Before there was "Airplane" (1980), there was "The Big Bus." This Paramount picture set out to join the list of all the "big" things and events. The opening credits and dialog say that the Cyclops was out to top all the other big achievements. It's a nuclear-powered mega bus. I think this film is worth catching just to see the behemoth of a bus. One wonders what motor company might have made the bus for the movie.
This film has a few funny segments, but too few. It has some funny dialog, but some crass dialog and profanity passed off as humor doesn't work. The idea for this film is good. It's a hilarious spoof of airline travel, the space program, disaster films, and any number of professions. Most characters are very good, and the actors in their roles are good. The film has several prominent actors in little more than cameo roles. Most of those add humor. Jose Ferrer is especially good and funny as Ironman, and John Beck is hilarious as Shoulders O'Brien.
But the screenplay needed lots of work. The story sags in places, the humor runs out quickly, and it could do without the profanity. This film had great potential for a very funny satire, but it sputters in places and runs out of gas toward the end.
How far out is the idea of a super mega-bus? Well, by 1976 most people who had to travel wanted to get to their destination as quickly as possible. Air travel was the demise of long-distance rail passenger service in the U.S. But, well past the middle of the 20th century, there still were more than a few people who didn't like to fly. Some had great fear of flying. So, the Coyote Bus Lines invented the Cyclops to meet their needs and deliver passengers by roadway in comfort and leisure. It also would do away with the burning of fossil fuels - a subplot in the film that is the basis for some of the humor.
The spoofing is even obvious in the scenery and the route of the non-stop trip from New York to Denver. Denver sits on the East side of the Rocky Mountains - at the foot of the Front Range. But the movie has the bus driving high in the mountains just before Denver.
This movie had great potential. A good rewrite of the screenplay might have made it a smash hit.
This film has a few funny segments, but too few. It has some funny dialog, but some crass dialog and profanity passed off as humor doesn't work. The idea for this film is good. It's a hilarious spoof of airline travel, the space program, disaster films, and any number of professions. Most characters are very good, and the actors in their roles are good. The film has several prominent actors in little more than cameo roles. Most of those add humor. Jose Ferrer is especially good and funny as Ironman, and John Beck is hilarious as Shoulders O'Brien.
But the screenplay needed lots of work. The story sags in places, the humor runs out quickly, and it could do without the profanity. This film had great potential for a very funny satire, but it sputters in places and runs out of gas toward the end.
How far out is the idea of a super mega-bus? Well, by 1976 most people who had to travel wanted to get to their destination as quickly as possible. Air travel was the demise of long-distance rail passenger service in the U.S. But, well past the middle of the 20th century, there still were more than a few people who didn't like to fly. Some had great fear of flying. So, the Coyote Bus Lines invented the Cyclops to meet their needs and deliver passengers by roadway in comfort and leisure. It also would do away with the burning of fossil fuels - a subplot in the film that is the basis for some of the humor.
The spoofing is even obvious in the scenery and the route of the non-stop trip from New York to Denver. Denver sits on the East side of the Rocky Mountains - at the foot of the Front Range. But the movie has the bus driving high in the mountains just before Denver.
This movie had great potential. A good rewrite of the screenplay might have made it a smash hit.