Corvette Summer (1978) Reviews

• The Best Lookin' Street Machine on the West Coast!

  billymac722002-10-07

  Yes, I grew up in the generation of original Star Wars fanatics. Yes, I only saw Corvette Summer because of Mark Hamill. Yes, it's a very cheesy & kitschy film. On a lark, I recently picked it up on video at a supermarket for about $5. Having not seen it for many years, I gotta say, however, that it's a total riot! Without a doubt, this film is probably going to hold greater interest to those who either have fond memories of the 70s, or, at least, a passing interest in the decade when tacky was king. Those who have no understanding of the era will likely come away totally bewildered. Reasons you want? Well, please allow me... 1. I love Stingrays. Besides, it's great to see Hamill become obsessed about cars in a way only teenagers can (once girls enter the picture - for real - this love affair changes forever, as it does in the film). 2. As much as I share the love for Stingrays, I equally love 70s ideas of hipness. Hamill is given total freedom to build his "dream car" and what does he do? He cranks out a custom discomobile - a glitter vette that would make any purist cringe. Insane! Oh, and let's not forget Potts' customized van (with waterbed, natch). 3. Favorite moments: a) Hamill briefly gets money & therefore a HUGE head to go with it; b) a guy who earlier attacks Hamill with a chain makes a hysterically insincere apology ("hey man, I'm real sorry about that thing, you know, with the chain thing...I'm sorry about that."); c) Hamill kicks Danny Bonaduce's butt (and Cokes go flyin'!); d) the leader to a convoy of Chicano low riders explains his notion of "class"; e) Bonaduce, again, goes for the 70s knockout punch with his limited, but memorable, dialogue ("I know...let's do a dune buggy!!" and, his personal best delivered over CB radio no less, "Breaker, breaker, Shop Class One! Honk if you love Corvettes! This is the Top Hat in the Dragon Wagon. Dig it boys & girls!") 4. The great b-movie actor Dick Miller pops up with a two dollar bill ("just call me Gladstone Duck!), as does a menacing Brion James. The film, therefore, can't be all THAT bad. 5. Cornball aside, Potts and Hamill are extremely likable, have great chemistry together and do a lot with their stock character roles. For example, here's a twist: although Potts plays a hooker with a heart of gold (Yawn...), she's actually only a "trainee" with a heart of gold (Redemption!!). So she's can be kooky without being morally corrupt, and plays it with just the right amount of edge that makes it okay to like, and not pity, her (not that I condone hookers-in-training mind you). As for Hamill, we never question his loyalty to his car. Check out the glint in his eye when he talks shop with- who else? - his shop teacher, "you're right. It IS perfect." 6. Even though there is plenty of unintended humor, which also adds to the fun, the movie IS actually pretty funny apart from that!

• Summer Lovin

  Bandit19742006-02-26

  I read several reviews about this movie before writing mine. I always do for some reason. The one common thread throughout a lot of the reviews is a point I definitely agree with. This movie oozes 70's cheese. Keep in mind, I happen to love the tackiness that only the 70's could offer. Aside from that, this is a fairly simple, yet entertaining movie. Does it break any new ground? Certainly not. But how many movies do? Our main character, Kenny Dantley, builds and falls in love with a custom Corvette in his high school shop class. Not long after it is built the car is stolen. The cops tell Dantley and the rest of his shop class that the car most likely will never be recovered. Dantley refuses to accept this and heads to where he heard the car was last seen. Vegas. Along the way he falls in love with Vanessa, a wannabe hooker headed to Vegas to "go pro". There is no doubt that this is a "B" grade drive in movie. That being said, if you are a "car guy" (as I am) this movie should prove to be worth watching. Anyone who has ever fallen in love with a car will understand Dantley's obsession. It's NOT "just" a car. Car guys know their obsessions are irrational, but that doesn't stop us. Call me crazy, but the attraction a car guy has to his favorite model isn't THAT much different than the one he feels to his dream girl. Corvette Summer offers a few laughs and a return to a part of the 70's a lot would like to forget. The disco van scene. There are some familiar faces from the era and a great chase scene at the end of the movie. Not every movie is Oscar bound. Let's not forget a movies most important purpose is to entertain.

• They don't make 'em like this anymore...

  spynine2001-12-02

  Let's face it. Perhaps you have been initiated to Corvette Summer as a chunk of 70's "cheese," or a must-see flick for Star Wars fans. Well, despite it's rep, it's a fun, watchable film with decent acting, and a ton of energy and heart. Unlike teen oriented films of today, it is not mean-spirited, gross, or dumb. CS is sweet without being lame. Mark Hamill get this film thrown at him as if it was some kiss of death career killer. But watch Corvette Summer, and you'll see why it just cements his superstar 70's status. (Yes, Corvette Summer, and the previous year's Star Wars didn't translate to a serious career outside Lucasfilm in the 80's, but it's a success on its own.) Hamill rips up the screen in a role that combines the naive and hotheaded aspects of Luke Skywalker - but set in 1970's LA and Vegas. Hamill, as Kenny, has a total commitment to recovering the hot car, and it's fun to watch him sleuth it out with no regard to his comfort or safety. All the while during this adventure, he is falling (against his will) in love with an aspiring call girl -- who's incredible van he camps out in. Love, he finds out, can apply to women as well as tricked-out left-hand drive Stingrays with Gabriel shocks and racecar height spoilers. Favorite scenes: Kenny tossing a tray of full Cokes at a squad car, and beating down Kootz, who lost the Corvette to thieves. "I don't want no Cokes! Who said I was thirsty!?!" Screams Kenny, in a shrill, anti-product placement rage-against-the-cola war-cry. Kenny, hitching a ride from a gang of Lowriders with hydraulic lifters - at 20 miles per hour on the highway. He decides he can walk faster than that. This movie would never get made today, that that's too bad. It rocks.

• A Lost Drive-In Classic

  G-Man-251999-06-23

  "Corvette Summer" might not be a perfect film, but it's a breezy, occasionally funny sleeper...the type of movie that used to pack them in at drive-ins all the time. Today, there's the added value of seeing Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill and Annie "Designing Women" Potts in very early roles before they became big stars. There's even an appearance by Danny (Partridge) Bonaduce. Good summertime entertainment!

• Tank Half Full Or Half Empty?

  ReelCheese2007-08-19

  The gas tank is either half full or half empty depending on how you view CORVETTE SUMMER. One could justly call it forced in its humor, directionless, repetitive and overlong. Others will see a likable, innocent coming-of-age adventure. It depends on your mood and, more prominently, your aversion to '70s cheese and ability to forgive silver screen shortcomings. Kenny Dantley is a freshly-minted high school grad who has more time for cars than girls (he's played by a distinctly non-high school aged Mark Hamill, but bear with us). To say he loves the blazing red Stingray he and his shop classmates restored doesn't go far enough in describing the relationship. When the Corvette is swiped by evildoers, our hero swoops into action to track it down on the mean streets of Nevada, intent on ensuring that what was stolen and brought to Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. He finds an unlikely ally in Vanessa (Annie Potts), an aspiring hooker with a heart of gold and an affinity for car-obsessed teenagers. I have a special attachment to CORVETTE SUMMER. It was one of the first movies I saw late at night when I was 13 and allowed to stay home alone on the weekends while the folks went camping. TBS's NITE FLIX (oh, how we miss NITE FLIX... so much better than RUSH HOUR 2 played thrice in a row) carried it at 2 a.m., and I had a blast. Recently, I rented it after all these years and found that while it wasn't the masterpiece I remembered, it is amusing and at times quite absorbing, though it starts to lay more than rubber in the second half. Hamill and Potts are no George and Gracie, but they suffice, and the supporting cast, including Eugene Roche (as Mr. McGrath) and Kim Milford (the villainous Wayne Lowry), hold up their end of the bargain. CORVETTE SUMMER has an awful reputation; it has even been mocked in MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE 3000 (as the characters mocked another film). I'm sure there are those who still blame it for the utter failure of Mark Hamill's post-STAR WARS career. But it is what it is, an imperfect though fun ride back into the late '70s. It's recommended, but only for certain tastes in the mood for something different.