Meatballs (1979)

Wacky hijinks of counselors and campers at a less-than-average summer camp.

Director:

Ivan Reitman

Writers:

Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg (as Dan Goldberg)

Stars:

Bill Murray, Harvey Atkin, Kate Lynch

3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Murray	...	Tripper
Harvey Atkin	...	Morty
Kate Lynch	...	Roxanne
Russ Banham	...	Crockett
Kristine DeBell	...	A.L.
Sarah Torgov	...	Candace
Jack Blum	...	Spaz
Keith Knight	...	Fink
Cindy Girling	...	Wendy
Todd Hoffman	...	Wheels
Margot Pinvidic	...	Jackie
Matt Craven	...	Hardware (as Matt Cravenn)
Norma Dell'Agnese	...	Brenda
Chris Makepeace	...	Rudy
Michael Kirby	...	Eddy

Storyline

Rudy goes to summer camp full of rowdy teenagers. The head counselor is Tripper Harrison, the prank pulling, girl seducing, fun lover, teasing both his boss and the counselors at the nearby rich kids camp. He and everyone else are sick and tired of always losing the Camp Olympics every year, and Tripper must encourage all campers to try their hardest, and even convince young Rudy that this may be his chance to feel better about himself.

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Plot Keywords:

summer camp | slapstick comedy | male bonding | school bus | eyeglasses | 

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Taglines:

The Summer Camp That Makes You Untrustworthy, Disloyal, Unhelpful, Unfriendly, Discourteous, Unkind, Disobedient, and Very Hilarious.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Flixster, a remake of this movie was in development in 2010. A Lionsgate production, John Whitesell was the named director with a screenplay to be written by John Morris and Sean Anders.

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Goofs

When Spaz is walking with Tripper and co., and he stumbles into Tripper, Spaz is sockless. However, moments later as they are all walking further, Spaz has white socks on.

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Quotes

Tripper: [on loudspeaker] Attention all campers, it's 9:30... and that's lights-out time here at Camp Northstar, 9:30 as you know. Tomorrow is parents day, and you must look rested or Morty will be sent to the state penitentiary.

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Alternate Versions

The music played during the second half of the Olympiad is different in the U.S. and Canadian versions of the film. On the U.S. release, there are additional lyrics: "Go team go, Fight team fight..." etc. These lyrics are absent on the Canadian theatrical and VHS releases. The soundtrack is mostly instrumental. You can hear this alternate music on the French soundtrack of the region 1 DVD.

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Connections

Referenced in The Ultimate Nightmare: The Making of Curtains (2014)

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Soundtracks

Makin' It
Sung by David Naughton
Written by Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren
Courtesy of R.S.O. Records

User Reviews

One of The Best Summer Camp Movies Ever Made

Yes, it feels, and for the most part plays like an "after school special", for a slightly more adult audience, alright maybe a teen audience. But add in Bill Murray (already showing some dramatic as well as his usual comedic talent), a nice supporting cast, and an unexpected sweetness about growing up, and remembering those great, or not so great days at summer camp, and you get a heartwarming, funny, sleeper hit.

It does get a little too smarmy for its own good, but that is also one of its charms. When you hear the title "Meatballs", and see the poster, you expect a teenage sex romp, but what you get is a sentamental, yet sometimes sexy look back at those formative years at summer camp. The sentamentality, and the remberances of simpler times reminds me of "A Christmas Story", which I also love. The rememberances of summer camp were never so well stated. The only movie I've seen that comes close, is "Indian Summer", which I like almost as much as "Meatballs", and also stars Matt Craven. Let's hope he completes the trilogy. Maybe he could come back for "Return of the Meatballs", and bring some dignity back to the franchise (Meatballs 2 through 4 bare no resemblence to the original classic).

"Meatballs" is easily on my Top 10 Guilty Pleasures of all time (not really guilty either). It's a wonderful little film, that always makes me smile.

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 June 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Meatballs

Filming Locations:

Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD1,600,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$77,170, 1 July 1979

Gross USA:

$43,046,003

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$43,046,003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dunning/Link/Reitman Productions, Mount Royal Productions, Haliburton Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo Mono

Color:

Color (Sonolab)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1