The Big Bus is a 1976 American satirical comedy film[2][3] directed by James Frawley, and starring Joseph Bologna and Stockard Channing.

Almost immediately after the bus engine is equipped with nuclear fuel, a bomb goes off, critically injuring Professor Baxter, the scientist in charge of the project.

Once a promising driver, Torrance was disgraced after he crashed his bus atop Mount Diablo, and was accused of saving his own life by eating all of his passengers.

(Torrance blames his co-driver for cannibalism, insisting that he himself survived by eating the seats and the luggage, and only ate part of a passenger's foot by accident when it was included in a stew).

Dan is determined to achieve Cyclops's historic goal of non-stop service to Denver, but he also needs to surpass a treacherously curvy road where his father died.

Dan almost succeeds, but not before a truck smashes into the upper deck windshield, and the bus runs partially off the road, ending up teetering over a cliff.

To save the bus, Dan and Shoulders shift all the weight to the back by jettisoning all of the passenger luggage and then pumping the vehicle's entire carbonated beverage supply into the galley at the opposite end.

In the film, Cyclops has a passenger capacity of 110 and is equipped with a bowling alley, Asian-style cocktail lounge with a piano bar, swimming pool, Bicentennial dining room, private marble-and-gold bathroom with sunken tub, and chef's kitchen.

Cyclops can be compared to the German Neoplan Jumbocruiser, an actual double decker articulated super bus with a capacity of 170, originally built in 1975.

Though the most visible front portions of the bus (bar and cockpit) appeared to be functional, the remainder of the body of the vehicle was mostly empty—containing only the engine, suspension and essential mechanisms used for exterior trick shots.

Few behind-the-scenes and construction photos or plans have surfaced, but according to Joel Schiller's website, the actual bus built for the film was part of the Los Angeles Bicentennial Parade of 1976.

Further, the Bus World article stated that the vehicle made a trip from Los Angeles to San Diego, California, as a film promotion in 1976.

The compact disc was limited to 2000 copies and contained the film's complete score, including alternate takes and excerpts of classical pieces used in various scenes.

The CD also contained comedy music and vocals bits by Murphy Dunne, who portrayed Tommy Joyce, the piano player in the bus' Oriental Lounge.

Repeated in May 1980, the film has rarely been broadcast over the past 40 years on various channels, though it had been seen uncut as recently as 2009 on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and Showtime.