Search - Rave on DVD

How many movies about RAVE do we need?

Chris Kennison | Jefferson City, Mo United States | 08/01/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I vote for no more after this one.



First of all, the movie is edited horribly. There are numerous occurences where edits should have been TIGHTENED. The acting is so over the top it's ridiculous. Mary Griffith's (Aimee Graham) father is the stereotypical DEMON father.



We listen to these kids talk to the camera throughout the film and how they live to RAVE, so they can be ONE WITH THE MUSIC and how RAVEing and DRUGing is their life... and I could only ask... WHO CARES?



Then, the kids all arrive at the RAVE. Weehoo!! 45 minutes of BAH! BAH! BAH! BAH! BAH! music and Seizure inducing strobe effects. Kids so drugged up they spend most of the time sitting by the toilet. Punks living to beat up other kids. Punks who riot and create havoc for no reason. A drive by shooting that looked so fake and overdramatized.



Gets you all teary-eyed. Not because you have any emotional connection with any of the characters, but because you spent $1.50 renting the movie on discount day and spent 80 minutes of your life watching it... well... 72 minutes if you fast forward through the credits... 3:30 of BAH! BAH! BAH! for the opening credits... geez."

Okay. Nothing special. Tamara Mello fans beware.

Thomas M. Sipos | Santa Monica, CA | 03/03/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"When they made RAVE, the producers probably hoped it'd seem so cutting edge, hip to the latest in youth culture. Yet for all those cutting edge aspirations, the film follows the template of hundreds of other films, a template set by AMERICAN GRAFFITI.



You begin with a diverse group of teens. Racially and socially diverse. Some are close to their parents, others don't get along with well-meaning parents, still others have horrid parents. Some of the teens are nerds, some are bad, some are flaky. One girl's pregnant and doesn't know how to tell her boyfriend. There's a gangsta boy, a boy who's never kissed a girl, and the obligatory gay boy.



It's a large ensemble cast. The teens are introduced, their lives weave in and out amid each other without colliding, and then they all end up at the rave. Where (predictably) everything that can happen, does happen. People O.D. Vomit. Beat each other up. Con their way past security. Make racist remarks. Engage in inter-racial flirting. There's over-crowding. A riot. A shoot-out.



Then the usual wrap-up. Survivors comfort each other at the hospital, or at home. Worried parents are relieved to see their kids come home. Other parents cry when the police arrive to announce their kid is dead. There's a candlelight vigil.



RAVE is an okay film, though nowhere near as great as AMERICAN GRAFFITI. Partially, I think it's because, unlike AMERICAN GRAFFITI, RAVE doesn't capture any large social zeitgeist. AMERICAN GRAFFITI reflected a significant historical transition, from the more innocent early 1960s, to the post-JFK assassination, rebellious 1960s. We knew what lay ahead for those kids after their last innocent summer.



RAVE is about a tiny, brief subculture, one that didn't have much impact, even on ravers. Raving was not part of, or swept away by, any larger historical movement, or on an historical cusp. Raving came and went in a blink. It left no large music stars in its wake (unlike grunge, which at least had Nirvana). Nor are RAVE's actors/characters especially interesting.



Tamara Mello is prominently featured on the DVD box, but hers is one of the smaller roles in this ensemble film. I guess she's gotten to be one of the more famous actors since RAVE was released, so the marketing people have re-released it prominently featuring Mello's name. But she's not so prominently featured on the opening credits, which means the filmmakers themselves didn't consider Mello's a significant role. Mello's name comes after the title (the bigger roles are pre-title) and Mello shares the credit placement with two other names (unlike the larger roles which have a sole credit placement page -- these things matter in Hollywood.)



So if you're a Mello fan, you might be disappointed. She's in the film, she's good in it, but it's a small role.



RAVE is a short film. An hour and 17 minutes (not including over 6 minutes of end credits)."

Are you kidding me????

T. Lenehan | 09/17/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This is probably one of the worst movies I've ever seen. On top of the horrible acting...the events are so over the top that they aren't even believeable. Especially if you've ever actually been to a rave."