It’s a testament to Rod Serling’s vision and genius that none of the countless attempts to resurrect The Twilight Zone have come close to matching the original series. Over six decades later, it remains some of the best television ever made. Maybe that’s why, with one lamentable exception, the all-star directing team behind the 1983 film didn’t really try.
Instead - again with one lamentable exception - Twilight Zone: The Movie is more of a big budget homage with filmmakers putting their own unique spin and a shiny ‘80s sheen on a few classic TV episodes. Watching this is like hitting a bar where a crack tribute band covers your favorite songs. It’s fun, even great at times, though slick musicianship doesn’t necessarily improve on the old songs you know and love.
Like most anthology films, Twilight Zone: The Movie is wildly inconsistent and gets off to a dire start, courtesy of John Landis (the aforementioned lamentable exception). Following a painfully unfunny prologue with Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks (which feels improvised), “Time Out” is a Landis-scripted original story about a repugnant racist getting a taste of his own medicine. The late Vic Morrow is the sole bright spot in this heavy-handed segment that Serling himself probably would’ve discarded for being thematically simplistic. Knowing that Morrow and two children were killed in an on-set accident (largely the director’s fault) still casts a dark shadow over the whole thing.
Things improve slightly with “Kick the Can,” where an old man goes to a retirement home and magically shows its residents how to feel young again. However, sugary sentimentality ultimately overwhelms the story, and this is one of the few times in his career that director Steven Spielberg seems to be going through the motions. Additionally, I can think of dozens of other Twilight Zone episodes more deserving of an update than this one, which was never that great to begin with.
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Surprisingly (at the time), Landis and Spielberg are totally outclassed by their less-famous co-directors. Joe Dante’s “It’s a Good Life” is a wild, funny and sometimes very creepy adaptation of a classic episode about Anthony, a young boy who can conjure-up whatever he wants, and wreaks havoc on his terrified family. Though he had yet to direct Gremlins, Dante’s irreverence, cartoon sensibilities and visual touches which made that film a classic can be seen here. It also features fun performances from a company of character actors Dante regularly relied on.
George Miller’s take on “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” is easily the best of the four segments and arguably improves on the original. Based on one of the show’s most iconic episodes, this features a wonderfully unhinged John Lithgow as an airline passenger with an extreme fear of flying. When he repeatedly spots a gremlin on the wing trying to tear it apart, no one believes him. Thrilling, suspenseful and boasting a creature that makes the beastie from the original look almost cute, this one concludes the film with a bang.
40+ years later, Twilight Zone: The Movie certainly looks like a product of its era and the distinctive styles of its directors (for better and worse). Taken on its own merits as an anthology horror film, it remains a mixed bag…a terrible first half rescued by a terrific second. But as a tribute to one of the greatest TV shows of all time, it accomplishes what a good cover band does...save for Landis’ godawful contributions
This is a re-issue of a Blu-ray first released in 2008.
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