Hot Dog...The Movie [Blu-ray]

Sensing a gap in the marketplace, writer/producer Mike Marvin attempts to use the world of freestyle skiing for his own take on "Animal House," dreaming up 1984's "Hot Dog…The Movie." What Marvin lacks in screenwriting prowess he makes up for in sheer enthusiasm for the sport and horndog cinema, working to assemble his own take on the subgenre, blending copious amounts of nudity and high jinks with a distinct display of athleticism, stunts, and speed. "Hot Dog…The Movie" isn't high art by any means, and the film often believes it's more amusing than it really is, but it does retain entertainment value as the production figures out what kind of story it wants to tell between mountain battles, coming up with a slightly meandering endeavor that periodically comes to life when it achieves even a mild amount of focus on sellable elements.Harkin (Patrick Houser) is an Idaho farm boy with a big dream to compete in a freestyle skiing competition in California, making a pilgrimage to Squaw Valley to check out the competition. Along the way, Harkin picks up Sunny (Tracy Smith), a wily young woman trying to hitchhike her way to San Francisco, soon growing close to her driver as the pair bonds during the road trip. Arriving at the resort, Harkin is exposed to the evil of Austrian skier Rudi (John Patrick Reger) and the seductive ways of Sylvia (Shannon Tweed), eventually settling in with Dan (David Naughton), a party animal ski pro who leads the "Rat Pack," joined by Squirrel (Frank Koppala) and Kendo (James Saito). With Rudi proving to be tough competition as the event begins, Harkin struggles with his feeling for Sunny and tomfoolery from Dan, who strives to disrupt the villain's confidence with pranks and humiliations, creating tension between the warring sides as the celebration carries on day and night.Marvin makes a pass at characterization with Harkin, who's a small town boy with a big dream to showcase his skiing skills at the Squaw Valley resort, hoping to rub elbows with champions and possibly win the event. He's a mild guy who offers help to Sunny, a defensive woman who doesn't trust easily, staying alert as the pair are forced to share a truck ride and a few motel rooms. Harkin is the hero of the story, and Marvin makes sure to protect his likeability, keeping him away from most temptation (Sylvia's hypnotic appeal overwhelms him), and he's a folk singer too, charming Sunny with his tunes. It's silly, but that's "Hot Dog…The Movie," which largely finger-paints when it comes to creating personalities, including Rudi, a German-speaking brute who loves to crush his enemies. And there's Dan, who's really an alcoholic and a possible sexual predator, but this is 1984, so he's just a fun dude who lives to drink, ski, and drink some more.The cartoonish nature of "Hot Dog…The Movie" holds the whole thing together, as Marvin only gets serious with Harkin and Sunny, trying to be sensitive with their burgeoning relationship, which involves immediate cheating and severe behavioral issues. But hey, that's as close to soft as the film gets. The rest of the picture involves impishness from the Rat Pack, who look to dominate the slopes and rile Rudi up, messing with his equipment and engaging in a snowball attack on his squad of bros. Director Peter Markel doesn't have command of the endeavor, but he comes up with intermittent silliness, and the production's appreciation for sexploitation is impressive, working in a wet t-shirt contest and various hot tub trysts along the way, hoping to engage those who don't really care about the sport of freestyle skiing.Synapse isn't messing around when it comes to bringing "Hot Dog…The Movie" to Blu-ray, offering a 4K restoration of the "Producer's Cut," sourced from "the original 35mm camera negative." The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation is impressive, creating an exciting clarity to the viewing event, making detail exceptional, embracing the inherent dimensions of the locations. Texture is also enjoyable on ski gear, which favors cold weather outfits. Skin particulars are exact, showcasing fine hairs and perspiration, and overall sharpness is appreciable when it comes to the rowdier aspects of the feature. Colors enjoy bright clothing, with bold reds and yellows, and interiors, such as the fantasy motel, retain deep blues. Skintones are natural. Delineation is precise. Grain is carefully managed. Source is in excellent condition.The original 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix is offered on the Blu-ray, but a newly created 5.1 DTS-HD MA track does a respectful job bringing "Hot Dog…The Movie" up to home theater enjoyment. There's immediate fullness to appreciate, presenting a more authoritative listening experience. Dialogue exchanges are sharp and emotive, protecting silly accent work and group interplay. Scoring cues secure a lively synth presence, supporting the action superbly, and soundtrack cuts are distinct, adding period pop with appealing low-end presence. Surrounds contribute a fine sense of atmospherics with occasional separation definition, most notably during the snowball fight.Commentary features writer/producer Mike Marvin."Hot Dog…The Documentary" (54:36, HD) endeavors to celebrate the release of "Hot Dog…The Movie," leading with writer/producer Mike Marvin, who shares how much of the picture was based on his actual experiences as a skier and traveler, even using real names for a few of the characters. Hoping to direct, Marvin was made a producer instead, showing little chemistry with Peter Markle, who was hired to keep the effort on schedule. Creative differences complicated the Tahoe shoot, which quickly devolved into a party atmosphere, giving the cast room to misbehave. Actors John Patrick Reger, David Naughton, Frank Koppala, and Tracy Smith appear to discuss their involvement with the production, sharing their casting stories and personality quirks on-set. Questions of nudity are addressed, along with politically incorrect humor that hasn't aged well, with Marvin slightly defensive about the topic, protective of his R-rated baby he gradually takes full credit for, as Markle was eventually fired from the picture. Skiing skills are assessed, mountain challenges are revealed, and stunts are celebrated, creating an interesting overview of the "Hot Dog… The Movie" production experience, which culminated with the creation of real snow for the L.A. premiere and box office success. Finally, the effort's cult appeal is assessed, with Marvin once again stepping up to label the feature a "Rocky Horror"-style cult sensation.T.V. Spot (:32, HD) offers a commercial for "Hot Dog…The Movie."Radio Spots (2:31) collect three ads.Music Video (2:24, SD) is for "Top of the Hill," performed by Clif Magness.And a Theatrical Trailer (2:20, HD) is included.The skiing sequences are sharply edited and photographed, out to provide an introduction of sorts to the titular pursuit, highlighting balletic grace. There's a "Chinese Downhill" speed chase for the finale to keep things exciting, but there's a purity to the snow worship in "Hot Dog…The Movie" that holds attention, providing a great commercial for the region and its inherent beauty. Laughs are limited, with most shenanigans coming up short in inventiveness, but performances are energetic, allowing the feature to coast on goofball intentions, punctuated with heavenly visits to fresh snow and the sight of professionals flipping, twirling, and racing their way to skiing glory.

I first saw Hot Dog: The Movie back on TV when I was in high school. It was a fun, wacky, sophmoric romp. When I saw that there was a Blu Ray and it was Mike Marvin's cut of the film he intended to show, I jumped at the chance. One thing that this cut does is fill a major plot hole after Sunny leaves Harkin in the middle of the film after she sees him in the hot tub with Sylvia during the party and she is never seen with him until near the end of the film celebrating with him as if nothing happened. This is pointed out in the commentary as it doesn't make sense. Marvin adds a scene in the film that fills the gap in the film. I also enjoyed it a lot of more that the theatrical version because of this little scene. It makes the story feel complete. There is also a scene where Rudi warns Harkin they will meet again for "Hot Dog 2", which gives off meta vibes (Did you think he would go quietly into that gentle good night?).There are also loads of goodies on the Blu Ray, including a documentary featuring David Naughton, Frank Koppala, Tracey Smith and John Patrick Reger. All of them have fond memories such as Reger disguising himself as an old man to watch the wet t-shirt scene or how Tracy Smith's sister was close with Shannon Tweed during filming.Synapse really outdid themselves with the release of this Blu-Ray, and Marvin turns a typical 80s sex comedy into a film with heart. If you want to see Hot Dog as it was originally intended, I reccomend you pick it up.

Great for re-living the old days when the world was a better place, especially if you spend or spent time at ski resorts.

The 1984 cult film "Hot Dog...The Movie!" is a mixture of a raunchy R rated sex comedy and skiing. While not a great film by any means, it features a good cast and several impressively shot and executed skiing sequences. Made for 4 million dollars, it was a success grossing 5 times its budget during its theatrical run. It would go on to gain even more fans on VHS and cable television. The two most notable actors in the film are David Naughton who starred in 1981's "An American Werewolf in London" and gorgeous Playboy model turned actress Shannon Tweed. Even though the humor doesn't always land and the plot is threadbare at best for the most part, the film still manages to charm, offend and entertain along with delivering copious amounts of nudity, sex, and sleaze.Synapse Films gives "Hot Dog...The Movie!" the red carpet treatment for its long overdue blu-ray debut. This disc features a 4K restoration from the original camera negative of the recently discovered unrated producer's cut which runs approximately 3 minutes longer than the R rated cut. Basically the unrated cut features even more sex and nudity.The film is presented in a 1.78: aspect ratio (opened up a bit from its theatrical 1.85:1) on a dual layer disc utilizing the AVC codec at a bit rate often times getting up into the mid and upper 30's. Simply put, the film looks amazing on this disc. No digital scrubbing was done so the film maintains its filmic grain structure. Colors are superb, detail is immaculate and contrast levels are spot on which is of utmost importance due to all of the snow on display. Skin tones look natural and accurate which is great considering the copious amounts of flesh on display. The only small quibble that I have is that I noticed a very faint transparent vertical line near the left side of the frame which persists throughout the entire movie. It is most noticeable during the many scenes in which snow is in the background or a daytime skyline is featured. That small flaw is not a deal breaker by any means as the film still looks spectacular but I did feel the need to point it out.Sound is presented in either the original 2 channel mono master audio track or a newly created 5.1 surround master audio track. I found the surround track to be quite well done. It is cool though that there is a choice offered. English subtitles are included for the hearing impaired.Extras are as follows:- HOT DOG: THE DOCUMENTARY – An all-new 50 minute featurette including new interviews with director Peter Markle, co-producer/writer Mike Marvin, and cast members David Naughton, Tracy Smith, John Patrick Reger and Frank Koppala (54 minutes 36 seconds)- Audio commentary with co-producer/writer Mike Marvin- Original theatrical trailer, TV spot, radio spots, and music video!- Liner notes by TEEN MOVIE HELL author, Mike McPaddenThe disc is region A locked.Fans of "Hot Dog...The Movie!" will be over the moon with Synapse Films' blu-ray of the 1984 cult classic. The movie looks and sounds great along with some informative extras that round out a stellar release. Highly recommended!

Snow skiing, jerk-tastic German “villains,” gratuitous toplessness and a wet t-shirt contest…it’s all here!

BLU RAY disk is defective. Will not play on my blu ray player. I have requested a refund, but have not heard back from the seller yet.

昔から好きな作品でしたが、ブルーレイになってイッキに高画質!この映画の影響で実際のスコーバレーに行ってしまったこともあります。ちなみにTシャツのバーはスコーバレーには無いそうで、別のスキー場近くにあることを知ったのはつい最近のことです。

Superb condition for a second hand dvd. :-)..and great story, footage too. And the clothing. Ahhh those were the days... :-)Totaly retro movie. Love it!

再生不能

I bought the 4k version expecting super clear scenes, since the production company said it was taken from the original film, to see a very grainy picture. I was expecting a nice clean looking movie for 4k quality but unfortunately it wasn't. It's better quality than a VHS tape but not by much. They really could have done better. Outdoor shots were much clearer than the indoor shots.