Verdict
Summary
A plotless string of vignettes that fooled me into thinking that it was actually made in 1985 until I double-checked, Tunnel Vision is basically a Nation Lampoon / Mad Magazine spoof brought to life with super raunchy, racist, sexist, blasphemous, and wildly irreverent skits, some of which feature future superstars such as John Candy, Chevy Chase, Al Franken, and many other names and faces who became famous later on. There’s not much meat on the bone, though, and at only 70 minutes, it’s pretty much a $.99 roll of toilet paper: thin, but serviceable for a single use, but if you use it to TP a house for a laugh, it works as long as you’re in the mood for a goof.
Plot:
No plot! Just comedic shorts!
Review:
In 1985, a hearing commences in a courthouse: A conservative senator and his cronies accuse an off-the-radar cable TV station of indecency and programming inappropriate content. Of course, the representatives of the station (called “Tunnel Vision”) argue that there’s nothing wrong with their shows and commercials. To prove their point, they show the courthouse what they’ve been slinging on TV. Maybe not the best idea, as every single commercial and snippet from their shows is wildly raunchy, subversive, and just done in plain “bad taste.” They’ve got a show about a renegade rabbi, a highly sexualized sitcom, live news broadcasts of in-progress sniper fire on a crowd (which ends with the sniper giving up with an “I’m just kidding” surrender), and tons of commercials of products such as pills you can take that are basically book downloads (“read War and Peace over breakfast!”), deodorants that can change your personality, drinkable cleaning products (so all you have to do is touch a dirty, grimy surface and poof! it’s gone), and pay-by-the-minute phone services that can connect you to your dead loved ones in the afterlife.
A plotless string of vignettes that fooled me into thinking that it was actually made in 1985 until I double-checked, Tunnel Vision is basically a Nation Lampoon / Mad Magazine spoof brought to life with super raunchy, racist, sexist, blasphemous, and wildly irreverent skits, some of which feature future superstars such as John Candy, Chevy Chase, Al Franken, and many other names and faces who became famous later on. There’s not much meat on the bone, though, and at only 70 minutes, it’s pretty much a $.99 roll of toilet paper: thin, but serviceable for a single use, but if you use it to TP a house for a laugh, it works as long as you’re in the mood for a goof. From directors Brad Swirnoff and Neal Israel.
MVD Rewind has just released a Blu-ray for Tunnel Vision (#65 on the spine), and it comes in two aspect ratios in a new 4K transfer, a new commentary by a film historian (shout out to Marc Edward Heuck!), a new interview with Israel, and more.
