Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

earlytalkie How could I miss reviewing a film released on the day I was born? "The Road To Bali" premiered on November 19, 1952 as the sixth in a series of seven Road pictures featuring the inimitable Hope and Crosby. This film is absolutely hilarious. There are so many funny lines and wisecracks that you will have to watch it more than once. The lunatic plot has our heroes innocently taking a job as deep-sea divers for a baddie who is trying to recover a lost treasure and take over the island paradise ruled by his beautiful cousin, played by gorgeous Dorothy Lamour. One thing leads to another and, well, you'll have to see the picture to see what the screenwriters came up with. The songs are lovely as is the Technicolor. I got this for $2.00 at a second hand DVD store on a 2-disc set from Vina. I expected the usual mediocre bargain-basement print, but was surprised to see a first-rate copy with vivid and beautiful Technicolor and excellent sound. This film is just the thing to pick you up. The guest cameos (Martin & Lewis, Bogey, Jane Russell, etc.) are an added bonus. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.

MartinHafer For some strange reason, this film was allowed to slip into the public domain. This is odd because it is the only one of the Hope-Crosby road pictures to be in the public domain AND the only one filmed in color. Not surprisingly, however, because these are public domain prints the color is very washed out and the prints I have seen are a bit fuzzy. It must have looked great in 1952...my how times have changed.This film finds the boys playing pretty much the same characters they played in most of the other films in the series. Once again, they are broke, scheming for money and fighting over women. Also, just like most of their other films, the natives and native dances look like they stepped right out of a Hollywood sound stage...which they have. This makes for an odd film that bears as much resemblance to Bali as it does to Cleveland (well, actually less).Because Bing and Bob are broke, they accept jobs as divers to retrieve a sunken treasure. What they don't know is that the job is practically suicide--with a horrible giant squid waiting for them. It already has killed several other divers and the boys are next. But, in typical road movie style, the Princess (Dorothy Lamour) falls for the boys and doesn't want to see them risk their miserable lives.As for the quality of the film, it's a mixed bag. Because the plot and so much about the formula of the movie is the same old same old, it certainly isn't a must-see movie. However, it's pleasant entertainment and the film does have an even higher number of jokes that pokes fun of itself and cultural references than usual. This is how they get little cameos of Humphrey Bogart and Martin & Lewis in a film supposedly set in Bali and the South Seas. It also has gorillas (in Indonesia?!).For fans of the series, it is a nice return to the past but to someone wanting something different, you're gonna be disappointed.

kevintdoherty One of the actors making a cameo in Road to Bali is missing from the credit list--Humphrey Bogart! Bogie is seen pulling "The African Queen" through the marsh just as he did in the movie "The African Queen"! This film is full of site gags like the earlier Road pics, including Martin and Lewis in a dream and Bing's brother Bob shooting wild game! There have been various versions of this film released on video. TCM just showed a great copy in its original form with the Paramount logo. Earlier versions had cut the logo. This film must have fallen into public domain since it was produced by Bing (and Bob?) and only released by Paramount. The interesting thing about the new TCM version is that it has an early-'50s Columbia logo at the start! They must have gained access to it as the did Road to Rio years earlier.

bensonmum2 Before watching Road to Bali, Road to Singapore was the only other Hope/Crosby Road movie I'd seen. I enjoyed Road to Singapore and I've been meaning to give some more of these movies a go. In comparison, however, Road to Bali is terrible. It's just not funny. The jokes and sight gags never seem to hit their mark. For example, the bit about the loved starved gorilla was painful to watch. I was especially annoyed with all the self-referential, "look, we're in a movie" attempts at humor. When used judiciously, breaking the mythical fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience can be funny. Unfortunately, Bob Hope does it so often in Road to Bali that I wanted to scream. Also, I've real other comments where people favorably mention the various cameos. They felt forced and didn't work for me either.With all that being said, that doesn't mean I'm not going to give some of the other Road movies a shot. Next time, however, I think I'll stick with one of the earlier ones.