The Trip (1967)

Simply A Masterpiece

Best movie ever!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This is a rather odd movie, which is understandable to anyone who has taken hallucinogens. There is no way to explain an LSD, Magic Mushroom, or Peyote trip to anyone who has not had one. Words do not suffice. Pictures do not suffice. How do you explain seeing sound, or smelling colors? You can't.This movie gives it a try and does the best it can, but to all those that see it and have never been tripping, I'm sure it looks like a painting done by a monkey. You just can't put these thoughts on film. Example: One time, in the mid-70's, I took acid with a group of friends. All of a sudden a purple tornado came out of the ceiling and ravaged the room, sucking the emotional content out of everyone there. Now just how do you display that on film? Nicholson, Corman, Fonda, Hopper, and company give it a shot, but it really can't be done. Not then, not now, with all the digital effects available. Valiant effort though, but probably only entertaining to people who know what frying means.

Roger Corman did very well with this "drug film". "The Trip" makes very good sense. Jack Nicholson did an excellent job as a writer for this film as well. Peter Fonda plays Paul, an TV commercial director who has some issues to come with. His wife(Susan Strausberg) is divorcing him because she is downright unfaithful. He would later meet with John(Bruce Dern) who would help him cope, with LSD. Once he has taken it, Paul's world would never be the same. He wouldn't touch anything else when he was at Max's(Dennis Hopper) pad. The tripping out was so intense, he would see things he could never imagine. The strange characters consists of a dwarf, hooded characters, a cackling witch, and women in all sorts. Along with the different strobes of lights, the acts of sex comes to play as well. The wife and other women is so intentionally bold, who would want to think of anything else. Tripping out was big in the 1960's, was also the scariest , Paul would imagine he has found John dead in which he wasn't. He would also think the police was after him following the entry of the little girl's house or the incident at the laundromat. At the end of the trip, he would find himself happy with another woman. What more could you ask for? Going out can exhilarating, but most can get a little overboard, this is indeed far out! 4 out of 5 stars

Dude, all I have to say about this movie is..........WOW!!!! I don't usually go for this type of movie but I saw that it was on Retroplex and I have heard of it for years but have never seen it. The (plot?) is about this soon-to-be-divorced TV commercial director and his LSD trip and the effects it has on him..............that's it. I seen that it was written by Jack Nicholson. What did he have to write???? All there is is a bunch of psychedelic colors, some very loud late 60's music and Peter Fonda running around. Dennis Hopper plays a flipped out drug dealer and Bruce Dern plays Fonda's friend who introduces him to LSD. You won't need any luggage to go on this trip. All you will need is some weed and some LSD and you are on your way.

In the early '80's, Roger Corman gave a talk at the British Film Institute, where he was interviewed by 'Guardian' critic Derek Malcolm. He then fielded questions from the audience. One of these concerned his 1967 film 'The Trip'.Although the then-unknown Jack Nicholson was credited as writer, Corman pointed out that he himself had had input into the script, particularly with regards to the drug scenes. He had used L.S.D., as had Dennis Hopper ( one of the cast ), and their various experiences were incorporated into the film.Spotting the then-head of the British Board of Film Censors - the late James Ferman - in the audience, Malcolm asked him why the B.B.F.C. had twice refused 'The Trip' a certificate. Ferman said he felt the film was an incitement to drug use ( even though other movies featuring drugs were passed without any difficulty whatever ). In 2003 it was finally deemed fit for British audiences.'The Trip' begins with a portentous disclaimer warning the audience about the risks involved in taking L.S.D. Then we see a bride and groom standing on water. No, the trip has not yet started. It is for a television commercial. Paul Groves ( Peter Fonda ), the director, is going through an unhappy time with his divorce to Sally ( Susan Strasberg ) almost complete. He approaches drug dealer John ( a bearded Bruce Dern ) and asks him for L.S.D. as he wants to find out about himself.So Paul swallows the pill and the madness begins. Over the course of seventy-five minutes, he sees kaleidoscopic visions, is chased along a beach by masked figures on horseback, strolls naked through woods with some attractive ( equally naked ) women, is put on trial by Dennis Hopper, and generally has a pretty weird time of it.John initially acts as a minder, stopping Paul from jumping out of the window ( the house is high up on a hill ), but then Paul escapes, and sees the world as a entirely different place. In one excellent scene, he wanders along a street at night and the neon shop signs take on a particularly menacing quality. As he spends most of the movie in a drug-induced haze ( which is after all the point ) it is difficult to praise Fonda's acting. Susan Strasberg is woefully underused, while Salli Sachse is drop dead gorgeous as the drug dealer's girlfriend.James H.Nicholson and Samuel Z.Arkoff apparently intended this as an anti-drug film, but a section of the audience saw it differently, and smoked certain substances during screenings, as they later did with Kubrick's '2001'. Anyone expecting another 'Reefer Madness' will be disappointed though, it is not bad enough to be that.The film proved successful enough to spawn a sequel of sorts - 1968's 'Psych-Out', directed by Richard Rush, which also featured Susan Strasberg and Bruce Dern ( with Jack Nicholson as one of the cast ). I prefer the latter because, unlike 'The Trip', it has a plot.I agree with the commentator who said that the hallucinatory sequences lose their impact or so after a while and the film becomes tough to sit through. Cynthia Lennon, in her book 'A Twist Of Lennon, said that taking L.S.D. was the most frightening experience of her life. I have not used the stuff ( the nearest I got was Barratt's Sherbert Fountain! ) so cannot comment, but if 'The Trip' is to be believed, I do not think I ever will either.We are far from those times now, when people had abstract paintings on their walls, wore colourful clothes, and ended every sentence with 'man'. A modern audience might have difficulty trying to distinguish between the drug scenes and those set in the real world. Interesting then mainly as a curio.