The Movie:

While not everyone appreciates 'stoner comedy,' for those who do see the humor in those who toke the smoke, it doesn't get much better than Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. If they didn't invent stoner humor, they certainly brought it to the mainstream with their stand up act, their records, and of course, their feature films, which brings us to 1983's Still Smokin'. The fifth feature from the duo isn't their strongest effort but neither is it completely without merit and let's face it, even middling quality Cheech and Chong is worth a watch.

When the film begins, Cheech and Chong have been invited to Amsterdam to attend a celebrity festival being held in honor of Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. When a naïve Dutchman mistakes Cheech for Reynolds, he and Chong are given the deluxe treatment and put up at one of the nicest hotels in all of the city and afforded every luxury they could hope for.

With everyone thinking Cheech is Burt and with Chong going along and agreeing to be Dolly Parton, the pair more or less spend the next ninety minutes wandering the city and enjoying all that it has to offer, from the red light district to the hash bars. When the festival's money goes missing, however, the pair decide to put on a benefit show and perform for the Dutch, who of course, fall in love with them.

There's really very little here in terms of an actual plot and the movie feels more like a series of loosely strung together sketches strung together by a tenuously thing thread of storyline. The result is a very uneven movie, equal parts hit and miss, that eschews the more streamlined comedy of some of their earlier and better films in favor of one random bit after the next. Whether the boys are fooling around (both willingly and unwillingly) with the tall blond maid, acting like dogs and sniffing their own asses, or getting baked and acting stupid, the results are decidedly mixed.

If you're not a fan of Cheech and Chong, this isn't the film to start with. However, if you 'get' their humor and appreciate the inanity of what they do and how they do it, you'll find enough in Still Smokin' to want to give it a watch. It plays more like a concert film than an actual feature film, and it's here that the picture excels. Some of the stand up bits that they perform in the various clubs around town are genuinely funny and these bits work well, much better in fact that than the more obviously scripted and plot based bits.

Considered by many to be a low point in the pair's collective career, Still Smokin' makes for amusing, if uneven, comedy viewing. You'll have to be predisposed to their brand of comedy to appreciate it, so the uninitiated are advised to start with Up In Smoke before tackling this one, but the crassness, the political incorrectness, and blatant disregard for morality and the lude, rude, crude humor on display has its fans and they'll enjoy this one.

The Video:

The anamorphic 1.85.1 widescreen transfer on this DVD looks to be identical to the previous DVD release from Paramount, meaning that it looks alright but it's far from reference quality. There's a fair amount of grain evident in some scenes and some minor print damage here and there indicating that more effort could have gone into cleaning up the picture a bit. That said, the disc is well authored in that there aren't any problems with mpeg compression artifacts or edge enhancement to complain about. Color reproduction is okay and detail levels are average for an older, low budget comedy such as this (meaning they're not great). The film doesn't look great by any stretch but it's certainly more than watchable.

The Audio:

The English language Dolby Digital Mono track is clean and clear enough even if it's a bit on the flat side. Dialogue is audible but it never really has the resonance that it should and there are a couple of scenes that sound just a tad muddled. That said, the levels are well balanced and there aren't any problems with background hiss or distortion to complain about.

The Extras:

Aside from a basic menu and chapter selection sub-menu, the only supplement on the DVD is the film's original theatrical trailer. Included in this 'I Love The Eighties' edition, however, is a bonus audio CD containing a selection of eighties pop classics f or you to enjoy. It's got nothing whatsoever to do with the movie, but something is better than nothing.

Overall:

Still Smokin' is far from Cheech And Chong's best movie but it's still a fun movie with some really memorable moments. The film holds up well and manages to remain a truly funny picture, so long as the duo's pot laced humor tickles your funny bone. Paramount's 'I Love The Eighties' DVD re-release doesn't add anything except for a fairly disposable music CD, but the price is right, making this recommended for fans who don't already own it, a solid rental for everyone else.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.