When Television first hit the Big Screen’..

Finally! I have been waiting years for this to be finally released on DVD. I had originally seen this in theater way back when , and then owned a clamshell VHS version back I the late 1980′s. That is, until the miracle of eBay ‘ I sold it for some ridiculous amount. Twilight Zone the Movie features a “cast” of directors so to say, starring Steven Spielberg (Jaws, E.T., Schindler’s List), John Landis (Animal House, An American Werewolf in London), Joe Dante (Gremlins, Matinee), and George Miller (The Road Warrior, The Witches of Eastwick). All are in top form as the delve into new stories, and updated versions from the original series; also including Richard Matheson, a writer from the original series, and Logan’s Run.

John Landis directs the prologue, and the first segment dealing with a sour puss bitter racist (Vic Morrow) who blames everybody of a different race for his own problems. After a drunken rant at a bar, he exits out of the door and finds himself pursued by Nazi soldiers. As soon as he thinks he escapes a scenario, a new one arises where he is in fear of his life for being persecuted, ironically as the races he was insulting just minutes before. This segment almost ruined John Landis’ career after actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed when a helicopter crashed into them during filming. John Landis was eventually found not guilty in 1987 (four years after the original release of the film) of involuntary manslaughter.

Segment 2, “Kick the Can” was directed by Spielberg, and stars Scatman Crothers as Mr. Bloom; a drifter who breaths new life into an old folks home after showing the residents that it is never to late to feel young again. This is on the lighter and pleasant side of things, and a remake of an original series episode.

Joe Dante of Gremlins fame directs the third segment “It’s a Good Life”, where the world can be changed just by a boy wanting it, but with cartoonishly nightmarish results. This is whacked out, and my personal favorite of the series. You don’t know whether to laugh or be scared, but in a good way. Kathleen Quinlan and Lost in Space’s Bill Mumy are amongst the great cast.

The final (well, almost) episode stars an oscar worthy John Lithgow as a paranoid passenger on an airliner flying in the middle of a storm. He seems to be the only one who can see something not of this world tearing apart the aiplane. This is a remake (and superior to the original) of Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, starring a future Captain James T. Kirk from Star Trek.

This movie is a blast, and still enjoyable after many watchings. Unfortunately, there aren’t any special features other than a remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, and the original trailer.

LadyR3D

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