Analog Jones and the Temple of Film: VHS Podcast

By Stephen BayTV & Film Film Reviews Film History

Analog Jones and the Temple of Film: VHS Podcast episodes

February 21, 2019 Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987) VHS Movie Review
Analog Jones and special guest Alex Vazquez from Windy City Horrorama Film Festival in Chicago, try and keep up with Bronson crawling through Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987).
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown Quick Facts
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown is a 1987 action thriller film, and the fourth installment in the Death Wish film series. Death Wish 4 had a budget of $5 million and a box office of $6.9 million.
Current movies in the theater: Fatal attraction, Hello Again, Baby Boom, Less than Zero and Suspect.
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson (following 1976's St. Ives, 1977's The White Buffalo, 1980's Caboblanco, 1983's 10 to Midnight, 1984's The Evil That Men Do, and 1986's Murphy's Law).
Produced and distributed by Canon Films Group
Starring
Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey
Kay Lenz as Karen Sheldon
John P. Ryan as Nathan White
Perry Lopez as Ed Zacharias
George Dickerson as Reiner
Soon-Tek Oh as Nozaki
Dana Barron as Erica Sheldon
Danny Trejo as Art Sanella
Tim Russ as Jesse
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown VHS description
Superstar Charles Bronson (Death Wish 1, 2 and 3, The Magnificent Seven) blows the drug underworld wide open in a blazing quest for justice and revenge in Death Wish 4: The Crackdown!
Haunted by his violent past, architect Paul Kersey (Bronson) struggles to forget the brutal deaths of his loved ones — and his obsessive one-man battle to avenge their murders. But when a dose of toxic "crack" kills the young daughter of his new girlfriend (Kay Lenz of "Rich Man, Poor Man"), Kersey again becomes the infamous "vigilante crusader." Vowing to wipe out the entire cocaine network of L.A. he skillfully goads two vicious competing drug empires into a bloody turf war. But there's a sinister force behind the scenes (Runaway Train's John P. Ryan) with his diabolical plans for Kersey in this powerhouse action-thriller!
Trailers: None
Trivia
-Death Wish 4 was the first film in the series not to be directed by Michael Winner. Winner expressed no interest in directing Death Wish 4 because Bronson was displeased with their previous collaboration on Death Wish 3 (1985)
-This was the third script idea for a Death Wish 4 and Canon went with it
-Hickman toyed with the idea of giving Kersey a surrogate son called Eric, to avoid repetition in having the character lose another daughter. He changed his mind and turned Eric into Erica because he felt that the death of a girl would be a stronger echo to the original loss in Kersey's life.
-The previous three films of the series featured young street punks as villains, while the fourth covered new ground was featuring adult representatives of organized crime. During filming,
-Bronson requested further rewrites of some aspects of dialogue and action scenes. Hickman recalled going through several rewrites daily.
- Over 100,000 cassettes were sold to rental stores. It was the best selling entry of the series in the video market.
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1 hr 36 min
February 14, 2019 Rollerball (2002) VHS Movie Review
Analog Jones tries to survive this full-tilt action sports film in our Rollerball (2002) VHS Movie Review starring Chris Klein, Jean Reno, LL Cool J, and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos!
Rollerball (2002) is a Sci-Fi action film that was released into US theaters on February 8, 2002, from MGM and Columbia Pictures. Rollerball had a budget of $70 million and had a box office return of $25.9 million. Rollerball was competing against Collateral Damage, Big Fat Liar, Black Hawk Down, Snow Dogs, The Count of Monte Cristo, A Beautiful Mind, I am Sam and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Rollerball finished 3rd in its first weekend at $9 million, trailing Collateral Damage at $15.1 million and Big Fat Liar at $11.5 million.
Rollerball (2002) is a remake of Rollerball (1975) starring James Caan as Jonathan E., team captain and veteran star of the Houston rollerball team in a future dystopian society.
Directed by: John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October)
Produced by: John McTiernan, Beau St. Clair, and Charles Roven (American film producer and the president and co-founder of Atlas Entertainment. He is known for producing the superhero films The Dark Knight Trilogy, Suicide Squad, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and more.)
Screenplay by: Larry Ferguson (Beverly Hills Cop II) and John Pogue (US Marshals)
Based on: "Roller Ball Murder" by William Harrison and the 1975 screenplay Rollerball by William Harrison

Starring:
Chris Klein as Jonathan Cross
Jean Reno as Alexi Petrovich
LL Cool J as Marcus Ridley
Rebecca Romijn as Aurora "the Black Widow"
Naveen Andrews as Sanjay
Mike Dopud as Michael "the Assassin"
Kata Dobó as Katya Dobolakova
Lucia Rijker as Lucia Ryjker
Oleg Taktarov as Oleg Denekin
Paul Heyman as Sports Announcer
Janet Wright as Coach Olga
The film features cameo appearances by Pink, Slipknot, Carroll Shelby, and Shane McMahon.
Trailers
MGM "Means Great Movies" Promo
MGM.com promo "Come See What the Roar is About"
Stargate SG-1 TV Series and Jeremiah TV Series Promo
Pumpkin with Christina Ricci
A Rumor of Angels
Hart's War with Bruce Willis
No Such Thing with Helen Mirren
Rollerball Back of the box description
From the director of Die hard comes this high-octane thriller that "roars along at a...breakneck pace" (Los Angeles Times)! Starring Chris Klein (American Pie), Jean Reno (Ronin), LL Cool J (Charlie's Angels) and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (X-Men), Rollerball goes full throttle with excitement from its death-defying opening until its explosive end!
Jonathan Cross (Klein) is the newest recruit in the most extreme sport of all time...where his fast moves and killer looks make him an instant superstar. But Cross' life in the fast lane collides with reality when he learns that league's owner (Reno) is orchestrating serious on-court "accidents" to boast ratings. Now Cross plans to take down the owner and his ruthless sport...before the game puts an end to him!
Box Quotes
"Turbo Charged! Body-slamming action!" -The Washington Post
"Full-tilt action!" -Houston Chronicle
Trivia
-Although the first draft of the script was considered by many to be very good and even superior to the original film, director John McTiernan didn't like it because it focused more on social commentary, while he thought that the audience would like to see more of the Rollerball scenes. The social commentary is why he had the original script completely re-written several times and made sure that it focused more on WWE-like showmanship, including crazy costumes and stunts.
-McTiernan's first cut, which was over two hours long, was test screened in Las Vegas around April or May 2001 and got a very negative response from test audiences. The release date was then pushed back from May to 13 July 2001 by MGM to test the movie again, hoping that they would find the right audience for it.
-On orders from the studio, around 30 minutes were cut out of the original rough cut of the film and the entire ending was re-shot and changed. Some of the cuts were made because MGM thought that the movie was "too Asian." In the original ending, Petrovich gets killed by Sanjay and Jonathan and Aurora fly back to the US, during which Jonathan says that he will continue playing the Rollerball game in the US, and how he is now part owner of the game.
-The original score by Brian Transeau was also removed, purportedly because it sounded "too Arabic," and was replaced with a new score by Éric Serra. Also, some of the other music was changed or removed from the first cut of the film.
-Rebecca Romijn was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award as Worst Supporting Actress, where she lost to Madonna for her cameo in Die Another Day.
-The creator of Rollerball, science fiction author William Harrison said: "I've never watched the 2002 incarnation of Rollerball, and have no interest in it."
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1 hr 39 min
February 07, 2019 The Last Boy Scout (1991) VHS Movie Review
We try to tackle this sports movie in our The Last Boy Scout (1991) VHS Movie Review.
Quick Facts
The Last Boy Scout was released to United States theaters on December 13, 1991. The budget for the film was $75 million and had a box office of $59.5 million. Other movies in the theater at the time were Hook, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, The Addams Family, Beauty and the Beast, My Girl and Cape Fear. The Last Boy Scout finished 2nd in its opening weekend at $7.9 million behind Hook at $13.5 million.
Directed by: Tony Scott (Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II)
Produced by: Joel Silver (Lethal Weapon and Predator) and Michael Levy (Die Hard 2)
Screenplay by: Shane Black (Lethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)
Story by: Shane Black and Greg Hicks
Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Starring:
Bruce Willis as Joseph "Joe" Cornelius Hallenbeck
Damon Wayans as James "Jimmy" Alexander Dix
Chelsea Field as Sarah Hallenbeck (Teela from Masters of the Universe)
Noble Willingham as Sheldon Marcone
Taylor Negron as Milo (Russell from Bio-Dome)
Danielle Harris as Darian Hallenbeck
Halle Berry as Cory
Bruce McGill as Mike Matthews (Animal House)
Kim Coates as Chet (Sons of Anarchy)
Chelcie Ross as Senator Calvin Baynard (Major League)
Movie Trailers
Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema Century Collection
VHS Back of the Box Description
The Last Boy Scout is the Super Bowl of action movies, a flat-out blitz of excitement, blow-you-away special effects and hilarious gimme-five humor set against the world of pro football.
Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans star as a seedy detective and disgraced quarterback, teaming to dodge ambushes, fire off one-liners and bust chops. When the going gets tough, they get tougher. And funnier. They came to play. And to settle a score in this raging fireball where bigger is better, hits are harder and bad guys end up deader.
Sending in plays from the sideline are guys with experience screenwriter Shane Black (Lethal Weapon), producer Joel Silver (the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon films) and director Tony Scott (Top Gun). Along with Willis and Wayans, they ensure The Last Boy Scout isn't like other films. Be prepared.

Trivia
-Shane Black wrote this after struggling with Lethal Weapon 2 and a break up that triggered him to quit writing for almost two years:
"I was busy mourning my life and, in many ways, the loss of my first real love. I didn’t feel much like doing anything except smoking cigarettes and reading paperbacks. All things come around. Time passed, and eventually, I sat down and transformed some of that bitterness into a character, the central focus of a private eye story which became The Last Boy Scout. Writing that script was a very cathartic experience, one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I spent so much time alone working on that. Days which I wouldn’t speak. Three, four days where I maybe said a couple of words. It was a wonderfully intense time where my focus was better than it’s ever been. And I was rewarded so handsomely ($1.75 million) for that script, it felt like a vindication and like I was back on track."
-At the time this was a record purchase for an original screenplay ($1.75 million).
Troubled Production
-Joel Silver, Bruce Willis, and Tony Scott fought a lot on set. Silver was described as "insane, with long, horrible fits of sanity,” and was compared to a fighter pilot riding as a passenger. “As soon as you hit a little bit of turbulence, he’s right away going to throw the guy out of the window and take over the steering.”
-Bruce Willis and Damien Wayans DID NOT like working with each other.

-Assistant director James Skotchdopole (a fantastic second unit director, True Romance, and Untouchables) attributed the tension on-set to an “overabundance of alpha males on that project. Bruce was at the height of his stardom, so was Joel, so was Tony and so was Shane. There were a lot of people who had a lot of opinions about what to do. There were some heated, early-Nineties, testosterone-charged personalities on the line. It was a ‘charged environment,’ shall we say.” Writer Shane Black had to wrestle with the script. “I was forced to do more rewriting on that movie than on anything else I’ve done. There was tremendous pressure from the studio to get Bruce Willis and have this be a follow-up to Die Hard. He was reluctant, and rightly so: ‘This whole movie is about me saving my wife. I just did that in Die Hard.’ So they said, ‘OK, let’s minimize the wife, and while we’re at it, add a big finale.' There was a general pressure to make somehow more significant and better!
-The original cut for "borderline unwatchable."
-Different editors were hired in an attempt to address Scott's tendency for filming excessive coverage with multiple cameras. Editor Mark Helfrich (Predator and Rush Hour) described sorting through "mountains of raw material" to edit the first cut: “There was more footage shot for The Last Boy Scout than on any film I had ever worked on.”
-Expert action movie editor Mark Goldblatt (The Terminator/T2 and Starship Troopers) recalls it as one the most painful and frustrating experiences of his entire career and refuses to discuss it in interviews. Although, he did mention in a podcast interview that several other editors were hired and then fired before him and that Warner Bros. began testing the movie before it was finished.
-When editor Stuart Baird (Superman and Lethal Weapon) was hired, the film finally took a positive turn. Baird had been brought in to help re-edit other troubled productions, including Tango & Cash (1989) and Demolition Man (1993). He got the film edited down NC-17 to R with quick cuts away from the hardcore violence.
Nominated for two MTV Awards
-Best Action Sequence – For the helicopter blade sequence (Won by L.A. Freeway Scene – Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
-Best On-Screen Duo – Bruce Willis & Damon Wayans (Won by Dana Carvey and Mike Myers – Wayne's World)
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1 hr 33 min
January 31, 2019 Left Behind (2000) VHS Movie Review
Terry and Steve take on the "biggest and most ambitious Christian film ever made" with their Left Behind (2000) VHS Movie Review. Can Kirk Cameron save their souls or will they get LEFT BEHIND?!?
Quick Facts
Director: Vic Sarin
Producers: Joe Goodman, Paul Lalonde, Peter Lalonde, and Ralph Winter
Writers: Joe Goodman, Paul Lalonde, and Alan B. McElroy
Based on Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
Budget: $4 million
Box Office: $4.2 million
Release Date: October 31, 2000 (video) and February 2, 2001 (theatrical)
Distributor: Cloud Ten Pictures
Cast
Kirk Cameron as Cameron "Buck" Williams
Brad Johnson as Rayford Steele
Gordon Currie as UN Secretary-General Nicolae Carpathia
Janaya Stephens as Chloe Steele
Clarence Gilyard Jr as Bruce Barnes
Chelsea Noble as Hattie Durham
Colin Fox as Chaim Rosenzweig
Left Behind Summary
On an overseas flight to London, journalist Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron) and pilot Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson) are caught in the middle of the most incredible event in history. Suddenly, without warning, dozens of passengers simply vanish into then air. But it doesn't stop there. It soon becomes clear that millions of people are missing from around the world.
As chaos and anarchy engulf the world, both men set out on vastly different paths in a desperate search for answers.
Based on the New York Times best-selling novel, Left Behind is overflowing with suspense, action and adventure. This riveting motion picture will take you on a spellbinding journey through the most mysterious book of the Bible - The Book of Revelation.
Trailers
Revelation with Jeff Fahey
Tribulation with Gary Busey
Judgment with Corbin Bernsen

Post Credits
Left Behind Film Project with Kirk Cameron
Midnight Cry Music Video by All-Star Choir

Trivia
-According to the "Making of..." documentary, Chelsea Noble (Hattie), who is married to Kirk Cameron (Buck), was reading the book in bed. Kirk was asleep, but Chelsea was so excited about the idea of turning this into a movie, she started slapping Kirk on the leg to wake him up, and said, "I want to play the role of Hattie!" Kirk and Chelsea then started farming out the idea to find out who might produce the film.
-Left Behind was released directly to video in 2000, copies of the film came bundled with a free pass to watch the movie in theaters when it was later given limited release in early 2001.
-Most of the cast were volunteers from local churches.
-The character of Ivy (Krista Bridges) was created specifically for the films. Ivy does not exist in the novels.
-Author Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins originally sold the rights to producer Ralph Winter after he pitched a big-budget, mainstream blockbuster adaptation that would remain faithful to the source material. Winter hired writer Alan B. McElroy to produce a script treatment for such an adaptation but was ultimately unable to generate enough interest from potential financiers or distributors. Winter sold off the rights to independent production company Cloud Ten Pictures, who had previously produced similarly-themed films, thereby ending his and McElroy's involvement in the project. However, both were still credited in the finished film, possibly to generate publicity and add legitimacy to the film.
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45 min
January 24, 2019 The Black Cauldron (1985) VHS Movie Review
Analog Jones takes on Disney's black sheep in their The Black Cauldron (1985) VHS Movie Review!
Rated: PG
Released: July 4th, 1985
Runtime: 80 minutes
Budget:$44,000,000 (estimated)
Gross USA: $21,288,692
Trailers
A Bug's Life Teaser Trailer
Meet the Deedles
Kiki's Delivery Service (Kristen Dunst is the voice actor and Matthew Lawerence)
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
Lady and the Tramp Coming to Video this fall
Lion King II: Simba's Pride Only on Video
Trivia
- it is loosely based on the first two books in The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, a series of five novels that are, in turn, based on Welsh mythology.
-The first Disney animated movie to not contain any songs, neither performed by characters nor in the background.
-Known by many as "the film Disney tried to bury," fans of the fantasy genre and this movie have tried many times to get the deleted footage restored.
-Suspended from video release for several years, due to its dark content.
-First full-length Disney animated movie since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to have completed scenes cut before release.
-Tim Burton, who worked as a Conceptual Artist on this movie, wanted to incorporate minions of the Horned King that were akin to the "facehuggers" from the Alien film franchise. Some samples of his work can be seen on Disney's 2000 DVD of this movie.
-This movie is notable for being the first full-length Disney animated movie to incorporate computer graphics imagery (CGI) in its animation. The CGI was utilized for a lot of the special effects, which included the bubbles, a boat, a floating orb of light, the Cauldron, the realistic flames were seen near the end of the movie, and the boat that Taran and his friends used to escape the castle
-The production of this movie can be traced back to 1971 when Walt Disney Pictures purchased the screen rights to Lloyd Alexander's "The Chronicles of Prydain." This movie took over twelve years to make, five years of actual production, and cost over twenty-five million dollars. Over one thousand different hues and colors were used, and thirty-four miles of film stock was utilized.
-Ralph Bakshi was approached to be involved with this movie in 1979 after the success of his fantasy film Wizards (1977), and his animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings (1978). He turned it down, believing his style is far too mature for a Disney movie for family entertainment.
-Various members of Disney's "Nine Old Men," as well as Don Bluth, took stabs at making this movie during the 1970s.
-According to Producer Joe Hale, "When (Jeffrey) Katzenberg first screened the film, he told us to cut it by ten minutes. Roy (Disney) and I got together and found some scenes we could get rid of, that didn't affect the story that much." When they ran it again for Jeffrey Katzenberg, and the film finished, he asked Roy Edward Disney, "Is that ten minutes?" When Disney replied, "No, it was only around six minutes." Katzenberg stated, "I said ten minutes!" Hale continued, "Eventually he cut out about twelve minutes, which really hurt the picture."
-Four months before the film's release, The Samuel Goldwyn Company had released The Care Bears Movie (1985) which was made by the much smaller company Nelvana. It only cost $2 million but made $23 million at the box office. By contrast, The Black Cauldron cost $44 million but only made $21.3 million. This alarmed many Disney animators and raised questions about the future of the department.
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1 hr 6 min
January 22, 2019 2018 Top 10 Films
Steve's Honorable Mentions
Won't You Be My Neighbor
Halloween (2018)
BlackKklansman
Annihilation
Black '47

Matt's Honorable Mentions
Cam
The Strangers: Prey at Night

Enjoy both of our top 10 movies!
Come back next week when we review another listener submitted film.
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1 hr 22 min
January 17, 2019 Hook (1991) VHS Movie Review
We fly off with Robin Williams as Peter Pan in our Hook (1991) VHS Movie Review with this listener submitted movie!
Hook Quick Facts
Hook is a Fantasy Adventure film that was released into US theaters on December 11, 1991. Hook was produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by TriStar Pictures. Hook had a budget of around $70,000,000 and grossed about $300.9 million in the box office.
Director: Steven Spielberg (E.T., Jaws)
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy (Jurassic Park, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Frank Marshall (Poltergeist, Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Gerald R. Molen (Schindler's List)
Screenplay Writers: Jim V. Hart (Bram Stoker's Dracula, Muppet Treasure Island) and Malia Scotch Marmo (Polar Express)
Story Writers: Jim V. Hart and Nick Castle (Escape from New York, The Last Star Fighter)
Hook's Cast:
Robin Williams as Peter Banning / Peter Pan
Dustin Hoffman as Captain James Hook
Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell
Bob Hoskins as Mr. Smee
Charlie Korsmo (Dick Tracy) as Jack Banning
Amber Scott as Maggie Banning
Maggie Smith (She was 57 at the time) as Wendy Darling
Gwyneth Paltrow as teenage Wendy Darling, at 19 years old
Caroline Goodall as Moira Banning
Dante Basco as Rufio
Hook Back of the Box Description
A high-flying adventure from the magic of Steven Spielberg, Hook stars Robin Williams as a grown-up Peter Pan and Dustin Hoffman as the infamous Captain Hook.
Joining the fun is Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell, Bob Hoskins as the pirate Smee, and Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy Darling, who must convince the middle-aged lawyer Peter Banning that he was once the legendary Peter Pan. And so the adventure begins anew, with Peter off to Neverland to save his two children from Captain Hook. Along the way, he rediscovers the power of imagination, of friendship, and of magic. A classic tale updated for children of all ages, Hook, nominated for 5 1991 Academy Awards including best visual effects is "a 10. A film that will entertain generations, generations from now." Gary Franklin, KABC-TV
Back of the Box Quotes
"Get ready for adventure. Steven Spielberg has scored another triumph."
—Gen Shalit, The Today Show
Hook Fun Facts
-Spielberg had a personal connection to Peter and Jack's troubled relationship because it echoed his own life with his father.
-Spielberg considered directing it as a musical with Michael Jackson in the lead. Jackson wasn't interested in the adult version of Peter Pan forgetting his past.
-This movie almost went into production in 1985 with Paramount Pictures.
-Malia Scotch Marmo rewrote Captain Hook's dialogue, and Carrie Fisher went uncredited writing Tinker Bell's dialogue.
-The original budget was set at $48 million but ballooned to $70-80 million after the movie ran 40 days over schedule.
-Spielberg's on-set relationship with Julia Roberts was troubled, and he later revealed in an interview with 60 Minutes, "It was an unfortunate time for us to work together." In a 1999 Vanity Fair interview, Roberts said that Spielberg's comments “really hurt my feelings.” She “couldn’t believe this person that I knew and trusted was actually hesitating to come to my defense . . . it was the first time that I felt I had a turncoat in my midst.”
-Hook had Action Figures and here's the commercial
-Hook also came out as a SNES Game and here's the long play of the game
-The film was nominated for five categories at the 64th Academy Awards. This included Best Production Design (Norman Garwood, Garrett Lewis) (lost to Bugsy), Best Costume Design (lost to Bugsy), Best Visual Effects (lost to Terminator 2: Judgment Day), Best Makeup (lost to Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and Best Original Song ("When You're Alone", lost to Beauty and the Beast).
-Hoffman was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (lost to Williams for The Fisher King).
-John Williams was given a Grammy Award nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.
-Julia Roberts received a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actress (lost to Sean Young as the dead twin in A Kiss Before Dying).
-In a 2013 interview on Kermode & Mayo's Film Review Show said this about Hook: "I wanna see Hook again because I so don't like that movie, and I'm hoping someday I'll see it again and perhaps like some of it."
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1 hr 15 min
January 10, 2019 Critters (1986) VHS Movie Review
Let's take a bite out of listeners submission month with our Critters (1986) VHS Movie Review.
Quick Facts
Critters is a 1986 monster/comedy horror film made on a budget of $2,000,000 by New Line Cinema. Critters grossed $13.6 million during its release in the United States and spawned a Critters franchise with three sequels.
Director: Stephen Herek (Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Mighty Ducks)
Writers: Domonic Muir (Gingerdead Man, Evil Bong as August White), Stephen Herek and Don Keith Opper (Has writing credits in all four Critter films)
Critters Cast:
Dee Wallace (E.T. and Cujo) as Helen Brown
Scott Grimes (Band of Brothers and The Orville) as Brad Brown
Billy "Green" Bush (Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday) as Jay Brown
Nadine van der Velde (Munchies and is now a TV Producer) as April Brown
M. Emmet Walsh (Blood Simple and Missing in Action) as Sherriff Harv
Don Keith Opper (Critters Franchise and born in Chicago) as Charlie McFadden
Billy Zane (Titanic, Demon Knight and born in Chicago) as Steve Elliot
Ethan Phillips (Star Trek: Voyager) as Jeff Barnes
Terrence Mann (Stage actor) as Ug/Johnny Steele
Jeremy Lawrence (Stage actor) as Reverend Miller/Preacher
Lin Shaye (Insidious, There's Something About Mary and is Bob Shaye's sister) as Sally
Corey Burton (Voice actor and plays Dale from Chip n Dales: Rescue Rangers) as the voices of the Crites/Critters
Critters Back of the Box Summary
"Both thumbs up!" said Ebert and Siskel about CRITTERS, a horrific story of carnivorous aliens who come to Earth in a feeding frenzy for human flesh. It's no picnic for the Brown family when a lethal litter of Krites arrives unannounced at their Kansas farm. Trapped in a deadly nightmare, the terrified Browns fight for their lives against the attacking bloodthirsty monsters. But, it's a losing battle until two intergalactic bounty hunters arrive determined to blow the hellish creatures off the planet! It's an alien adventure, full of action and just crawling with CRITTERS!
Fun Facts
-The Krites voices were a combination of French and Japanese elements and voiced by Corey Burton (Dale from Chip and Dale.
-Although Critters was released two years after Gremlins, director Stephen Herek states that the script for Critters was initially written by Dominic Muir far before Gremlin's entered production; Gremlins did, however, serve as an incentive to greenlight Critters. Herek unsuccessfully attempted to sell his project to several studios, but it was only after the release and success of Gremlins that New Line Cinema was willing to produce it. Herek thus had to heavily adjust Muir’s script to reduce the similarities between the two films significantly.
-The Chiodo brothers — Charlie, Steve, and Ed — got the job of creating the Krites. The design and construction of the Krites cost $100,000 of Critters $2,000,000 budget.
-The main puppets were full-sized 13″ models, with radio-controlled eyes and blinking eyelids, cable-controlled faces, arms, and claws, as well as bladders in the throat and chest to mimic breathing. For the Critters’ eyes, clear plexiglass spheres were coated with reflective Scotchlite material in the back.
-The giant Krite at the end was a 4-foot tall suit to be worn by a little person. The Chiodo brothers didn't have much time or money to build the suit. “They didn’t give us the time or money to do it,” Charlie said. “The costume was just a quick, throwaway thing; they wanted to show something big. It looked alright, but there were no mechanics budgeted for the face; it didn’t move.”
-Sugar Apples inspired Krite eggs.
-Jordan Downey made a 6-minute fan film for a Critters web series that never got off the ground, but his short is rad.
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1 hr 20 min
January 08, 2019 Twister (1996) VHS Movie Review
Twister Quick Facts
Twister is an action/disaster film from Amblin Entertainment. Twister was released on May 17, 1996. Twister had a budget of $92 million and grossed almost $500 million in worldwide sales.
Director: Jan de Bont (Speed)
Writers: Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park) and Anne-Marie Martin, Joss Whedon (Avengers), Steve Zaillian (Schindler's List), and Jeff Nathanson (Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3) were brought in for rewrites.
Producers: Ian Bryce (Speed), Michael Crichton, and Kathleen Kennedy (E.T.)
Twister Cast:
Bill Paxton as Bill "The Extreme" Harding
Helen Hunt as Dr. Jo Harding
Jami Gertz as Dr. Melissa Reeves
Cary Elwes as Dr. Jonas Miller
Phillip Seymour Hoffman as "Dusty" Davis
Alan Ruck as Robert "Rabbit" Nurick
Jeremy Davies as Brian Laurence
Lois Smith as Aunt Meg Green
Twister Back of the Box Description
The house rips apart piece by piece. A bellowing cow spins through the air. Tractors fall like rain. A 15,000-pound gasoline tanker becomes an airborne bomb. A mile-wide, 300 miles-per-hour force of total devastation is coming at you: Twister is hitting home. In this adventure swirling with cliffhanging excitement and awesome special effects, Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton play scientists pursuing the most destructive weather front to sweep through mid-America's Tornado Alley in 50 years. By launching electronic sensors into the funnel, the storm chasers hope to obtain enough data to create an improved warning system. But to do so, they must intercept the twisters' deadly path. The chase in on!
Twister Box Quotes
"A Gale-force Movie! The special effects are spectacular!"
-Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Taglines
The Dark Side of Nature
Don't Breathe. Don't Look Back.
Go for a ride you'll never forget!
The Beautiful yet Destructive side to life
Twister VHS Trailers
Space Jam
Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Twister Soundtrack Promo
Bugs Bunny and Taz WB Intro
Fun Facts on Twister
-Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt were temporarily blinded by bright lights used to dim the sky. The lights sunburnt both their eyeballs and caused them both to miss a couple days of shooting.
-The sound of the tornado got the crew nominated for an Academy Award for best sound. How did they do it?
“To make new and different wind sounds, they constructed a box filled with chicken wire, stuck a microphone inside, and placed it on top of a car,” author Keay Davidson revealed in his book, Twister: The Science of Tornadoes and the Making of a Natural Disaster Movie. “Then they rolled the car downhill — turning the engine off so that it wouldn’t interfere with the sound recording.
“They also reviewed recordings of camels and noted that these creatures emit sounds that are ‘wet and lugubrious and nasty.’ As he [supervising sound editor, Stephen Hunter Flick] listened to the camel recordings over and over, Flick turned down the pitch, and the camels’ sounds developed a moaning, ‘cavernous’ quality that, he felt, nicely captured the eerie vastness of a tornado.”
-Director Jan De Bont was very unpopular on set. Entertainment Weekly claimed more than 20 crew members walked off the set after De Bont pushed a camera assistant into the mud after he got in the way of a complicated shot. The
-Bill Paxton wanted to direct a sequel but sadly it never happened before his death.
-Two of the stars in Twister have passed away. Phillip Seymour Hoffman died on February 2, 2014, of an accidental drug overdose. Bill Paxton died on February 25, 2017, due to complications from surgery.
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1 hr 15 min
December 20, 2018 Eye of the Tiger (1986) VHS Movie Review
Get ready for sand, sweat and exhaust smoke! Gary Busey stars in Eye of the Tiger and fights a motorcycle gang from hell.
Eye of the Tiger Quick Facts
Eye of the Tiger was released to your local video store on November 24, 1986, with a mystery budget.
Director: Richard C. Sarafian
Writer: Michael Thomas Montgomery (as Michael Montgomery)
Eye of the Tiger Cast
Gary Busey as Buck Matthews, a Vietnam veteran that returns home after getting out of prison and finds his town overrun by a drug running motorcycle gang.
Yaphet Kotto as J.B. Deveraux, a cop that works under a corrupt Sheriff and is good friends with Buck Matthews.
Seymour Cassel as Sheriff, he secretly gets paid off by the motorcycle gang to turn the other cheek.
William Smith as Blade, the leader of the motorcycle gang.
Back of the Box Synopsis
Buck Matthews (Gary Busey) fights the system and, with the support of an old friend (Yaphet Kotto), becomes the lone symbol of justice in a small Texas town, riddled with the corruption of a ruthless sheriff. Out of prison for a crime, he didn't commit, Buck returns to his hometown, hoping to settle down with his wife and daughter. But this is not to be. When a sadistic gang of drug-running bikers murderously violates the sanctity of his home, Buck is forced into an escalating battle of violence and action. Now, vengeance must be his, or all will be lost!
Box Quotes
'Nam was hell...
Prison unbearable...
But Coming home meant murder.'
"Busey's back in top form" Keven Thomas, L.A. Times
Eye of the Tiger Trailers
A Japanese Anime
Montage Trailer of Eye of the Tiger
Highlights
Motorcyclist flies through a wall.
A Motorcyclist gets decapitated by Buck.
Buck's dead wife is dragged in her casket down the street.
A badass truck with missiles and machine guns in used by Buck to kick ass.
Dynamite is shoved up a guys butt.
J.B. jumps into a plane and drops bombs like the Red Barron.
Sheriff gets boooooowed up!
Blade the leader is killed with COCAINE.
Buy this DVD at Shout Factory
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1 hr 17 min

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