Simply A Masterpiece

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Meatballs is a superior movie! This silly wonderful flick makes my summer. The counsellors in the film are familiar, the parallels to real camp staff are amazing. The Canadian Wilderness is also quaint and warm, and haunts me like a sensory memory. Bill Murray is, well, Bill Murray, in life and in the movie. Sweet, funny, considerate and embracing, Bill never disappoints. This is a slice of life/coming of age movie that represents so many aspects of youth that are difficult but survivable. The acting is real and believable, the watcher feels for their issues and celebrates their wins. Worth watching, over and over, this sweet movie is something to smile about.

I'm pleased to see so many good comments on this movie here. What I don't get is that Meatballs is always advertised as this kind of bawdy, teen sex comedy when you see a write up on it. Even IMDb in it's description goes there.Meatballs is really not that kind of movie. It is a very sweet little film about a bunch of misfits who find that they are not so bad after all. It also is the story of how one boy goes from outcast to hero after he is taken under the wing of a caring counselor.Sure there are jokes and highjinks, and a few teenage sexual references, but nothing over the top and they are all characteristic and true to form for summer camps.I love this movie. I loved when I was a kid, and I love it still today, and think it should almost be mandatory viewing for any young kid who feels like an outsider.

I watched Meatball several times in preteen years shortly after it was released, and remember loving it. Finally got the chance to see it again and became depressed. Found it cheesy and not funny. I know many of the movies from that time were cheesy, but they were genuinely funny, e.g., Stripes, Revenge of the Nerds, Strange Brew. I love Bill Murray but hated "Tripper". The movie did do a good job in defining the "summer camp movie". I hear about people recalling this fondly. It has developed a cult following. I thought about watching this with my kids (once they are 17 of course . . .), but after seeing it again I am glad that I didn't. Would of lost all my street cred. Lame jokes, lame characters, lame movie.

Imagine spending the summer without your family or friends from school, and meeting new people. Or yet, it's your first time where you're a nobody and the only person you can count on is somebody from camp. "Meatballs" packs lots of comedy in this film. In camp, there's a eccentric counselor(Bill Murray) who knows how the boys and girls can have a good time. Enter a kid named Rudy(Chris Makepeace) who has no one to look up to. He doesn't fit in with anyone, only Tripper can make him have fun. The rest of the can are just as crazy as Tripper. Camp Northstar is an average camp with an above average team. One the other hand Camp Mohawk is an elite camp that has them running for their money. In the basketball game, the Mohawks got pantsed! And in the Olympiad the Northstar teal got the revenge they needed when one of the members take out the saboteur. And Morty(Harvey Atkin), this poor soul can never get himself in gear if he tried. A very, VERY funny comedy, and it's a big keeper I'll say. This movie shows that camp can be fun, if you wanted to be! 5 stars!