TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE
A film review by David Wilcock
Copyright 1997 David Wilcock
STARRING DAN ACKROYD, ALBERT BROOKS, VIC MORROW, SCATMAN CROTHERS, KATHLEEN QUINLAN AND JOHN LITHGOW. DIRECTED BY JOHN LANDIS (Prolouge and first sequence), STEVEN SPEILBERG (2nd segment), JOE DANTE (3rd segment) and GEORGE MILLER(4th segment).
A WARNER BROTHERS RELEASE.
The T.V programme with THAT theme tune hit the big screen with this iffy movie. This is a film which starts off ok, goes rapidly downhill, then shoots up again at the end. Let me explain.....
The movie starts quite well. We have a comedy segment with Dan Ackroyd and Albert Brooks, which gives a nice short thrill to begin with. We then get the theme music, Burgess Merideths voice whispers we have entered the 'Twilight Zone' and the first segment starts. Ah. Now it goes a bit wrong...
The segment stars Vic Morrow (he was decapitated on the set of this film by an helicopter) who plays a racist man who gets a taste of his own medicine when he is flung to Nazi Germany, then to the Ku Klux Klan, and then to Vietnam (all thanks to the TWILIGHT ZONE!!) However, this segment is more predictable than a very predictable thing, and gets very boring. So, lets give the second segment a chance, eh?
The second stories even worse. It's about a few old folks who get young again, thanks to kicking Scatmans can. This is very slickly done by Speilberg, but is so slick you just get bored. Again. And, the outcome is entirely predictable again.
But, just like CREEPSHOW(1982), things get better with the 3rd segment. This weird story, directed by Dante (Gremlins) is actually quite good. Quinlan gets invited into the house of a boy that telephaically projects what the house should be like. His visions are really weird, and the art design makes this story very watchable. It's certainly much better than the first two.
But then we come to Lithgows story, which is the best thing in the film. Lithhgow plays a terrified airplane passenger, who thinks he can see a monster on the wing, ripping it up. But there can't possible be a monster out there, can there?? Lithgows performance is brilliant, and the direction good, keeping up the tension.
So, is this worth watching? Well, skip past the first two stories (or you may for asleep) and just watch the last two. This is the best way to get the most enjoyment out of this film. But don't forget to watch the prolouge....
OVERALL RATINGS =============== 1st segment=*1/2 2nd segment=* 3rd segment=*** 4th segment=**** (all out od ***** stars)
OVERALL FOR WHOLE FILM=***
=============================== DAVID WILCOCK EMAIL:david.wilcock@btinternet.com
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