Product Description

Studio: Wea-des Moines Video Release Date: 09/23/2003

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8648 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-09-23
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 87 minutes

Amazon.com
Movies with "wacky" titles are almost never any good, and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! was intentionally made to be an instant golden turkey. Despite that, and the grade-Z production values, this is a regularly funny film. You need to be a fan of the kind of low-budget horror movie it's spoofing, and you need to be very forgiving of the technical ineptness and frequent clunkers, but it works. The story? Well, tomatoes attack, basically. Jack Riley and the San Diego Chicken are in it, and that genuinely alarming helicopter crash you see in an early scene was a real accident. Seen now, the whole ratty affair brings back agreeable memories of the circa-1978 college-movie/midnight-cinema era, when seeing this film was virtually unavoidable. The sequel, Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (with a young George Clooney), is actually an even funnier film. Director John De Bello would continue to squeeze the Tomatoes franchise for years to come. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Meeting Expectations
What so many people don't realize is that Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was made to be bad. It was written as a cheesy satirie of a silly genre of films. I think it achieved that. The expectations were met. There are two classic scenes: The Japanese scientist being dubbed and the slow speed car chase. They both stand out in my mind. A bit of trivia: The helicopter crash early in the movie was real. They didn't plan on it crashing, but got it on film. Nobody was hurt, but the helicopter was obviously destroyed. Jack Riley (the future Mr. Carlin on the Bob Newhart Show) was in it when it crashed.

Finally: The guy in the Arab outfit in the final scene was me. I wonder why my career didn't take off after that? Oh, well.

A worthy cult classic
No sense in making fun of the script - the plot couldn't possibly work. No sense making fun of the special effects - you can see the wheels on some of the tomatoes. No sense making fun of the music - it'll only come back to haunt you in the late hours.

Somehow the over the top kitsch makes this movie a classic. You have to laugh. And watch it again and laugh some more. And watch it again making up drinking games as you go. No wonder it's become a cult classic.

Not a classic quality movie, but a prime example of excellence in the B-cult genre.

Great--BUT!! WARNING!!! Don't buy Director's Cut!
This movie is a classic goofball flick: you'll love it or hate it. I love it!

I am mainly writing this as a warning about the "Director's Cut" version of the film that Disney released. Viewers should be warned, this is not good! It's true that a cut scene or two is added back in...but the payoff isn't worth the price. The movie is interrupted several times for comments from the director!!!!! And they cut out the Advertising song!!!!! ("They sell, they buy, and only I know why!") Try to find a full copy, the restored scene is feeble, and isn't worth the interruptions and loss of the terrible, terrible song.