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Surf Nazis Must Die (1987) More at IMDbPro »

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47 reviews in total

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14 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
marvelous Troma trash, 9 November 2005

Author: TheatreX from Louisville, KY

For those of you that have been living in caves, and haven't seen this, this is a Troma "pick up" from 1987 that is a wonder to behold. To be truthful, it's fairly well done for what it is, which is "beachploitation trash". LA has been hit by "The Big One", 8.6, and it's pretty much anything goes, at least at the beach. Surf Nazis rule the beach, the waves, and whatever else their demented little minds tell them. Now, when a black man is killed by the Surf Nazis his mom, who is by no means ready for the rest home in which she's now living, decides to take matters into her own hands. There are also other rival surf "gangs" that don't take kindly to the claims of the SN's and attempt to fight back but with dire results. OK, sure, this is hokey and silly but it's also pretty fun, and I like the music & the beach scenes, in which it's all pretty deserted looking and lends some authenticity to the idea that there aren't many folks that actually survived this big quake, just a bunch of psychos fighting over surf supremacy. A classic 80's movie, fer shure. 8 out of 10.

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14 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Possibly the best title ever..., 3 February 2003
Author: james_oblivion from Nowhere Interesting

...but the film fails to live up to it, unfortunately. No, not for the reasons that most other reviewers have stated. It's Troma...so I EXPECTED bad acting, thin plot, hilariously bad dialogue, etc. That's why I watch Troma flicks in the first place. No, the reason that Surf Nazis doesn't live up to its brilliant title is that it isn't outrageous enough. It's far too tame for a Troma film, as far as I'm concerned.

When I first heard about this movie, I was psyched up to see it. Why? Because when you think "Surf Nazis Must Die," in conjunction with the name "Troma Films," you just expect something completely twisted...full of sex, gore, and sick humor. You know...a TROMA movie. But the bulk of this movie just doesn't live up to the expectation that I had.

This is atypical Troma, and not even all Troma fans will appreciate it. But hey, I guess it's not that bad. But with a title like Surf Nazis Must Die, Troma should have done better.

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16 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
Not enough gratuitous content., 20 August 2000
Author: roarshock from Oregon USA

A great title leads you to great expectations. "Surf Nazis Must Die" is a title that DEMANDS a movie overflowing with needless sex and unnecessary violence. Characters should be killing and dying and stripping and screwing ceaselessly and pointlessly from beginning to end. It should be filled with bizarreness, crammed with oddities that were included not because they make sense, but because somebody in the cast or crew thought it was a good idea at the time. "Surf Nazis Must Die" should have been the cinematic equivalent of 'found art.' Alas, it isn't. Rather the filmmakers told a largely conventional story of revenge in a largely conventional manner. And when there wasn't enough content to fill out the movie, instead of throwing in some irrelevant bits of sex, violence or weirdness, they fluffed up the scenes carrying the main storyline, making them slow and dull, instead of quick and sharp. Even the sex and violence that IS in the movie is dull and forgettable. But this is common enough in the low budget world - and not a sin - where high quality is expected to be beyond the means and talent of the filmmakers. But they should remember that quantity is also a quality and that a pile of low-grade industrial diamonds can be worth more than a few gemstones.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Underrated Flick, 26 January 2006

Author: brutalplanets@yahoo.com from United States

Although the title, combined with the Troma label, will make most people go into this film with low expectations, I feel the need to say that "Surf Nazi's Must Die" is definitely worth seeing. A lot of the acting is sub-par, sure, and the writing isn't exactly fantastic, but it manages to be very entertaining throughout; the soundtrack, in particular, is fantastic. Certain scenes nicely incorporate off-key humor, yet the filmmakers didn't intend to make a comedy; in fact, they take themselves rather seriously, a decision which I'm sure is one of the reasons this film is so maligned. It seems like those involved in the making of this film were enjoying what they were doing, for the most part, and I think they made a well-paced, consistently interesting B-movie. Well worth seeing.

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6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Classic 1980's Troma Rubbish!!!, 12 August 2005

Author: kingofchelmsford

For, amongst other things, the excellent soundtrack, for having a character called "smeg",for the lush shots of the sky and the bunker area, and for the immortal line "taste some of mommas home cooking Adolf", this films deserves 10 out of 10.

I think the films worst enemies were Troma themselves for the misleading cover art and hyping up the title by adding the "must die" part. I think many people will be disappointed because they are taken in by the cover and blurb. Here in Britain the film was originally released simply as "Surf Nazis" and featured a less sensational cover, you knew more what to expect, although the "a clockwork orange for the 1980's" tag line was a bit of a joke.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Missing sharks, 9 November 2006

Author: dark_nebulae2003 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

It's because of films like these, which serve as the reason why Troma rules. OK. So Troma's got some stinkers out there after 30+ yrs of experience, but not many. They are, by far, the best low budget schlock makers in the world! The only ones who can hold a candle to them might be say Full Moon & Roger Corman. If ya like Troma's stuff, then check them out too.

But one thing: where were the sharks in this one? I would've loved to see one of those surf Nazis or various other chomped by a shark. And while although it's been a while since I've seen this, I don't recall even seeing a fin's tip.

The scene where the "n" word was used just conjures up memories of my own personal experiences as a boy nicely. Of course I didn't murder anybody and brag about it in the wide open in front of two girls before. What a jackass!

In nearly 30 years, now *damn where did the time go?* there unfortunately hasn't been a sequel to its name. And I would love to see one more ridiculously good time w/ the surf Nazis. At least this film, along w/ most other troma films, doesn't take itself near as seriously as the blockbusters who just come off as stupid.

And yes, if you will read my review carefully, I'm pretty much agreeing w/ another commenter who also called it, "ridiculously good." That much it is. I gave this a 7, which is the highest I gave a movie of its kind so far.

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6 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
How did they manage to make this movie suck?, 18 October 2004

Author: Marc Rozenburgh (znep27) from Texas, USA

When I first heard about this movie, I thought it would be the greatest movie ever made. First of all, it's called Surf Nazis Must Die. Second of all, it's about an old fat black lady seeking revenge against a gang called the surf Nazis who killed her son. Third of all, it was released by Troma. It seems nearly impossible for somebody to screw this movie up, but they did. It was just one big boring scene after another and Momma Washington didn't do too much fighting with the surf Nazis. Somebody with talent needs to remake this would be tromasterpiece. This would be the end of my review but I need at least 10 lines. I don't understand why they think you can only describe a movie in 10 or more lines. And I have seen reviews that have been far less the 10 lines. How did they do that?

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9 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
A Misunderstood Work Of Genius, 21 March 2006
Author: Crap_Connoisseur from Australia

Surf Nazis Must Die is one of the best films to be distributed by Troma and sadly, one of the least appreciated. The IMDb voters who briefly put the film in the bottom 100 should be strapped down and forced to watch Driving Miss Daisy until they come to their senses. I even disagree with the reviewers who lump the film in the "so bad it's good" category. I think Surf Nazis Must Die is simply good.

In comparison to many of its low budget contemporaries, the writing in SNMD is positively Shakespearian. The film has some semblance of a plot, the jokes are actually funny and the action is well paced. Most surprisingly, the film has a bizarre feel-good quality, which could almost be described as wholesome (if you look past the violence, sex and foul language). This is largely due to film's sympathetic heroine, the awesome Eleanor Washington, who vows to single-handedly take out the members of an evil beach gang (the titular "surf Nazis") after they kill her beloved son.

In addition to Eleanor, the film's minor characters also have a lot to offer. Smeg's relationship with his mother is hilarious and the surf Nazis are wonderfully tasteless, with members being named after Nazi "luminaries". The director makes several very obvious references to A Clockwork Orange, but despite their eye make-up and swastikas, these gang members are about as chilling as the Goonies.

The inevitable bloodshed is rather low key and the gore effects are simplistic at best. However, the innovative use of hooks and speedboats more than makes up for any lack of carnage. Unlike many zero budget action films, SNMD does not rely on blood splatter or gratuitous sex to pass the time - which under normal circumstances I would consider to be a huge failing. However, SNMD is generally in such poor taste and overflows with sardonic humour to the point where the film becomes utterly irresistible.

Surf Nazis Must Die is a brilliantly conceived beach holocaust drama/revenge thriller that you can enjoy with the entire family. Forget about the low IMDb rating and brace yourself for this evocative masterpiece.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Beautiful soundtrack, I enjoyed so much..., 26 April 2006
Author: KGB-Greece-Patras from Greece

This film is no better or worse than others have described. It's silly, its corny, we know that already, I mean I knew before even pressing play button..... I have had my fair in strange, extreme, original , unconventinal movies - nevertheless I was never a bad-film fan, I like b-films through the passion of the independent anti-artist, but i haven't done much research in the legendary 'best' bad films...

I have to add that I have only seen Toxic avenger 1 from Troma... not much else, but i plan to! I really can't describe the emotions and vibe this films awoke! The perfect musical theme, some kind of early post-electro , pre-techno tune stuck in my mind, this piece of 'art' is not easily labeled as comedy, nor horror. I liked the fact that it doesn't want to be anything much, and it knows its values... Little talking & meanings, lots of wanna-be (?)style , lots of amateurish passion, lots of great synthesizer music (i happen to be one of the hugest fans of them all!) and cheesy (?) editing ....

Easily my best bad film, not that I have seen a lot of them, and for what it is worth, it's because of the music ....

If you have a somewhat strange humour and happen to like electronic music and 90s synthesizers, give this a try... quite a different take on praising this piece of trash, isn't it??

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Great but loose, 31 March 2007

Author: John Reeve from United States

If you don't like this film, it is because you don't really understand. Go pay your seven or fifteen bucks and plop down at the local cinemark, because if you don't stuff like this, it just isn't for you.

But if you can take a joke, then the thing is interesting. I haven't seen a bunch of Troma's catalogue, but I think it is one of the more memorable flicks there; it certainly isn't Tromeo and Juliet or Terror Firmer, but I don't understand the claim that it isn't a typical Troma film. At least it wasn't something like "Outlaw Prophet" (which put Troma on a blacklist with my wife). It was a genuine trash film, and taken as such seems as good as any other work of trash.

What makes this movie good is the fact that the kids have all given themselves new names, a fact that comes up when Smeg is talking to his mom (who claims he shouldn't call her mom). That is just choice.

Or the fact that the Nazis are all queens in hiding. I like the not so subtle homo-eroticism.

Of course, not only could both of these elements been mobilized more effectively, but there are other things it could have hit on. The apocalyptic oil pumping could have been used better, along with placing Leroy as part of the energy company pumping the beach dry. I was hoping that the fact that there is a big disjunction between the bourgeoisie expectations of Leroy and the ludicrous turf wars of the surf gangs could have been put to better use.

So to all you people who didn't like this because of the film making-- you are just wrong. This is what good ol' not so Hollywood film looks like. Like all real films, it's flaws are that it doesn't exploit everything that it could.

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