New Short "Billy's Helicopter Ride" Now Available!

[Thrashalla]

http://www.rifftrax.com/shorts/billys-helicopter-ride


GET TO DA CHOPPA!!! Many of us have heard these iconic instructions hundreds of times. They’ve been shouted at us during important life events: graduations, weddings, or most likely, watching Predator hungover at two in the afternoon at Dan’s. Few of us ever take the shouter up on the Choppa-getting-to however.

Except Billy! Billy is a boy who acts where the rest of us cower in fear, or perhaps ask Dan to pass us the gatorade. Make no bones about it, in Billy’s Helicopter Ride, Billy gets to da Choppa.

The fact that Da Choppa is driven by Uncle Joe, who looks like he was rejected from the Grapes of Wrath cast on the grounds of being “too drifter-like”, does not deter Billy’s father from letting Billy take an unaccompanied tour of their town in the helicopter. While touring their town they see many exciting things such as: their town from a slightly elevated position than normal.

Will Billy seize the controls in a manic episode and plunge the helicopter downward, spiralling towards their doom? Yes he will!* So buy it and witness every thrilling second of Billy’s Helicopter Ride!

http://www.rifftrax.com/shorts/billys-helicopter-ride

[MartyS (Gromit)]

So, what was the point of this thing being made?  It must have been kind of expensive to make, needing a second helicopter to film the one with Billy in it.

We get about 2 minutes of actual educational information, then the rest is pointless narration of what stuff looks like while flying.  There's a house, there's the highway, there's the city, it's like the narrator was practicing doing descriptive audio for the blind.

I wonder if they started it and then found out they couldn't get a cameraman in that heli with Billy and uncle Joe, so just gave up on the idea of showing how the controls work.  The closeup shots of them in the thing while flying were obviously shot on the ground later, they are all low angle shots with the door open (to get only sky in the background).

Man do they hammer uncle Joe, wow, relentless darkness indeed... Pretty darn funny though..

[RVR II]

I'm out of blank DVDs so I'll catch this one next week when I return home to the states

[Rattrap007]

I loved this short. Lots of huge laughs..

"Do you supposes Billy's friends know that is Billy in the helicopter?" - Narrator
"No because I have a basic understanding of how vision works.." -Kevin

Loved the redaction bit of the camera crew on the helipad.

Yeah this is kinda pointless. But it was the late 50s I think. Stuff like this was made to give kids a chance to see things they'd never see otherwise. There wasn't the massive TV and internet back then so short like this were made to give quick looks at different subjects.

I kinda pity kids today. Future generations are growing up not once seeing stuff like this or sitting through a film reel with cassette recording. I grew up in the 80s and still remember those things.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Now that I think about it, it's really the narration of the ride that is kind of pointless.  Or they weren't sure what age group they were making it for, more information for the older kids or fun descriptions for the younger ones, so they did both....

I guess the guys didn't want to rip off Airplane! but this short was screaming for a "Billy, ever seen a grown man naked?".

[RVR II]

I'm out of blank DVDs so I'll catch this one next week when I return home to the states

Well..
The nephew got me a blank DVD for showing him how to use the YouTube Downloader so I'll be get'n this one naow!

[Rattrap007]

Now that I think about it, it's really the narration of the ride that is kind of pointless.  Or they weren't sure what age group they were making it for, more information for the older kids or fun descriptions for the younger ones, so they did both....

I guess the guys didn't want to rip off Airplane! but this short was screaming for a "Billy, ever seen a grown man naked?".

The Airplane line was "Joey you ever seen a grown man naked?"

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Now that I think about it, it's really the narration of the ride that is kind of pointless.  Or they weren't sure what age group they were making it for, more information for the older kids or fun descriptions for the younger ones, so they did both....

I guess the guys didn't want to rip off Airplane! but this short was screaming for a "Billy, ever seen a grown man naked?".

The Airplane line was "Joey you ever seen a grown man naked?"

I know that, have you watched this short yet?   The kids name was Billy.  And there's one point where the line would fit.  But maybe it would be too creepy, considering what the narrator says...

[Rattrap007]

Now that I think about it, it's really the narration of the ride that is kind of pointless.  Or they weren't sure what age group they were making it for, more information for the older kids or fun descriptions for the younger ones, so they did both....

I guess the guys didn't want to rip off Airplane! but this short was screaming for a "Billy, ever seen a grown man naked?".

The Airplane line was "Joey you ever seen a grown man naked?"

I know that, have you watched this short yet?   The kids name was Billy.  And there's one point where the line would fit.  But maybe it would be too creepy, considering what the narrator says...

I just thought you got the name of the kid in Airplane wrong..

[Russell]

This is one of their funniest shorts, Made me laugh from beginning till the end.

[CJones]

Am I the only one who, upon reading the title of the short, immediately thought "Special effects by Billy!"  Y'know, from Danger Death Ray?

I loved this short. Lots of huge laughs..

"Do you supposes Billy's friends know that is Billy in the helicopter?" - Narrator
"No because I have a basic understanding of how vision works.." -Kevin

Loved that line.

I kinda pity kids today. Future generations are growing up not once seeing stuff like this or sitting through a film reel with cassette recording. I grew up in the 80s and still remember those things.

I'm not sure I pity them (at least not for that reason), but I do feel nostalgic about the days of film strips. You know you're getting old when you can mention something everyone knew of when you were a kid to kids today, and hardly find any that has any idea what you're talking about. I remember Spike Lee once talking about how when he directed some movie (forget which) set a couple or so decades in the past, they actually had to teach the kids in the movie how to play games like Ring Around the Rosie and Duck Duck Goose, games I played as a kid. All they seemed to know was how to play was video games. 

[kjpod]

Anyone else recognize where the movie was filmed? Hint: Literally yards offscreen from the shot @ 6:07 is a location that would gain infamy not long afterwards.

(ETA: Rattrap is a winner!)

[Rattrap007]

Dallas?