Strangest film ever? Anyway, apparently it’s finally getting a DVD reissue in July in the UK. If anyone has any info it’d be much appreciated.
Apparently it’s region free too.
Definitely worth seeing, though it will lose something on a small screen. The special effects were amazing, state-of-the-art video, and probably will still look pretty good today, since special effects have gone off in a different direction. I was into both Zappa and video art at the time, and it’s perhaps the only feature film where abstract video effects were integrated.
In other respects, it’s a mess, but a gloriously cheerful one; the music is also a plus.
It’s been out as a DVD from the UK since 2010. This is probably just a reissue of the Voiceprint edition, billed on the cover as “Tony Palmer’s Film of Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels.” It’s unclear how Tony Palmer can claim the DVD rights to this United Artists-owned film, so I’m inclined to consider this a gray area release. It’s also a botch job, with a screwed-up aspect ratio, washed-out colors, and a couple of scenes butchered. Palmer himself provides sometimes (somewhat self-centered) commentary. Excellent analysis of the release here.
I saw it in a Cincinnati art theater around 1986. Dragged a couple of my roommates to it.
I’m a Zappa fan, and I had a hard time watching it. Just couldn’t get past the amateurishness of it. My roommates were bored senseless. (They had no idea who Zappa was.)