Graduate student Leon (Alan Solomon) sends out invitations to five other students to participate in a night long scavenger hunt called The Great All Nighter. At first the five scoff at the idea and refuse, but through either gestating rivalries, bravado, or pressure all change their minds and embark on a energized and chaotic rush through Los Angeles.
Midnight Madness was the 2nd movie from Walt Disney Pictures to carry the PG rating (the first being the previous years The Black Hole). Midnight Madness unfortunately was not a success during it's initial release either commercially or critically, and even was branded a "Dog of the Week" on Siskel & Ebert's Sneak Previews. But despite this the movie has attained a small but devoted cult following thanks in no small part to airings on cable television, and I'm pleased to say the following is well deserved.
The movies strength is in its simplicity. The movie follows five teams who are all varying degrees of broad stereotypes which helps to set the tone from the onset. The teams include the nice guy Yellow Team led by David Naughton, the Blue Team consisting of jerks and snobs led by Steven Furst, the Red Team of a unpopular sorority lead by future Simpsons voice actress Maggie Roswell, the White Team of nerds lead by Eddie Deezen, and the Green Team consisting of a group of muscle headed jocks who call themselves "Meat Machine". Once the movie gets going with the Great All Nighter, it throws everything but the kitchen sink at the teams and puts them in shenanigans of varying degrees of outlandishness and uses Los Angeles city setting quit,e effectively. The Griffith Observatory, Pabst Brewing Company, LAX, and Hollywood Walk of Fame are used for some memorable scenes and are a lot fun. Even Leon, whose sole purpose is to oversee the game, gets some great moments as he buts heads with his landlady while his neighbors who are initially annoyed eventually become enthralled in watching the game (much to his landlady's ire).
Midnight Madness isn't a great comedy, but it is a good comedy. Playing like a softer edged version of Up the Creek or Animal House, the movie has the same level of zany energy as other Animal House inspired movies but doesn't have the raunch. For what the movie is, I recommend it.
