Volunteers (1985)

Lawrence is a rich kid with a bad accent and a large debt. After his father refuses to help him out, Lawrence escapes his angry debtors by jumping on a Peace Corp flight to Southeast Asia, ... See full summary »

Director:

Nicholas Meyer

Writers:

Keith Critchlow (story), Ken Levine (screenplay)

Stars:

Tom Hanks, John Candy, Rita Wilson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Lawrence Bourne III
John Candy	...	Tom Tuttle from Tacoma
Rita Wilson	...	Beth Wexler
Tim Thomerson	...	John Reynolds
Gedde Watanabe	...	At Toon
George Plimpton	...	Lawrence Bourne Jr.
Ernest Harada	...	Chung Mee
Allan Arbus	...	Albert Bardenaro
Xander Berkeley	...	Kent Sutcliffe
Ji-Tu Cumbuka	...	Cicero (as Ji-Tu Cumbaka)
Guillermo Río	...	Sumo Guard (as Guillermo del Rio)
Jacqueline Evans	...	Aunt Eunice
Pamela Gual	...	Tammy the Stewardess
Philip Guilmant	...	Yale President (as Phillip Giulmant)
Chick Hearn	...	Announcer

Storyline

Lawrence is a rich kid with a bad accent and a large debt. After his father refuses to help him out, Lawrence escapes his angry debtors by jumping on a Peace Corp flight to Southeast Asia, where is assigned to build a bridge for the local villagers with American-As-Apple-Pie WSU Grad Tom Tuttle and the beautiful and down-to earth Beth Wexler. What they don't realize is that the bridge is coveted by the U.S. Army, a local Communist force, and a powerful drug lord. Together with the help of At Toon, the only English speaking native, they must fight off the three opposing forces and find out what is right for the villagers, as well as themselves.

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Plot Keywords:

product placement | coca cola | one word title | laughing | falling in love | 

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Taglines:

The boys from "Splash" are back together!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 August 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alles hört auf mein Kommando

Filming Locations:

Mae Hong Son, Thailand

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,184,360, 18 August 1985, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$19,875,740

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO Pictures, Silver Screen Partners, TriStar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The picture was cast with over one hundred people coming from all over the world.

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Goofs

During the climatic scene on the bridge, Lawrence is able to distract John by pretending to hear the sound of a Russian MiG-25 fighter jet. While the movie is set in 1962, the first prototype MiG-25 did not fly until 1964 and the aircraft did not enter service until 1970.

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Quotes

Kent Sutcliffe: Bourne, it's eight o'clock. Graduation breakfast is at nine, graduation is at ten.
Lawrence Bourne III: Well, Bootsy, we'd better get down to the real sex then.
Bootsy: Graduation! My speech.
[leaps out of bed]
Bootsy: I don't even have a theme yet!
[to Kent]
Bootsy: I'm the valedictorian at Smith.
[Leaves holding her clothes]

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Crazy Credits

Tom Hanks' character has firstname "Lawrence". Hanks saves the village. As film fades to black for credits, a large group of "volunteers" gather around Hanks. Just as black for start of credits shows, chants of "Lawrence, Lawrence, Lawrence..." are heard. Absolutely a tribute to scene of O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia marching across traintop to chants of "Lawrence, Lawrence, Lawrence..."

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Connections

Referenced in Psychos in Love (1987)

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Soundtracks

Colonel Bogey (March)
Written by Kenneth Alford (as Kenneth J. Alford)

User Reviews

One of the best comedies of all time

Tom Hanks is fantastic...the rest of the cast adds strong support. This film made me laugh so hard throughout. John Candy is great, Rita Wilson is wonderful, and the native characters add authentic flavor to the film. Honestly, anyone who doesn't appreciate the acting ability of Tom Hanks in this humor-filled picture is missing a lot. This is the kind of film you could watch a few times to fully appreciate all the underlying gags and subtle jokes. Terrific film!!!!!