Twilight Zone: The Movie poster & wallpaper

Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Nancy Cartwright

Four directors collaborated to remake four episodes of the popular television series 'The Twilight Zone' for this movie. The episodes are updated slightly and in color (the television show was in blac...( read more  read more... )k-and-white), but very true to the originals, where eerie and disturbing situations gradually spin out of control.

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56% liked it

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66% liked it

29 critics

PG, 1 hr. 41 min.

Directed by: George Miller, Joe Dante, Steven Spielberg, John Landis

Release Date: June 24, 1983

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DVD Release Date: October 9, 2007

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Flixster Reviews (1,140)

  • franktowers
    April 5, 2009
    franktowers
    garbage, they need serling's hand
  • FangsFirst
    September 3, 2008
    FangsFirst
    Some movies are saddled with a need to honour respected source material. Some are saddled with a dark history (see also: The Dark Knight, The Crow...) in reality. In the case of the Twilight Zone movie, both are a problem. The deaths of Vic Morrow, Renee Chen...( read more) and My-ca Dinh Lee are often suspected in communities interested in the movie of being the reason the film was not released on DVD for such a long period of time. Certainly it didn't gain a reputation that let people see past such tragedy, either--it was often thought of as a poor, modern update of the original show, and a generally iffy (or even bad) movie. Spielberg was criticized for being incontrovertibly sentimental and saccharine, and the rest for being inferior to their original television incarnations--and then Landis' segment for being nowhere near artistic gain from such a loss. Expectations, certainly, were likely at fault, too. With four directors riding chairs for the film who were experiencing great appreciation at the time--Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, John Landis, and George Miller--a set of actors who were well thought-of by and large, even if not absolutely huge names at the time. I, of course, saw the movie without really knowing any of these names, or at least not knowing how to associate them. I refer not, of course, to the viewing that is behind this review, but my first one.

    The film opens on what is probably the most well-known part of the movie, the wraparound that is not based on an episode. Albert Brooks is driving Dan Aykroyd around an abandoned road in the middle of the night, listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Midnight Special" until his tape deck eats the tape. Then, to find something to do, they play "TV Theme Songs"--scatting, singing and humming theme songs to get the other to guess the show behind it. They hit upon The Twlight Zone and then discuss a few episodes, eventually leading in to "scary" tricks and gags on Brooks' part--with Aykroyd's infamous response: "Wanna see something really scary?"

    And there on we enter the full segments. First there is the truncated--for obvious reasons--Landis/Morrow segment, where Bill Connor (Morrow) is a racist ranting about the destruction of America, who wanders outside to find himself in the position of persecuted racial minorities from Nazi Germany to a swampy jungle in Vietnam. Morrow's deep, gravelly voice firmly anchors his character as a working everyman sort of racist, one that is recognizable, and with Landis' dialogue managing the line between realistic racism and cinematic exaggeration (because racism is of course usually too subtle to see so clearly, especially of so many races at once). His friends Ray (Charles Hallahan) and Larry (Doug McGrath) show an "appropriate" level of uncomfortable acceptance of Bill's behaviour for friends with such a man. They make half-hearted attempts to calm him down, especially when another patron of the bar he's ranting in (Steven Williams, later The X-Files' X) suggests Morrow may wish to shut his mouth--but without being threatening in an ironically stereotypical way. Some feel the segment does not hold up--some saying so in light of what came of it, others because of the ending that was lost for the same reason. I've always felt it held up rather well as a dark Zone-style ending.

    The second segment is Spielberg's maligned "Kick the Can," starting the last three stories off on the trend of adaptation of pre-existing episodes. Mr. Bloom (Scatman Crothers, who I always hear saying, "Jazz to Moonbase Two! Jazz to Moonbase Two!" in my head) wanders into the Sunnyvale Rest Home, where Leo Conroy (Bill Quinn), Mr. (Martin Garner) and Mrs. (Selma Diamond) Weinstein, Mrs. Dempsey (Helen Shaw), Mr. Agee (Murray Matheson) and Mr. Mute (Peter Brocco) all live. Many are depressed by their existence, when Mr. Bloom reminds them of youth, of playing games and dancing, and suggests they bring this youth back to their lives, but Conroy alone rejects this and insists they act their age. The segment is as saccharine as many say, allegedly intentional to counter the darkness behind the film's production. It works, with good performances from all involved, especially the Morgan Freeman-pre-dating "magical black man" role for Scatman, whose peculiar voice manages to carry the perfect elements of light-hearted scolding for the age-centric thinking of the people he's trying to help. But "working" is most of what's to be said for it--it's not terribly interesting overall.

    The third segment is "It's a Good Life," where schoolteacher Helen Foley (Kathleen Quinlan) stops in a diner for directions (from barman Dick Miller, telling us this is Joe Dante's segment, and also that the barman is pretty much cooler than everyone else in the movie, by virtue of being Dick Miller) where a boy, Anthony (Jeremy Licht), is playing an arcade game, hitting it angrily as it malfunctions, causing the television in the bar to flicker to snow.* When Helen leaves, she nearly backs over Anthony, who asks her for a ride home because she has totalled his bike. There she meets Uncle Walt (Kevin McCarthy, further increasing the awesome quotient of this segment), Mother (Patricia Barry), Father (William Schallert) and Ethel (Nancy Cartwright--yes, the voice of Bart). At first they seem sort of odd, but eventually their cracks begin to show and we realize just how paranoid they are, how absolutely terrified and desperate to survive--and why. It's by far the most imaginative and, well, interesting, of the segments, with some fantastically bizarre sequences and effects. Licht does quite well in his role--I often watch child actors with a great scrutiny, as they tend toward being either incalculably awful or irritatingly pretentious, believing themselves fullgrown adults without realizing their characters are not supposed to be like that.

    The final segment is probably the best reviewed--John Lithgow revives a role originally performed by Bill Shatner, a man afraid of flying who stresses over the flight he's on, worrying constantly, attempting to calm himself with statistics, but sweating and shaking constantly, fearing the slightest bump and mentally exaggerating all sounds and feelings. When he's finally relatively calm thanks to passengers and attendants, he glances out the window to see the shape of a man, instantly returning him to an incurable panic, first for the man's safety and then for his true intentions in being out there--with, of course, no one else on the plane believing what he claims to see. Lithgow is dynamic and exciting, creating a palpable tension, even in someone like myself, who has never feared flying, found it primarily boring even. His mortal fear and endless paranoia manage to avoid irritation of the viewer because he makes himself sympathetic enough that we can't help but feel sorry for his endless worries.

    The film really is quite good, as it happens. No segment doesn't work, and by and large they are enjoyable--even Spielberg's is actually enjoyable, even if it's not all that interesting. I've always liked it and it continues to hold up, especially the effects (thankfully all physical and pre-CGI!)

    *Of course, watching said TV is none other than Bill Mumy, who originally played Anthony in the television show--as well as being the young lead of Lost in Space and half of bizarre musical group Barnes & Barnes, responsible for that lovely mass of insanity that is the song "Fish Heads."
  • Godless
    November 1, 2007
    Godless
    Four great solid stories that make me want to see more old episodes.
  • YosemiteSamFan
    July 7, 2007
    YosemiteSamFan
    An anthology of big-screen Twilight Zone tales.

    Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks get us in the mood with a late night car drive, reminiscing about the old TV show.

    Vic Morrow plays a racist who is thrust into the shoes of persecuted blacks, jews and vietnamese, for a eye-open...( read more)ing tale. Too bad about the real life tragedy which befell this shoot.

    Scatman Crothers plays a game of kick the can with some old folks home residents for some juvenile fun. This segment dragged things down a bit, but there's a great conclusion.

    Kathleen Quinlan plays a visiting teacher to a town cowering in fear over a small boy with god-like powers. The scenes at the boy's home are genuinely creepy. It has a very touching resolution.

    Finally, John Lithgow plays a passenger on a stormy airplane ride, who sights a creature attempting to sabotage the plane's engine out the window. It's great freaky paranoid tension which brings the movie to a screaming finale.

    Overall, the whole series of tales is a fun ride.
  • drblood
    June 24, 2007
    drblood
    The best tale involves a demon pulling the bits off the wing of a plane while John Lithgow is driven crazy thinking of ways to stop it.
  • bigdaddydaryl
    October 31, 2009
    bigdaddydaryl
    This came on T.V at like 3 in the morning,I have never seen it before nor did I knew they made a movie from the show.
    At the begining Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks were great.This movie had four great stories and for the time it was made was very good,great SFX.It was cool to se...( read more)e John Lithgow so young,even when he's in a serious role he's still funny.I really enjoyed this movie,God Bless the late night Halloween movies
  • citawijaya
    October 30, 2009
    citawijaya
    It was pretty nice, there were some parts that felt way too corny to me but there were some good moments too..
  • SageSlowdive
    October 19, 2009
    SageSlowdive
    I'd rather watch the show.
  • laiaqua2005
    October 10, 2009
    laiaqua2005
    good movie and i love watching it.
  • melodyofyourdemise
    September 24, 2009
    melodyofyourdemise
    This is one of the those movies I loved like crazy when I was younger. It's basically a remake of 4 stories from the show. I must say that the story "Nightmare at 20,000 feet" (written by the brillant Richard Matheson...one of my favorite horror writers) is the one that always go...( read more)t to me as a kid..lol!

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Critic Reviews

October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The surprising thing is, the two superstar directors are thoroughly routed by two less-known directors whose previous credits have been horror and action pictures. full review

View more Twilight Zone: The Movie reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • ton24968
    July 26, 2008
    ton24968
    You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into... the Twilight Zone.
  • Aritosgold
    November 24, 2007
    Aritosgold
    Four good ones on this;;
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  • What film had a tragic disaster including someone being crushed by a helicopter and two kids decapitated?  Answer »
  • The actor Vic Morrow was killed on the set of which movie as a result of a helicopter crash?  Answer »
  • During the filming of this 1983 movie, actor Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed by a malfunction with the helicopter used on the set of a war segment. The director and crew members were found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.  Answer »
  • name the movie  Answer »
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