I purchased this movie when I came across it because of my memory of a fun filled romp about a group of ambulance drivers, with a souped up van. What I had not remembered was the darker messages intermingled with the laughs. The movie has a lot of high speed ambulance driving/chasing scenes, as expected. It isn't really a "car movie" in that there is no detail ever provided on the vehicles. They are just props to move the story line along. That's too bad - one of the old movie posters shows Bill Cosby's van in caricature with huge rear tires, and posed to launch at a moment's notice. There are some politically incorrect moments (that fit in perfectly), and some violence in the sub-plot that seem out of place .... but it is a typical 70's movie in this respect - not sure if it is a comedy or a drama.Read full review
This was an OK movie. It had it's funny parts, and it's serious parts, but it was no Star Wars or Gone With the Wind. It was a movie I remembered seeing when it first came out, and again on TV, and for the price was a nice addition to my movie collection. The actual reason I bought the DVD was to be able to see Bill Cosby's (Mother) ambulance in "pause" and "zoom". I build plastic models, and have for 40 years. WHen the movie was new, I made a model painted up to match the one in the movie. That model was lost or broken some time ago, and I decided to do a replacement one time when I saw the movie on TV. This is not a movie I'd pay full price to see in a theater these days, but with "discount" DVDs, it was worth the price, even if you don't build models. Seeing it again as an adult 30some years older is kind of like watching the old Star Trek TV series with all the special effects that now seem so hokey. Since it is not a "dated" subject, like M*A*S*H in the Korean War, Star Wars a long time ago, or Platoon in Viet Nam, it seems outdated in it's presentation. There are now TV shows that show more realistic and graphic scenes than could have been created or would have been allowed back in 1976.Read full review
I bought this movie because EMS is a big part of my life, and there just aren't many movies about ambulances and EMT's. I enjoy being able to be get a good look at the old ambulances used to film these movies, though I am glad these are not what we use today! I figured this movie had to be good for a few laughs, considering the cast and crew. Honestly, a few was all I got. My 16 y/o daughter's response was "this movie is lame". Definetely a 70's movie, not much for a plot. I would rate it "cheesy" at best. There are few funny parts, otherwise it is pretty much just nonsense. Being an EMT, I can say some things were very realistic and others were way off the wall - I would like to know what EMT has sex with an unconscious patient en route to the hospital??? This movie will most likely be a dust catcher or a loaner.Read full review
A screwball dramedy from the 70s that ranks up there w the Blues Brothers and Car Wash. The story is lame, the humor is raw but the sound track is moving and the charisma of the characters is over the top. From early in their careers, we find Larry Hagman, Harvey Keitel, Bill Cosby and Raquel Welch stretching their drama and comedic muscles for the camera in a tale about ambulance services competing for emergency calls. These are not Gage and DeSoto stories. These ambulance crews are scheming and scamming their competitors' crews in the field to get to the emergency call business first. Workplace tension is raised by the boss for the crews to get to the calls first. Stress is relieved by the crews' mischievous behavior in the office, in the locker room and in the field. Workplace and locker room humor from the 70s might rub some younger viewers wrong today, but it fits the mien of the 70s humor genre. People were dealing w change in the 70s workplace. Raquel Welch's character took courses to become a qualified EMT and pushed her boss and the other drivers to make her way from being secretary into an ambulance crew. Drivers who drink and toke on the job would bend OSHA inspectors into unnatural positions today, but they found a way to cautiously rub our funny bones back then and Cosby's stunt of constantly blowing his siren at nuns in the crosswalk would stir more online trolls into fits of rage today than the chuckles that he raised back then. For those of us who were around in the 70s, we would seem to find more amusement in that kind of nostalgia than anger. The wit is sharp, the action real and the characters are compelling. This one is still worth a watch.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
IF you could get past Ethics, Absurdity, Political Inappropriateness, and "Other" things that may "Bother You and focus on film details e.g vehicles, technology and the AWESOME casting!!! You might be able to LOL and Thank God for the progress in ALL things at our benefit and disposal today. STILL love This Film, RIP Raquel Welch.
Verified purchase: No
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