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Like George Lucas' American Graffiti, Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused is an affectionate look at the youth culture of a bygone era. While Lucas took aim at the conservative 1950's, Linklater ju... read more read more...mps ahead a generation to the bicentennial year of 1976 to celebrate the joys of beer blasts, pot smoking and Frampton Comes Alive. Set on the last day of the academic year, the film follows the random activities of a sprawling group of Texas high schoolers as they celebrate the arrival of summer, their paths variously intersecting at a freshmen hazing, a local pool parlor and finally at a keg party. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Flixster Users

89% liked it

207,705 ratings

Critics

98% liked it

50 critics

R, 1 hr. 43 min.

Directed by: Richard Linklater

Release Date: September 10, 1993

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DVD Release Date: June 30, 1998

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Stats: 15,174 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (15,174)


  • March 20, 2007
    A cult classic. Us 30 somethings now watched this movie in envy and than even made it happen sometimes. Loved those tower parties.
  • March 11, 2012
    Wooderson: That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age. 

    "It was the last day of school in 1976, a time they'd never forget... if only they could remember."

    When it comes to teen movies, Dazed and Confused is at the top with Fast T... read moreimes at Ridgemont High. Movies just don't come cooler or more fun than Dazed and Confused. It's a rock n' roll, beer guzzling, weed smoking party from beginning to end. It's impossible to not love this movie. Great music, great characters, and great situations are what movies like this need, and Dazed and Confused has all of them and more.

    The story follows a bunch of teenagers on the last day of school. The events include paddling incoming freshman, getting drunk, playing pinball, and trying to find somewhere to party. It's an endless episode of pranks and partying fueled by one of the best classic rock soundtracks you could ever wish to hear. 

    If you know Richard Linklater, you know that his movies aren't going to have much plot wise. He likes showing random hanging out, with amazing dialogue. He also likes to throw his own views on politics and other worldly matters into play as well. He does that here, but not nearly as much as he did with movies like Suburbia and Slacker. While those were hangout movies, they were also message movies. This is just a hangout movie and nothing more; and it's easily one of the best ever.

    The characters are what make this movie so much better than the average teen comedy. Just like in Fast Times, there are a lot of characters, all of which have their own personality and their own vibe. Dazed, features the second best stoner ever, only second to Sean Penn's, and two of the best characters in teen movie history, with Pink and Wooderson. The cast is phenomenal and endless.

    This is a movie that is sure to make you want to relive your party days. It makes you want to go grab a beer, roll a joint, turn up the music, and cruise.  You gotta love nostalgic movies like this.

    Simone: You act like you're so oppressed. You guys are kings of the school. What are you bitching about? 
  • January 10, 2012
    One simple quote can explain this film: That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.
  • November 28, 2011
    I've never been a great Richard Linklater enthusiast, and I wasn't all that impressed originally with Dazed and Confused when I first saw it. It seemed to be getting a lot of high praise from my friends and from film critics alike, but I just didn't see it or understand it. Howev... read moreer, having revisted the film several times now, I can take that thought back. The film is, to me, a big budget version of Slacker (Linklater's first film). While both films are not exactly the same storywise, the way they're told - in fragments moving from character to character - makes them polar opposites in a way. As Tarantino has stated about the film elsewhere, when you revisit the film, it's like revisiting old friends and hanging out with them for a day or two - and it's very much like that. It's also a 70's version of American Graffiti, but in my estimation, Dazed and Confused is superior to Graffiti. Mainly because I can relate to the characters more and they're less one-dimensional than they are in Graffiti. Nevertheless, I really enjoy Dazed and Confused and I love to pop it in from time to time and revisit some old friends for some good times and good tunes.
  • fb1664868775
    October 27, 2011
    fb1664868775
    A superb feel good film that acts as a time capsule for 1976. Great performances.
  • fb791220692
    September 22, 2011
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    Mercilessly honest and realistically portrayed, Dazed and Confused captures the entire high school experience within the story of one night. While the story may not really go anywhere or have much of a climax, the multiple characters are each carefully crafted and the script is p... read moreassionately written. Tony and Mike, while marginalized in the story's context, are the most important characters, and tie the point of the narrative together perfectly.
  • September 21, 2011
    As accurate a depiction of a time and people as I have ever seen, with quite literally the soundtrack of my teenage existence. As I watched I realized "I sat in that car, I went to that party, I knew those guys." The collection of young talent here is amazing as well. And a so... read moreundtrack that sounds like "The Best Of Classic Rock Weekend!"
  • September 13, 2011
    It was the last day of school in 1976, a time they'd never forget... if only they could remember.

    Good cool movie! It was a blast to see. Funny moments and lots of familiar faces doing crazy things. Great Cast!

    The end of the 1976 school year in a Texan small town is cause for ... read morecelebration of the summer break. But first the Seniors are excited to chase the newbies, whom they may submit to merciless hazing, which for boys takes the stern-scorching form of no-nonsense spankings. However futile, attempts to escape are made, yet pointless for the members of the baseball team, which has to play that evening, before the partying, when alcohol is to anesthetize their seat-sting. Mitch Kramer becomes the prime prey after his stupid sister actually asks the boys to go easy on him, which only senior quarterback Randall "Pink" Floyd does, while senior year-repeater Fred O'Bannion adds frustration to his reputed zeal for spanking sorely sorry.
  • August 18, 2011
    A cult classic, one of the coolest and funniest films of all time.
  • August 12, 2011
    Good

Critic Reviews


Variety Staff
August 8, 2011
Variety Staff, Variety

The teenage wasteland, 1976-style, of Dazed and Confused is smack-dab between The Brady Bunch and Children of the Damned , and it's a scary, if sometimes giddily amusing, place to visit. Full Review

Richard Corliss
August 8, 2011
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

Bet it makes you wanna dance. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
July 19, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

A better-than-average teen movie but not much more, at least if you aren't a member of Linklater's generation. Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Dazed and Confused has an enjoyably playful spirit, one that amply compensates for its lack of structure.

Peter Travers
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

The ultimate party movie -- loud, crude, socially irresponsible and totally irresistible.

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Succeeds on its own terms and reflects American culture so well, it becomes part of it. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

This is light entertainment -- nothing groundbreaking or even especially noteworthy. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The film's real inspiration, I think, is to depict some high school kids from the 1970s with such unblinking attention that we will realize how romanticized most movie teenagers are. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
September 10, 1993
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Once every decade or so, a movie captures the hormone-drenched, fashion- crazed, pop-song-driven rituals of American youth culture with such loving authenticity that it comes to seem a kind of anthem. Full Review

R. L. Shaffer
January 29, 2012
R. L. Shaffer, IGN DVD

The film transcends the common barriers and becomes a living spiritual entity, encompassing the essence and tone of an era. Full Review

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Facts


    • Darla: Wipe that face of your head, bitch.
    • Wooderson: That's what I love about these High School chicks man, I get older, they stay the same age.
    • O'Bannion: Hey Slater give me drugs man!
    • Wooderson: Get some from your mother man...
    • Wooderson: Alright, alright, alright.
    • Slater: Hey man, Pickford's got a doobie were about to burn; you in?
    • Don Dawson: Think about it. Yeah.
    • Slater: Are you cool man?
    • Mitch Kramer: Like how?
    • Slater: Okay, man.
    • Randy "Pink" Floyd: He was just asking if you get high.
    • Mitch Kramer: Yeah, like smoke pot?
    • Wooderson: Hey man, you got a joint?
    • Mitch Kramer: Uhh, no; not on me man.
    • Wooderson: It'd be a lot cooler if you did.

Dazed and Confuse... : Watch Free on TV


Dazed and Confused Trivia


  • What movie starred Rory Cochrane, Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, and Cole Hauser?  Answer »
  • The characters Kevin Pickford and Michelle Burroughs were a couple in what movie?  Answer »
  • "I only came here to do two things, kick some ass and drink some beer...Look's like we're almost outta beer." Is from what 1993 film?  Answer »
  • Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, and Milla Jovovich starred in what movie?  Answer »

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