200 Motels

R

Released Nov 10, 1971

1h 38m

Musical

Comedy

List

50%

Tomatometer

8 Reviews

68%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

With help from a former Beatle, Ringo Starr, and a member of the Who, Keith Moon, Frank Zappa and his band draw on their own experiences in this mockumentary about the lives of peripatetic rock stars. Director Zappa takes his cameras backstage, offering a glimpse of what it's like to be out on tour. In contrast to the popular perception, life on the road isn't very glamorous, unless you're into bad drugs, awful sex and the endless pursuit of applause and a little spending money.

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Vincent Canby

New York Times

200 Motels has no particular focal point, being principally an anthology of poor jokes and spectacular audio-visual effects, a few of which might expand the mind, but all of which, taken together, are like an overdose of Novocain.

Rated: 2.5/5

Sep 10, 2007

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

The incidents are often outrageously irreverent. The comedy is fast and furious, both sophisticated and sophomoric.

Sep 10, 2007

Full Review

Trevor Johnston

Time Out

A real dinosaur.

Sep 10, 2007

Full Review

Nat Freedland

Billboard

... Despite the occasional moments of daffy brilliance we'd expect with any product associated with Frank Zappa, 200 Motels is a chaotic bum-trip.

Mar 28, 2023

Full Review

Tony Mastroianni

Cleveland Press

200 Motels may pass for sophistication in some quarters but sophomoric is a better description. It is a mixture of rock music and fantasy with very little story line.

Sep 15, 2007

Full Review

TV Guide

The film is a marvelous whirl of color and visual effects, with some fine animation and Zappa's delicious wit present throughout the entire production.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 10, 2007

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D M

Really a great movie if you don't take it all too seriously. It's very witty.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/25/24

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Audience Member

An absurd vision from a drug addled mind to splendorous effect. Packed to the gills with imaginative scenes and surprisingly good acting from Zappa's band-mates and colleagues. A bit nonsensical in its storyline, but works perfectly for the psychadelically induced. 200 motels had a one and a million chance to be made by a major motion picture studio but I'm glad Zappa's vision slipped through the cracks.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Blobbo like Zappa, some Zappa music. But unwatchable movie give Blobbo eyestrain.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Audience Member

I'm as big a Zappa fan as the next guy, but this was pure shite. I get the gist of the message: rock, groupies, drugs and alcohol. But a good portion of the film is just gags and vignettes that are annoying and pointless. Never a fan of Flo and Eddie anyway, just dick and pussy jokes. Yeah, ha ha ha if your 15, not as grown men. The music, story line (if you can call it that), drug-like effects all fail. Cool to see all the band members, as I hadn't seen them before, but once the novelty ran out I turned the film off. One of the worst movies I've ever seen. And to think Zappa never did drugs.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A true tinseltown rebellion, where Zappa does with video effects what he does with the guitar: Shreds your visual imagination in the same way he shreds your aural imagination.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Walked out the theater after watching 10 minutes (in 1972). Still the worst movie I ever saw. But it was a good place the smoke pot!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

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Tony Palmer

Director

Frank Zappa

Director

The Mothers of Invention

Actor

Theodore Bikel

Rance Muhammitz

Ringo Starr

Larry The Dwarf

Keith Moon

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Synopsis

With help from a former Beatle, Ringo Starr, and a member of the Who, Keith Moon, Frank Zappa and his band draw on their own experiences in this mockumentary about the lives of peripatetic rock stars. Director Zappa takes his cameras backstage, offering a glimpse of what it's like to be out on tour. In contrast to the popular perception, life on the road isn't very glamorous, unless you're into bad drugs, awful sex and the endless pursuit of applause and a little spending money.

Director: Tony Palmer, Frank Zappa
Screenwriter: Frank Zappa
Production Co: Bizarre Productions, Murakami-Wolf Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Musical, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 10, 1971, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2017
Runtime: 1h 38m