The Greatest Beer Scenes at the Movies - written by Dennis Visionaire

The Greatest Beer Scenes at the Movies

When you consider all of the thousands and thousands of movies that have been made, you would think it would be easy to pick out the greatest beer scenes. But the truth is, there are not that many of them. It really is an appallingly small list when you consider movies with beer in them at all, not just the ones with great scenes. While beer is often used to identify blue collar values, it does not often rise to the top as a primary motivator in movie plots.

If you eliminate the documentary, American Beer, which tags along with five friends who visit thirty-eight breweries in forty days, and Beer (1985) which didn't really meet with any success, you are left with the thought that it might indeed be impossible to find even ten movies with great beer scenes.

In fact, one of the best ways to locate beer scenes is to consider the actors and actresses who have played the best drunks in motion pictures. It would seem absurd to start out with anything other than National Lampoon's Animal House (1985) with John Belushi. You can't beat it for beer, beer and more beer and the whole frat party beer scene. Think about all your favorite scenes and you will see they were beer-motivated.

Smokey and the Bandit (1977) with Burt Reynolds owes most of its success to beer drunkenness, without which the movie would be more on the dull side than funny. Jackie Chan in The Legend of Drunken Master (1978) plays a martial arts master who must be drunk to perform at his best. The movie has a strong climax in the final fight scene.

You have to admit that Dudley Moore played a couple of really good drunks with great success in 10 (1979) and Arthur (1981). One scene to remember in 10 is when he mixes beer and pain killers after a dentist appointment. He is drunk in just about every scene in Arthur, although many people think his moose scene is the funniest. Moore died in 2002.

There are great beer scenes throughout Strange Brew (1983) and the movie Blue Velvet (1986) has a great scene where Frank Booth, played by Dennis Hopper asks Jeffrey (Kyle MacLaughan) what kind of beer he drinks. He quietly answers "Heineken," much to the dismay of the Hopper character, who yells, "F____ that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!"

No list of great beer movies could be complete without Leaving Las Vegas (1995). True, every kind of alcohol has its part in this movie, not just beer, but beer is still a serious part of the problem. And then totally on the other side of the spectrum, is the beer drinking coach in Bad News Bears. He pays the players in beer and yells a lot. He turns out to be likable enough in end.

One of the greatest and funniest beer lines, actually ale lines of all time comes from the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). After a tumultuous dinner with Klingons, Captain Kirk states, Note to Gallery--Romulan ales no longer served at diplomatic functions."