Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40127 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-06-01
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.com
Is Back to the Beach a masterpiece of postmodernism? Or just a slaphappy hoot? Hey, why can't it be both? Either way, this is a zippy tribute to/spoof of the 1960s Beach Party pictures. Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, landlocked in the Midwest since their surfing days, return to the California sun with their wild kids. There are mucho gags about the earlier films (including Frankie on a surfboard in front of a cheesy rear-projection wave), and cameos (much of the Leave It to Beaver cast, surf-guitar king Dick Dale). Pee-wee Herman sails in to perform "Surfin' Bird," and Annette teaches a thousand people "The Jamaican Ska." All that's missing is Erich von Zipper. This is a genuinely smart and funny movie, although it helps to know the original films, so you can savor the moment a beach boy gazes at Annette and marvels, "After all that surfing, her hair's perfectly dry!" --Robert Horton

From the Back Cover
Cowabunga! The surfing '60s ride into the new wave as Frankie and Annette star in this hip update of their old-time, good-time beach movies. With special appearances by Bob Denver, Tony Dow, Pee-Wee Herman, Jerry Mathers and other familiar faces.

Customer Reviews

Wild delight
Can't wait for the DVD to arrive!
It's amazing how some people just can't see the humour in this totally insane parody of the early Beach movies.
However, both Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello -- and Connie Stevens for that matter -- seem to enjoy sending up their earlier screen personas, and this movie is wildly enjoyable as long as you don't expect anything more than a totally mad, insane parody of a genre.
The director of this movie is an Australian, which probably helps explain the nature of the comedy content. I'm Australian, which helps!
But ignore the 'one-star, worst film ever made' type of reviews, and give this a chance -- it is MEANT to be an over-the-top cheesy take-off, and if you enjoy absurdity, you'll love it.

A wonderful parody of 60's beach movies. Great fun!
For anyone who has sat through the mindless Frankie and Annette beach movies this is a real treat! In retrospect, the original movies are fun time capsules of the early sixties and this film trashes them all. Frankie and Annette are back as a married couple with children returning to their old beach for a vacation. The plot is the same lame one used in every beach movie (surfers vs. punks, jealous girlfriends, boy loses girl, boy gets girl, etc...) and there are numerous cameos throughout the film (Alan Hale, Bob Denver, the Cleavers, Peewee Herman, and many others). Connie Stevens is Great, and everyone looks like they had a blast making this film. Anyone who has any love for the old beach movies will really enjoy the self-parody of "Back to the Beach".

My last, fond memory of delightful, courageous Annette.
Annette Funicello said in an interview that she had already begun experiencing the symptoms of MS when this last Beach movie was made. She didn't have much of a career after these movies. Annette always embodied the spirit of the decent, all-American girl. The only thing you can do for Annette now is to buy all of her movies and insist that a portion of the purchase price go toward finding a cure for MS and ALS. That would be a fitting tribute.