5/5 A 70's Classic finally on DVD!!!!!
  by Scott Sloan (Colorado Springs, Co. USA)
After all these years the Peter Yates classic staring Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch, Harvey Keitel finally arrives on DVD. Take Cosby's humor, Raquel's sex appeal, Keitel's smouldering late 70's cool and one sweet ride of an ambulance, and you've got Mother, Jugs and Speed. Peter Yates' classic take on the ambulance industry in metropolitan Los Angeles gives us a little bit of everything in a quick, well paced film. Cosby's charm shines in one of his best roles i think as the cynical, no nonsense ambulance driver Mother Tucker. Just by looking at Mother's custom Rig, and patch covered jacket you get the impression that Cosby's character was not always an ambulance driver, but perhaps was once something quite differnt. Follow the F+B ambulance company and their staff of irregulars (Including Larry Hagman of Dallas Fame, and football player Dick Butkus) as they do their best to save the lives of their patients and hammer away at one another with a barrage of jokes, and one liners. They don't make comedys like this anymore where the car was just as big of a star as the trio named in the title. While normally found in the comedy section, the film does have an equal number of "dark" moments that let the viewer know that Yates wasn't just doing this for laffs and help to balance out the humor. The DVD transfer is crystal clear, and the slamming 70's soundtrack will be nostalgic for some, and new, and inventive to others. Another reviewer mentioned hearing Peter Frampton's "Show me The Way" playing in an early scene, and I always think of this film when i hear that song. Treat yourself to a 70's classic, and enjoy the ride, and pray that if you ever need the guys in white that he shows up wearing yellow sneakers with red socks, and goes by the name of Mother Tucker.

5/5 As close to the truth about EMS as possible!
  by
I worked as a Paramedic in the 80's and everything in the movie with the exception of drinking while on duty was true! Dropped patients, guns on the truck, the food you ate (I always had 2 chocolate eclairs and a pink lemonade at 2:00 am), the scaring of the nuns, all of it true, especially the caring for the patient. You may have had a fun time while on duty, but the patient came first! I watch it everytime it comes on, and it brings back memories of the fun time I had!

3/5 A funny look at the dark side of ambulance work.
  by
There are so few movies that are geared towards ambulance work. Mother,Jugs and Speed is in many cases one of the only movies on this topic out there. It is a very light hearted look at the possibilities (and past realities) of emergency medical services. I enjoyed it not only for the subject matter, but also for the cast. Bill Cosby truly portrays the "burned out" EMT who still cares for his patients while Harvey Keitel is a great straight man. Raquel Welch adds to the film not only with her screen presence, but also in bringing to light the plight of women breaking into this field. Larry Hagman's character is, in many ways, a disgrace to the profession, and yet he still provides you with a few laughs. I think this movie can be enjoyed by all, but most likely by those who are involved in emergency services of some kind. I consider it one of my favorites and I hope you do too!

4/5 More like 3.5 stars; a fine, funky 70's curio
  by Clare Quilty (a little pad in hawaii)
Alternately ahead of its time and an unmistakable product of its era, the 1976 paramedic comedy-drama "Mother, Jugs and Speed" has finally made its way to DVD.

This uneven but underappreciated little B-movie drew obvious influence from the blood-and-pranks mixture of Robert Altman's "MASH," but you can also see its darkly comic influence on contemporary fare such as "Six Feet Under" and "Bringing out the Dead," and it poked fun at zip-ups gone wrong 20 years before "There's Something About Mary."

Bill Cosby and Harvey Keitel play Southern California ambulance drivers forced to contend with all manner of accidents and injuries, both amusing and tragic. The all-over-the-map cast also includes Raquel Welch, Allen Garfield, Dick Butkus, Bruce Davison, L.Q. Jones, Larry Hagman (as a creepy lech whose antics haven't aged well) and even Allan Warnick, the kid from the records room in "Chinatown."

With its gritty, widescreen look and those awesome blue lens flares so common to the period, "Mother" is a fine, funky 70's curio. Welch and Keitel (who had just been replaced by Martin Sheen in "Apocalypse Now") are stiff but the rest of the pre-Carter administration cast seems to be having fun, particularly Cosby, as the glib, laconic Mother. It's a bit strange to see the sitcom star playing an anti-hero, but his cool, sneaky performance breezily anchors the movie.

4/5 My EMT Favorite
  by
My partner Bernie and I saw this twice in the theater shortly after it came out. We were in uniform and the ambulance parked in front of the theater. It did nothing to depict the professionalism we worked hard to promote, but as Bill Cosby said, while plugging in the tape and heading off code 3, "Showbusiness". What more can I say?