| The Spirit of '76 | |
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 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Lucas Reiner |
| Written by | Lucas Reiner |
| Story by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Stephen Lighthill |
| Edited by | Glen Scantlebury |
| Music by | David Nichtern |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $52,310[1] |
The Spirit of '76 is a 1990 Americancomedy film that spoofs American culture of the mid-1970s. Directed byLucas Reiner, it starsDavid Cassidy in his final feature film,Leif Garrett,Carl Reiner,Rob Reiner,Olivia d'Abo, and the rock groupsRedd Kross andDevo. The film was released on October 12, 1990.
By the year 2176, a magnetic storm hasdegaussed all recorded history, causing such valuable documents as theU.S. Constitution and theDeclaration of Independence to be lost. Three time travelers,Adam-11 (David Cassidy),Chanel-6 (Olivia d'Abo), andHeinz-57 (Geoff Hoyle) are sent back to July 4, 1776, to retrieve America's heritage, but due to an unnoticed time machine malfunction, end up in 1976 instead, during theUnited States Bicentennial. While attempting to carry their mission, the time travelers dress in period costume (e.g., tightbell bottom pants), attendEST, experience theSexual Revolution,Pop Rocks,disco, long gas lines, theAMC Pacer, and even drug paraphernalia shops.
They are in turn pursued by Rodney Snodgrass (Liam O'Brien), a science whiz andUFO buff, who thinks they are aliens, and plans to use their UFO (their time machine) to win the Bicentennial Science Fair prize at his high school. His self-absorbed, disco-dancing brother, Eddie Trojan (Leif Garrett), pursues Chanel-6 for his own pleasure. Both are foiled by two dimwitted but good-hearted teenage friends, Tommy Sears and Chris Johnson (Steve and Jeffrey McDonald ofRedd Kross), who help the time travelers repair their craft and return to 2176, with their 1970s artifacts and a copy of the Constitution, printed on a shirt which was bought off of an EST seminar attendee (Barbara Bain).
Several family members worked together on the production of the film.Roman Coppola co-wrote the script with Lucas Reiner and produced the film, and sisterSofia Coppola designed theera-costumes used for the piece. Lucas Reiner wrote and directed the film, and his fatherCarl Reiner and brotherRob Reiner both had appearances as actors in bit parts.[2][3] Lucas Reiner's girlfriend at the time played a waitress in the film, and she and Reiner later married.[4]Barbara Bain, an actress who portrayed one of the "Be Inc, Seminars" attendees, is the mother of Susie Landau, one of the producers and casting director for the film. In the DVD commentary for the 2003 edition of the film, director Lucas Reiner noted that directing the death scene with his father in the beginning of the film was difficult.[4] Carl Reiner also appeared on the DVD commentary, and praised Lucas' job as director, as well as the script to the film.[5]
Lucas Reiner discussed the casting of the film by producer Susie Landau, and noted that once actor David Cassidy ofThe Partridge Family was successfully signed to the project, other stars from the 1970s signed on as well. Several musicians also played bit roles in the film. Members of thenew wave rock bandDevo appeared as the "Ministry of Knowledge," Jeff McDonald andSteven Shane McDonald, members of the bandRedd Kross played Chris Johnson and Tommy Sears. Martin von Haselberg and Brian Routh ofThe Kipper Kids portrayed theCIA agents,Tommy Chong appeared in a scene in ahead shop along with his wifeShelby, andMoon Zappa had a cameo as "an archetypal zodiac aficionado." Reiner complimented Sofia Coppola on her costuming work for the film, noting that she was only seventeen years old during initial production. Coppola had to research for the 1970s as she was very young through the period, and also developed costumes for two other periods - the future in the year 2176, and the future after the time-travelers returned home and changed the culture. The production budget for the film was tight, and crew members brought in 1970s period items of their own to supplement props in the film.Production designer Danny Talpers designed the prop for the time machine out of twohot tubs - which was a reference to their popularity during the period. Instead of the more expensivecutaway technique, Reiner simply moved the camera back and forth during dialogue to save money.[4]
The Spirit of '76 received mixed reviews. TheDenver Post described it as both "idiotic" and "aggressively bright",[2] and a review in theChicago Sun-Times did not think it was very funny.[6] TheSacramento Bee called it a "cool comedy of the '70s," noting that it was a bit high-paced, but also "extremely likable."[7] AnEntertainment Weekly review wrote that: "References to est and disco, along with someone's mint collection of Kiss posters and other memorabilia, get tossed out willy-nilly; the movie's only unifying force is that smirky irony," and gave the film a rating of "C−".[8]Allmovie wrote positively of the film, calling it a: "lively sci-fi comedy" that makes "great fun of the '70s."[3] The film received two stars from theTLA Video and DVD Guide 2004, which described it as: "lightweight with the occasional laugh."[9] OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregate score of 80% based on 4 positive and 1 negative critic review.[10]
The film was released in only a limited number of theaters, and the total reported box office gross was $52,310.[11]
SVS/Triumph Home Video releasedThe Spirit of '76 onVHS on January 22, 1992. It was released on DVD byWarner Home Video on June 3, 2003.
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