Funny in places; enjoyable, but in my lowly & wretched opinion way, WAY overrated... Blu-ray: Very Good (especially for it's age) A:8 V:9

Rating: 6/10 (14 December 2013)

Well, I FINALLY saw this just now (I know, you look at the date here and likely cannot believe it) I've always heard what a Comedy classic this is and I just now had the opportunity to see the Blu-ray.
I will say that for a modestly budgeted film made in 1980, the Blu-ray is just about one of THE best looking I've ever seen. I was REALLY amazed that they were able to squeeze out this kind of picture quality from a film like this, especially when other, higher cost films from the same era do not look any where near this good.
Now, about the film. I don't know... Just being honest, I truly do not see quite what makes this film such a TOTAL classic like people say. There is one reviewer here who states that this is one of the TOP 5 Comedy films of all time. Really...? I mean, don't get me wrong, there are a number of set pieces that are indeed pretty funny. The scene where Bill Murray and Chevy Chase are together is pretty good; and for the most part, I thought Chevy's delivery was the funniest with his low-key chic, goofy style. BUT... and it is a frigg'n HUGE BUT like Mariah Carey's... for the most part, I really thought that the humour and performances were just silly and I truly felt that if the writing had been a LOT better, THEN, MAYBE this could have been closer to a classic. But, for example, I LOVE Rodney Dangerfield, and he was his usual lovable self in his performance and bearing. BUT... again... I felt quite honestly that his lines were simply ATROCIOUS! That same reviewer who I mentioned before also said that Rodney's lines, for example like right after he farted and said, 'Who stepped on a duck', were just rolling in the aisles hilarious. Uh, okay... I mean, come on... his lines like when all the old people are dancing at the club, 'Hey, the cemetery is just around the corner' and 'I've never seen dead people smoking'... Uh... does that sound like the height of hilarity to you...?
I truly do NOT mean to diss this EXTREMELY well loved film, I don't; and, all in all I enjoyed it I think mainly because it was sort of tied together with some funny parts. But like ALL of Ted Knight's lines and delivery were completely forced, plastic and stupid sounding (rest his soul...) and other things similar to this in my unworthy opinion really took away from the funniness of the film. BUT... there were some good bits and funny situations; and the gopher addition was pretty funny in a simple kind of way.
In trying to understand this, I think of films that I MYSELF find far, FAR funnier, I mean, ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE funnier, and I just don't understand it. Okay, pretty much here we are talking about simple, low-brow, but not overly crude humour. To me, ALL of the 'NAKED GUN' films and Geez, MOST of Mel brooks' and the MARX Brothers' films are frigg'n LIGHT YEARS funnier than this. These films that I mention here are REALLY silly too, but in my lowly estimation the silliness is usually quite clever or the situations and characters come across a LOT funnier. Here with this film, I never really felt that ANYTHING was particularly 'clever' at all... And, to me, none of the characters, with the exception of Chevy Chase, and to SOME extent, Bill Murray, were all that likable or engaging (I DID think though that Bill Murray's ad-libbed scene about getting all horny and worked up over the old lady golfers was hilarious!) Again, an excellent example of one of the many ISOLATED bits that were indeed very funny in this film.
I don't know; maybe I'm just over-thinking it and I should just sit back and enjoy it for what it is. But, to me anyway, I THINK it was just basically the writing and dialog that drastically diminished the quality of the comedy overall. Like I mentioned, IF for example, Rodney's lines had been the USUAL GREAT Rodney lines, then fine. I mean, he was bloody AWESOME in 'BACK TO SCHOOL'. But the writing and intelligence behind that film to me were of HUGELY better quality.
Anyway, I just thought I would drop my honest thoughts here amongst the raving reviews. I KNOW that Comedy, like Horror, and many other art forms is HIGHLY subjective and apparently MANY people DO find this film one of the funniest ever. So, I would say that if you like your Comedy rather simple, but fun and silly, then you probably will like it. BUT... if you are like me where you really want at least some level of cleverness in the writing and the characters, then you may find this movie a little bit wanting...