Twilight Zone: The Movie

After the opening prologue with DAN AKYROYD and ALBERT BROOKS, as bored drivers on a lonely country highway who like to play pranks, TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE offers four stories, supposedly in the vein of stories that Rod Serling wrote for the famous TV series. Not until the final segment, NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET does it offer the kind of fright stuff worthy of being in this anthology.

And it's a minor gem of its kind with JOHN LITHGOW giving an amazingly deft performance as a man totally afraid of flying who should have taken tranquilizers before he peered out the window. What he saw on the wing of the plane would have frightened anyone out of their wits--and, of course, no one believes him.

It's this final episode that makes the film itself worth watching. None of the other segments have enough punch to keep the viewer awake, let alone entertained. VIC MORROW's unfortunate accident came about during filming of a Vietnam sequence which does not appear in this version of the film--but he does give a convincing portrait of a bigot who gets his comeuppance. Very ironic.

Summing up: All of these stories were told with more style and suspense on the old TV shows. Strictly second-rate.

"Twilight Zone: The Movie" is a mostly entertaining anthology film based on Rod Serling's classic TV series of the 1960s. Four bizarre tales are told through the minds of four different filmmakers: John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller (Landis and Spielberg also produced). "Twilight Zone: The Movie" starts with a brief prologue starring Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks. Then comes segment #1, directed by Landis. This is the part of the movie that made headlines around the world when a freak accident killed actor Vic Morrow and two children while shooting a helicopter scene (which is not seen in the film). This story is about an angry man (played by Morrow) who is not happy with America because of all the different races that are living in the country. Then something strange happens. When the man steps outside of a bar, he finds himself on a street in Nazi Germany; a few minutes later he's confronted by the Klu Klux Klan; then he discovers he's in the middle of the Vietnam War; and so on. As for how this segment goes, it's only so-so. However segment #2, directed by Spielberg, is the weakest story of the bunch. Scatman Crothers stars as an elderly man who comes to live at a retirement home. After making friends with some of the elderly people living there, he talks them into playing a spirited game of kick the can. This is no ordinary game. Let's just say that its a game with a fountain of youth twist to it. I found this segment real boring. Up to this point, "Twilight Zone: The Movie" is disappointing. But then the film picks up with the strong last two segments. Segment #3, directed by Dante, stars Kathleen Quinlan as a woman who meets a little boy after accidentally knocking him off of his bike with her car. She decides to give the boy a ride home. But this is no ordinary home. It's a house where every TV set has a cartoon on, and the boy's family act like a bunch of crazy people (like their cartoons themselves). Quinlan begins to realize that this kid is not normal. This segment works because it's creepy (the look of the house on the inside is fascinating) and funny (every member of the kid's family is a complete nut). Ah, but the best segment comes last. Segment #4, directed by Miller, is a truly scary tale starring John Lithgow (from TV's "3rd Rock From the Sun") as a terrified passenger of an airplane flying through a severe thunderstorm. Things get worse when Lithgow see's something on the wing of the plane. What is it? A man? Or is it a monster? This segment literally had me on the edge of my seat. It's an excellent finale to "Twilight Zone: The Movie". So my advice is skip the first two segments, but watch the last two.

Here's my separate ratings for each segment (out of four stars):

Segment #1: **1/2; Segment #2: *1/2; Segment #3: ***1/2; Segment #4: ****

This adds up for an estimated combined rating of *** stars.

Five episodes realized as tribute to Rod Serling's Twilight zone, made by four known directors . It's is divided into 4 parts , three of them real remakes from classic television series, though starts in a prologue stars Albert Brooks and Dan Aykroyd . The best directed by John Landis is the first, where a bigot (played by Vic Morrow who died during filming by a helicopter crash accident) who becomes pursued of evil Nazis, Ku Klux Klan and American soldiers in Vietnam. The second segment directed by Steven Spielberg is a silly story about old people living in a retirement house who turn into little boys, thanks a strange visitor (Scatman Crothers). The third directed by Joe Dante concerns about a young woman (Kathleen Quinlan) encounters a kid with rare powers and some people (Kevin McCarthy, William Schallert,among them) closed at a strange house. And fourth episode titled 'Nightmare at 20.000 Feet' deals with a terrified passenger(John Lightow) who watch a creepy monster making rare issues on the wing of the plane.

The picture contains good special effects in traditional style without excessive computer generator as usual nowadays. The master Jerry Goldsmith composes a magic musical score particularly reflected on the second episode titled 'Kick the can' . Colorful and imaginative cinematography especially in the third segment titled 'It's a good life'. Rating : Acceptable and passable, the picture will appeal to fantastic genre buffs.

The classic long-running television series is formed by 156 episodes and its narrator , of course, Rod Serling. Later on, in 2002 are realized 44 new episodes with Forest Whitaker as host.

As is the case with movie anthologies, "Twilight Zone - The Movie" is hit and miss. If there was a movie destined to have four short stories that were all home runs it was this one. But the film falls short partially due to the expectations of the fans of the TV show and partially due to the fans expectations of the results of the four directors. What was most interesting back in 1983 was which ones hit and which ones missed.

The prologue gets things going in the right direction with Albert Brooks and Dan Aykroyd as two guys traveling down a dark and seemingly lonely road. What transpires in pure Twilight Zone. Then we move into the first story which is directed by (as was the opening prologue) John Landis. Landis, who got the whole project off the ground, foolishly decided to go with an original story instead of updating a classic episode. His story is that of a bigot who constantly and bitterly complains about the minorities who are getting job promotions and moving into his neighborhood. Of course the bigot then gets a real taste of what it feels like to be frowned upon as a minority. Basically that is the whole story in a nutshell. Landis provides no real twists to his story to give us that Twilight Zone flavor after the first few minutes. Once we see where the story is headed it never changes directions. For film buffs Landis adds a nice touch with a subtle reference to his classic "Animal House" in the Vietnam section of the story. Of course it should be noted that this was the story being shot when Vic Morrow and two children were tragically killed which would explain its abrupt ending. The two children are never seen which would suggest perhaps Landis had more to tell but we'll never know. Of the four this is the weakest story.

Story two is not much better then the first which is particularly surprising since Steven Spielberg is at the helm for this one. It's a remake of "Kick the Can" which was not one of my favorite episodes from the series and Spielberg adds nothing to his version. It's the tale of residents of an old folks home who encounter a new resident who promises them something no one of this Earth could possibly give them. While the story and individual moments are very sweet it goes absolutely nowhere. Having just come off "E.T." perhaps Spielberg was in that same gushy mood at that time.

Story three picks things up drastically and heads us in the right direction. Directed by Joe Dante who, at that time, was best known for "The Howling" with films such as "Gremlins" still in his future, this is the story of a little boy who hears people's thoughts and has a way of "wishing people away" if he gets angry enough at them. Kathleen Quinlan plays an unsuspecting traveler who goes to the boy's home and realizes almost immediately things are not normal. The star of this story is the art direction and sets as we are transformed into almost cartoon like worlds that are both funny and frightening.

The last and best story is the tale of a frightened airline passenger (well played by John Lithgow) who threatens the safety of everyone when he seems to be the only person that sees a creature on the wing of the airplane. George Miller, best known for the "Mad Max" movies, was smart enough to pick a popular episode from the series and he delivers with a bang. When you leave the theater this is the story you remember most.

On the whole the film is worth watching especially after the first 45 minutes. Landis and Spielberg perhaps were a little too high on their horses and thought whatever they did would work. Apparently they under estimated the legions of Zone fans. I'd love to see someone try another Twilight Zone movie someday and try re-working some of the other most famous episodes. I should also mention the terrific musical score by Jerry Goldsmith. Its one of his least mentioned but I think it's one of his best.

When I first watched this film at the age of seven, I must have been freaked out for weeks. Never had a movie had that kind of effect on my psyche, especially "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." While some will label this as a bad film due to the fact it didn't faithfully reproduce the original stories very well. I say 'Who Cares!' Sometimes, fear and entertainment is all that one needs in regard to a cool movie such as this one. While it is certainly not a film that will rank highly in the greatest films of all time category, at least it proved this concept in story telling is pertinent today, even in today's cynical culture.