I am usually not a fan of movies that are remakes of old TV shows. Generally speaking, they usually fall flat, bastardize the original concept and don't come close to capturing the magic of the show. I nonetheless looked forward to the release of Twilight Zone The Movie back in 1982, having been captivated like millions of others by reruns of the original series. An ambitious effort was put forth in development. Three of the four segments were remakes of original TZ episodes. The services of Steven Spielberg and John Landis were secured to direct parts of the film. Former TZ actor Kevin McCarthy was given a part in the third segment, and the great Burgess Meredith, himself a veteran of four original episodes of the series, served as narrator. The resulting piece, however, despite some decent moments was less than satisfying- and is unfortunately best known for the tragic on-set helicopter accident that took the lives of actor Vic Morrow and two Vietnamese children who were illegally hired as extras.
Segment 1 features Morrow as a bigot who is given a taste of his own medicine as he's transported to Nazi Germany, A Ku Klux Klan rally and The Vietnam War respectively. Originally, the film allowed the Morrow character a chance at redemption; the tag featured him saving the two Vietnamese kids from a firefight. The real-life accident, however, forced an alternate ending, as Morrow instead is seen being carted to a concentration camp. It is a dreadful, undignified ending to a segment which could have been so much better.
Segment 2 was a remake of the old "Kick the Can" episode about the power of youthful thinking. Cloying and insincere, the result was, as Twilight Zone Companion author Marc Scott Zicree so rightly put, "a sticky sweet homily to seniors, overwrought with sentimentality". The result was a piece so much less satisfying than it's counterpart twenty years earlier.
Segment 3, a remake of the classic "It's a Good Life" episode, re-introduces us to little Anthony Fremont, the boy whose psychic powers allows him to wish away things or people he doesn't like. The segment missed the mark in the eyes of some people, especially those affiliated with the original. Buck Houghton, producer of the first three seasons of the series put it bluntly: "When I first saw the set designs with the curliques and the doors aslant, it was obvious to me that they just didn't understand The Twilight Zone".
And segment 4 featured John Lithgow in the old William Shatner role in "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". Here, a man sees a monster on the wing of the plane but can't convince others, as the monster seemingly disappears when others attempt to spot him. Terrified, the man takes matters into his own hands before finally being validated. Though the segment is probably the best in the film, the piece is nonetheless flawed, as Lithgow (in a tremendous performance) is driven presumably to his death at the end of the movie by the two monsters (Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks) seen in the movie's opening piece- an act that invalidates his triumph over the creature and over those who disbelieved him.
Twilight Zone the Movie, despite honorable intentions, sadly fails to deliver on many of the hopes held by lovers of the original series.
Segment 1 features Morrow as a bigot who is given a taste of his own medicine as he's transported to Nazi Germany, A Ku Klux Klan rally and The Vietnam War respectively. Originally, the film allowed the Morrow character a chance at redemption; the tag featured him saving the two Vietnamese kids from a firefight. The real-life accident, however, forced an alternate ending, as Morrow instead is seen being carted to a concentration camp. It is a dreadful, undignified ending to a segment which could have been so much better.
Segment 2 was a remake of the old "Kick the Can" episode about the power of youthful thinking. Cloying and insincere, the result was, as Twilight Zone Companion author Marc Scott Zicree so rightly put, "a sticky sweet homily to seniors, overwrought with sentimentality". The result was a piece so much less satisfying than it's counterpart twenty years earlier.
Segment 3, a remake of the classic "It's a Good Life" episode, re-introduces us to little Anthony Fremont, the boy whose psychic powers allows him to wish away things or people he doesn't like. The segment missed the mark in the eyes of some people, especially those affiliated with the original. Buck Houghton, producer of the first three seasons of the series put it bluntly: "When I first saw the set designs with the curliques and the doors aslant, it was obvious to me that they just didn't understand The Twilight Zone".
And segment 4 featured John Lithgow in the old William Shatner role in "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". Here, a man sees a monster on the wing of the plane but can't convince others, as the monster seemingly disappears when others attempt to spot him. Terrified, the man takes matters into his own hands before finally being validated. Though the segment is probably the best in the film, the piece is nonetheless flawed, as Lithgow (in a tremendous performance) is driven presumably to his death at the end of the movie by the two monsters (Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks) seen in the movie's opening piece- an act that invalidates his triumph over the creature and over those who disbelieved him.
Twilight Zone the Movie, despite honorable intentions, sadly fails to deliver on many of the hopes held by lovers of the original series.