Midnight Madness (1980)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Directors:

Michael Nankin
David Wechter

Writers:

Michael Nankin (writer)
David Wechter (writer)

Release Date:

8 February 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Comedy

Tagline:

A Wacky College Adventure

Plot:

Leon planned "The Great Allnighter" by picking college students to participate in his night long scavenger hunt...

Plot Keywords:

Scavenger Hunt | College | Sorority | Contest | Volkswagen Beetle

Cast

David Naughton	...	Adam Larson - Yellow Team Leader
Debra Clinger	...	Laura - Yellow Team
David Damas	...	Marvin - Yellow Team
Michael J. Fox	...	Scott Larson (as Michael Fox)
Stephen Furst	...	Harold - Blue Team Leader
Patricia Alice Albrecht	...	Lucille - Blue Team
Andy Tennant	...	Melio - Blue Team
Brian Frishman	...	Barf - Blue Team
Joel Kenney	...	Flynch - Yellow Team (as Joel P. Kenney)
Sal Lopez	...	Blade - Blue Team
Maggie Roswell	...	Donna - Red Team Leader
Robyn Petty	...	Berle - Red Team
Betsy Lynn Thompson	...	Peggy - Red Team
Carol Gwynn Thompson	...	Lulu - Red Team
Eddie Deezen	...	Wesley - White Team Leader

Also Known As:

The All-Night Treasure Hunt (USA) (working title)
The Great All-Nighter (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

Feature film debut of Michael J. Fox.

Goofs:

Continuity: When entering the hotel, the landlady is handcuffed with her hands in front of her. When they are in the hotel room, her hands are now behind her back.

Quotes:

Bratty kid: [looking through telescope at a girl getting undressed in window] If I'm lucky, I may get a view of Venus' two moons.
Adam: [pointing at the sky in the other direction] Hey, Einstein - isn't Venus over there?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Someone New

Good clean fun that won't make your brain hurt.

I watched this film for the first time not too long ago. What I found was a nostalgia trip to the early eighties with the extremely "happy" disco laden theme song and the 2 roller skating beauties with nice "smiles" in the opening credits. There was an innocence and sense of fun to this movie that is lacking in today's movies. The film doesn't try to be too clever for it's own good or cynical which I actually found to be refreshing.

The plot centers around a scavenger hunt around L.A. set up by a future Bill Gates type named Leon who is adorned by his lovely assistants. The invitees for this challenge are 5 color coded groups representing every campus comedy stereotype (Jocks, Nerds, Alienated girls, the protagonists and the villains). They find themselves at Griffith Observatory, a Video arcade and the Pabst Blue Ribbon brewery among other places hunting down clues to get them to the next location and ultimately the big prize that awaits them at the end. The film loses its campy momentum when it addresses the big brother-little brother issue between David Naughton and Michael J. Fox, these actors play extremely bland characters compared to the madcap supporting cast.

I found myself smiling and even chuckling in parts although the film was predictable, contrived not to mention, dated but upbeat and entertaining all the same.

It's good to be entertained and not have your brain taxed every now and again in this day and age of cynicism and self-referential smugness which runs in abundance in today's cinema.

This is the perfect antidote to the dark malaise seen in too many films now.