Up in Smoke

Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke is a classic 1978 stoner comedy about two hapless stoners directed by Loud Adler and starring Pedro de Pacas (Cheech Martin) and Anthony “Man” Stoner (Tommy Chong) and the hijinks they get themselves into fueled by a constant dosage of the reefer.

The plot of this movie is the stereotypical stoner movie plot line. This is probably due to it being one of the first of its kind. The storyline was out of this world but it fit with the overall mood of making it as you go. Stoner and Pacas find themselves in all sorts of trouble with the law and each time they narrowly escape by pure luck. When the jokes do hit, they hit well. There were many times where the jokes came off as very clever. Due to the movie being 40 years old, some parts of this movie did not age well.Some of the jokes came off as extremely corny and a bit to much. Overall though this movie was pretty funny considering how old it was.

The soundtrack to this movie was hit and miss for me. All of the song were written by Cheech and Chong which was pretty cool. Some of the songs really hit well and coincided with the plot successfully. While others felt cheesy and out of place.

Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke was one of the first movies to start a sub genre of comedy. While some of it seems a little dated 40 years ago, some of the writing is still as relevant and funny today. If you are interested in seeing a bit of stoner history this movie is perfect.

The blu-ray quality of this movie is pretty good. Comparing the original version with the blu-ray there is a stark contrast. The Blu-ray comes in 1080p HD quality and English 5.1 DTS- HD master audio. The special 40th anniversary edition comes with:

A Cheech and Chong interview.
Movie commentary from Cheech Martin and Director Lou Adler.
Vintage Radio Spots
Roach Clips (deleted scenes with commentary)
Lighting it up:A look back at up in smoke
Music videos for the songs “the man song” and “earache my eye”