Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Spirit of '76

Play trailer Poster for Spirit of '76 PG-13 Released Oct 12, 1990 1h 22m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
80% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 54% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Two guys (David Cassidy, Geoff Hoyle) and a girl (Olivia d'Abo) from the future go by time machine back to 1776; they miss it by 200 years.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Spirit of '76

Critics Reviews

View All (5) Critics Reviews
Jon Niccum Lawrence Journal-World Uneven but fairly amusing sendup of '70s culture Rated: 3/5 Dec 2, 2005 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Sep 8, 2005 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...the film's just not funny... Rated: 2/4 Nov 6, 2004 Full Review Scott Weinberg eFilmCritic.com Long before Austin Powers and That 70's Show "created" the 1970's nostalgia wave there was a cheap little indie comedy that came and went before anybody noticed. Rated: 3.5/5 Apr 27, 2004 Full Review Gerry Shamray Your Movies (cleveland.com) You might get a campish kick from The Spirit of '76...Where else can you find a film that has teen idol David Cassidy sharing time with new wave fave Devo? Rated: 3.5/5 Jun 5, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (21) audience reviews
Audience Member I really liked it. Funny story. I took my then girlfriend, who was quite a bit younger than me, to see the movie. She kept turning to me and would comment about "can you believe people used to wear pants like those (bell bottoms)" and the like. Made me feel really, really old - and that was back then! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Quite cheesy, but entertaining at the same time. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member new favorite? haha. a must see. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member This one cracked me up! I love a movie that doesn't take itself seriously. More cameos than you can shake a stick at too. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review eric b As if you couldn't already tell from the DVD cover, "The Spirit of '76" is a silly blast of nostalgic kitsch. The year is 2176. A trio of American scientists from a gray, cheerless future aim to travel back in time to 1776, in order to find the forgotten Constitution and rediscover what once made their country wonderful. But their rickety capsule has a technical glitch, and they are sent back to 1976 instead. They soon meet up with two vapid teen brothers (played by Redd Kross' Steve and Jeff McDonald), and the plot doesn't go much further than this. Instead, we're just bombarded with a parade of campy '70s references, none of which are especially arcane or knowing. Disco, mood rings, Pop Rocks, feathered hair, smiley faces, the Bicentennial...you can guess the rest. The casting may be more entertaining than the script. Former teen idols David Cassidy and Leif Garrett have prominent roles, and there's something oddly epic about seeing them share a scene near the end. Other vintage icons playing along with the joke include Rob Reiner (his brother Lucas wrote and directed the film), Carl Reiner, Barbara Bain ("Mission Impossible," "Space: 1999"), Tommy Chong and Iron Eyes Cody, while then-trendy figures like Moon Zappa, Julie Brown and members of DEVO also turn up in cameos. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Supposedly one of the first movies to spoof 70's culture, opening the floodgates for a bunch of other shit.. This was just not very good.. I remember enjoying it a lot more when I was younger.. The McDonald brothers from Red Kross are the best thing in the movie.. Oh and Devo.. And Rodney Snodgrass is the most annoying character in cinematic history.. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Spirit of '76

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Leningrad Cowboys Go America 100% 85% Leningrad Cowboys Go America Watchlist Problem Child 2 7% 42% Problem Child 2 Watchlist Worth Winning 0% 43% Worth Winning Watchlist We're No Angels 48% 41% We're No Angels Watchlist City Slickers 87% 65% City Slickers Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Two guys (David Cassidy, Geoff Hoyle) and a girl (Olivia d'Abo) from the future go by time machine back to 1776; they miss it by 200 years.
Director
Lucas Reiner
Producer
Susie Landau, Simon Edery
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 12, 1990, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA)
$10.0K
Runtime
1h 22m
Sound Mix
Surround
Most Popular at Home Now