Review of Trip, The

Introduction

Roger Corman`s ode to Lysergic Acid Diethylamide is preceded by a weighty social declaration over a black screen should anybody think the studio was condoning drug use. The British certainly did, and the movie was banned by the BBFC until 2003. Even now the film carries an 18 certificate, and considering that the opening of the movie is almost a Drugtaking 101 course with Bruce Dern`s implicit instructions in How To Take A Trip Without Killing Yourself, it`s maybe not surprising it has taken this long to escape on to British screens.

"The Trip" was the second, but more famous/ notorious of two movies of that title released in 1967 on the back of the psychedelia-hippy-drug revolution of the late sixties. Written from an unsurprisingly pro-drug stance by Jack Nicholson and starring Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern and Dennis Hopper, the film tells the story of a director of television commercials (Fonda) who going through a messy divorce, goes on an LSD trip to get in touch with his feelings.

In a spirit of research, Jack Nicholson experienced a controlled LSD trip under laboratory conditions before writing the story. Well, I use the term story loosely as the film is virtually plotless, being an excuse for standard Hollywood dream-sequence visuals and the sort of befuddled philosophy spouted by stoners.

Of course, you wouldn`t expect things to go smoothly and they don`t. The conclusion of the picture is an ending tacked on by studio executives, so you`re not seeing a director`s cut by any stretch of the imagination.

Video

Presented in the original 1.85:1, this anamorphic print from MGM shows the scant regard for the movie subsequent owners have been, with much wear and tear on the print in addition to the cheap and cheerful air that all American International productions had.

Audio

This comes in groovy mono (DD2.0).

Features

Subs. Theatrical Trailer which drags on and on and on... Region 2 viewers have of course been denied the extras included on the R1 disc.

Conclusion

Pass the thorazine. If that`s what acid does for you, you can keep it. Let`s face it, during the sixties the work creative souls did under the influence of illegal substances was looked upon as something profound. The truth is, you wonder what these people might have been capable of with a clear head.