Rate Dukes of Hazzard

[Hand of Evil]

If a movie with Jessica Simpson in tiny shorts is not a fantasy, then I do not know what is

Jessica Simpson not in tiny shorts, in your bed, saying "make me bark like a dog", now that is a fantasy, her is tiny shorts is just a music video. Another: chainmail bikini, a sword, an orc..nuff said.

I got to get out more!

 

[TanisFrey]

I rember an epsoid of the origional series where the Grampa Duke made moonshine and ran it past the sherif. The sherif knew he had made it and was running it past him but could not find it. In the end Grampa had put the liqure in the gas tank as fuel and was running on it. Took it to a convention where gov officals were looking at ideas for alterent fuels.

As to making liqure of any kind is legal so long as you consume it yourself. Once you decide to sell it the state gets its coin and oversight.

 

[Storm Raven]

2. If not, what's the point of making illegal moonshine, and more importantly, who the h-e-double-hocky-sticks is buying it. Between the economics of scale and the risk of being caught, I don't see why any tavern would want the stuff.
3. Also, if that were the case, why not just get a license to make the stuff legally?

The tax on alcohol is quite significant. Something like half of the price you pay for alcohol is the result of "sin taxes". Moonshine is (a) cheap to make, and (b) almost by definition, not taxed. That makes it a lot cheaper than the legal alternatives.

To answer your other question, liquor licenses cost money, usually a fair amount. And you have to have a clean record to get one. Most moonshiners don't want to pay the fees for a liquor license, and couldn't qualify anyway.

 

[reveal]

This seems OT, as it's not a fantasy or sci-fi movie -- perhaps this thread should be shuttled over to the OT forum?

It's a movie. All movie threads go in this forum.

 

[Hand of Evil]

The tax on alcohol is quite significant. Something like half of the price you pay for alcohol is the result of "sin taxes". Moonshine is (a) cheap to make, and (b) almost by definition, not taxed. That makes it a lot cheaper than the legal alternatives.

To answer your other question, liquor licenses cost money, usually a fair amount. And you have to have a clean record to get one. Most moonshiners don't want to pay the fees for a liquor license, and couldn't qualify anyway.

You also have Blue Laws and dry counties.

 

[The_Universe]

I'm not sure if I'll see it or not.... I'm still too familiar with the TV show, having watched it on a regular basis when it was on originally, to not be making comparisons between it and the movie.

I loved the TV show, and thought the movie was a fantastic homage. Don't avoid this movie because you liked the TV show! It was true to the spirit of the show, and anyone trumpeting how "edgy" the show is full of crap. I've seen edgier material (aside from some somewhat violent car chases) on primetime family sitcoms.

This was a good, fun movie - and it was even better because it was the Dukes of Hazzard.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

I really enjoyed myself at this movie. It wasn't *good* - but it was fun.

 

[Storm Raven]

You also have Blue Laws and dry counties.

True, but moonshining doesn't really get you around those very well. Blue laws generally apply to when you can sell alcohol to the public, and moonshiners are mostly selling "wholesale". Dry counties are not that big a deal, you can usually go to the next county to buy your alcohol for personal use and bring it back (dry counties limit buying alcohol, not owning it). For a moonshiner, it's mostly about avoiding taxes.

In point of fact, until quite recently, most smugglers did so primarily to avoid taxes more than anything. The idea that smugglers would be primarily in the businessof moving product that is effectively contraband is relatively new (although they certainly did that). Avoiding excises, duty taxes, and tarrifs was the goal for most smugglers until the modern era.

 

[The_Universe]

Interesting reverse bell curve on the ratings, so far - by all appearances pretty much no one was ambivalent about the film; you either loved it or you hated it.

 

[Warrior Poet]

Avoiding excises, duty taxes, and tarrifs was the goal for most smugglers until the modern era.

This is the source of the term, "bootlegging." As I recall, in the 18th cenutry in Scotland, taxes were levied on whisky that went into effect as soon as the drink left the distillery. To avoid being tasked for possession of "water of life," distillery employees used to take off their boots and fill 'em up with whisky before leaving the distillery, either under the assumption that authorities were looking for bottles, jars, etc. and thus not think to look in boots, or under some loophole of the tax law that considered the boots somehow part of the distillery and therefore not subject to the tax.

Someone who smuggled whisky, then, was a "bootlegger."

And also presumably liked the taste of athletes' foot in their spirits.

Edit: Ok, I think I just remembered what it was. Tax on whisky, yes. So, in order to ensure the tax was paid, distillery employees were no longer allowed to bring buckets or other containers to the "office" to fill up before heading home (free whisky!). So, to avoid the container crackdown . . . ta da! Boots!

Warrior Poet