Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Simply Perfect

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

First I am a Mexican via injection although "Chicano"was never in her vocabulary.So much for disclosure.Before WW11 there were a series of clash in the LA area sometimes referred to as the Zoot suit riots. This 1981 rather strange "Musical"that runs 103 minutes,tries to find a unique way to dramatize some real happenings in a way of both prideful remembrance and as a introduction to these histories for the greater un informed masses.( you).Now I'm not sure they succeeded in all these noble endeavors,but what they did succeed in doing was collect quite a fine cast and build a remarkable film character that was also a guide for the viewer in this play within a film setting portrayed by Edward James Olmos "El Pachuco". For me the overt racism is well known but the use of a Zoot suit is better thought of when one things of the urban dress todays inner city youth wear as a comparassion. Bottom line as stated by El Pachuco: The Press distorted the very meaning of the word "Zoot Suit." All it is for you guys is another way to say Mexican . Not a film for everyone,but a gallant try none the less and I did enjoy it even if it made me somewhat dazed and confused.

While I am willing to agree with the one reviewer here who takes Luis to task for staging a somewhat lopsided revision of history, I'm surprised at the 6.4 rating for this very artfully laid out rundown of the Sleepy Lagoon screwiness in wartime LA. My father was in fact one of the sheriff's deputies involved. His version was understandably authoritarian and legalistic. But all that aside...This is the best examination I've ever seen or even heard of regarding the psyche of the Mexican-American gang bangers on the east side of that dry wash that separated the fix-is-in boys downtown from the second- and third-generation campesinos of mid-century SoCal. I went to Woodrow Wilson Junior & High School in El Sereno. There is nothing in Eddie James's =stunning= (to me, anyway) real-ization of "El Pachuco" that is off the mark. Nada. He had the peculiar, paranoid-delusional, narcissistic-machismo, defense mechanism menudo of the vato loco =down=, ese. And anyone who understands even a =little= of what it really means to be =Hispanically= antisocial in hyper-starched khakis & Sir Guys =or= peg pants & porkpies -- and =dig= it -- ought to be fascinated. (Go see the outfits some of the guys in El Chicano, Tierra and Thee Midnighters are sporting to this day.) Lalo Guerrero's "Marijuana Boogie" and the rest of the "bop" lend further flavor to this nifty little play-turned-film. Watch it =carefully=. Valdez's script is subtle. This is sophisticated trabajo.

Zoot Suit seriously is the WORST MOVIE EVER!!!! Don't dare attempt to watch it. Seriously! It was dreadful. The only positive element was how the movie portrayed the treatment of young Mexican/Latino/Chicano Americans in LA back when World War II was going on. Prejudice is defiantly made known in this movie. Beyond that, everything was terribly done. All the characters were extremely flat, and even if they did have some elements of being round, they were far from being well developed. They had a lot going for them, but I believe the director did not go far enough… or went in a completely wrong direction. I, at first, thought it was going to be a satire. It was nothing like I was expecting. I was expecting comedy, and instead I found myself watching a movie/play, which I have nothing against. In fact, I love the those kinds of films (i.e. Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Singing in the Rain, Guys and Dolls, etc.) I am all for movies that are mockeries… but this one was not one of those films. It was a bad movie. The storyline was good. The set was great. I believe the actors and the director though needed assistance. It could have been so much more. However, comparing it to Mexican soap operas… I suppose it was better… but really it could have been so much more. I was very disappointed. I am interested in seeing the Broadway version however. I really would like to see the play at it's absolute best. It has potential. It just has not been used yet.

This film is a work of art. Of the finest quality. I first saw it at the Sunset Theater in downtown Los Angeles over 20 years ago. I was impressed with it then. Now that I have my own copy, I continue to be impressed by the quality of the performances, the screen writing, the sets, the music and dancing, and the feeling. I gave it a "10" which puts me in the same category as the "under 18 age females", OK, I guess I don't mind being in a group with some under 18 age females, sounds pretty good, eh, ese? Kudos for Luis Valdez, Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos, Tyne Daly and muchos otros. Great work, can't say enough good things about it.