Meatballs

1979
AA
1h 34m

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

25K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer0:26

Slapstick Teen Comedy Comedy

Wacky hijinks of counselors and campers at a less-than-average summer camp.Wacky hijinks of counselors and campers at a less-than-average summer camp.Wacky hijinks of counselors and campers at a less-than-average summer camp.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

25K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,532

193

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins & 6 nominations

Videos1

Trailer 0:26

Meatballs: Special Edition

Photos165

+ 158

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
According to one of the featurettes on the DVD, several of the shots in the movie were added after initial filming ended. These included the scenes of Rudy and Tripper at the bus station and of them playing blackjack for peanuts. During the time off, Chris Makepeace had entered puberty and had the beginnings of a mustache. Bill Murray decided that it had to go so he took Makepeace over to a sink, lathered him up with soap and shaved off his mustache. So Makepeace received his first ever shave from Murray.

Goofs
When they are in the K-Mart parking lot picking up the campers, the buses are Chevrolets and GMC makes. When they get to Camp North-Star the buses have changed to Fords and a Dodge.

Quotes
Tripper: And even if we win, if we win, HAH! Even if we win! Even if we play so far above our heads that our noses bleed for a week to ten days; even if God in Heaven above comes down and points his hand at our side of the field; even if every man woman and child held hands together and prayed for us to win, it just wouldn't matter because all the really good looking girls would still go out with the guys from Mohawk because they've got all the money! It just doesn't matter if we win or we lose. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!
Rest of group: IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER...

Alternate versions
The music played during the second half of the Olympiad is different in the U.S. and Canadian versions of the film. On the U.S. release, there are additional lyrics: "Go team go, Fight team fight..." etc. These lyrics are absent on the Canadian theatrical and VHS releases. The soundtrack is mostly instrumental. You can hear this alternate music on the French soundtrack of the region 1 DVD.

Connections
Featured in Sneak Previews: Sunburn, Americathon, Hot Stuff, Meatballs, The Concorde: Airport '79 (1979)

Soundtracks
Are You Ready for the Summer?
Sung by The North Star Kids Chorus
Written by Norman Gimbel and Elmer Bernstein

User reviews134

Review

Featured review

The first and best of the MEATBALLS movies!

I caught this on television one day when I was young and loved it. In the 1970's, there were a bunch of lame comedies that tried too hard to be be funny so it this was a nice surprise. It's one of the best comedies of the 1970's and the definitive summer camp comedy thanks to Murrary's excellent comedic performance, which still stands as one of his greatest. This is the film that really got Ivan Reitman noticed as a director. Reitman proves with this movie that he is one of the most talented comedy directors of all time. While this film is hilarious and MEATBALLS 2 is so bad that it's fun, MEATBALLS 3 and MEATBALLS 4 are absolutely dreadful. Recommended for those who enjoyed STRIPES and GHOSTBUSTERS.