Directors
John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller
Cast
Dan Aykroyd………Passenger/Ambulance Driver
Albert Brooks………Car Driver
Scatman Crothers………Mr. Bloom
John Lithgow………John Valentine
Vic Morrow………Bill Connor
Kathleen Quinlan………Helen Foley
DVD Release Date: October 9, 2007
Rating: PG
Running Time: 101 Minutes
The Movie
There hadn’t been a new episode in close to twenty-five years, yet the original black and whites still aired as they do today. The Twilight Zone always aimed to creep out its audience in some form or another. Whether it was by scaring the life out of someone or simply driving them crazy; the stories always managed to freak everyone out enough so that they would think twice about the world they live in. In 1983, a group of directors thought it was time to bring together some of that fear and put it all in once place. And in color.
Twilight Zone: The Movie is split into four separate stories. There is a short opening scene to casually get us in the mood, but then it jumps into a segment all about racism and bigotry. It was directed by John Landis and is the only segment written specifically for the film and not taken from an old episode. It tells the story of Bill Connor, a racist who has never seen eye to eye with anyone that isn’t a white Christian. Soon though his negativity towards others catches up to him and he is thrown into the shoes of every minority he has ever lobbied against and made to live life as they experience it from others such as himself.
The second segment is directed by Steven Spielberg and is entitled “Kick The Can.” An elderly gentleman by the name of Mr. Bloom happens upon an old nursing home and takes up residence there. Learning a little bit about those he now lives with, Mr. Bloom lets them know that they still have fresh young minds in those old bodies of theirs. It’s never too late to be a kid again and he proves it to them.
Joe Dante directs our third segment, “It’s A Good Life,” and here is where the freakishness comes out. Helen Foley is a school teacher that looks to be on her way to a new town with a new life. Along the way she runs into (literally) a young boy named Anthony that invites her to his home for dinner. Upon arriving there, Helen learns that Anthony is a very unique and special child. His family is afraid of him, he doesn’t go to school, and he can do anything he wants when he puts his mind to it. That includes taking away his sister’s mouth, having peanut butter hamburgers for dinner, and having the Tasmanian Devil appear in his living room.
The final segment is perhaps the best one of all and is the George Miller directed “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” John Valentine has never taken much to flying and it shows as he is pale white, sweating, and has clammy skin. This with the plane never yet leaving the runway. As the flight progresses, Mr. Valentine has to deal with annoying flight attendants, a fat guy smoking a cigar, and a young girl constantly taking pictures of him. But amid all this, he thinks there’s someone on the wing of the plane. Some…thing. Is he right of just as insane as everyone on board thinks he is? Their safety depends on it.
Although this isn’t the scariest film in the world and certainly not perfect; it’s still enjoyable as hell to watch. It is almost guaranteed to creep you out in some form or another. If none of the four main segments do the trick then I’m sure that Dan Aykroyd’s appearances in the opening and ending will get the job done. The opening segment alone is enough to make you sit up and take notice because racism is something that happens to everyone in their daily life. Kind of interesting to see how a racist reacts when it comes back to slap them in the face.
“Kick The Can” is by far the only part of Twilight Zone: The Movie that could have been tweaked a bit. It isn’t scary and is only meant to send a thought-provoking and good-feel message. Don’t get me wrong for it isn’t boring or bad, but the entire theme of the film should have stayed a bit darker without this little light-hearted break in the middle. None the less, the directors did a fine job of bringing the television series to the big screen and even though lacking on special features and gore, it will long be a horror genre favorite.
The Video
The film is shown in 2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and looks really good for being almost twenty-five years old. I don’t think it has been touched up at all and it doesn’t need to be quite honestly.
The Audio
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and also sounds good. The music and sound effects are loud and clear while never overpowering the dialogue.
Special Features
Theatrical Trailer
The Inside Pulse
I’ve always loved this film even since first seeing it back in the late eighties. Being too young to catch it in the theatres, DVD and video are the only options I’ve ever had. Yet still now each and every segment is enjoyable and thrilling. Spine-tingling and frightening. Even goosebumps will cover your entire body when you see young eighty year old children wishing to be back in their tired bodies. The Twilight Zone has had films and new versions of the television series created over the years, but none that have ever reached the same great quality of the original series with Serling. Still here is a film that should be checked out by everyone at least once and more likely then not you’ll have repeated viewings of it too. There are no special features except for the trailer which is very simple, very old, and extraordinarily cool. But the lack of features hurts the overall score. You’ll never forget the theme music and you should not forget to get a copy of this. It won’t have a big price tag, so buying a copy won’t hurt at all.
