ptb-8
Please also read the hilarious review from Steve Franciscus also in this section. It is funnier than the whole BUSES trilogy.HOLIDAY ON THE BUSES is excruciating. As a Hammer Production it is appropriate that they just kept making horror films but changed costumes to suit the TV sit com source of this dire drivel release as a feature film. HOLIDAY ON THE BUSES is really the end of the line for this cringe worthy working class pantomime that seems to have taken up the CARRY ON baton as that series ran out of customers. To say that BUSES is vile, misogynistic, crass and visually pale is a complete understatement. Seeing it on daytime telly at home reminded me of the scene in TOMMY when Ann Margaret's TV spewed baked beans all across her living room. I am actually struggling for words to express the sheer genuine horror of every aspect... and the worst crime of this production is the cretinous and cruel treatment of Olive, whose constant humiliation and degradation is so shameful as to be disturbing. Then there's Jack's teeth.Exactly who this was aimed at is also a worry about 70s Britain, as clearly there was enough factory workers for this to have a market. The Brit 'dirty old man' standard lecherously groping dolly-birds in their 20s is just one of the jaw-dropper themes of this terrible last gasp of tawdry UK conveyor-belt film making.I read on this site that there is an ON THE BUSES fan club, still operating. I can't mentally process that information. It just isn't possible that could exist. Imagine their Christmas party after a few drinks....
garry0707
Its a 1970's British comedy - what you get is a slice of comedy history, typical of its time and place, nothing more nothing less. A bit of slapstick, plenty of innuendo, very loose plot line and full of sexism, ageism and any other -ism going around at the time. Quite simply it is Britain of the 1970's tied up in a 90 minute package. And if you are of a certain age it certainly brings a smile of nostalgia and sometimes incredulous horror. There are not many belly laughs but that's because comedy today is far more sophisticated and we like all our cinema highly polished.Enjoy it for what it is - don't put too much onto it. After all it's not meant to be a cinema classic just a bit of a laugh.
s-woodier
Has anyone realised that Blakey's " Doh!" noises have ripped off by Homer Simpson? This film is a classic slice of realism! Seriously. It is Ken Loach with slapstick. These characters are a true reflection of what it is to be British, not just in the seventies, but now also. Struggling to make ends meet, these characters are present in today's society. I won't have anyone knocking this film as it is not only hilarious but it is also, in an odd way, quite moving, especially with lines like, "We haven't got enough money for grub." People who scoff at this film are, in reality, the film's biggest fans, it's just that they refuse to admit it.
Tyrone_Smollox
If you were growing up in Britain in the 1970s or early 80s, then Holiday On The Buses will provide you with a very potent hit of nostalgia that will doubtless get you talking about "the good old days". It's nobody's idea of sophisticated, and the arthouse crowd should avoid it like the plague, but if you approach it with an open mind you'll probably have a good time.It's all very predictable, of course, but it fits in nicely with a sub-genre of British comedy best described as "everything goes wrong" where it sits alongside Fawlty Towers and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em. There are plenty of minor stars on display soon, such as Grange Hill's Mr Bronson, regular Benny Hill sidekick Henry McGee, Joan from Love Thy Neighbour and the inimitable Arthur Mullard.It's not quite Carry On, but it passes the time painlessly.
AD
