What a waste of my time!!!

Very well executed

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

My wife and I saw this movie on cable TV shortly after it came out and shortly before it disappeared into oblivion, and since we both were little kids in the 70s we both found the movie to be pretty funny. It has its share of really bad jokes (like people slipping on a picture of bananas), but it's not supposed to be intellectual humor. It's supposed to be a campy, cheesy movie that (fondly) makes fun of a decade that contains a lot to make fun of. And it certainly succeeds on that level.The movie was clearly a very low budget affair, yet the film makers managed to nail little details like the red, white and blue-painted fire hydrant outside the main character's home (there was one of those across the street from the house I grew up in). Everyone involved in the movie seems to have done their homework, but are having fun with it and not taking it too seriously.I recently discovered that this movie has finally come out on DVD, and at a bargain basement price, so I ordered a copy. My 14 year old daughter watched it with me and loved it - she described it as "stupidly beautiful" and immediately put the soundtrack on her iPod.So if you're feeling nostalgic for the 70s and think you'd like a low-budget comedy that doesn't pretend to be masterpiece theater, look no further. On the other hand, if 80 minutes of disco music, cameo roles and jokes about bongs and pop rocks doesn't sound like your cup of tea, then avoid.

A trio of time travelers -- laid-back time machine inventor Adam-11 (affable David Cassidy), the foxy, but uptight Chanel-6 (winningly played by the gorgeous Olivia d'Abo) and earnest Henz-57 (solid Geoff Hoyle) -- from 2176 go back 200 years to 1976 in order to save the drab future. Jeff and Steve McDonald of Red Kross fame are hilarious as two hip teenagers who help the threesome with their desperate mission. Writer/director Lucas Reiner expertly crafts a loving, lively, and often immensely funny ode to the gloriously tacky'n'tasteless 70's and all the amusingly ridiculous fads which made that particular era so uniquely gaudy, silly, and embarrassing: such things as mood rings, pop rocks, beanbag chairs, the hideous hairstyles and even worse ugly clothes (remember leisure suits, halter tops, and unsightly loud shirts with ghastly mile wide collars?), choice cheesy songs like "Afternoon Delight" and "Kung-Fu Fighting" on the soundtrack, goofy slang ("*Fill-in-the-blank* city!"), groovy disco dancing, 8-track players, and touchy-feely pretentious New Age hogwash are all present and accounted for. Leif Garrett is sheer smarmy perfection as slimy disco stud muffin on wheels Eddie Trogan while Liam O'Brien contributes a suitably obnoxious turn as meddlesome twerp Rodney Snodgrass. Among the folks who pop up in nifty minor parts are Tommy Chong (appropriately cast as a stoner), Barbara Bain, Carl and Rob Reiner, Iron Eyes Cody (spoofing his famous anti-pollution TV commercial), Devo, the Kipper Kids, the ever-adorable Julie Brown, and even Frank Zappa's hottie daughter Moon Unit. Kudos are also in order for the lovably rinky-dink (not so) special effects, David Nichtern's get-down funky score, and Stephen Lighthill's sharp brightly colored cinematography. An absolute gut-buster.

In the future, civilization has really declined. The fashions are U.S.S.R. retro, don't you know. Not only that, no one is flourishing. Therefore, when a man named Adam 11 (David Cassidy) insists he has made a time machine, the U.S. government asks him to go back to 1776 and study the founding fathers and the making of the constitution. It is hoped that he and his co-horts, Chanel 6 (Olivia D'Abo) and Heinz 57 will learn how to make society worth living again. The time machine takes off but lands in 1976 instead. Not realizing their mistake, the three interlopers try their best to find out how to revitalize their country with the lessons from the seventies. Amid Pacers and learning the hustle, can they succeed? This movie is a fast and fun look at the much maligned seventies. Things were more colorful then, that's for sure, and people did seem to be having a great time, despite the tight pants and floral shirts. Cassidy, D'Abo and company do a nice job of keeping the spirit of discovery alive. If you lived through the seventies, this movie is made for you. It has so many seventies icons that will make you laugh and remember. The younger crowd, too, would be entertained in seeing what they only know from history books. Don't hesitate to pop this movie in the VCR some evening in the near future. It was made, as the Bay City Rollers croon, for a fun, fun "Saturday Night".

OK, I am a Very Serious David Cassidy Fan & had to have this video. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the title does sum it up "Spirit of '76". Look back to what you were doing in 1976, Patriotism in our Bi-Centennial. This was post Partridge Family but pre Disco era. Fashion was white go-go boots, Laugh-In was on, we needed to laugh, not take ourselves so seriously. That is how you look at this movie. The Gremlin (a car) was everywhere back then, the music, Leif Garrett - yep we are in the 70's alright. Even David's Patriotic boots were perfect. I really enjoyed this movie in the manner it was intended - entertaining: make you smile, sometimes laugh, yes it had its moments (Rob Reiner was in it) The moment David's character realized the materials he needed to save the day was plentiful in 1976 ! Just watch it for yourself.