Twilight Zone: The Movie

1983
15
1h 41m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

43K

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4,175

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Dystopian Sci-Fi Supernatural Horror Horror Sci-Fi

Four horror and science fiction segments, directed by four famous directors, each of them being a new version of a classic story from Rod Serling's landmark television series.Four horror and science fiction segments, directed by four famous directors, each of them being a new version of a classic story from Rod Serling's landmark television series.Four horror and science fiction segments, directed by four famous directors, each of them being a new version of a classic story from Rod Serling's landmark television series.

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Awards
- 1 win & 8 nominations total

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Featured review

8/10

Very good

An affectionate homage to the old TV series. Three old episodes were updated and a new one was written. It's also narrated by Burgess Meredith who starred in quite a few of the original TV series episodes.

It starts off with a quick little prologue with Albert Brooks and Dan Aykroyd. It's quick, funny and provides a nice little jolt.

The first segment was newly written for the movie. It involves a bitter and racist man (Vic Morrow) getting a taste of his own medicine. This episode is clouded by the three deaths it caused--Morrow was decapitated by a helicopter blade and two Vitenamese children were crushed. John Landis (who directed this) was found not guilty in the deaths. As it stands this isn't very good. It's simplistic and heavy-handed--like a bad Zone episode.

The second one is directed by Steven Spielberg. It involves an old man (Scatman Crothers) gently bringing to life the old people at a retirement home. I'll be the first to admit that this is way too syrupy--but I have a fondness for it. The acting is good, it has a great music score and, I admit, it leaves me a little misty-eyed.

The third is directed by Joe Dante. It's a remake about a little boy who can make all of his wishes come true. It's well-directed with some truly incredible special effects and a good performance by Kathleen Quinlan. But it's seriously damaged by a silly happy ending (the original didn't have that). Billy Mumy (the star of the original) has a bit part and Dante regular Dick Miller shows up as Walter Paisley.

The fourth is the best. It's directed by George Miller and is a remake of the William Shatner episode where he spots a gremlin tearing apart the plane he's flying on. The gremlin in the original looked pretty ridiculous--like a teddy bear. Here John Lithgow plays the passenger and the gremlin is more than a little scary-looking. This segment moves and has a few great jolts. Also Carol Serling (Rod Serling's wife I believe) has a bit part.

All in all an enjoyable film. I liked it when I saw it in a theatre in 1983 and it still holds up today. I give it an 8.

preppy-3
Feb 5, 2006
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Twilight Zone: The Movie

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Trivia
The scene being shot at the time of Vic Morrow's fatal accident was added to the script late in the filming in an attempt to "soften" his bigoted character Bill Connor, and give him some redemption: while fleeing from an American helicopter attack on a deserted Vietnamese village, he sees two orphaned children. Bill decides to save them no matter what the cost, so he carries them under his arms and wades through the river to safety. He then finds himself back in Nazi-occupied France again, the two children having time-jumped with him. The two Nazi officers chasing Bill take the children away for execution, and take Bill to a train which ends the segment. Due to the helicopter accident that claimed the life of Morrow and child actors Renee Chen and My-ca Dinh Le, all scenes featuring the children were completely cut, and they do not appear in the film. Bill's original scripted ending was kept in, leaving Bill's character change largely unaddressed and his fate unknown.

Goofs
An exterior shot of the airplane in Segment #4 shows the landing gear to be in the down position. The pilot later comments that the plane would be landing in twenty minutes, far too long for gear to be down prior to touchdown.