MovieChat Forums > Young Einstein (1989) Discussion > Why wasn't this movie more popular in th...

Why wasn't this movie more popular in the U.S.?

posted 21 years ago by OCOKA
37 replies | jump to latest

I was completely unaware of this movie as it wasn't playing in my neck of the woods in the Southern U.S. in 1988. However, when Iwent to Germany in the summer of 1990, it was still in circulation and being played at several major movie houses in Frankfurt a.M. and elsewhere, where it was immensely well received.

The question is, why didn't this classic movie receive a wider cinematic release in the U.S.? I just loved this film to bits and I thought the story was so fresh and original. Its humor was really Australian -- which was really refreshing. This may have been the reason why it was dismissed by major distributors in the U.S.

Nevertheless, I clearly regard this flick as perhaps the BEST movie of 1988. Period. (I also loved the soundtrack title song: "Great Southern Land".)

[–] sanctuary_thirteen 15 years ago

Honestly, after seeing this movie again for the first time SINCE 1988, I think this movie was at least 10 years ahead of its time. I realize in a lot of ways its just a dumb comedy, but in others, it shines.

[–] wraggio 14 years ago

This movie was advertised a lot on HBO when it first became available. It was just really bad, and it still is.

[–] BillyBob72 8 years ago

I saw it in a theater in Fayetteville, North Carolina when it was originally released. This was before that town had mega-plex theaters with 20 screens, and they all had only 3 screens back then. So some movies just didn't get shown. But yet, they showed this.