It is the first of six film collaborations between Murray and Harold Ramis and few sequels, of which only Meatballs III: Summer Job (1986) had any connection to the original.

Rudy Gerner, a lonely boy whose mother died about a year earlier, is sent to summer camp by his workaholic father, but decides to run away.

Crockett fails to clear the high jump bar, Hardware gets pummelled in boxing, and Jackie suffers a broken ankle in field hockey, thanks to the dirty work of two Mohawk girls.

Rudy's many mornings spent jogging and training with Tripper pay off as he wins the race, giving North Star its first Olympiad victory by a score of 230–220.

Later that evening, Morty, Tripper, Roxanne and the CITs sing around a campfire and say their final goodbyes as the camp prepares to close at the end of summer.

The website's critical consensus reads: "Meatballs is a summer camp comedy with few surprises, but Bill Murray's riffing adds a spark that sets it apart from numerous subpar entries in a frequently uninspired genre".

[6] Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "With far fewer high spirits than Animal House, and only two characters of any interest, Meatballs reveals itself to be a loud, off-key cry for conformism of a most disappointing sort.

"[7] Dale Pollock of Variety wrote: "Record of tv stars making the transition to feature films is spotty overall, but Bill Murray proves a welcome exception to the rule.

"[9] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a fast, funny sendup of summer-camp life" that "is not as all-out raunchy as Animal House—but it's hilarious in a similar blissfully uncomplicated and nutty way.

"[10] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote: "Meatballs is as tartly, unpretentiously funny as its title ... As the senior boys' counselor, an easygoing role model and spontaneous comic genius, Bill Murray of Saturday Night Live makes a deceptively sensational debut as a film comedy star.

"[11] Jack Kroll of Newsweek remarked that "this film has almost none of the scraggy, raunchy, irreverent anarchy that gave Animal House a kind of perverse anti-style.

Sony Pictures Entertainment issued a special-edition DVD (with an anamorphic transfer, a director's commentary, and a "Making of" featurette) on June 5, 2007.