Bob Dishy, Harold Gould, Howard Hesseman

For anyone who's wallowed in the inanities of 1970s disaster movies, The Big Bus is not only witty but downright endearing. Instead of an endangered airliner or a capsized cruise ship, this dip...( read more  read more... )pily deadpan parody features a block-long, atomic-powered, luxury super-Greyhound setting off on its first transcontinental run with a garish cross section of humankind programmed for redemption, retribution, or just sublime ridiculousness as they roll toward Doom--or Denver, whichever comes first. Writers Fred Freeman and Lawrence J. Cohen, who penned the daffy historical spoof Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), twist the sententious ironies of disaster-movie dialogue into pretzels (priceless scene: Richard B. Shull, as a "terminal traveler" with six months to live, and Bob Dishy, a discredited veterinarian who fitted a rabbit for an IUD, debating who knows more about bitterness). James Frawley's direction is drolly cliché-savvy, but his touch proved too delicate for 1976 audiences; it remained for Airplane! to grab the disaster-spoof brass ring four years later. Still, it's not too late to climb aboard. --Richard T. Jameson

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54% liked it

1,627 ratings

PG, 88 min.

Directed by: James Frawley

Release Date: June 23, 1976

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DVD Release Date: July 16, 2002

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Flixster Reviews (91)


  • May 3, 2009
    Funny as hell older moive. Have a drink and a smoke and lol all the way through the movie!

    Take well known stars of the late 70's This movie is absurd and it is absurdly funny. It has some serious moments and is a spoof that you can really enjoy. So take a sit and enjoy !
  • March 11, 2009
    If you were alive and kicking in 1976, the topical humor in this movie will leave you on the floor laughing your lungs out. If you weren't around in 1976, you'll still get a big laugh even if you don't "get it."
  • September 20, 2008
    This movie is absurd and it is absurdly funny. It has no serious moments and is a spoof that you can really enjoy. Take a chill pill and sit down and enjoy it.
  • January 19, 2008
    A spoof of the 70s disaster movies Big Bus is a la Airplane and Scary Movie is the sense that it it totally idiotic humour. A novel idea and some good jokes dont cover uop the fact it is weak and the good gags are few and far betwen.
  • November 4, 2007
    One of those films I wouldn't go out of my way to see, but when it turns up on TV I must watch.
  • October 18, 2007
    "The Big Bus" should be interesting for me to watch, because this movie looks like "Airplane!" on a bus with nuclear power!
  • July 21, 2007
    Often clever and delightful, and sadly overlooked. Reductio ad absurdum of disaster flicks!
  • April 25, 2007
    Take well known stars of the late 70's and make a movie about the biggest bus ever made, and combine with a maiden road trip that leads to all sorts of problems along the way.

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The Big Bus Trivia


  • In what movie did a real band travel in a big union jack covered double decker bus?  Answer »
  • I "surfed" my way onto the big screen with "rock songs of love and peace". I brought a "bus load people at 50+mph" only to save the world by dying for the "machines". Who Am I?  Answer »
  • What movie involves 4 kids going into the big city to rescue a friend from the bus station in downtown chicago?  Answer »
  • In the film Almost Famous, what is the song that everybody sings on the bus after the big fight between the band?  Answer »

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