THE STÖNED AGE ― DIRECTOR’S COMMENTARY
Joe: There’s gotta be more than driving around Torrance trying to get drunk, stoned and laid.
Hubbs: You been weirdin’ out on me, dude.
The Stöned Age began as a short film titled Tack’s Chicks that I directed at the American Film Institute and cowrote with the great Rich Wilkes.
The idea was to take a raunchy, action-packed ride through one night in the late 1970s from the point of view of two stoners driving around the barren wasteland of suburbia, searching for the holy grail of their existence: fine chicks. It was simple, satirical and irresponsible, but we thought it was funny and even with its comic exaggeration captured something real about the crudeness, cynicism and absurdity of that era.
The short went over so well we decided to expand it into a feature. There was interest in our script around Hollywood but with that came pressure to tone it down to a PG-13, which would have killed its edge. At that critical juncture we were fortunate to meet up-and-coming producers Neal H. Moritz and David Heyman, who were willing to back our vision for the film.
Thus began an epic battle to get the film financed that ended in the warm embrace of low-budget indie Trimark Pictures, who put up the money to shoot the film and buy the killer period soundtrack it required. After a brief theatrical test release the film ultimately made its debut in the hallowed aisles of video stores across the nation, backed by a marketing campaign that consisted mainly of a dubious quote claiming the film to be “better than Dazed and Confused.” (Fortunately, the statute of limitations has since run out on any investigation into the legitimacy of that quote.)
Over 30-plus years, The Stöned Age has managed to build a small yet disturbingly committed cult fan base, and is now getting a Blu-rayTM release, which should be a lesson to all young stoners to never give up on their dreams. The fact that the film lives on is a credit to the fearless artists who contributed to it: Michael Kopelow, Bradford Tatum, Clifton Collins Jr., Renee Griffin, China Kantner and so many others in front of and behind the camera who lent their talent, heart and sense of humor to bring this film to life.
― James Melkonian