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Strange Brew

Strange Brew

Comedy · Crime · Science Fiction · 1983

Something is rotten at the Elsinore Brewery. Bob and Doug McKenzie (as seen on SCTV) help the orphan Pam regain the brewery founded by her recently-deceased father. But to do so, they must confront the suspicious Brewmeister Smith and two teams of vicious hockey players.

Movie details

Strange Brew

“Something funny is brewing at Elsinore Castle...”

1983 Comedy · Crime · Science Fiction 1h 30m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

Something is rotten at the Elsinore Brewery. Bob and Doug McKenzie (as seen on SCTV) help the orphan Pam regain the brewery founded by her recently-deceased father. But to do so, they must confront the suspicious Brewmeister Smith and two teams of vicious hockey players.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Strange Brew?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Dave Thomas · Rick Moranis

Written by

Dave Thomas · Rick Moranis · Steve De Jarnatt

Dave Thomas

Dave Thomas

Doug McKenzie

Rick Moranis

Rick Moranis

Bob McKenzie

Max von Sydow

Max von Sydow

Brewmeister Smith

Paul Dooley

Paul Dooley

Claude Elsinore

Lynne Griffin

Lynne Griffin

Pam Elsinore

Angus MacInnes

Angus MacInnes

Jean LaRose

Roger Dunn

Roger Dunn

Beer Store Clerk

Court is in session

Put Strange Brew on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Cool Ironist

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.