Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams [VHS]

Whoa man, totally groovy!A fun romp through the marijuana subculture.Get yer bong ready and "Just go for it!" dude.

"Cheech & Chong Perform" is show 1 from a two show night at Spanky's club. 'Cheech & Chong Perform Again' from show 2 is the other VHS or Beta tape you can get and combine with "Perform" to have all the skits they performed in an entire show back then.Historically it's great showcasing Cheech & Chong's raw talent on stage live where anything can happen. Their cheap props are some funny stuff all by themselves! They mention their new movie coming out (Up In Smoke) and that they won't have to be doing their live act much longer.What can you say about Cheech & Chong if you we're into their albums from the 70's this live performance is some of that material but in a live club setting.You either 'got them' or you didn't, that simple!Visually it's just an older type video camera but they do zoom in and aim the camera at assorted people in attendance. It's amateur style and not a big budget production.The color is washed out but it's a by product of the low end camera and not from age or tape damage. There's an occasional dropout here and there with lines running across the screen but not enough to get one up in arms over it all. It's over in seconds. I suppose bad tracking or connection via the camera/video tape machine's fault.If you ever wanted to see the duo live back then and missed out this and 'Cheech & Chong Perform Again' are the only legitimate exsisting media I know of available from their live act days.The real down side to going after one of these is 1) The crazy prices these are fetching these days and, 2) You really need the 'Cheech & Chong Perform Again' tape also as a companion to this one to get all the skits from an entire performance. It's not cheap either if you can find one!It's very possible to spend upwards to $400+ at the current prices for these two tapes if you just have to have them both.I managed to get both VHS tapes for less than $100 here on Amazon so if you're patient it could pay off. Not sure how rare these are getting these days though?So with that in mind beware that you are going to get less than standard VHS quality because this was not filmed with high end type movie cameras just older video cameras of the day.If you can't find or afford these expensive tapes I also suggest watching the skits on YouTube that's a great alternative if you don't want to put out that much money for these things. It will also give you a chance to see first hand the quality that I refer to in this review. Could be a deciding factor for you?My 3 star rating has more to do with visual quality and not so much content. Had this been filmed properly with multiple high end cameras and more professional direction it would easily be 5 stars.They do some of their early live set on the ending of 'Still Smokin' movie but the Perform tapes are the only real way to see a raw, complete, early and rare Cheech & Chong performance.Dave's Not Here!!MAD

Hard to believe this came out during the Reagan administration. Here, nevertheless, is one of the last gasps of the counterculture, and if it is not as tightly plotted (if that is the right word) as the auteurs' Up In Smoke, neither is it as ploddingly episodic as Next Movie and Still Smokin', their other films of note. (Of Things Are Tough All Over and The Corsican Brothers, the less said the better.) There actually is something resembling a story here: the boys amass a fortune selling marijuana and, in the final act's surprise twist, they lose it. Along their picaresque way they encounter unlikely scenarios and people--people including, but not limited to, Paul Reubens, Sandra Bernhard and Dr. Timothy Leary.Not all of the gags hit their target, at least to viewers who are not themselves on drugs, but the beauty of unsuccessful drug jokes is that they do not so much bomb as waft away. Director Chong is no Bergman, but he does present us with sights I do not recall seeing anywhere else: a nude Cheech clings desperately to a glass elevator's exterior; a panicked Cheech backstrokes desperately atop a subterreanean pot farm disguised as a swimming pool; an extraordinarily mellow Stacy Keach slowly turns into a lizard.Plot elements and set-pieces aside, what stays with this reviewer are images of the comedians wandering serenely through a splendid cannabis plantation. They stroll amid the greenery and gently argue about something or other, as quiet country-rock murmurs on the soundtrack. If Cheech and Chong's prior movies were about the sleaziness of the drug scene, this one is about the sylvan beauty of marijuana farms--even if the farms are concealed somewhere in suburban Southern California. There was plenty to worry about in 1981, of course, but this film reminds us that some people were less worried than others.

Rented this for my wife who never saw their movies back in the day. This one is one of my favorites and I'm happy to say that now in our 70's she enjoyed it....completely sober!

This DVD is just a bad video transfer, they should have cleaned it up a bit. You can see all that graininess in most of the movie. And then there's the fact that the movie seemed so much funnier years ago. Oh, well.

Well it was a dee bee dee. It was smooth and round and has one of my favorite C&C movies. Came quick butt not too quick for hours of plessure. Pairs well with BJ's piazza and ben and jerrys phish food.

If I could deduct a 1/2 a star for a damaged DVD case I would.But it is an old movie that's getting harder and harder to find so I'll deal with it.

Wish these bad boys came on BluRay but since they don’t the DVD version will do!! Funny stuff.

I have to admit by being slightly disappointed by the better known Up In Smoke. That film was great for the first half but sufferered badly in the second.Here we have Nice Dreams, that gets off to a slightly groggy start before building up momentum, though I am sure a second viewing will enrich me even more.Nice Dreams works because of it's sequences, the Chinese restaurant being perhaps the highlight. Both Cheech and Chong geniunely look stoned throughout the movie, though their timing here is just brilliant.I think to honestly appreciate this film's qualities you either had to live in these times, ie your age is 35 plus, or you have educated yourself in what Hollywood used to produce not just in media but in social life too back in this time. Nice Dreams is far from being the greatest comedy you will watch, but all the wonderful cultural references are here. The film is way more intelligent than Up In Smoke. And we the viewer even get 'our' own trip in the last 15 mins or so....So whilst I highly recommend this film, you will also hopefully know a lot about yourself before purchasing Nice Dreams- Is this your type of film? Because this film will unfortunetly not appeal to everyone.

Broken case with two dints on disk

Great film. Not dissapointing.

as i saw it before i knew what to expect....100% side splitting laughter!!

A must for fans