The original title "Pinball Summer" is more thematic, but there is a fair amount of picking up/pulling/scoring and mostly just making out in this juvenile offering. Generally, films with this type of cast fall into one of two categories: horror in particular slasher films in which even the gorgeous girls get killed, and half-baked scatological escapades in which testosterone-filled teens and young men chase girls who are often more than willing to get caught. There is usually a virgin of course, as well as a nerd and an alpha male/bully. Other characters include exasperated older people, and occasionally cops who are out to spoil the fun.All those elements are present here, but the film doesn't succeed. The plot, such as it is, is about a pinball competition with a long run-up into it. On the plus side, nobody gets killed, and as the bad guys are more idiots than thugs, there are no villains with a capital V either, so no real triumph, certainly not over evil. There is a soundtrack, but even that is half-hearted. Watch a slasher flick next time.

This movie alternately called "Pinball Summer" or "Pick-up Summer" (since the pinball craze had long since ended by the time it hit American drive-ins) is basically a Canadian version of the 1970's American teen exploitation (or "sexploitation") drive-in flicks, which means that despite the thick Canadian accents it is virtually indistinguishable from contemporary American teen comedies like "The Pom-Pom Girls", "The Van", "Malibu Beach" and so forth. There is no real plot, for instance, just a lot pranks and zany hijinks revolving around a pinball tournament and a trophy that keeps getting lost or stolen. The male protagonists are two over-aged high school students who are much more obnoxious and somewhat less funny than actual teenagers. Their enemies are a sorry motorcycle gang who look like north-of-the border rejects from "Grease" or the Frankie and Annette beach movies, and a snooty rich couple who the protagonists seem to torment for no other reason than because they're rich and snooty.Of course, the main reason to see any of these movies is the girls. The two protagonists are chasing around two sisters played by a couple of very attractive actresses (Karin Stephens and Helene Udy). The two wear various outfits that are never more than ridiculously skimpy, but have only very brief nude scenes. Most of the nudity is provided by the voluptuous Joy Boushel, who later became a minor Canadian scream queen appearing in "Humongous" and "The Fly". She leaves an indelible impression of boobs and freckles here, especially in the big "strip pinball" scene. Unfortunately, her character "Sally" also has her own theme song ("Sally Joy/you ain't no boy. . ."). Which brings me to the music: imagine the worst kind of sappy music from the late 1970's--now imagine something much, much worse and you're starting to get an idea of the godawful soundtrack to this movie.So all things considered would I recommend this? Well, it could have used a little more nudity and a LOT less music, but it's really no worse than the American teen movies of the time, so if you like those. . . And the director, George Mihalka, would go on to make one of the better Canadian "slash-for-cash" horror movies "My Bloody Valentine" (if only some psycho in a miner's helmet would have put all the male hosers in THIS movie out of my misery, but oh well. . .).

Quite clearly filmed under the title, PINBALL SUMMER, PICKUP is a truly bizarre Canadian version of USA teen flicks. The film tries to pass off Canada as the USA, but that is hardly the largest of its credibility problems. This is one of those films where you are led to believe that a group of teens is going to spend all summer chasing down a trophy for a pinball tournament as the be all and end all of existence! Even supposedly rough and tumble biker gangs go gaga for the hunk of metal and faux wood. But, between the hackneyed boyfriend-girlfriend storyline, the loser virgin clichés and the chase for the elusive trophy, PICKUP SUMMER gains momentum to become a truly indescribable bit of 80's nostalgia. Leering shots at the pretty leads are expected and break up the monotony, but when the film has over-the-top homo-erotic biker dudes chasing after not only the girls, but this trophy and, seemingly, each other, it truly goes off the rails - in it's own "good-bad" way. The theme song "Pinball Summer" (they even did a custom Pinball Summer video game) is genuinely catchy in a pop 80's kind of way, and there is a quirky energy to the second half of the film. Grindhouse fest

Saw this one on a late French Network in Quebec and saw it again recently...What Canadian filmmakers were thinking then ? Passing some parts of suburban Montreal as an American lakeside resort...And the rest: bad photography, poor editing, null acting, sexist overtones and worst of all, a too conventional storyline that is rather reminescent of the Archie Andrews/Reggie Mantle rivalries in Archie comics, which ended with a reward: a girl after a souped-up pinball tournament contest...Better read the comics.For the rest, Mihalka learned for this failure and made better films later...And the French dubbing ? Again in Paris, as the kids where treated to original Parisian suburb slang... And Carl Marotte is french-speaking and does not dub himself...A movie to waste your time, and then forget it !