Americathon
| Americathon | |
|---|---|
US VHS cover for the film
|
|
| Directed by | Neal Israel |
| Produced by | Joe Roth |
| Written by |
Phil Proctor & Peter Bergman (play and adaptation) Neal Israel & Michael Mislove & Monica Johnson (screenplay) |
| Starring |
John Ritter Harvey Korman Peter Riegert Fred Willard Jay Leno Chief Dan George |
| Narrated by | George Carlin |
| Music by | Tom Scott |
| Cinematography | Gerald Hirschfeld |
| Edited by | John C. Howard |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by |
United Artists (1979, original) Warner Bros. (2011, DVD) |
|
Release date
|
August 10, 1979 (USA) |
|
Running time
|
86 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Unknown |
| Box office | $6,171,763 |
Americathon (also known as Americathon 1998) is a 1979 American comedy film starring John Ritter, Fred Willard, Peter Riegert, Harvey Korman, and Nancy Morgan, with narration by George Carlin, based on a play by Firesign Theatre alumni Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman. The film also includes appearances by Jay Leno, Meat Loaf, Tommy Lasorda, and Chief Dan George, with a musical performance by Elvis Costello.
Being set 20 years into the future, the film contains many prophetic elements, such as: predicting the demise of the Soviet Union, the prevalence of reality television, and the sale of public assets to the private sector (a trend starting shortly after the film's release.) Also, The Beach Boys are shown still together and recording in 1998.
In the (then-near future) year 1998, the United States has run out of oil, and many Americans are living in their now-stationary cars and using other non-gas-powered means of transportation such as jogging, riding bicycles and rollerskating. Many Americans wear sweatsuits. In search of leadership, Americans elect Chet Roosevelt (Ritter) as President. Roosevelt, a "cosmically inspired" former governor of California, proves to have little else in common with Teddy Roosevelt or FDR other than his name. Roosevelt, an overly-optimistic man who quotes positive affirmation slogans, stages a number of highly publicized fund raising events, all of which fail. Real money comes in the form of loans from a cartel of Native Americans, led by billionaire Sam Birdwater (George), in control of Nike (which has been renamed "National Indian Knitting Enterprise").
...
Wikipedia