Twilight Zone - The Movie
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Movie Reviews of Twilight Zone - The Movie
Movie Review: Twilight Zone: The Movie
Summary: 3 Stars
I remember seeing this movie in a theater when it originally came out. I really liked it at that time, but I think it has not aged well. For all the gory detail on the movie, see the WIKI pages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_Zone:_The_Movie
On the intro, I liked the first scene with the car cutting through the dark landscape and CCR playing Midnight Special, but then the dialog between the two men in the car was too lengthy and sounded forced to me.
The first segment I thought was pretty good, especially for the message it sends (you could think of it as Karma on steroids). The main actor, cursing out loud in a bar on Jews, Blacks and Asian people, gets a load of "karmic revenge" when suddenly transferred to Nazi Germany as a Jew, as a Black hunted down by the Ku-Klux-Klan, and (presumably) as a Vietnamese during the Vietnam war. My wife made a comment that "he will come back as a changed man", and supposedly the original script had him save two Vietnamese children and indeed return a better human, but this episode was cut short by the tragic accident on the set. The resulting ending showing him deported in a train with other Jews does leave you craving for a more satisfying conclusion.
The second segment is probably the weakest. Spielberg's contribution is indeed overly sentimental, the acting a little overplayed and the story not really dramatic. The likeable old black man going from one retirement home to the next does succeed though in showing the elderly that they rightfully so can be proud of the lives they lived, but also not forget that they can still employ a joyful and childlike attitude and still enjoy their remaining years.
The third segment is based on a pretty cool idea, a young boy that can make everything reality that he imagines. The "family" he has assembled in his house acts pretty creepy at first, until you realize that they are just really fearful of all bad consequences that may happen when disagreeing with the little boy.
The fourth and final segment has mostly been found the most entertaining, I would agree. Seeing people smoke on airplanes obviously shows the age of the movie. The acting in this one is pretty realistic, and the story with a gremlin shoving airplane parts into a plane engine at 20,000 feet during a heavy thunderstorm is pretty cool.
It is a funny touch that they ended the final segment with bringing back Dan Aykroyd's character from the opening scene, offering to show "something really scary".
Movie Review: Too Affectionate and Sentimental
Summary: 3 Stars
TWILIGHT ZONE - THE MOVIE made headlines long before it opened when actor Vic Morrow and two Asian child actors were killed in a horrific accident during filming.
The scandal, the trial, and the resulting publicity cast a dark shadow on what is otherwise a harmlessly sentimental trip into the Twilight Zone.
The opening with Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks is pure John Landis, more of the same laugh/fright effect that worked so well in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. But Landis' contribution to the tales, an original story not from the Zone canon, isn't up to Rod Serling standards. The comeuppance of bigot Vic Morrow get repititious and--honestly--problematic when you consider that the US soldier is lumped with the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.
Spielberg's choice is the lamest: cute elderly people get to become cute little kids for a night. Any otherworldly wonder is lost under a heavy flow of Speilberg syrup.
Joe Dante has fun with his tale but his sappy ending--far different than the original TV version!--could've been directed by Spielberg.
This is THE TWILIGHT ZONE, people, not THE GOONIES.
Only the last time, my personal favorite of all Twilight Zone episodes (the original starred William Shatner, hilariously lampooned in the second ACE VENTURE movie), reaches the Zone. John Lithgow is brilliant as a spazzing passenger in Richard Matheson's "Nightmare at Thirty Thousand Feet." George Miller (THE ROAD WARRIOR) does an awesome job of putting you in the plane by filming the sequence with a handheld camera.
Lithgow's performance was so good that he SHOULD have been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. Well, he was. But since THE TWILIGHT ZONE was tainted by the tragedy of Vic Morrow's death, Lithgow was nominated for his six minutes of standing around in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (you forgot he was even in that, right?). Such is Hollywood.
Think of all the Zone scripts that screamed for a big screen, big budget treatment. "To Serve Man"? A condensed version of Burgess Meredith as the librian who survives the world-ending nuclear holocaust? "The Martians Have Landed on Maple Street"? And Spielberg picks a story with adorable little tykes and codgers.
Not what it should have been.
Movie Review: Somewhat disappointing
Summary: 3 Stars
The Twilight Zone movie has always felt somewhat disappointing to me, and upon seeing it again on DVD now, it still feels the same way. Featuring four segments (one original, the other three based on classic episodes of the series) directed by John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante (The Howling, Gremlins), and George Miller (the Mad Max trilogy, the upcoming Justice League of America movie), the Twilight Zone movie starts out so well but ends up being ultimately disappointing for a number of reasons. The Landis directed first segment features Vic Morrow as a bigot who gets a taste of his own medicine as he finds himself transported through time. This segment is great, but feels unfinished largely due to the fact that Morrow was tragically killed in a helicopter accident. Spielberg's segment stars the late, great Scatman Crothers as the mysterious Mr. Bloom, who gives the members of a retirement hi=ome a chance to feel young again. There's nothing really to this segment, and Spielberg's direction just seems tired as well. Joe Dante's tale is a mixed bag and is dependent on the viewer whether or not you'll like it or not, but the final tale is worth the price of admission alone. George Miller's re-envisioning of the classic William Shatner-starring tale from the series features John Lithgow as a frightened airplane passenger who desperately tries to warn everyone of the creature on the wing. This segment is spectacular, and Lithgow in particular gives one of the absolute best performances he's ever graced the screen with. The prologue for the film is great too, and features Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks and is directed by Landis as well. What's the most disappointing aspect of this DVD release is undoubtedly the fact that there are no extras whatsoever besides the film's theatrical trailer. Just like they did with the 25th Anniversary Edition of Poltergeist, Warner Brothers has skimped out on the extras here. Other than that though, the Twilight Zone movie isn't bad one bit, just don't expect anything great out of it. It's still worth picking up though, and Miller's segment alone sets this apart from other horror anthology flicks.Movie Review: Mixed Bag Of Parables, Twist Endings, Dark Comedy and Horror!
Summary: 3 Stars
The film, true to many Twilight Zone episodes, starts with a seemingly common place setting. This prologue stars the always wonderful Dan Ackroyd and Albert Brooks and is accompanied by a soundtrack of "Midnight Special" as covered by CCR. Suffice it to say it concludes with the Twilight Zone's trademark twist ending. This clever beginning is followed by four segments with different casts and directors. They're all narrated by Burgess Meredith, who starred in some of the original television episodes.
The first segment is the only one that was originally written for the movie rather than being a reworking of one of the episodes from the 1960's series. Vic Morrow, who famously died in an on the set accident while filming this portion stars as a bigoted man who learns what life would be like if he was viewed differently by others. But does he learn his lesson too late? Probably because the real life tragedy that accompanied this part of the film necessitated it, this segment seems both too short and somewhat cobbled together.
KICK THE CAN has a wonderful performance from Scatman Crothers, but other than that it didn't do much for me. It feels too sentimental. You can tell it was made by Spielberg in one of his more sappy, family friendly phases.
ITS A GOOD LIFE is a surreal and darkly comic take on the original. In the beginning, those not familiar with the source material will believe Anthony is innocent, but is he...? This segment is marred by a happy ending which is quite different than the disturbing one in Rod Serling's TV series.
The final segment, NIGHTMARE AT 20,00 FEET is decent. You do see too much of the monster but what you see is frightening. John Lithgow is convincing as the paranoid main character.
So like many anthology movies this is a mixed bag. All in all the movie just doesn't quite come up to the perfection of the original show.
Movie Review: Twilight Zone The Movie
Summary: 3 Stars
I've been a huge fan of Twilight Zone for a long time now but never really got around to watch this film. I'm glad I did because while this film had moments, it was an overall disappointment. The start of the film was good but Aykroyd turning into a monster at the start of the film made me scratch my head.
The first film is surrounded in contraversy because the actor died on set. It started off pretty good with a man getting passed over for a promotion and he runs down races. He gets transported into different times that were hard for the races. The only part that I hated was the ending was beyond stupid and I hated it. For a PG movie, this one really pushes the censors with alot of racist terms.
The second film was a remake of the classic epsiode Kick The Can. I hated this film and it's probably Speilberg's worst effort.
The third film was awful. The first few minutes were nothing but references to different towns in original Twilight Zone epsiodes and even a directors name. The rest of the film just sucked and was unwatchable.
The final film featured John Lithgow in a remake of Nightmare at 5,000 feet. Lithgow did a great job as the lead actor and was by far the best story on the film.
Overall, started good but things got out of control. The final story was good but not enough for me to go out and recommend it to anyone.