The Big Bus (1976, United States) Running time: 88 minutes
Language: English Professor Irwin Baxter makes last preparations for maiden voyage of his lifetime achievement - a nuclear powered bus called Cyclops. It will revolutionise travelling, which he hopes to prove by sending Cyclops on a non-stop trip from New York City to Denver. During promotional preview for the press an explosion disrupts the event - the bus is fine, but the driver that was suppose to take Cyclops for the maiden voyage was injured. Baxter and his daughter Kitty are desperate to find a new driver, but Cyclops is a very complicated vehicle and it would take a genius to learn how to operate it in just two weeks. Unless they will bring Dan Torrance, experienced driver, who knows Cyclops, but unfortunately he also broke Kitty’s heart. With limited options Kitty decides to bring Dan aboard the project, but people, who were behind the explosion will do anything to stop Cyclops from finishing the route. Also Dan Torrance has a dark mystery in his past - only he knows what really happened on Mount Diablo...
The Big Bus was one of the first parodies of popular in 1970s disaster films, but creators decided to take a land vehicle as a basis for the script - Cyclops, a huge, nuclear powered bus. The premise was interesting, script involved multiple subplots, some of which were quite entertaining, overall The Big Bus failed to find audience during original run. It is not a bad comedy, a bit outdated, but with interesting plot and not bad cast.
Our rating |
6.8 / 10 |
Film value |
7 / 10 |
Realism factor |
2 / 5 |
Adventure factor |
4 / 5 |
Car scenes |
4 / 5 |
|
The Big Bus triviaThe Cyclops
The bus used in movie, the Cyclops, was actually built for the production. Of course it wasn’t fully functional bus, only the two cabins upfront were fully equipped for external shots, but nevertheless it was a roadworthy car that actually travelled during filming.
The cost of building this Cyclops was supposed to be around 250,000 USD and after the production ended was used to promote movie in California, but later scrapped.
Murphy Dunne
Murphy Dunne, who played pianist in the lounge, was actually a musician known for being part of the Blues Brothers. He also appeared in both Blues Brothers movies.
|
|
