Up the Creek (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Nov 12, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Robert ButlerRelease Date(s)
1984 (October 22, 2024)Studio(s)
Orion Pictures (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)- Film/Program Grade: C
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A-
- Extras Grade: C+
Review
Up the Creek is a wannabe National Lampoon’s Animal House, the low-budget film that made a fortune out of fraternity-gone-wild antics, sexual suggestiveness, and an off-the-wall John Belushi. Up the Creek uses the same template of slacker college kids raising a ruckus but takes them off campus for a challenging competition.
Lepetomane University is on the bottom rung of institutions of higher learning. Not only is it academically the worst, it has never won a trophy for any athletic event. So the school’s Dean Burch (John Hillerman, The Day of the Locust) assembles bottom-of-the-barrel students Bob McGraw and Gonzer (Animal House alumni Tim Matheson and Stephen Furst, respectively), Irwin (Sandy Helberg, History of the World, Part 1), and Max (Dan Monahan, Porky’s), all of whom have been chucked out of countless other colleges, and offers them a deal. If they represent the school in an intercollegiate white-water rafting race and win, he will grant them degrees in whatever field they want.
Totally unprepared for such a grueling task, they nonetheless accept the deal and head out for the race accompanied by Chuck, the Wonder Dog. Their competition includes men from a military academy, who approach the race as if it were actual warfare, and a team of rich, blond, handsome, underhanded Ivy Leaguers. Before the race, there’s a wild beer-fueled party that tells us a bit about the participants.
The humor in this comedy relies on one groaner after another and lots of slapstick, some that work and others that tank. The tone is relentlessly upbeat and the pace fast, likely intended to bury the script’s flaws in the action. Though each of the Lepetomane rafters does his best, they each seem to be doing their own thing and we never feel that they’re a cohesive team with a lot at stake. If they lose the race, will it really matter that they flunk out of yet another college?
The only impressive scenes are on the river, as the rafters must race over what look to be dangerous rapids. Stunt doubles were used for many of the more perilous scenes but the actors themselves can be seen in several scenes, shot well before the advent of CGI movie magic. Too bad all this effort never pays off in laughs. Of course, director Robert Butler had to work from a less-than-stellar script, but he seems to have made little effort to add “business” that could make the gags land. The premise sets up expectations that never materialize.
Jeff East (Superman: The Movie) plays the supercilious leader of the Ivy League team, James B. Sikking (TV’s Hill Street Blues) is a corrupt judge, Blaine Novak (Strangers Kiss) is Capt. Braverman, leader of the military team, who has a particular grudge against Bob; and Jennifer Runyon (Ghostbusters) plays Heather Merriweather, a shapely blonde who falls for Bob and provides the film with some eye candy.
Ultimately, Up the Creek is a mashup of frat-comedy tropes that include beer, fights, nudity, snobs vs. slackers, and sorority girls on the make. The hodgepodge results in a film that works very hard at being funny but only succeeds in revealing its shortcomings. The rafting scenes, filmed for maximum excitement, deserve a far better picture.
Up the Creek was shot by director of photography James Glennon on 35 mm film with Ultracam 35 cameras and spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray picture is sharp. Details are well rendered, including men’s facial stubble, textures in clothing, churning rapids, rafts, and trees along the river. The color palette ranges from bright primary colors to muted hues. The Ivy leaguers practically glow in their light clothing and blond hair—a sight gag in itself. The rafts rushing downriver are shot from multiple angles, adding an exhilarating feel to those scenes.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. English subtitles are an available option. Dialogue is clear and distinct, with some of it dubbed in the rafting scenes. The pre-race party blends dialogue, music, ambient party noise, and sound effects. Water rushing through the river’s rapids provides a major source of dramatic sound. There are sections where the sound mix is somewhat muddy, but for the most part, the sound quality is very good.
Bonus materials on the Region A release from Kino Lorber Studio Classics include the following:
- Without a Paddle (11:37)
- Cheap Trick Up the Creek Music Video (4:32)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3:16)
Without a Paddle – Actors Stephen Furst and Sandy Helberg and casting director Harriet Helberg refer to this discussion of their involvement in Up the Creek as an “old home week” reunion. Michael Keaton and Steve Guttenberg were considered first for the role of Bob McGraw until they accepted other film roles and Tim Matheson was cast. The film was shot in Oregon over two-and-a-half months. The four principal actors required professional white-water training for the scenes in which they personally needed to raft the rapids. The water was freezing, recalls Furst. There were stunt men in the water out of camera range in case of problems. The director allowed the actors to improvise, and some of the improvisations were used in the final cut. Reviews weren’t great and the film “did not perform well.” Sandy Helberg thinks a younger director, such as John Landis, might have made a better film.
Up the Creek has its comic moments but they’re few and far between. Stereotypes abound, which makes the characters overly familiar, and many of the gags are telegraphed well before they occur. The direction is uninspired, and Matheson, as the nominal lead, lacks the wildness and unpredictability that the role calls for. Looking too old and too cerebral for all the hijinks, he’s an awkward fit. The other cast members do their best but they’re saddled with jokes that even a pre-adolescent wouldn’t find funny.
- Dennis Seuling