Twilight Zone: the Movie

[Alan Smithee]

Somehow these movies that are chopped up into seperate stories never seem to work as a whole.

And Twilight Zone: the Movie is no exception.

There's a lot of talent behind this movie, and while 4 directors contribute, Spielberg seems to be pulling all the strings.

I laughed at the opening moments with the banter between Albert Brooks and Dan Akroyd.

The first story with the late Vic Morrow was okay, but a bit too preachy. The helicopter accident that ended Morrow's life sort of hangs a pall of sadness over this segment.

The Spielberg segment is the worst of the lot and brings out the worst in Spielberg.

Joe Dante's segment is okay, but has the feel of a made-for-television movie.

The last one directed by George Miller is the best. It's just a shame that the best one is just remake of a Twilight Zone episode culled from way back when. It's like NOBODY could come up with an original, compelling story without having dredge up an old episode.

[odinn7]

"It's just a shame that the best one is just remake of a Twilight Zone episode culled from way back when. It's like NOBODY could come up with an original, compelling story without having dredge up an old episode."

All of the segments in that movie except for the one with Vic Morrow were taken from the original show. They were changed somewhat but they were from the show. The one with the kid was changed the most as the original had him basically ruling a town and sending people he didn't like to the "cornfield". They re-made it to be fairly ridiculous with all the cartoony looks of everything. The one with the creature on the wing was the best and it was also a good episode (with Billy Shatner).

[Alan Smithee]

Wow. I didn't know they were all essential remakes of old episodes. I just thought the John Lithgow one was. My bad.

[BoyScoutKevin]

I believe the one with Vic Morrow was the only original one, which was directed by John Landis, except for the prologue. Not only was Vic Morrow killed in that accident, but so were two young Vietnamese gilrs.  There was even some talk of trying Landis on some criminal charge for that accident, but I don't think it ever happened.

I have seen the original episodes of "The Twilight Zone," upon which the other three stories are based, and I actually like Spielberg's version better then the original.

But the fourth with John Lithgow and directed by George Miller is regarded as being the best of the four. It might even be better then the original episode of "The Twilight Zone," which starred an young William Shatner in the Lithgow role.

[Yaddo 42]

Was the VIc Morrow story original? I thought it was based broadly on an episode as well. But I may be mixing it up with the one where the Nazi ends up visiting the old concentration camp. The accident cast such a pall over that segment it was hard to enjoy that one when I saw the film, plus it was so dark. Then again since I knew people who were exactly like Morrow's character and I was aware of my grandparents' own labor camp experiences in WWII, I had conflicted emotions about it even then.

There was a trial for Landis and some of the people involved in the accident, but I can't remember right off if it was a criminal trial or a wrongful death civil suit.

I hated the kid segment, since I couldn't believe that now the kid would be benign for all time. The thought of that kid as a bratty teenage loosed on the outside world was scarier than anything in the film.

The old people story was sweet, and I usually hate sweet, but I like it for what it is since there was just enough sadness concerning the old man who missed out.

I agree the Lithgow story is the best, plus it gave us a great joke years later and the only joke from "Third Rock from the Sun" that I still remember. When Lithgow as Dick Solomon and Shanter as The Big Giant Head meet at the airport and Shatner alludes to causing a panic on his flight after seeing something on the wing, and Lithgow shouts, "The same thing happened to me!" I love that somebody paid attention to think of that joke for the only two actors that it could apply to.

[Steve B]

Landis was tried for "involuntary manslaughter" in the early 90's and got away "scot free". The two Vietnamese kids were one boy and one girl. He filmed the scene at 3:00 in the morning and already broke the law by just filming it at that particular time (it is illegal to make minors work after sunset in Hollywood,California). Steven Spielberg was on the set but took off as soon as the helicopter got too low (an explosive fired off at the wrong time, and heated up the rotor blades;the helicopter lost control, and chopped up Morrow and the two kids into pieces). There are websites that have the whole death scene to download. I heard it is not as gory as you would think. But still disturbing nevertheless. I remember when it happened back in 1982 they would show an edited version of the accident on the six o clock news. I never have seen it since, and never ever saw the uncut version.I heard Landis delivered the eulogy at Morrow's funeral, and Morrow's daughter,Jennifer Jason Leigh,walked out as soon as he began to talk. Her and the other relatives did not want to see him again let alone hear him talk about Mr. Vic Morrow.


Sincerely,Steve.


P.S. Landis was ready to film a color/3-D remake of "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" after he finished his "Twilight Zone:the Movie" segment. But after the accident,he took a long hiatus from film-making and the deal fell through. Alas!

[Bargle5]

Yes, the Vic Morrow segment was an original story written by John Landis. Knowing Morrow and the two children died during filming kept me from ever watching this thing.