So much average

Just perfect...

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

I am not sure if the below would count as a spoiler, but I am raising the spoiler alert in any case :) As another reviewer wrote, reading the book is probably a much better idea to get the story. While some of the acting is OK, the very premise of this piece, a story about a late 50s or early 60s band is completely destroyed in this implementation. The music alone is so typically 80s, it is simply impossible to remotely imagine it as the band's music that was so ahead 20 years earlier. There were a lot of very poor junk movies that were made in the 80s that had a very odd and twisted sense of reality and history, and this is sadly amongst them. Nothing is right in the settings or sound track, so the whole thing is a complete failure. Sorry, but this one is not worth anybody's time.

I grew up in South Jersey during the 60's. (To us natives it is either North Jersey or South Jersey) and actually played in a garage band during high school.I lived down the street from where they filmed Doc's apartment and spent many summers "Down the Shore". I remember almost all the locations in the film. Anyway, for me this movie is a trip down memory lane. There are really very few goofs and the producers got it right for the 60's in Jersey. I first saw this in 1985 on video. I am currently looking at it 26 years later. Still tugs at the heart strings as it did a quarter of a century ago!

This movie is just kinda average. Not too bad, not great either. It's a compelling story, but it goes in 100 different directions: Eddie and the keyboard player in-fighting, the sax player dying of a heroin overdose, the sexual tension between Eddie and his girlfriend, etc.But that really isn't my major problem with this film. Coming from a purely music production standpoint, the filmmaker's were absolutely lazy! It's supposed to take place 1963, yet the music CLEARLY sounds like it was recorded in 1980's. Take a listen to some actual music released in 1963, (some fine examples: The Beach Boys, The Beatles, any Motown or Stax records, or since this movie is about a New Jersey band, The Four Seasons). You would notice that those recordings sound very raw compared to the supposed "music of 1963" they flaunt in this movie.I don't mean to nitpick, but there are some other films about musicians, to some degree, that at least tried to better represent the "sound" of the period that they're representing. "Almost Famous", "Still Crazy", "This Is Spinal Tap" are just a few examples of period pieces that actually do get it right when it came to making original music that actually sounds like that it could've been made in the late 60's to early 70's (depending on which movie you're watching). They could've at least had John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band record their songs with 1963 technology with 1963 instruments, most of which was still readily available at the time, or at least tried to get a sound on 1983 technology that could recreate how a record made in 1963 would've sounded. It really wouldn't have been difficult.It's absolutely appalling that the filmmaker's didn't even try. Besides the soundtrack, the sets and settings weren't done very well either. I guess they didn't have the budget to be authentic. They just threw some music together, not caring about if it's right, threw a guy into a leather jacket and slicked his hair back, and called it a movie about 1963.

I enjoyed this movie from the get go... As much as I love the music and even some of the acting...the guitar playing from a authentic standpoint is pathetic! I don't think there was any point in having Eddie (Michael Paré) attempt to act like he was playing because anyone who does play could tell he wasn't playing. Also, in Tender Years, he puts the guitar down but guitar is clearly heard throughout the performance... Was there a point to that? As a musician, I notice these things. The bass and drums appeared to be adequately portrayed... The sax was obviously authentic... Never could see the piano keys...so it's easy to fake... Despite that, I still enjoyed the movie and watch it when I notice it is on.