Posted: Monday 18th August 2008

Reviewed by Jason Palmer

Another 80's classic makes it way back onto DVD this week as part of a hilarious double header. Bachelor Party tells the tale of Rick Gassko (Tom Hanks). He is due to marry his sweetheart Debbie Thompson (former model Tawny Kitaen) so his closest friends decide to throw him the mother of all bachelor parties in his honour. The same night, Debbie's friends decide to have a civilized bridal shower but wires get crossed and chaos ensues as both parties get outrageously out of hand! Things get even more complicated when Debbie's scheming ex-boyfriend Cole Whittier (Robert Prescott) attempts to sabotage things in his favour to try and claim Debbie for himself.

This is an absolute gem of a comedy. Hilarious to the point of making me cry, Bachelor Party is an instant eighties classic. Rude, crude and very un-PC in places, it's a real sign of the times and despite it being a comedy for adults, it actually has a few morals thrown in for good measure. It's premise is very simple but the outlandish situations the characters all find themselves in is pure comedy gold...everything from a donkey high on drugs to a male model who performs a world famous party trick with hot dog buns! It may be lowest common denominator comedy but it does it well and with heart.

Tom Hanks and Tawny Kitaen charm as the central couple and Robert Prescott does a great job as the villain of the piece (including an eye- watering scene involving a hooker who he thinks is a woman). Made in 1984, it still holds up to viewing now and definitely acts as a template for similar comedies released recently such as Road Trip and American Pie. Porkys tends to get mentioned as the best frat comedy of the 80's but I disagree as Bachelor Party is far superior a film and definitely deservesanother look.

This box-set also sees the release of the straight to DVD premiere Bachelor Party 2: The Last Temptation. Ron (Josh Cook) has been dating his girlfriend Melinda (Sara Foster – D.E.B.S) for only 2 months but feels she is the one and proposes to her. His closest friends Seth, Derek and Jason want to throw him a bachelor party but all are on a tight budget. Enter Melinda's brother-in-law Todd (Warren Christie). He's a conniving schemer who sees Ron's inclusion into the family as a threat to him inheriting his father-in-laws lucrative business. Indeed the only reason he is married to Melinda's sister is to eventually gain the company. Ron has no interest in replacing him but Todd sees an opportunity to get him out of the picture.

Fanning interest in his brother-in-law to be, Todd promises to throw Ron and his friends a mega bachelor party with no expense spared. Ron is very reluctant to accept such an offer and doesn't expect Todd to have planned various obstacles along the vacation that will test his fidelity towards Melinda. If Todd can make Ron look bad, the wedding will be called off. So will true love win the day or will this last temptation prove too much to resist?

Linked only really by title, Bachelor Party 2 doesn't share any characters with its predecessor however it does retain some of the charm and comedy of the original. Josh Cook does a good job leading the film and the beautiful Sara Foster once again does a great job in portraying Melinda. It's a wonder why she hasn't made the step up into bigger pictures since her impressive debut in D.E.B.S in 2004. The rest of the movie is filled with familiar faces even if you can't quite put a name to a face.The most recognizable actor in this being Harland Williams as Derek. He is hilarious in this movie. Being a fan of his previous work (Dumb and Dumber, Employee of the Month and a brief stint in My Name is Earl) I knew what to expect from this film. Its rude, crude and very un-PC just like the original yet it still comes out as a funny, ridiculous comedy.

You can leave your brain at home for this as its not taxing on the mind but then a film called Bachelor Party was never meant to be high-brow. If you approach this in the right way you will enjoy the ride all the more and is definitely one of the most entertaining straight to DVD premieres that have surfaced over the last few years. Not as good as the original (which was a very tough nut to crack) but still highly amusing and great fun to watch with laugh out loud moments aplenty.