Midnight Madness (1980)

Grad student Leon recruits five captains to form teams to compete in "The Great All-Nighter" where they solve clues to go on the road. Yellow leader Adam Larson (David Naughton) is a nice guy. Blue leader Harold (Stephen Furst) is a lazy slob. Red leader Donna has her sisters from an unpopular sorority. Wesley (Eddie Deezen) leads the nerdy White team. Lavitas leads the offensive line on the Green team. Every one of them laugh off Leon at first but they are all pushed into the game.This is Disney doing its silly family fares. It tries to incorporate college but only with the cleanest of smiling family fun and tamest of raunchy sex comedy. It's kind of sad and a bit campy. In addition to a couple of early 80's stars, Michael J. Fox has a minor role. It's bad acting, bad slapstick, and bad writing. It's so bad that it does have some camp value. Unless one sees the camp value, there is nothing funny and it's ultimately boring.

I have no idea what the budget on this movie was, but whatever it was they made it work! I have seen movies that spend 100x the amount (Pearl Harbor anyone?) and sucked 200x worse. This movie has everything. David "Makin' It" Naughton in the lead role as Adam, an average college student who gets wrapped up in a game called the Great AllNighter" run by Leon! This guy rocks! A "genius" with nothing better to do than come up with an elaborate game for a bunch of people to play. But he doesn't just pick his friends. He has a team of Jocks, nerds, fatties, average kids and of course, Flounder's team who are the "bad guys". But this movie has no black and white. There are many shades of gray. Adam is not the altruistic hero with no faults. He treats Alex P. like crap. AND Flounder is the way he is because of pressures from his Dad and a cranky stomach. The jocks play dirty, but so does everyone else! This movie rocks! The scene at the PBR factory? Classic! "Johnny's Obese Male Child?" Can you write a better clue? This stuff is gold Jerry! GOLD! Maybe I am from a different generation, but I love movies that seem far-fetched but still have roots in reality. This never happened...but it could. Eeeee-Gypt.... EEEE....Easter Bunny....Easter Parade! Oh and watch for a young Paul Rubens still working on that Pee wee character. PS That Devra Clinger WAS/is HOT! She must have been one bad actress not to work in Hollywood anymore. SEE THIS MOVIE!

This is a must see for any 80s junkie. Fun and innocent, and all at night! Nothing like all of the college buddy groups going on an all nighter. Who would have thought the guy who put it all together could be such a ladies man, there's hope for us all. Sure it would never happen, but after seeing this you'll wish it did. Look for all of the cast who went on to have bigger and badder days in Hollywood. Enjoy all of the Los Angeles landmarks that have come and gone, or just don't look like they used to. Take this romp, if you liked other memorable films such as 'Scavenger Hunt', 'One Crazy Summer', or more recently, 'Rat Race'.Enjoy!

"Animal House"-styled mess concerning five groups of college-aged kids going on a scavenger hunt across the city. There are the nerds, the girls, the boys, the rich kids and the poor kids (led by David Naughton and a very young Michael J. Fox, in his first film). The greatest rivalry comes between the rich snobs and the working-class group that has nothing given to them easily. Really a rotten drag is the best way to describe "Midnight Madness". It is appropriate for all audiences, but really who would be bored enough to watch this? 2 stars out of 5.