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Corvette Summer (1978)

We’ve all seen Luke Skywalker scoot around on the desert in a land speeder, but have we ever seen him pilot a cherry red Corvette Stingray with metal flakes and a glitter-flame dragon?  Hell, no!  Well, that statement might not be true, especially if you’ve already seen Corvette Summer, a coming of age comedy from 1978, which features that candy apple-colored dream car.

"one heck of a breezy ride through the old Vegas strip"


And, if you haven’t seen this car-centered comedy, then the Warner Archive Collection, specializing in On-Demand Blu-Rays, has your ticket to ride with their latest handling of this Mark Hamill and Annie Potts vehicle.  Yeah, the pun was intended.  Co-starring Kim Milford, Richard McKenzie, William Bryant, Philip Bruns, and Danny Bonaduce, Corvette Summer is one heck of a breezy ride through the old Vegas strip.

Hamill plays Kenny Dantley, a recent high school graduate who spent most of his high school career in the garage shop.  In fact, the only reason he finishes school is because of the car.  His main achievement, being the High School Shop project car, is that corvette I mentioned at the start of this review and, yeah, the first night out on the drag, the damn thing gets stolen. {googleads}

Suddenly, he is hitching his way to Vegas in order to find it. Climbing on board a van driven by Potts, playing Vanessa, a prostitute in training, he discovers that Vegas and its law enforcement officers are in no real hurry to help him.  He keeps in touch with his shop teacher, Ed McGrath (Eugene Roche), via letters and winds up reconnecting with Vanessa, who charms the pants off of him.  Literally.  But nothing will stop his determination to track down the car.

Until he finds out the how and the why of how the car was sold, not stolen, and then he has to take matters into his own hands.  Quirky and often charming, director Matthew Robbins’ film has quite a number of funny lines and situations as Kenny finds himself working for a garage shop phony, getting life advice from Dick Miller, and singing “Love is a Many Splendor Thing” at the top of his lungs while butt naked. Corvette Summer (1978)

With the solid pipes of Dusty Springfield singing “Give Me the Night” as its lead-off tune, Corvette Summer is an easy breezy affair as one high school graduate learns how to get his hands dirty and still win the babe, who might be a prostitute, could be a fast food worker, and definitely is a siren of sex appeal.  Thankfully, the role Potts plays (her first) led to a Golden Globe nomination. 

Corvette Summer is a gas of stop-and-go entertainment.  It isn't always solid, but it is worthy of a viewing from time to time.  The drive-in flick is now on blu-ray thanks to the Warner Archive Collection.

3/5 beers

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Corvette Summer (1978)

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Warner Archive Collection
Available on Blu-ray
- June 18, 2019
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: English SDH
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

This release from Warner Archives supports a High-Definition encode and a 1.85:1 ratio.  With solid colors and an atmospheric charm, the cleaned-up image is detailed with nice burnt oranges and strong blacks hitting strong levels for something originally filmed in the late 70s.  The grain is natural and consistent.  Colors are strong and vibrant even.  The overall contrast is deep even if there are noticeable defects in the crush of shadows. The DTS Master Audio 2.0 is a decent monaural soundtrack for the series.  Dialogue is clean, clear, and balanced with the music.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

Does a trailer count?

  • Theatrical Trailer

Blu-ray Rating:

  Movie 4/5 stars
  Video  2/5 stars
  Audio 2/5 stars
  Extras 1/5 stars

Overall Blu-ray Experience

2/5 stars

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[tab title="Film Details"]

Corvette Summer (1978)

MPAA Rating: PG.
Runtime:
105 mins
Director
: Matthew Robbins
Writer:
Hal Barwood, Matthew Robbins
Cast:
Mark Hamill, Annie Potts, Eugene Roche
Genre
: action
Tagline:
The hot one is coming!
Memorable Movie Quote: "I didn't want no Cokes! Who said I was thirsty?"
Theatrical Distributor:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Official Site:
Release Date:
June 2, 1978
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
June 18, 2019
Synopsis: A cherry Corvette Stingray. A gorgeous girl. And a summer in glittery Las Vegas. What more does a guy need for the wildest, weirdest, funniest, freakiest time of his life? Mark Hamill (Star Wars) and Annie Potts (Designing Women) make comedic and romantic sparks fly in a revved-up tale of car-brained Kenny (Hamill), who trails a Corvette that’s mysteriously boosted after his high-school shop class restores it to perfection. The trail leads to Fun Capital, USA, and a ditzy diversion (Potts) whose dream is to become…a hooker? This damsel in distress needs a white knight on a candy-apple, metal-flake, superior-mags, mercury-tubes steed — right, Kenny? Both are in for a summer they’ll never forget.

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[tab title="Art"]

Corvette Summer (1978)

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