The Spirit Of 76

It's time to break out your platform shoes, bell bottom pants, and KC And The Sunshine Band 8 tracks, because today we are traveling back to the 70's with 1990's hysterical The Spirit Of 76.

The year is 2176, and a magnetic storm has erased all documents from American history, including the Declaration of Independence. The oldest man alive, Carl Reiner, suggests that they need to travel back to 1776 when the nation was founded and get the Declaration of Independence.The Ministry Of Knowledge, the band Devo, seek out Adam 11, David Cassidy, who has built a time machine, and talk him into leading a mission to travel back to 1776 to get the Declaration of Independence. His crew includes a beautiful, by the book officer named Chanel 6, Olivia d'Abo, and the bumbling Heinz 57, Geoff Hoyle.

The time machine malfunctions and lands them in the year 1976. The three, not knowing what 1776 was like, think they have landed in 1776. They quickly make friends with Tommy and Chris, Steve and Jeffrey McDonald from the band Red Cross, two teens who are more than happy to help the time travelers. Especially from fellow classmates Rodney Snodgrass, Liam O'Bren, who thinks they are aliens and wants to use them for the school science fair. And Eddie Trojan, Leif Garrett, who has his eyes on Chanel 6.

This is a fun spoof that lovingly looks back at the era that it's mocking. Cassidy and Garrett are both more than game to make fun of their 70's persona's. There's a lot of notable cameo's as well, including Rob Reiner, Barbera Bain, The Kipper Kids, Tommy Chong, and Moon Unit Zappa. It's a bit of a family affair.Director/cowriter Lucas Reiner casted his father Carl and brother Rob. Roman Coppola cowrote the script and his sister Sofia did the costuming. And producer Susie Landau cast her mother Bain.

This was a labor of love for everyone involved. Cassidy was such a fan of the script that he was able to recruit a lot of the cast. The budget was so small that a lot of the cast supplied some of the wardrobe. They didn't skimp on the soundtrack, which is like a Time Life compilation, and is very groovy.

This is a silly and fun tribute and parody to the disco era. I'd also like to give a shout out to Doug and Jack who I watched this with in college on a weekly basis.

It's available on dvd.