Mad Magazine presents Up the Academy

MAD Magazine Presents Up the Academy is a film from 1980 that was sponsored by Mad magazine. Mad had seen all the success that National Lampoon was having so they wanted their own motherfucking movie check.  Well the film ,according to Mad,turned out so bad that they sued and got their named removed from the cable and VHS releases.And also had a short scene with Alfred E. Newman removed. I had heard about this infamous film since I was a kid,and being a huge fan of Mad had always wanted to see it. Finally back near the beginning of the year I found the DVD at Biglots. And the DVD is the same cut as the original theatrical cut.

Directed by Robert Downy,father of Robert Downy Jr, this film has the screen debut of Ralph Macchio. It also has Tom Poston and Ringo Star's wife Barbara Bach. It is set at a military academy and is about the adventures of a group of misfits. Some highlights are one of the students hitting on and then smoking a joint with the lovely Ms Bach. Tom Poston as a very queenly instructor who loves conducting "bed checks". And Antonio "Huggy Bear" Fargas as a cruel soccer coach. Now this isn't a great comedy. But it isn't bad,and I really can't see why Mad wanted their name removed. It is better than anything MADtv ever did. If you are a fan of all the 80 teen sex comedies like "Private School","Zapped" or "King Frat" this is worth a watch. Mad Magazine presents Up the Academy gets a B-.