The Apple (1980)

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The acting in this movie is really good.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

F you Eve. It's not bad enough you ate the apple, but now you "inspired" something even worse.Never heard of this? Don't worry; I'm sure the cast and crew hope you never will find out about it. And that's sad. As bad as this was, and it was TERRIBLE, it does look like the cast and crew did put their heart into it. For that, I, sadly, have to raise my rating from the easy 1/10 stars to 2/10 stars. But, don't be fooled; this should never be seen. Or heard.Set in the far-distance/past 1994, the world is run by the obvious devil and his gay entourage. Sign up with him, pay 50% of your "earnings," and, I guess, you'll live? And sing. Sing galore. But, wait! Alphie, the Adam of the story, wants to save his love from the evil crutches and……and I spent too much time on this already. It's an old and obvious plot even for 1980 and contains both awful songs and sets and images from the 60s despite being set in the 90s. Maybe they thought it'd all come back again. Let's hope not.True, I'm not a fan of musicals, and this didn't help much. Don't see this, please don't. For the love of all Electric Boogalow, heed my warning.***Final thoughts: Why did I watch it? Funny you shouldn't ask. I had two movies to catch up to eventually listen to that awesome bad movie podcast, How Did This Get Made? This one and Streets of Fire and since that one was first, I plugged that title into my Amazon Prime account. First hit: The Apple. Initially, I thought the title had changed, but upon research I learned it hadn't and though it was weird this would pop up instead of Streets of Fire, this was the other one I needed to see. So…what…the…hell.

I've read terrible things about this movie. I rented it on the understanding it was the worst musical ever made, possibly the worst movie of the 80s. I'm a connoisseur of sorts of B-Movies. Uwe Boll? I'm there! Crappy old monster movie? Sure! But it took me a LONG time to finally get around to seeing this...And you know what? It blew me away. Is it a bad movie? Hell yes. Are some of the songs ear-bleedingly terrible? Check. But still, it has an absurd charm, a ridiculous, unbelievable air. It left me breathless at the end, and I felt I'd just spent 90 minutes of my life very well.This is the story of two simple Canadian musicians trying to make it in America. The biggest music corporation in America is Bim, run by a nefarious Mr. Boogalow. He is the most powerful agent/manager in the industry, filling the world with soulless pop and rock. He sets his eyes on the Canadian couple, Alfie and Bibi, and tries to get them to sign a contract. While Bibi is happy to, Alfie has a vision of Mr. Boogalow as the devil himself, the contract the apple from the Garden of Eden, and refuses. But with Bibi being pulled into the corrupt world of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll, and Alfie struggling to make it on his own as a love song writer in a world without love, how can they go on? Did I mention it's set in the far flung future of 1994 as envisioned in 1980? A lot of the songs are catchy - "Speed" was stuck in my head for a week after watching it, "Cry For Me" is a fine example of the long distance love duet, "Where Has Love Gone", while a bit whiny, sounds nice, and "I've Found Me" and "Child of Love" are just pretty. Plus the title song... I'm not going to forget that for a LONG time.Of course, the opening number, "Bim's On the Way", is absolutely terrible. But I think that was a part of the message - look at the pop culture our world is worshiping. This isn't art! Also focusing too much on the message and sounding horrible because of it is "Life is Nothing but Show Business in 1994", sung by a mish-mash of performers waiting to meet Mr. Boogalow.The rest of the songs are rather unremarkable... except for a catchy but horridly written song made entirely of innuendo, "Coming". But the less said about that, the better.The acting is largely mediocre or below average, but it works with the cheesiness of the movie. Also, the movie has a VERY fast pace, cramming 14 songs into its 90 minutes.Many of the dances, primarily "Bim's On the Way" (First and Reprise), "Life is Nothing but Show Business in 1994", "The Apple", and "Speed" are gloriously over-produced, with elaborate mass choreography, sprawling sets, and lots of rayon and spandex and inventive lighting.Plus, it has the BEST LINE EVER. You'll know it when you hear it.Overall, you NEED to see this film. Trust me, it's going to blow your mind, one way or the other.

Words cannot express the joy I get whenever I sit down to see THE APPLE. I first experienced it in the best way possible, at an all-night movie marathon with a group of film fanatics. Everything about this film is so grossly over-the-top and gaudy that you just have to marvel that it was ever produced, much less released. I don't want to give anything away, but it is best described as Faust covered in glitter. The music is bad, the acting is worse and the direction is out the window. It's glorious! The lyrics to the songs, though earnest, are so clichéd that they illicit unintentional giggles with every line. The leading man is supposedly from Moosejaw, Canada but mysteriously sports a German accent. The height of future transportation is apparently a station wagon with extra lights attached. You can tell that Golan/Globus (yes, them) thought they were making a sincere statement about the power of love to conquer evil, as there was seemingly a decent budget on the film. Most of the musical numbers are large, crowded affairs and dancers don't come cheap. In summary, any film that features God coming down from the sky in a Heavenly Cadillac is okay by me!

I happened to catch this movie on first run while I was going to college. I'm a huge fan of Phantom of the Paradise (1974) and thought this movie was going to be similar. Simply put, this is the worst movie I have ever seen. To date it's the only movie I've walked out of (the reason I still remember it 26 years later). I wasn't alone in my disgust either, after my girlfriend and I left the theater and were waiting for friends who had gone to another movie in the same complex, a number of other people also exited the theater.The previous reviewer describes the movie quite well. However I would add that it's a ridiculous and disturbing view of the future that thankfully never came close to reality.Hopefully the master has turned to dust and the world will be spared from a DVD release.