VHS : Adventures In Babysitting [1987]

Rating: - oh Baby ! Adventurous 80's Classic that'd be great Sitting in your collection !?
There was a time when Elisabeth Shue was going to be 'the next big thing' and watching this film you truly believed it too.

The lovely Elisabeth holds the film together with her pure energy and 'like-ability factor'. As seventeen year old babysitter Christine - almost a baby herself - she manages to experience a series of mishaps, scrapes, run-ins and (yes) adventures in the course of one long evening, when she reluctantly agrees to pick up her runaway friend from the downtown bus depot (Brenda - hilarious bit part in this film - who adds some really funny moments whilst stranded at the depot ?! ).

The children who tag along for the ride are lovely out-of-town naive characters who each contribute something to the value of the plot.

This is one of my favourite films - it seems to catch a certain nostalgia about films made in that period - it doesn't take itself too seriously - it cracks on at a decent pace - it's funny, camp and has an innocence that captivates the audience.

A fab little film. Great for entertaining the teens, mums, dads and family of a weekend. Just a shame Elisabeth never did make it into the 'shues' of the likes of Julia Roberts or Nicole Kidman.

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Rating: - Fun comedy
I'm actually reviewing this R1 American DVD, which appears to have a longer running time than the R2 UK one(maybe the BBFC cut some portions of dialogue and scenes to make it a more acceptable 12 rated film?). And also, this one it seems is in it's original aspect ratio of 1.85:1.

Anyway, this is a fun adventure film that is quite entertaining to watch. What starts as a typical babysitting job to look after the Andersons' daughter(Sara) and teen son(Brad, who quite fancies Chris) turns into something else when Chris is called by her friend Brenda who's run away from home and wants Chris to pick her up so she can stay with her.

Of course, things don't run smoothly and the group, stuck with the teen boy's friend(Daryl) who insists on joining them on their journey in the car, find themselves in a number of various situations and some revelations along the way.

I remember watching this late at night on BBC1(titled in the listings as 'A Night On The Town') and really enjoying it so I had to get the DVD so I could see it again. It does get a little silly at times but I think that's part of it's charm.

The DVD has no extras that I've seen just the film and some recommendations as what you may also wish to see if you liked this.

Overall, a pleasing and enjoyable family film 7/10.

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Rating: - Eightiestastic adventure
My sister nearly disowned me when I bought this - she thinks I'm a right saddo. I love this film. It is has great one-liners, hilarious adventures, a twisting and entertaining storyline and also includes a romantic element. It also has the added bonus of all that fab yet awful 1980's fashion which reminds me of the good old days.

If you like films like 'Home Alone' and 'Mannequin' then you'll probably like this. I love it (but then again, I am a saddo...).

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Rating: - Fun, 1980's Teen Comedy
Adventures In Babysitting (for some reason re-titled A Night On The Town for its release around Europe) is an enduringly silly comedy directed by Chris Columbus before he went on to direct the blockbuster Home Alone (1990).

The delightful Elizabeth Shue puts in an engaging performance as likeable student Chris Parker who after being stood up one night by her slimy, two-timing lover, finds herself babysitting for her parents friends, the Andersons whilst they attend a business function deep in the heart of the city. Chris is initially meant to be babysitting Sara Anderson (Maia Brewton) but Sara's older brother Brad (Keith Coogan) who is totally besotted with Chris decides to invite his best friend Daryl (Anthony Rapp) over to pursue his desires for Chris.

Not long into the night Chris receives a telephone call from her best friend Brenda (Penolpe Ann Miller) who is in complete distress after having run away from home on the spur of the moment and finding herself stranded in a downtown bus station thats running rife with all sorts of crazy and psychotic characters. In a hasty bid to rescue Brenda from the perils of the city Chris takes along Sara, Brad and Daryl into the city.

Whilst on the motorway their car breaks down and find themselves taking a lift from a total stranger and before long find themselves inadvertently hitching a lift with a notorious car theif who works for, to say the least, a group of unscrupulous and shady business men.

After making a dramatic escape from these gangster types the gang find themeselves plunged into a series of hair-raising adventures. Most amusingly they find themselves unwittingly on stage in an all-black blues bar where they are forced to deliver their own song. This scene is one of the highlights of the film as they hilariously perform their own song, Babysitting Blues.

After fleeing from the late-night blues bar they eventually find themselves aboard a subway train where two rival street gangs armed with blades burst onto the compartment they are sitting in for a showdown with one another which leaves Chris and the kids understandbly terrified. However, the way they managae to plumb their way out of this situation is actually highly amusing.

Towards the end of the film Sara disappears sneakily and ends up being chased by the gangsters which leads her to run into the building her parents are at where they are attending a business function (what a co-incidence but then this was the 1980's after all). The wayward Sara nearly plunges to her death as she crawls out atop the skyscraper her parents are in but predictably all ends well of course and the film closes on a feel-good note with Chris and the kids having bonded by this time after their hair-raising adventures in the city.

Yes Adventures In Babysitting is just crazy, plain silly and totally unbeleavable from the word go but view this film in the right context intended and this makes for highly entertaining and always fun viewing with sharp direction courtesy of Chris Columbus and an above average screenplay from David Smithy.

In one of her earliest film roles, Elizabeth Shue shines to perfection as Chris Parker whilst a somewhat goofball of a cute kid Maia Brewton hilariously manages to hijack a vast majority of the scenes she's in as cheeky but loveable Sara Anderson.

Keith Coogan puts in a straight-foward performance as niaeve and lovestruck Brad Anderson whilst more amusing in contrast is his best friend Daryl, played impeccably by Anthony Rapp.

Penelope Ann Miller delivers a fabulous cameo as Brenda. Some of the situations Brenda finds herself in are, to say the least, quite hilarious. One particular scene that makes for significant comic value is when short-sighted Brenda has her glasses stolen when she falls asleep for a few moments in the dingey, run-down bus station. Wandering around the bus station in a daze she sees what she mistakenluy thinks is a cute white kitten. She enthusiastically picks up the little furry abnimal only to have it pointed out to her that she is infact holding a giant, sewage rat. That priceless look on her face and the ear-piercing scream she lets rip when she realises this is just side-splitting and impeccably timed.

Released in 1987, Adventures In Babysitting enjoyed some success at the box office though time seems to have eclipsed its achievements, probably as Chris Columbus went on to make the far more famous Home Alone which mereley catapulted his career into bigger things. The film is patchy but overly enjoyable and certainly a recommended comedy to lovers of the 80's genre. Defintley worth a look (and is personally an old favourite of mine having first obtained this on VHS when I was 11 years old back in 1990 so it's nice to have this again in the remastered DVD edition)!

Ian Phillips

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Rating: - damos best film
i love this film and yes it does deserve the 5 stars!!! i tried to find this for ages but its not really a kids film though! unless some people have been watching the network tv versions! these are really bad as they have been edited for daytime tv and have replaced all the swearing and cut out the bad gang scenes so these versions have been killed as they are not patched very well! does anyone remember when this was called a night on the town? great film, id buy if dint already have! this is the full uncut version!!!