Mother, Jugs & Speed

After all these years the Peter Yates classic staring Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch, Harvey Keitel finally arrives on DVD. Take Cosby's humor, Raquel's sex appeal, Keitel's smouldering late 70's cool and one sweet ride of an ambulance, and you've got Mother, Jugs and Speed. Peter Yates' classic take on the ambulance industry in metropolitan Los Angeles gives us a little bit of everything in a quick, well paced film. Cosby's charm shines in one of his best roles i think as the cynical, no nonsense ambulance driver Mother Tucker. Just by looking at Mother's custom Rig, and patch covered jacket you get the impression that Cosby's character was not always an ambulance driver, but perhaps was once something quite differnt. Follow the F+B ambulance company and their staff of irregulars (Including Larry Hagman of Dallas Fame, and football player Dick Butkus) as they do their best to save the lives of their patients and hammer away at one another with a barrage of jokes, and one liners. They don't make comedys like this anymore where the car was just as big of a star as the trio named in the title. While normally found in the comedy section, the film does have an equal number of "dark" moments that let the viewer know that Yates wasn't just doing this for laffs and help to balance out the humor. The DVD transfer is crystal clear, and the slamming 70's soundtrack will be nostalgic for some, and new, and inventive to others. Another reviewer mentioned hearing Peter Frampton's "Show me The Way" playing in an early scene, and I always think of this film when i hear that song. Treat yourself to a 70's classic, and enjoy the ride, and pray that if you ever need the guys in white that he shows up wearing yellow sneakers with red socks, and goes by the name of Mother Tucker.

Thanks

70's camp. It is a good movie. About an independent ambulance company (Alan Garfield) owner, Cosby & another actor Bruce are the driver's. They are competing with the big time company that dominates LA. So they barter through cheaper prices get more business. "Jugs" aka Raquel Welch, also a staple of the dated time it's made mid-70's. She actually answers good- humorly to it, doesn't seem offended, nor once complains & for this era she is a nonsense, strong woman not afraid to speak her mind. That would be a sexual harassment suit stat today, however. Boy times have changed . Anyhow, it's worth a watch. Also, a pre- Dallas, Larry Hagman also stars. Is mainly set in the "Little Italy" of Venice Beach, California. Great scenery. Lots of laughs & action.

At the very least "Mother,Jugs & Speed" employs one of the more eclectic casts from a seventies film. Aside from Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch, and Harvey Keitel the cast includes Allen Garfield, Larry Hagman, Bruce Davison, and Dick Butkus. The film is consistently engaging and funny. That said the comic elements do do not always mix well with the tragic ones. The film also pushes the envelope as to what you can do in a "PG" film. A couple of scenes come to mind where one of the EMTs tries to take advantage of an OD case and another where Cosby is receiving a massage with vibrators. Cosby is fine as the wisecracking Mother, Welch's range does not extend much beyond one of her pin-up posters as Jugs, and Keitel isn't really given much to do as Speed. Standing out in the cast are Hagman as the libidinous Murdoch and Garfield as the owner of the third-rate ambulance company. I think director Peter Yates and sciptwriter Tom Mankiewicz were shooting for bigger game, a dark comedy on the level of "M*A*SH*" or "The Hospital" but fall a little short. Instead they've delivered a pleasant diversion.

As a paramedic, this is easily one of my favorite movies. For those in EMS today, if you take this movie in the context of when it was made, you'll easily find out one of the most realistic portrayals of EMS, that Hollywood had put out. Aside from the whole drinking in the truck thing, everything else in it, is pretty much spot on. Having spent the majority of my career employed by nongovernmental agencies, it's easy to relate to the turf wars shown.More than a few good laughs... a couple of poignant moments... a true-to-life life "you wanted it, well, you GOT it" speech from Mother (Bill Cosby) to Jugs (Raquel Welch)... Speed (Harvey Keitel) as an EMT with some baggage... the in-house shenanigans... are all things those of us who've been in the business for a few years can relate to.If you haven't seen this, and you appreciate the, rather antiquated, realism of EMERGENCY!, then You. Need. To. See. This. Now!

Funny old movie

Found the disc and package new. Played perfect. I surfed the NET to stream it, not available anywhere.

I remember this movie when I was younger.. I just wish we could have movies like this now. But with politics and the way everyone is now, those movies are dead. Mel Brookes and old greats are just a warm memory..

A classic in itself.

Die amerikanische DVD-Verpackung wirbt mit einem „all-star cast“ – aber das ist übertrieben, selbst wenn man in Betracht zieht, dass in dem Film tatsächlich (inzwischen) altbekannte Gesichter auftreten. „Mother, Jugs & Speed“ amüsiert sich mit beißendem Zynismus über die Exzesse der Privtaisierung. Gleich zu Beginn schwört der Betreiber eines Krankenwagendiensts seine Belegschaft in der Manier eines verbissenen Football-Coaches auf den Konkurrenzkampf mit einem anderen Dienstleister ein. Kranke und Tote seien nicht wertlos; nein, sie sind fast zwanzig Dollar Pauschalvergütung wert.Raquel Welch spielt die Sekretärin, die eigentlich lieber Fahrerin sein will, mit großer Gravität. Harvey Keitel wirkt im Ambulanz-Dress, als habe er sich aus Geldnot in diesen Film verirrt – mit seiner gesamten Ausstrahlung könnte er genauso gut in einem Melodram oder Gangsterstreifen auftreten. Bill Cosby spielt stark und ist für seine Figur wirklich gut besetzt; in einer Nebenrolle ist auch noch Larry Hagman als notorischer Begrapscher abtransportierter Frauen zu sehen – zwei Jahre später begann dann seine ikonische Ära als grundfieser Ölbaron J.R. Ewing in „Dallas“.Witzig ist der Film dort, wo er en passant die Absurditäten und Abgründe der amerikanischen Gesellschaft herausstellt: Etwa all die Drogenwracks, die andauernd von den Krankenwagenfahrern angesteuert werden; bestechliche Cops, die Geld dafür kassieren, einen bestimmten Ambulanzdienstleister anzurufen und über kleine Vergehen hinwegzusehen; oder die Antidiskrimiminierungsbemühungen, die in der Überlegung gipfeln, ob die Beschäftigung einer Frau die Anstellung von vier Schwarzen aufwiege. Der Film präsentiert sich zunächst als Komödie, hat aber einige tragische Szenen – und schon gar nicht sollte man eine stringente Handlung erwarten.[gesehen im englischen Originalton]

Conforme à la description et à ce que j'en attendais, ce dvd n'est lisible que sur mon lecteur multi-zone et l'image n'est pas remastérisée. Pas de sous-titres français, mais une bonne version française et c'est mieux que rien, quand on cherche un film depuis des années.Et même si je préfère toujours les vostfr, tant pis vu qu'ici ce ce n'est pas du Shakespeare et je ne vais pas attendre que les éditeurs européens se réveillent pour découvrir cette petite comédie au surprenant casting : Bill Cosby, Harvey Keitel, Larry Hagman et...la sublime Raquel Welch, unique raison de mon achat !!!

ce dvd Mother Jugs & Speed est un dvd zone 1 mais il contient une version française .le titre du film en Français Ambulances tous risques avec Harvey Keitel Raquel Welch et Bill Cosby .

stereotypical tongue in cheek comedy/drama story of the exploits of a small struggling private ambulance company. This original film must have provided the basic story line for the more recent film "Bring Out Yer Dead" starring Nicholas Cage. The film is mainly spent on board the ambulance cars with the paramedics responding mostly nonchalantly (and comically) to a wide variety of emergency calls. The dark humour used mostly as a make shift protection for the characters (and audience) to stay unaffected by the sometimes tragic events. At some points in the film, this protection fails the characters with dramatic results.