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Bang Thy Head (1986) Quiet Riot video compilation released right before the band fired DuBrow for a bit.

Published December 10, 2015February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Extremely Dated Musical Entertainment

Weeds (1987) Nick Nolte stars in this well-intentioned, contrived prison drama.

Published December 3, 2015February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Prison

Welcome To L.A. (1977) Late-seventies, cocaine-induced, navel-gazing to the highest degree.

Published November 26, 2015February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Unrealistic People Falling In Love

Nightmares (1983) Unfairly forgotten 80s horror-anthology.

Published October 31, 2014February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Animals Who Kill People Who Are Dumb, Barely Justified Revenge

Deadtime Stories (1986) Mid-80s anthology horror at its worst.

Published October 3, 2014February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Dangerous Kids, Instructional Films For Killing Teens

Steel Dawn (1987) Post-apocalyptic, low-budget movie with Swayze.

Published September 26, 2014February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in If They Push That Button

Youngblood (1986)

Published September 19, 2014February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Barely Justified Revenge, Coming of Age According To A Script

Grandview USA (1984) Part of the early 80s coming-of-age teen-movie boom, but lacks an engaging story arc.

Published September 10, 2014February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Coming of Age According To A Script

The Comeback Kid (1980) John Ritter stars in a second (maybe third) generation made-for-television Bad News Bears clone

Published September 1, 2014February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Dangerous Kids, Standard-Lowering Children's Entertainment

The Park Is Mine (1986) Tommy Lee Jones stars as a crazed 'Nam vet pitted against authority figures in Central Park.

Published April 19, 2014February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in 'Nam Vet Toughness, Barely Justified Revenge

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About

The Betamax Rundown was started by failed musician and artist Stunt Rock in October of 2006, with the intent being to review and analyze a personal library of over 2100 Betamax tapes.

When not watching movies, he enjoys making artistic horseshit no one cares about.

Steve Bullyhuff is the ever-loyal proofreader and fact-checker. When not fixing drunken typos, he enjoys playing rock music.

The Betamax Rundown is updated sporadically.

Independence Day (1983) Trigger warning if your grandfather ever made you high like a tree. Independence Day (1983) Beret-clad photographer Mary Ann (Kathleen Quinlan) has lived in the same town her entire life yet still finds the energy to run around snapping photos of townspeople as she awaits an acceptance letter from a San Franciso art school, while also helping her cancer-stricken mother convalesce. We’re supposed to ignore that she’s clearly 30 and still trying to get into art school. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1983) Extra Ellen Barkin appreciation post. Her performance in the first segment was described as "bruised, tough and sexy" by Janet Maslin in the NYT. Accurate. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1983) Kevin Bacon, playing a young cabbie looking for love in the third story of this anthology film, sings a song, but it sound like it might be overdubbed. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1983) Uneven New York anthology full of progressive themes and likable performances. Mid-Knight Rider aka Hard Knocks (1979) Some select clips: Mid-Knight Rider aka Hard Knocks (1979) HARD RECOMMEND! This movie is insane. Somewhere there has to be a proper cut where it all works perfectly, but this seventy-seven-minute cut released on home video is wild. It’s Midnight Cowboy but quickly turns into homesteading Western before dropping into First Blood territory. Foolin' Around (1980) A young Bill Macy in his first screen role! Foolin' Around was filmed in 1978 so I'm comfortable saying this even though it was released after Somewhere In Time (1980) which is technically the first appearance of W. H. Macy. Foolin' Around (1980) For the most part, Foolin’ Around is a meandering love story filled with wacky PG-level hijinx. It feels more like a 70s-era live-action Disney movie than the post-Animal House frat comedy it was marketed as.

The World Sucks Now.