Plot: What’s it about?
Charlie is a laid back dude who spends a lot of time on the beach and of course, he loves to scope hot chicks and score hot dates. He isn’t the most interesting person on the planet, but he is nice enough, thought he finds himself in a jam with his latest crush. Her name is Wendy and she is a beautiful rocker girl, she loves the rock and roll music more than life itself. This is where the problem starts for Charlie, as Wendy is attracted to musicians and one rocker in particular. Since Charlie isn’t a rock and roll musician, he just can’t seem to get Wendy’s attention in the way he wants. But that isn’t the end of the chance for romance, as Charlie plans to change his status and become a rocker. He brings his friend Scully in on his plan and soon enough, he is learning guitar and looking to join a band. While the plan was hatched just to win over Wendy, when a record producer overhears his work however, his rock star fantasy could turn into reality…
I am a fan of 80s teen comedies, as most folks are, but even within that subsection of cinema, ample wastes of time can be uncovered. Ok, so there are about ten times as many bad ones as good ones, but still, I try to keep an open mind. Beach Balls seems like it should be a brisk, wild skin festival, given the title and way the case presents itself. But in truth, there is little skin to be seen here, as numerous bikinis are on showcase, but they don’t come off often to reveal the goods. I found this to be a rather dull movie on the whole, with an ineffective cast and some bad, bad writing involved. I did like some of the dialogue, but only because of how dumb it was and there wasn’t enough of that to balance out the rest. The laughs are minimal, even the unintentional ones and all in all, this is just a bad movie. Buena Vista’s release reinforces that opinion, since this disc is bare bones and little effort has been into the presentation. Unless you have to see every 80s teen flick, then Beach Balls is not worth the time, but if you must see it, try to see it for free.
Video: How does it look?
Beach Balls is presented in full frame, which presents the visuals in an open matte format. This means that no part of the image is cropped, but at the same time, the intended visual design is altered and that is not good for film fans. Beyond that, this is just a lackluster visual treatment, I would expect this from an old videotape, but not a digital transfer. The print is rough, with grain and debris present throughout and not always in small doses, so the image isn’t clean or sharp in appearance. As I said, not the level of visual presentation we have come to expect, even fans will be let down here.
Audio: How does it sound?
A bland stereo soundtrack. Not miserable, but thin in all respects and little to remember. This just seems like the old soundtrack was slapped on with minimal effort. I don’t expect this movie to have dynamic sound, but it should sound better than the over a decade old video releases. The music is brash and the dialogue is a tad on the muffled side at times, but not often. Not the kind of soundtrack that is impossible to endure, but not a good one, not even close.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes no bonus materials.
