Twilight Zone: The Movie

October 9, 2007

Rated: PG Runtime: 101 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Twilight Zone: The Movie is a collection of 4 short stories inspired by the classic TV show. As you might expect, two stories are quite good, and two are just.. eh.

Twilight Zone: The Movie First up is one of the good ones with John Landis directing a story about a bigot who gets one hell of a dose of his own medicine. What strikes me about this one is the differences in what happens in the bar in the movie vs. what would happen today. Basically you have a small town bar with a white dude going off about how the Jews have all the money and that he’s better than them or any African spearchucker (and other creative and not so creative terms.) At one point a large black man leans over over and polietly asks him to keep quiet. Can you imagine that happening today? No.. I’m pretty sure whitey would have gotten his ass (deservedly) kicked.

Second on the list is a cute story about some old folks who get a taste of being young again. This one was obviously there for the ladies. Apparently women in the early 80’s couldn’t handle too much in one sitting, so you had to put fluff back in to keep them calm. It’s not a bad story, it’s just… cute.

Next up is one I’m not quite sure about. It’s about a kid who can get whatever he wants just by wishing for it, and apparently he likes cartoons… and peanut butter on his hamburger. The effects are old school and that’s what I like about it, the creatures are handmade and animated and it gives this segment a great look. On the other hand, the story is a bit contrived which takes away from the enjoyment. Kathleen Quinlan looks hot though, so don’t fast forward through it.

And finally, we get to the meat of this movie. John Lithgow remakes a classic episode (starring William Shatner) about an airline passenger who’s afraid of flying, and is unfortunate enough to be on a flight going through a huge storm, with a creature on the wing trying to take it down. Yeah, it’s an evil Gremlin that some bastard fed after midnight. The real “twilight zone” moment in this segment is the plane itself. Sure, there’s ashtrays and such, and the FAA guy is a bit unrealistic, but check out those seats! Soft.. wide.. plenty of leg room! It’s an alternate universe I wish we still had! Heck, I’d put up with smoking on flights again if I could have those seats! This story is the best of the bunch and has great acting and effects. Once again it’s physical creature effects and it’s quite nice to see.

This isn’t a must own movie by any means, but it’s worth having if you like the genre. At the very least put it in your Netflix queue. A solid 3 star rating.

Posted by John | Filed Under 4 Stars, Albert Brooks, DVD, Dan Aykroyd, Horror, John Lithgow, Kathleen Quinlan, PG, Scatman Crothers