Camp Nowhere

 (1994)

Camp Nowhere Blu-ray features mediocre video and poor audio, but overall it's a disappointing Blu-ray release
Morris "Mud" Himmel has a problem. His parents desperately want to send him away to summer camp. He hates going to summer camp, and would do anything to get out of it. Talking to his friends, he realises that they are all facing the same sentence: a boring summer camp. Together with his friends, he hatches a plan to trick all the parents into sending them to a camp of his own design, which would actually be a parent-free paradise. Blackmailing former drama teacher Dennis Van Welker into helping, they must convince the parents that the camp is genuine, and that they aren't allowed to visit...

For more about Camp Nowhere and the Camp Nowhere Blu-ray release, see the Camp Nowhere Blu-ray Review

Starring: Christopher Lloyd, Jonathan Jackson, Andrew Keegan, Marnette Patterson, Jessica Alba, John Putch
Director: Jonathan Prince

» See full cast & crew

Camp Nowhere Blu-ray Review

A go-nowhere Comedy earns a go-nowhere Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman, November 22, 2011

The best summer of our lives.

Summer camp is supposed to be fun, unless it's forced upon some poor kid who really doesn't want to partake in it, whatever his or her reasons may be. Perhaps it's the humiliation associated with nerdy computer camp, the shame of low-calorie fat camp, the difficult rigidness and toughness of military camp, or the prospects of dealing with the egos of drama camp. Whatever the case may be, camp just isn't for everyone, and hey, what's with all the specialty camps, anyway? Isn't camp supposed to be about adventure, the great outdoors, arts and crafts, archery, learning new trades, and making new friends? Maybe, even, it's about a little slice-and-dice from an unbeatable hockey-masked madman or his overprotective mother. It's no wonder these kids in Camp Nowhere want no part of it. But creativity abounds, creativity that's made of part preteen rebellion and part flat-out dread of the prospects of a wasted summer fulfilling someone else's dream. They have no one and nothing to turn to but to one another and their own imaginations if they're to save their summer from complete and total disaster. These would-be campers do what any red-blooded would-be campers would do, and that's lie to their parents, take matters into their own hands, build their own camp, and in the process learn more than they ever could have about life and love and right and wrong if they had spent all summer in front of a computer screen, eating rice cakes, acting on stage, or partaking in military drills.

Nowhere bound.

Morris "Mud" Himmel (Jonathan Jackson) is being coerced into attending a geeky summer camp centered around computers where he'll learn the joys of MS DOS, 5 1/4" floppy discs, and 28.8 modems, a future-proof skill set if there ever was one. To say he's less than thrilled with the prospect would be an understatement. Enter the wild imagination of the youthful mind. When Mud learns that his three friends Zack (Andrew Keegan), Trish (Marnette Patterson), and Gaby (Melody Kay) are being forced to attend military, drama, and fat camp respectively, his mind formulates a plan to get them out of a surefire bummer summer, fool their parents, and experience the best couple of months their none-the-wiser folks would never otherwise permit. They hire the retired drama teacher and current mall cheese peddler Dennis Van Welker (Christopher Lloyd) to sell their parents on four phony camps of the kids' own inventions, camps that promise everything their parents want for their children. They rent out some land and, with a bunch of other kids suddenly in tow, embark on a summer they'll never forget. But can a bunch of unsupervised kids survive the rigors of camp -- even a camp of their own making -- or will they have to discover the adults inside of them while embracing their childhood enthusiasm, energy, and creativity to truly pull off the lie of the century?

Camp Nowhere is built on a decent premise but brought to life with clunky execution. The movie is somewhat stale and formulaic, adhering to basic kid-centric movie guidelines and playing through a standard structure with all of the usual and predictable plot developments in place, like the kids having to transform their camp from an unruly summer playground into at least a reasonable facsimile of a professional, adult-run camp operating under various banners. The movie does a fair job of creating a cinematic representation of a basic childhood fantasy, which is free reign and money to spend on toys, clothes, electronics, and food, all at will and without consequence. But of course the kids discover that there are consequences to their actions, and come to realize that living a life with no rules and no structure isn't all it's cracked up to be. Unfortunately, it's all constructed with a very generic, very paint-by-numbers formula. The movie delivers no surprises, but then again it's made to be a relatively simple and on-the-cheap little endeavor with an aim to please its young target audience at a very basic level and, maybe, offer up a few life lessons along the way. It's just too bad it wasn't done with a little more spunk, heart, or originality.

Camp Nowhere doesn't find its stride in the acting department, either. Christopher Lloyd is dependably average in the movie, lending a lighthearted and likable charm to his character. He's the film's rock to be sure, a surprise considering that the kids run the show in this one. The child leads deliver adequate but visibly forced performances that lack a polished cadence, particularly at first, but they seem to have grown nicely into the characters by film's end. The direction is stable but unimaginative, adequately capturing the action but doing nothing to spruce up a fairly bland but well-meaning script. The humor is hit or miss. The movie sadly lacks much in terms of true laugh-out-loud humor; combine that with bland characters and some plot elements that, well, go nowhere in terms of advancing the story (think the rather superfluous quest to recoup the money owed on Dennis' yellow Gremlin), and it's no wonder why Camp Nowhere is noticeably inferior in just about every area of importance to another kid-centric camp Comedy, Ernest Goes to Camp.

Camp Nowhere Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Mill Creek sends Camp Nowhere to Blu-ray with a watchable but generally bland 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. After some wobbly opening titles, the transfer reveals a suitable HD viewing experience that features decent detailing and colors. Faces far more often than not look smooth rather than naturally textured. However, general clarity is adequate, and the transfer produces some good, perceptible, and occasionally even complex details on clothes, wooden camp structures, and other assorted odds and ends. The color palette is a bit more frustrating, appearing dull and washed out in spots but bright and vibrant elsewhere, particularly in well-lit exteriors. The hideous multicolored 90's sweaters, bright green vegetation, Christopher Lloyd's yellow and red cheese salesman getup, and other blindingly bright shades, as garish as they may be, give the image a bit of life. Black crush is a problem during nighttime shots, but flesh tones appear nicely balanced and natural. Light grain is retained, but occasional spots creep onto the print from time to time. The image appears relatively free of banding and blocking, but intermittent noise lingers in spots. This is certainly not a pristine, showcase sort of transfer, but for an aging catalogue title being sold for a bargain-basement price right off the bat, it's hard to complain too loudly about the results.

Camp Nowhere Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

Camp Nowhere's DTS-HD MA 2.0 lossless soundtrack is one of those sorts that gets the message across but wins no style points in the process. Not only does the track lack a surround element, it barely stretches beyond the center channel. Dialogue remains firmly in the center and enjoys good clarity; it's the film's dominant element, but there's no reason for the rest of the track to stay so firmly grounded. Generally, this track enjoys good bouts of energy; clarity is adequate but there's no real body to any of the music or effects given that they're consistently crammed into the middle. The lack of range doesn't suit the outdoor environments and kid-friendly atmosphere the movie promotes. Ambience is virtually nonexistent, even off to the front sides. Music enjoys a decent bottom end to give it a little heft, but the lack of space and range limits its effectiveness. The film's primary sound effect comes from a couple of screaming fighter jets that occasionally pass over the camp. The sound effect is loud, but dynamically lacking and lessened by its inability to travel across the stage. Camp Nowhere isn't a sound-critical movie to be sure, but a little more space and clarity could have gone a long way in making this a better Blu-ray release.

Camp Nowhere Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

Supplements are nowhere to be found on this Blu-ray release of Camp Nowhere.

Camp Nowhere Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

Camp Nowhere is a harmless little kid-centric picture that doesn't get much right, but it's halfway entertaining despite flat characters, a predictable plot, hit-and-miss humor, and a clunky cadence. Christopher Lloyd is the movie's real bright spot, delivering a breezy, steady performance as the adult influence who, like the kids, comes to learn a little bit about life and love as the summer wears on. Camp Nowhere does a decent job of intermixing childhood fantasy and real-world reality; it could have been done better, but as it is the movie is at least a watchable little flick that should please the younger audiences who can better relate to the experiences of their peers as they play out in the movie. Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of Camp Nowhere features mediocre technical presentations and no extras. It's really only worth a rent, but considering a purchase won't set anyone back much more than a rental, may as well add another one to the collection.