The first story in this anthology is brought to us by legendary director John Landis. Called "Time Out", it's the tale of a bitter, hateful man whose angry racism is reflected back on him through a most unusual series of experiences. This entirely original story does not play out as cleverly as it could, but even the hacked up ending, the sad result of a tragic on-set accident that took the lives of the star and two child actors, isn't as bad as people say.
The second story, "Kick the Can", comes to us from probably the most respected fantasy director of our day, Steven Spielberg. Ironically, I find it to be the least interesting in the film. It's the story of a magical visitor who travels to retirement homes to remind the residents of the joy they have lost with age, and how getting that feeling back is largely a matter of attitude and your state of mind. Scatman Crothers stars and is always a pleasure to watch, but in general, this piece just isn't as fascinating as what is to come.
Here's where things get really interesting, as "Twilight Zone: The Movie" and Joe Dante bring us a remake of one of the best classic Twilight Zone episodes ever, "It's a Good Life". It's a story about a little boy with godlike powers, and of course, how such power in the self-indulgent hands of a child can be so very... ill used. This is one freaky segment, but very enjoyable and really quite different from the original. It's probably the main reason I wanted to own this film.
Finally, we have "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", from George Miller, which revisits another of the best Twilight Zone episodes ever, this time with the great John Lithgow in the role William Shatner once played of a man on an airplane who is disturbed to spy "something on the wing"!
"Twilight Zone: The Movie" is wonderfully hosted throughout by classic TZ veteran Burgess Meredith, in voiceover form, and Dan Aykroyd is a delightfully familiar face in the films opening and closing segments, though here he carries quite a dark little secret. Though the first half is ugly at times and uninspired at others, not to mention plagued by memories of the helicopter accident that troubled every aspect of the film, the second half is a great ride and well worth it. And I, personally, love the wraparound bits too. If you're a fan of this 1983 film or the original show, you should definitely pick up this often very affordable Blu-Ray. Though it only features the theatrical trailer as a bonus, which is a real shame for a film with such a legacy behind it and so much history of its own, the movie alone is such a worthwhile trip!
Twilight Zone The Movie - A. Pierre - Somewheres
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.
i want to choke Spielberg out ! - Beatrice A. Lafave - so falls wichita falls
for sure Steve is not the only one to blame for this mediocre stew . there's plenty of blame to go around . "kick the can" is tantamount to having an adequate album with one shrill dud though . i remember anticipating this film as we all did . still largely a (dis)appointment with "Berg's" continuity breaker being as a haymaker from out of the fog . the picture never "ambles" to its feet again . makes you long for the awesome t.v. show though . as such , not a complete waste of film . this bad film has not ripened with age . should have been shot in black and white . should have picked better tele-films . from the hundreds . film by focus groups . which they proceed to do .
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