Name: The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story
Genre: Drama
Released: 2014-09-01
Rating: 20
Cast: Dylan Everett, Sam Kindseth, Julian Works, Alyssa Lynch, Tiera Skovbye

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John G

This was the Saved By The Bell from WISH. The movie was very underacted and slightly wretched. They could have put a lot more effort in this and created something good.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/21/22

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victor o

I was bored and wanted to watch something when this caught my eye. I noticed two of the performers – Tiera Skovbye and Dylan Everett used to appear on a show I used to like and decided to watch it. I expected just to be entertained by just these two but in the end, it felt like I was transported back in time to my childhood as the nostalgia flows from this movie like a waterfall and I loved almost every minute of it. From 1988 to 1993, I was a child more used to cartoons and sitcoms with kids. Saved by the Bell was the Saturday afternoon show that I saw whenever I prepared my lunch and saw for the antics of Screech and Zach than the show itself because teenagers for a child were adults to me so I didn't care too much about it. But I did watch the occasional episode and enjoyed it from time to time. This movie is a dramatization of events from Dustin Diamond's perspective into the making of the show and the other kids who grew up with it. From its humble beginnings on the Disney Channel to its success on the network television, Saved by the Bell gave its teenaged cast fame and fortune as well as entertaining millions around the country and the world. But it was not all fun as these kids lived a life that was far from normal and ended up being damaging in many respects. Mark-Paul Gosselaar's relationship with his female costars, Dustin's problems with an extra who abused their friendship, the producers attempt to make the show as lucrative as possible while being ignorant of the lives of the kids. Things are both good and bad while the show and the lives of the kids moved on to its heartwarming finale. I felt happy watching this movie, recalling how wonderful the show was and how loyal the reenactment of the various scenes from episodes that were shown in the movie. As well as the accuracy in the styles of clothes and music and technology. A part of me still finds it odd how people could dress in loud neon colors, but then again, I dressed like that once upon a time. The girls in curly hair, jeans, and spandex, old fashioned but gorgeous. The high-end cars and motorcycles that are now classics. And those brick-sized cell phones! I wish they played the show's theme song, but this is a Lifetime production, the royalties would have been devastating to pay for. I remember growing up and seeing how girls of my age liked Mario Lopez and Mark-Paul Gosselaar or how I used to think how pretty Elizabeth Berkeley and Tiffani-Amber Theisen were. How sassy Lark Vorhees was and of course how funny Dustin Diamond was. Here the actors and actresses do a nice job of depicting them. The cast of kids looks more like children than the original actors but they do a modest job of imitating them. Dylan Everett as Mark-Paul's is splendidly capturing his charisma and the fourth wall breaking down very well. Sam Kindseth looks very boyish and less the awkward geek Dustin Diamond played on the show. Tiera Skovbye is as statuesque as Elizabeth Berkely but she doesn't capture her personality. Though I do love Alyssa Lynch's capturing Tiffany-Amber's warm personality, though that beauty mark is too prominent and fake. Julian Works captures Mario Lopez's appearance but not his personality. I am aware that there is controversy about this movie given that this was adapted from Dustin Diamond's controversial tell-all book, according to Diamond and the rest of the cast was full of inaccuracies. But I still loved the spirit of this movie as I realize just how classy this show was. By far loads more family-friendly than anything that is made now with twenty-year-olds pretending to be teenagers so they can depict sex, violence, and other immoral behavior. Saved by the Bell was truly a great show and this movie shows it. I am happy to watch this but I still wanted more, especially given that beyond its original run they made a college-era spin-off that then was made into two reunion movies and a new class spin-off that lasted longer than the original show. But I guess it was the original show with the original cast that matters here and that is enough.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Man screech is a bitter piece of crap. No wonder he ended up giving a Dirty Sanchez to some poor skank in his sextape. Only highlight was Jason Mendoza from Good place and that's because I know I should be watching that instead of this. I watched this with my boys Michael and Jimmy from the reel debaters..I nearly stabbed Jimmy because of his passing resemblence to screech but he's a sweet boy so I layed off. Love your boy James B @beaverdoes

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

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Audience Member

"Hey You Have The Dreamers & The Doers" *** 1/4 The Story Starts Off With The Original Cast Rising To Stardom Then Focuses On The Life Of Dustin Diamond & His Struggles That He Faces With Being Cast Into A Geeky High School Dweeb That Fails To Connect With His Co Stars: & The Fans Of The Show. Knowing That He Would Be, (As The Character Zack Said In The Second To Last Episode) ("Screech Sometimes You're Too Weird Even For Me.") Viewed By The Fans This Way, He Ask The Producer To Change The Image Of Screech To An Image More Similar To That Of His: "Stud Muffin Co-Star Mario Lopez..." Which He Inmates In His Day Dream About Being A Muscle Man Surrounded By Babes In The Hot Tub When He Sees Him Passing His Time Off Of Work On The Stage With A Babe. (Hey You Have The Dreams & The Doers) Regardless Of Viewing Himself To Have The Muscle Physique (Or The Pretty Boy Look Like His Other Co-Star Mark Paul) Required To Be A Babe Magnet That Had Babes On Both Arms: Either He Didn't Have The Discipline, To Follow Through With The Work Required To Attain It, Or He Was Told By The Producers, That They Wanted Him, The Way He Was. As A Regular Viewer Of The Show Back In The 80s & Early 90s By The 3rd Season When The Cast Was Being Filmed On The Beach I Was Hoping (& I'm Sure Many Other Fans Did As Well) That They Would Part Ways With The Character Screech Powers; Nothing Against Dustin Diamond But As He Cited The Character Was Just Too Dorky & The Cast Was Growing Older Ready To Explore New Territory With Out The Geek Image. Didn't Happen That Way & The Rest Is History In The Days Of Our Lives. All & All This Was A Light Hearted Disney-eye-zed Bio That Summarized Mostly The Good Things That Went On Behind The Bell Unlike The Book. ~ I Give This Film A C- (Common) *** 1/4

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

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Audience Member

The likeness of the characters was great, but I wasn't impressed with the movie itself. I didn't learn much that I couldn't have found out online.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/28/23

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Audience Member

I thought this was going to be scandalous and cheesy goodness. It wasn't. It was dull and seemed to drag on. I felt like it never went anywhere and it was the same thing over and over.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Jason Lapeyre

Director

Dylan Everett

Mark-Paul Gosselaar

Sam Kindseth

Dustin Diamond

Julian Works

Mario Lopez

Alyssa Lynch

Tiffani-Amber Thiessen

Tiera Skovbye

Elizabeth Berkley

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Julian Lytle

Punch Drunk Critics

This movie didn't show you any dark stuff or scandalous events or anything that would make it worthy of being Unauthorized. It was just like a long Saved by the Bell clip show episode.

Jan 11, 2020

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Kevin Fallon

The Daily Beast

Is The Unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story the worst movie that has ever been made for television?

Sep 21, 2017

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Synopsis

Young actors Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Dylan Everett), Mario Lopez (Julian Works), Elizabeth Berkley (Tiera Skovbye), Dustin Diamond (Sam Kindseth) and others adjust to life in the spotlight while appearing on the hit TV show "Saved by the Bell."

Director: Jason Lapeyre
Producer: Stephen Bulka, Dustin Diamond, Roger Paul, Juliet Smith, Jarred Weisfeld
Screenwriter: Ron McGee
Production Co: Front Street Productions
Rating: TV-PG (L)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Runtime: 1h 30m

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