Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

RaspberryLucozade In July 1971, 'On The Buses' made its way to the big screen. Its astonishing box office performance not only won it the title of 'most popular film of 1971' ( even beating 'Diamonds Are Forever' ) but also prompted a sequel in June 1972 - 'Mutiny On The Buses'.The first film drew some complaints for the coarsening of the humour. 'Mutiny On The Buses', if not worse, was no better, with toilet humour ( Little Arthur constantly trying to take a dump on his potty while the family are eating ) and even violence ( Olive and another clippie have a cat-fight at the busmen's darts match ) being introduced. Wolfe and Chesney yet again wrote and produced while Harry Booth was brought in again as director.The main basis of the plot is this - Stan becomes engaged to sexy clippie Suzy ( Janet Mahoney ). She wants them to buy a house together but when he fails to come up with enough money for the deposit, he suggests that they live with his family for the time being, but Suzy is reluctant to settle down unless they have their own space. However Stan's dreams of moving out are thwarted when Arthur loses his job and is unable to support the family. In desperation, Stan teaches Arthur to drive so he can get a job as a bus driver.Arthur's first attempt at driving is a disaster. He takes of at great speed, with Stan dangling from the door of the cab, only then to crash into a nearby stable. Eventually, he improves and gets a job as a driver. A sub-plot has Stan and Blakey driving a tour bus around Windsor Safari Park, only for a lion to climb aboard the bus and then later a chimpanzee!It's an okay film, but in my view the first one is better. It is by and large episodic, one scene where Stan and Jack tow Arthur's motorbike on the back of the bus was a direct lift from the series two episode 'The Used Combination' while Stan and Jack tampering with the radios newly installed in their buses was taken from the series three instalment 'Radio Control'. The Safari park sequence towards the end for me is when the film starts to grow tiresome. However Hammer Films must have been impressed enough with it as a third and final film - 'Holiday On The Buses' - went on release in December 1973. Among the best scenes were the cat-fight between Olive and 'Nymphie Norah' ( a clippie who Arthur seems to have a thing going with, played by Pat Asthon ), which culminates in Norah getting a jug of water tipped over her head by Mrs. Butler, a botched fire drill at the depot in which the whole depot is engulfed in foam, Stan reversing into the bus company's new van, crushing it like a beer can and Olive falling off of Arthur's bike and down a manhole. The film's catchy theme tune was an accordion arrangement composed by Ron Grainer.A continuity problem occurs here - Olive at the end of the film claims she is pregnant for a second time yet the new baby never appeared in the next film. Did she have a miscarriage? Was she lying in order to guilt Stan into not leaving home? We never found out.Funniest bit - the twice mentioned cat-fight sequence!

oldskoolsi As a Hammer completist I was dreading the time when I would have to raise the courage to watch this film and the one following it, Holiday on the Buses. I had seen One the Buses the film and thought it one of the worst films I have ever seen. It was full of all the awful comedy that plagued British TV screens around the early 70's.I am ashamed to say that there were actually parts of this film that I laughed at. I don't know if it was because I was now familiar with the characters and enjoyed some of the situations, knowing how they would react. I found Blakey particularly funny, although I could swear at no point in the trilogy does he say his catchphrase, "I'll get you Butler".Having watched Holiday on the Buses the jokes were starting to wear thin and these three films could be compared to an early Hammer trilogy, Dick Barton, in that the second film made is the best (although this is probably the only way they could be compared).The only people who would want to watch this film are probably fans of the TV series, who will no doubt enjoy this, and Hammer completists like myself. To the completists I would say that this film isn't that bad and I can certainly think of worse Hammer comedies.

bob the moo Bus driver Stan gets engaged to sweetheart Suzy - much to the annoyance of Stan's mother, sister and brother in law; how will they afford to pay the rent without Stan's money coming into the house? In order to be able to move out, Stan agrees to help Arthur get a job on the buses with him. However his attempts to teach him how to drive the bus are frustrated by Blakey's new boss and his efficiency drives.Anyone approaching On The Buses cannot really complain about the humour being basic, sexist and crude - this is a given. However it is the other qualities that make this a bad film. True the humour is very broad, sexist and silly but this wouldn't have been a problem for me if it had even managed to ever be funny more than once. Sadly it doesn't and is depressingly devoid of laughs throughout. This is made worse by a plot that actually has no idea where it is going - it uses the very basic frame of Stan's engagement but where it goes with it is just all a bit silly and doesn't really work. The collection of scenes that make up the plot are supposed to be wacky and fun but actually just stand out as badly dated and banal, certainly laughs are not part of them.The material also lets down the characters as none of them are engaging - it is a damning comment on the script that I never cared one way or another what happened to the characters here. The cast don't help - the drivers are all womanising lads, the bosses all incompetent and flustered and the girls either battleaxes or `hot totty'! Varney and Grant don't display much in the way of comic ability here as they are not given anything to work with but the most basic tools. The only character that stands out is Blakey but that is more down to his memorable and oft-imitated line; he isn't great but his character is the most enjoyable of a bad bunch.Overall it is unfair to complain that this film's humour is broad and sexist because what else did you really expect from this film series? However it is fair to complain that the film lacks laughs, any sort of plot and is really difficult to enjoy even if you expect it to be broad and basic. A really poor film that is wholly lacking in laughs and is pretty unenjoyable all told.

kezz18 If you're a fan of the series then you will adore this film, as an avid fan myself i find this to be the second best film after holiday on the buses. Some of the gags are classic, and the film feels so full that it never loses your attention. A highly recommended one to watch!