Audience Member
It was necessary for the US government to destroy their world in order to save it, like in that short animated opening. And while anyone over 25 was killed by the gas, I knew the actual scenes were actually off-screen. The rest of the film shows a group of youthful hippies survivors in the desert, and that's all it shows. But my viewing experience got a little slow, and except for Cindy Williams and Talia Shire, I don't know anyone else here. I think the story needed something more for excitement: GAS!!!
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/03/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I loved Gas-s-s-s (or it became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.), this movie is hilarious and has a lot of charming quirky characters, plus an interesting end of world story, I highly recommend it. Overall, an interesting early 70s movie.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Roger Corman's GAS-S-S /GAS!-OR- IT BECAME NECESSARY TO DESTROY THE WORLD IN ORDER TO SAVE IT [1970]: By the start of the 1970's the legendary B-movie and exploitation producer Roger Corman decided to leave American International Pictures (AIP). Corman was one of the key factors for AIP's creation with producing and co-writing the studios first film THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS [1955]. From that point onwards most of Corman's films were made, released and distributed by AIP, but after producing and directing one final film for AIP Corman left the studio and when on to form his own studio. GAS!-OR- IT BECAME NECESSARY TO DESTROY THE WORLD IN ORDER TO SAVE IT [1970] is one typical film that was aimed and made for counter culture audiences and is one of Corman's decent sized productions . GAS! By today's standards is just a dated comedy with not much appeal to most film buffs but to cult film nuts (such as myself) that like and admire the flimography of Roger Corman GAS! Or GAS-S-S marks a key moment in Corman's career. GAS! As a random, screwball, counter -culture, post-apocalyptic black comedy movie makes little sense and has a bizarre comical plotline.
The Plotline (or lack of a continuous plotline or something resembling a plot): The movie starts off with a pre-title sequence with a surreal animated where a General (voiced by a bad John Wayne impression) and a Senator accidently realise a deadly gas which kills everyone over the age of 25. After the opening credits the young male and female protagonist meet up with a group and go across country for some reason. On their journey they have trouble with a group of cowboy bandits, which result in a screw ball gunfight which the characters shout out western outlaw's names, country singers and western movie stars. And guess what name wins the fight? The lead protagonist wins the fight wins the battle by shouting out the name of the duke, John Wayne. The rest of the film the group deal with mad football players who have become bandits and bikers who have taken over a country club and have become upper class and ideal citizens.
The plotline lacks what one might call continuity between events in the script; in fact each event is bridged by a small and weak link. In fact I feel the lack of continuity was deliberate by the makers of this film since it was aimed at counter culture audiences. I cannot help but to wonder that the makers were well aware that there was a high probability audience would have been stoned and which explains the fade in a fade out plot structure of GAS! The acting, direction and cinema-photography are all good but there is little I can comment on aside for the lack of continuity with this films plotline, it's that odd and bizarre it's almost like if I was to stop writing a review and start a blog list in the middle of this review with little linking it to the main body of the review.
You know as a cult movie hound I've watched so many cult films that have weird titles and are just plain bad that makes GAS!-OR- IT BECAME NECESSARY TO DESTROY THE WORLD IN ORDER TO SAVE IT [1970] seem above average. So I'm going to list 12 cult movie titles that are just bad and have a bad title which is what I call THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE REVIEW WHERE THE REVIEWER STOPPED WRITING A REVIEW AND BECAME A BLOG LIST (WHICH CONFUSED THE READER)!!??!!
Blog List Subject; 12 OF THE MOST RIDICULOUS CULT MOVIE TITLES
12. TERROR IS A MAN [1959]: This movie is all about a Panther-Man on the loose on a small island, the title however much like the movie is a big joke, Terror Is A Man ha, ha, ha.... more like terror is a panther.
11. ZAAT [1975]: A mad former Nazi scientist living in Florida turns himself into a catfish monster with his plan/formula Zaat. To be honest zaat is a very ridiculous title for an equally ridiculous movie.
10. REDNECK ZOMBIES [1989]: When Rednecks accidently use nuclear waste in their moonshine, which turns the Redneck drinkers into..... Yeah the ridiculous title can fill that blank.
9. BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORLLIA [1952]; more like Bela Lugosi meets two horrible Martin & Lewis impersonators.
8. ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES [1959]: From Roger Corman and AIP made and realised this ridiculous and silly swap dwelling horror film.
7. THE KILLER SHREWS [1959]: only the 1950's Atom-Aged B-movie boom could only come up with something that silly ......Killer Shrews LOL.
6. SURF NAZI'S MUST DIE! [1986]: An elderly black woman hunts down her sons' killers which just happen to be an evil surfer gang called the Surf Nazis. What does the Woman think about the surfers that the SURF NAZI'S MUST DIE!
5. THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURE WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXIED UP ZOMBIES!!? [1964]; The world's only Zombie Musical set in an amusement park, this movie is filled with un-erotic dance numbers, consent shot of the carnival rides ,Zombies , one bloody long and silly title.
4. WEREWOLF IN A GIRLS DORMITORY [1961]: A dull, dubbed in English, Italian werewolf movie with the original title of LYCANTHROPUS and an army of alternate titles more silly than Werewolf In A Girls Dormitory like GHOUL IN A GIRLS DORMITORY, THE GHOUL IN SCHOOL, MONSTER AMONGST THE GIRLS and one unbelievable title for a horror film I MARRIED A WEREWOLF..... O_0 um how is the title I MARRIED A WEREWOLF scary I wonder, s%@t Werewolf In A Girls Dormitory sounds more morbid and terrifying in comparison.....EVEN THOUGH THEY BOTH ARE F#$KEN SILLY.
3. SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTINS [1964]: A low-budget Christmas nightmare with an unbelievable title, Ho-Ho-Horrible film.
2. TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE [1959]: yes another film with a stupid title that's so ridiculous only the during 1950's B-movie craze could harbour a movie this ridiculous, complete with Giant Space Lobster and human Aliens called Derrick.
And now for the cult movie with the worst title of all time....
1. SANTA AND THE ICE CREAM BUNNY [1972]; Ho-Ho-Ho Oh god why was this movie even made? Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny is one unbelievably dumb film with and even dumber title. WORST MOVIE TITLE EVER!
Honorary mention
BETTA, BETTA IN THE WALL, WHO'S THE FATTEST FISH OF ALL? [1970] why isn't this on the list? Well I've only seen the trailer to this film with this original title, the actual title of this film is ODDLY COUPLED and according to the wild trailer it's a comedy about a 35 year old virgin male petrol pump assistant that meets a 300 pound female nymphomaniac x-P. So that cover lets jump right back into GAS!
So you might be thinking why was listing movie title fully relevant to the context of this review of this film? Well it's an example and an irrelevant spoof of how wild ,unpredictable and irrelevant this comedy movie is, sure it's mildly amusing (hopefully just like my review-blog-list) but its lack of secure continuity between plot events that get a little annoying (much like this review's sudden blog-list). GAS! Is a mild blast of zoned out late 1960's style and comedy which is worthy of a rating 60%.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/22/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I love Roger Corman and B-movies, but Gas! is true piece of garbage. I guess it is terrifying in one way: it depicts a world in which only hippies are left. The film's plot is somewhat provocative: everyone over 25 is killed by a gas released by the government. But what is left behind are apathetic hippies, fascist football players, democratically authoritarian Hell's Angels, etc. The world left behind makes one wish the gas had killed everyone, for the people left are not worthy of existence : ) Gas! is a film that is so hippie that it's annoying. It's meant to be a comedy but is seldom funny. It's meant to be trippy, but it's in the most stereotypical way possible. It's meant to be revolutionary, but it ultimately demonstrates how the hippie ideals of drugs, free love, and peace only made them weak. It depicts a revolutionary group that needs a strong dose of real Marx, Fanon, Gramsci, etc. instead of Country Joe and the Fish. Yes, Woodstock was a cultural phenomenon, but Gas! just proves that it was only a reactionary one and not a truly revolutionary one.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The government christens their new biological chemical warfare research facility by cracking a canister of gas against the building, which spreads around the world killing everyone over 25. Those first minutes are animated, and it doesn't get much funnier or better when they switch to live action. Mostly a bad caricature of hippies and 70s revolutionaries, there are a few reasons why you might suffer through "Gas-s-s!" anyway. It has a few funny and disturbing moments, like a gunfight where each shot is accompanied by shouting the name of a movie cowboy. The more awesome or iconic the actor's name, the more likely to wound or kill your target. It has the kind of reactionary anti-feminism you'd expect from any average 60s or 70s film, exemplified by several rape jokes. Our heroes stumble into a small town run by high school football team warlords. To get psyched up for their big game against El Paso (invading and taking over the city, I assume), they run through a banner that says, "Go team! Rape, pillage, loot!" Players then run through exercises like hammering through walls, carrying looted TVs through an obstacle course, and several men sprinting after one woman, tackling her, you get the picture. Wacky chase scenes on dune buggies, golf carts and bulldozers at various parts of the movie look like outtakes from The Monkees TV show. Anyway, the not-quite-redeeming positive qualities are music throughout by Country Joe and the Fish, plus an odd cast including Bud Cort, Ben Vereen and Cindy Williams.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I love Roger Corman and B-movies, but Gas! is true piece of garbage. I guess it is terrifying in one way: it depicts a world in which only hippies are left. The film's plot is somewhat provocative: everyone over 25 is killed by a gas released by the government. But what is left behind are apathetic hippies, fascist football players, democratically authoritarian Hell's Angels, etc. The world left behind makes one wish the gas had killed everyone, for the people left are not worthy of existence : ) Gas! is a film that is so hippie that it's annoying. It's meant to be a comedy but is seldom funny. It's meant to be trippy, but it's in the most stereotypical way possible. It's meant to be revolutionary, but it ultimately demonstrates how the hippie ideals of drugs, free love, and peace only made them weak. It depicts a revolutionary group that needs a strong dose of real Marx, Fanon, Gramsci, etc. instead of Country Joe and the Fish. Yes, Woodstock was a cultural phenomenon, but Gas! just proves that it was only a reactionary one and not a truly revolutionary one.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/27/23
Full Review
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