irishm And not in the most flattering direction. I remember liking this when it first came out... I'm old enough to be able to identify exactly what they were parodying, I enjoyed the cameos by such 1960's luminaries as Don Adams and Alan Hale Jr., and I liked the music of the period, so it followed that I would enjoy the movie.However, it doesn't hold up well. It's deliberately corny, which was acceptable at the time but now comes off as tedious and dull. It feels over-long, although I don't think the run time is excessive (it just feels that way). Many of the songs seem forced, crammed in instead of being part of the natural flow, and the songs aren't that catchy (except for the stand-up-and-dance "California Sun").Fans of the era or the performers might enjoy it, at least once, but I don't think I'll come back to it again.

Lewis Pritchard Back to the Beach (1987) Masked Criticisms ReviewHunterSo the premise is simple, we watch a film at random, sometimes it's good… mostly it's not, this is Masked Criticisms.EisensteinI think from the title alone one can tell which of the two basic categories this film belongs to. Hunter If you mean it was poop, then yeah it was poop.EisensteinNow let's not be too hasty. Back to the Beach is a comedy film from the 1980's that spoofs surfer pictures from the 60's. It follows two old film stars that return to the seaside to relive their glory days and embarrass their hip kids. This film is part of a series, but honestly I had no idea until just now when I looked it up on IMDb.HunterYou wouldn't need to see the others to understand what the hell was going on. It was so random and unpredictable and yet cliché at the same time. I guessed the ending ten minutes into the film, however I would never have imagined Pee Wee Herman to come out of nowhere to sing surfing bird then literally fly away, but that mind fart certainly happened.EisensteinThis whole film had a lot of set ups for cameos but I guess we're too young to recognize any of them. Except, that is, for OJ Simpson. Not the film makers fault, I mean they couldn't have guessed he'd kill his wife, but it did really date this film. Along with a whole pile of other 80's clichés; skateboards, waist high thongs, surfing, bad hairstyles…Hunter…cocaine…EisensteinThere was no drugs in this film.HunterI meant the director.EisensteinThat would explain the lack of choreography.HunterOh yeah, I kind of forgot it was a musical, I suppose that's a good thing though, I can't stand musicals.EisensteinYou liked Frozen…HunterAnother thing I have to give this film credit for is that everyone in it is fit, not the main family, granted, but everyone else is attractive, sadly no chubby chicks though.EisensteinMy main problem with the characters is that they were all wannabes. The punks who were supposed to be intimidating looked like pantomime Sex Pistols.Hunter… and since it's on a beach the girls are in thongs. I'm not usually a fan of those really long 80's thongs but some of those chicks, man. EisensteinYes well, anyways, what it all comes down to is an out dated film laughing at even more out dated films, unfortunately it really doesn't hold up as I can't tell what's an 80's cliché is and what's a 60's farce.HunterI was thinking of giving this film a 6 out of 10 just for the babes alone, but Eisenstein here says I have to rate the entire movie as a whole so I'm gonna have to say 3 out of 10. It's not so much a beach party, more of a tsunami of poop.EisensteinWhat a poetic analogy to end on. 4 out of 10.

soranno Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, whose series of "Beach Party" films were huge hits for teenage crowds back in the 1960's resurrect the series with this lame 1987 Paramount release. By this time, Avalon and Funicello are too old to be believable anymore in those surf bum roles and younger costars don't help either. Star gazers may appreciate this film only for its cameos by many stars of popular 1960's TV series.

Tastytulip One of my favorite "feel good" movies. And yes, I have seen it before. In fact Ive seen it so many times Ive almost memorized the dialog. I have seen the 60's beach movies a couple of times and actually prefer the 80's version. Perhaps because the 60's were before my time. Anyway, this movie remains a favorite escape for me(its not supposed to be reality people, come on!)lots of nice people and even the bad guys are good deep down inside. How I would love to spend my evenings hanging out at Daddy O's!! This movie is as close as I can get. Lots of fun and laughs!