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Rating:  -
The other review is right about pretty much everything. Anyone who's ever enjoyed the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits TV series needs to check this film out. Stephen Spielberg's segment seems the least popular since it's not scary, but it's truly heartwarming. You can see he developed the idea further into the Cocoon movies. The only extra is the movie's trailer, but I'm just happy to finally own this movie in pristine form.
Rating:  -
John Landis, George Miller, Joe Dante, Steven Spielberg all helmed episodes in the movie version of the Twilight Zone from 1983. The notorious on set death of the great Vic Morrow cast a shadow over this films production and eventually its release. The accident that caused his death and that of 2 extras is soul crushingly tragic to see and one can't help but wonder how it could have been avoided. All that aside the film was decent in the theater at the time and is still just okay on its Blu-ray incarnation. John Landis's episode is marred by its tragic history but Vic Morrow is good as the intolerant protagonist. Steven Spielberg's episode is a little too sweet and is really just an episode of AMAZING STORIES before its time, but hey Scatman Crothers.
Joe Dante's remake is visually pleasing to look at and is the reason to pick this up, as it has some nice campy acting and is the least like its television counterpart.
George Miller's final episode offering is fairly standard with a good John Lithgow performance and a cool looking if not menacing beastie. I like it for the nostalgia value but the best things about TZ THE MOVIE are Albert Brooks and Dan Aykroyd's intro piece and Burgess Meredith's spin on the narrator intro. The blu-ray transfer is average but the colors and set design of Joe Dante's section look great and the sound is nice and clean.
R.I.P Rod and Vic
Rating: -
The Twilight Zone movie has always felt somewhat disappointing to me, and upon seeing it again on DVD now, it still feels the same way. Featuring four segments (one original, the other three based on classic episodes of the series) directed by John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante (The Howling, Gremlins), and George Miller (the Mad Max trilogy, the upcoming Justice League of America movie), the Twilight Zone movie starts out so well but ends up being ultimately disappointing for a number of reasons. The Landis directed first segment features Vic Morrow as a bigot who gets a taste of his own medicine as he finds himself transported through time. This segment is great, but feels unfinished largely due to the fact that Morrow was tragically killed in a helicopter accident. Spielberg's segment stars the late, great Scatman Crothers as the mysterious Mr. Bloom, who gives the members of a retirement hi=ome a chance to feel young again. There's nothing really to this segment, and Spielberg's direction just seems tired as well. Joe Dante's tale is a mixed bag and is dependent on the viewer whether or not you'll like it or not, but the final tale is worth the price of admission alone. George Miller's re-envisioning of the classic William Shatner-starring tale from the series features John Lithgow as a frightened airplane passenger who desperately tries to warn everyone of the creature on the wing. This segment is spectacular, and Lithgow in particular gives one of the absolute best performances he's ever graced the screen with. The prologue for the film is great too, and features Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks and is directed by Landis as well. What's the most disappointing aspect of this DVD release is undoubtedly the fact that there are no extras whatsoever besides the film's theatrical trailer. Just like they did with the 25th Anniversary Edition of Poltergeist, Warner Brothers has skimped out on the extras here. Other than that though, the Twilight Zone movie isn't bad one bit, just don't expect anything great out of it. It's still worth picking up though, and Miller's segment alone sets this apart from other horror anthology flicks.
Rating:  -
First off, let me just say that it's about time that this early '80's collection puts in an appearance on DVD. There is no possible excuse for taking so long to put out this bare bones edition. The one big "special feature"? The theatrical trailer. BFD. The movie itself is composed of four segments, each crafted by a different director, and a prologue (which features Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks). John Landis is tapped for the intro and the first segment. The most notable things here (other that the 3 deaths that occured while filming it) are Vic Marrow (who I'd only seen in the Combat TV series) and a young John Larroquette (who I'd only seen on TV's Night Court and heard as the voiceover for the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre). Be sure to listen for one of Landis' injokes when one of the Vietnam soldiers mentions Lt. Neidermeyer (a character from his 1978 film, Animal House). The second segment is a remake of Kick The Can (February 1962) starring Scatman Crothers and Selma Diamond (another Night Court regular before her death). The entire thing feels like a dry run for Steven Spielberg who appears to have lifted it whole cloth from his Amazing Stories TV series that wouldn't air for another 2 years. Up next is Joe Dante reworking It's A Good Life (November 1961) starring Kathleen Quinlan, Nancy Cartwright (pre-Simpsons), Kevin McCarthy, and William Schallert. Don't blink or you'll miss the under utilized Cherie Currie (former lead singer of The Runaways) and Bill Mumy (not only from the Lost In Space TV series but the original Anthony in this story). George Miller helms the final and most famous of the remakes, Nightmare At 20,000 Feet (October 1963). Standouts here include John Lithgow (in the William Shatner role, one the 2 of them would allude to in a future 3rd Rock From The Sun episode), Donna Dixon (who became Mrs. Dan Aykroyd right before filming began), John Dennis Johnston, Charles Knapp, Christina Nigra (the creepy little Jon-Benet lookalike), and a cameo by Carol Serling (Rod's wife and project consultant seen here as a passenger holding a copy of the old Twilight Zone magazine). Speaking of cameos, how about the uncredited voiceover by Burgess Meredith (a veteran of 4 original Twilight Zone episodes)? Speaking of uncredited, the use of CCR's Midnight Special and Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze go unheralded in the final credits as well (as does a certain assistant director using the Alan Smithee alias and poor Tempest identified only as an Atari game). While not the best anthology on the market, this collection is a must have for any TZ fan. One last note, be sure to look for Spielberg's trademark shooting star in the credits and the trailer. Thank you Rod.
Rating: -
about Kick the Can being too Saccharine sweet and the special effects being outdated. First off, why can't a movie be too sweet? A movie can be too violent, but I don't hear that being complained about too much. The minute a movie shows some type of emotion, Bammm! Everybody jumps on it. I could never figure that out. As for the technology, It's a Good Life was supposed to look cartoonish, so the creatures are cartoon like in appearance. The gremlin on the plane looked very cool and believable. For the people who say this technology isn't believable. Are CGI graphics in movies today believable? To me they aren't. They look like a video game or a cartoon to me when they are supposed to look like real creatures. It's terrible and ruins every movie for me, because while I watch the movie I'm thinking the effects look too fake, I'm not believing this. So I can't see why people are so down with the effects in the TZ movie. I think they were perfectly done and original. So for the people who are down with the effects in TZ, just kick back and relax and enjoy the flick. For those people it may look fake, but that was a time gone by. Unfortunatley for me todays CGI effects will always ruin a movie, because I can always spot it in a movie and know it's a video game not a movie.
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