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Campus Man
Paramount // PG // September 9, 2003
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Filmed on-location at Arizona State University, 1987's Campus Man stars John Dye as beleaguered business student Todd Barrett. Faced with a choice between forking over ten thousand dollars for tuition or flipping burgers for the rest of his life, Todd's entrepreneurial sensibilities provide a seemingly perfect solution. Practically every wall on campus is plastered with calendars of scantily-clad women...why not turn the concept on its head and put out a calendar of some of ASU's more prominent men for 'a celebration of male athleticism'? Todd doesn't have much trouble finding eleven candidates to fill its pages, and rounding out the calendar is its cover boy, his pal and roommate, Brett Wilson (Steve Lyon). Brett's the star of the university's diving team and one of the most lusted after men on campus, and his presence and reluctant promotion of the calendar send sales through the roof.
Of course, it's kind of hard to kill 87 minutes if things go entirely according to plan. To cover the startup costs of getting the calendar out the door, Todd turns to a shady loan shark named Cactus Jack (Miles O'Keefe, who MST3K fans ought to recognize as Ator) that's tacked on an astronomical interest rate, and it's quickly approaching time for the bar-brawlin' cowboy to collect. The calendar also attracts the attention of Katherine Van Buren from Image Magazine, who wants to use Brett to promote her publication and appear on its cover as embodying the Man of the Eighties. Todd relentlessly bugs Brett to sign on with Image, but all Brett is concerned with is his one true love, diving. Even that is threatened when Todd's quest for cash conflicts with Brett's spot on the diving team.
Campus Man is kind of like Tapeheads, only instead of music videos, it has calendars, and instead of being funny, it's...not. It's not so much that Campus Man strives for laughs and fails; it's one of those distinctively '80s movies that, despite lacking any obvious attempts at humor, is lumped in as a comedy just because it doesn't clearly fit snugly under any other genre classification. There are no real madcap hijinks until the last reel, and even then, Todd's scheming doesn't reach any sort of comedic proportions. Campus Man's biggest appeal is probably that it's as late-'80s as a flick can get, from the mullets to the garish Miami Vice suits to its keyboard-driven soundtrack. Other than that, I don't really know what to make of it. Campus Man is not boring or painfully unfunny or ineptly acted, but not being completely awful isn't exactly the sort of praise that warrants forking over a credit card for a purchase. I just sat on my couch, patiently waiting to be entertained, and I never really was.
I've seen two different list prices floating around for Campus Man -- the astonishingly low $9.99, a surprising price point for a new DVD release from Paramount, and a heftier sticker price of $19.99. It doesn't really matter which it is, though, since this disc doesn't cry out for a purchase at either price. Campus Man is an unremarkable movie whose datedness is its chief appeal, and its release on DVD doesn't really inspire much enthusiasm either.
Video: Campus Man is presented at an aspect ratio of approximately 1.75:1, and the disc is enhanced for widescreen displays. The DVD's appearance reflects its age, low-budget, and relative obscurity. The image boasts bland, dated colors, quite a bit of film grain, a smattering of speckles, and unimpressive crispness and clarity. This DVD is watchable, but don't go in expecting to use Campus Man as showcase material for your home theater.
Audio: The Dolby Digital mono track (192Kbps) required a bit of fiddling with the remote. Some of the muttered dialogue was a little too low to fully discern, and I'd obviously crank up the volume to compensate. Inevitably, a minute or two later, the surprisingly loud synth-drenched '80s soundtrack (including tunes by Corey Hart, Timbuk 3, and Michael "Maniac" Sembello) would kick in, and I'd have to reach out for the remote again. The track is passably decent for the most part, though I did find myself missing a line here or there.
Campus Man also includes English subtitles and closed captions.
Supplements: Nothin', not even so much as a theatrical trailer.
Campus Man comes packaged in a keepcase, with the original poster art retooled to have a few orange-tinted shots of Morgan Fairchild tiled in the background. The disc's static menus are enhanced for widescreen televisions, and the movie's fourteen chapter stops are listed on the nicely-designed calendar-style insert.
Conclusion: Despite its bargain basement pricing from Paramount, available online shipped for under six bucks, Campus Man doesn't offer enough entertainment value to warrant even that meager price. '80s completists may want to give it a look as a rental, but I wouldn't recommend Campus Man as a purchase sight-unseen.
Of course, it's kind of hard to kill 87 minutes if things go entirely according to plan. To cover the startup costs of getting the calendar out the door, Todd turns to a shady loan shark named Cactus Jack (Miles O'Keefe, who MST3K fans ought to recognize as Ator) that's tacked on an astronomical interest rate, and it's quickly approaching time for the bar-brawlin' cowboy to collect. The calendar also attracts the attention of Katherine Van Buren from Image Magazine, who wants to use Brett to promote her publication and appear on its cover as embodying the Man of the Eighties. Todd relentlessly bugs Brett to sign on with Image, but all Brett is concerned with is his one true love, diving. Even that is threatened when Todd's quest for cash conflicts with Brett's spot on the diving team.
 |
| Part of me, and I believe I know which part it is, thinks that maybe I'm not a member of the target demographic. |
I've seen two different list prices floating around for Campus Man -- the astonishingly low $9.99, a surprising price point for a new DVD release from Paramount, and a heftier sticker price of $19.99. It doesn't really matter which it is, though, since this disc doesn't cry out for a purchase at either price. Campus Man is an unremarkable movie whose datedness is its chief appeal, and its release on DVD doesn't really inspire much enthusiasm either.
Video: Campus Man is presented at an aspect ratio of approximately 1.75:1, and the disc is enhanced for widescreen displays. The DVD's appearance reflects its age, low-budget, and relative obscurity. The image boasts bland, dated colors, quite a bit of film grain, a smattering of speckles, and unimpressive crispness and clarity. This DVD is watchable, but don't go in expecting to use Campus Man as showcase material for your home theater.
Audio: The Dolby Digital mono track (192Kbps) required a bit of fiddling with the remote. Some of the muttered dialogue was a little too low to fully discern, and I'd obviously crank up the volume to compensate. Inevitably, a minute or two later, the surprisingly loud synth-drenched '80s soundtrack (including tunes by Corey Hart, Timbuk 3, and Michael "Maniac" Sembello) would kick in, and I'd have to reach out for the remote again. The track is passably decent for the most part, though I did find myself missing a line here or there.
Campus Man also includes English subtitles and closed captions.
Supplements: Nothin', not even so much as a theatrical trailer.
Campus Man comes packaged in a keepcase, with the original poster art retooled to have a few orange-tinted shots of Morgan Fairchild tiled in the background. The disc's static menus are enhanced for widescreen televisions, and the movie's fourteen chapter stops are listed on the nicely-designed calendar-style insert.
Conclusion: Despite its bargain basement pricing from Paramount, available online shipped for under six bucks, Campus Man doesn't offer enough entertainment value to warrant even that meager price. '80s completists may want to give it a look as a rental, but I wouldn't recommend Campus Man as a purchase sight-unseen.
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