Newsboys: Down Under the Big Top (1996 Video) User Reviews

Ridiculous, Goofy, Absurd, but Amusing

[crossnation · 7/10 · 18 November 2023]

I stumbled across this 1996 direct to video Newsboys farce on YouTube recently and decided to give it a chance.

The story (what one there is) follows one of the Newsboys as he has to help his late uncle's circus do one more show to make enough money to pay off debts and look after his widow.

If you end up watching this, do not expect Oscar-winning performances, a complex or particularly coherent plot or three dimensional characters.

But it is absurdly funny. It is so ridiculous in its tone and its showcasing that there is an inherent charm. Also, the 90s nostalgia does give it a certain pleasantness to it for a Millennial like me.

It almost felt like someone had taken one of those goofy church plays that youth groups put on and decided to make it into a not quite feature length movie.

A fun little watch, even if it isn't top grade material.

Brilliant. Literally my favorite movie since I was a kid!

[hcwalkspups · 10/10 · 6 August 2021]

I cannot say how absolutely well put together this movie is! It is absolutely hilarious, and the jokes are so well done. Well worth the short hour. Fun for kids and adults. This is my favorite movie alongside Risen and I would watch it over and over as a kid. My husband got a huge kick out of it too... he quoted a line from the movie as I typed this! Seriously, if you can find it, watch it asap! This is a hidden gem.

Good fun, but lacking in the end

[jgeoffstoneking · 6/10 · 23 April 2023]

The movie is fun and goofy. For that I give it a solid 8 stars.

But at the end of it all, it leaves the viewer unsatisfied. The main plot line of the movie that didn't have any pay off was the character played by Phil Joel. The movie was a modern parable about the prodigal son. Here was Phil Joel in the circus, shoveling elephant dung, and missed dearly by his parents. He even realizes after reading the "Gideon's Guide" (I wonder why they didn't call it the Bible in the movie) that he was just like the prodigal son.

There was a glimmer of character development for him.

But instead of reuninting him with his parents and fleshing out that entire plot line and character arc, it gets dropped right after he comes to that meeting and testifies how that story reached him, and the rest of the movie is just plain silliness about how bad of a circus performance the boys present to the public. We see no further development of his character after that point.

I don't mind the band trying to save the circus plot line, or Phil Joel's story line. But neither really have any compelling pay off. The band lost their "shirts" in the end but then what is the motivation for the clown to give his prize money to the widow of the original cirucus owner? Did he give it all? A tithe of it? Did he give any money to the band? How well did he do out of that windfall of cash?

The movie is good silly fun over all. I still enjoy it after all these years. But it could have been a lot better. I think it needed an extra 15-20 minutes to play out some of those dangling plot lines.

Circus. What circus.

[gummo-43036 · 1/10 · 9 November 2021]

What sort of circus consists of only clowns, a band, elephant poop, but. No elephant?

There are worse things about this extended video clip, but the lack of any coherent story line does it for me.

Oh, the slap bass sounding like an electric bass was a pretty neat trick.