage the bus at every turn while whining to his brother, "Why did YOU get the iron lung?".

It's that kind of movie.

You'll have a lot of fun picking out every star you can imagine from the '70s here, as well as discovering the jibes at every major convention of disaster movies, even the digs at the huge Cyclops bus itself ("The coyote is on backwards." Never mind, you'll see.)

Definitely a funny and fun movie. Get on this "Bus".

Ten stars for being one of the first on this bandwagon, as well as for some big laughs. And if you have a co-pilot for a huge bus, make sure he stays conscious.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Big Bus (1976)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
If you liked 'Airplane'! Spengler1
Actor who played the piano ernie556
The bus driver's bar scene lagnew
What happened to 'The Big Bus' itself? geo1284060
Hasn't held up well mrtnn
There are some films that you know are bad... guy-266
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