The Film 89 Podcast

On Episode 160 of The Film ‘89 Podcast, Neil, Skye and Leighton return to one of their favourite filmmakers, John Carpenter, to cover one of the films most requested by our listeners, Carpenter’s 1986 action-adventure-comedy-fantasy cult classic, Big Trouble in Little China, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Based on an original idea and initially intended to be a western, but later turned into a magic-infused martial arts adventure, Big Trouble in Little China stars Carpenter regular Kurt Russell, along with Dennis Dun, Kim Cattrall and a superbly villainous turn from legendary character actor James Hong. An action-adventure the likes of which could only come out of the 1980s, Big Trouble in Little China was poorly marketed by a studio that simply didn’t get the film’s unique blend of martial arts, mysticism, and comedy, and it was a box office failure. Fortunately, it found a second life on home video, where it was a considerable success and has gone on to become a beloved cult classic and a film very much worthy of the in-depth Film ’89 treatment. 

All content is the property of Film ‘89 and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Any copyrighted material used in this episode is used under the principles of fair use for review, commentary, criticism, and educational purposes. No part of this episode may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, except where permitted by law.

On Episode 159 of The Film ‘89 Podcast, we’re joined by three returning co-hosts; from New York, Boston and, quite fitting for the topic of this episode, Los Angeles, it’s Bill Scurry, Kyle Reardon and Jacob Rivera. The guys are wearing their best baggy bowling shirts and key-chains as they travel back in time 30 years to discuss a film as emblematic of the ‘90s independent film movement as any. Written by its star, Jon Favreau, and directed by Doug Liman, it’s the cult classic comedy from 1996, Swingers. Categorising Swingers as just a comedy doesn’t really do it justice. It’s a film about relationships, heartbreak, and the importance of friendship and has far more substance to it than your average comedy. Made on a shoestring budget and very much a product of guerrilla filmmaking, Swingers was not a success in cinemas on its initial release, but would find a second life on home video and become an oft-quoted cult classic that’s more than worthy of the usual in-depth Film ‘89 treatment for its 30th anniversary. 

All content is the property of Film ‘89 and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Any copyrighted material used in this episode is used under the principles of fair use for review, commentary, criticism, and educational purposes. No part of this episode may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, except where permitted by law. 

On Episode 158 of The Film ’89 Podcast, we’re joined once again by our very good friend and frequent guest-host, filmmaker and podcast producer, Kyle Reardon, to discuss, for its 40th anniversary, a cult classic film we’ve wanted to cover for some time now, starring Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell and Jennifer Jason Leigh, it’s director Robert Harmon’s multi-genre-straddling cult classic, The Hitcher.

Released in 1986, The Hitcher was the brainchild of screenwriter Eric Red, whose initial inspiration for the story of a young man being stalked by a murderous hitchhiker was The Doors’ song, Riders on the Storm. A commercial failure upon its initial theatrical release, The Hitcher was one of several films from the 1980s that died in theatres only to find a second life on home video. Much like John Carpenter's The Thing and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, The Hitcher benefited from positive word of mouth at video stores and became very much a cult classic. Skye and Kyle delve deep into the film, they discuss its refusal to hold the audience’s hand and the huge scope for interpretation as to the motivation of Rutger Hauer’s psychotic John Ryder. Beautifully shot and impeccably directed, with a haunting score by Mark Isham, The Hitcher is a film that’s aged like a fine wine and one ripe for the in-depth Film ‘89 treatment. 

All content is the property of Film ‘89 and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Any copyrighted material used in this episode is used under the principles of fair use for review, commentary, criticism, and educational purposes. No part of this episode may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, except where permitted by law. 

This week marks the 60th anniversary of the first-ever episode of Star Trek airing in the US on NBC on September 8th, 1966. The series ran for three seasons but would eventually transition to the big screen in 1979 in the form of director Robert Wise’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Whilst a critical and commercial success, The Motion Picture had something of a rushed production, and due to time constraints, Wise was never fully satisfied with the version released and saw it as an unfinished work in terms of the edit and the visual effects. 22 years later, Paramount allowed Wise to meticulously rebuild the film, re-edit it and redo a considerable amount of the film’s visual effects. That revised cut is now the definitive version of Wise’s film, a film that was first covered on Film ’89 way back in May 2019 on Episode 28. But in a fitting parallel to the film, the editing of that episode was also very much rushed (our editor was about to embark on a long family holiday and rushed the edit), to the point that it’s always been an episode that he was never happy with (aside from the outstanding contribution of our guest hosts, Bill Scurry and John Arminio). So, given the looming 60th anniversary of Star Trek, that original episode has been completely re-edited, the audio quality improved where needed, extraneous content removed, and a significant amount of new material added to extend the runtime by 9 minutes. We feel that a film as beloved as Star Trek: The Motion Picture deserves the same care and attention that we gave later Trek films on Film ’89, and we present to you the episode we should have put out in the first place. As well as an in-depth analysis of Wise’s film, Skye, John and Bill also give the rundown of their all-time favourite Star Trek episodes. So, happy 60th anniversary Star Trek, and we hope you enjoy Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Editor’s Edition! 

All content is the property of Film ‘89 and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Any copyrighted material used in this episode is used under the principles of fair use for review, commentary, criticism, and educational purposes. No part of this episode may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, except where permitted by law.

On Episode 156 of The Film ‘89 Podcast, Neil and Skye are doing something they’ve not done for several years, they’re reviewing a new comic book movie. What was once a regular thing on Film ‘89 tailed off with the downturn in quality of the Marvel Cinematic Universe post Avengers: Endgame, with one exception, 2021’s Sony Pictures collaboration, Spider-Man: No Way Home, arguably the last great entry in the MCU. But after 5 long years, Tom Holland is back as everyone’s favourite web-slinging crime fighter in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. In the aftermath of No Way Home, Peter Parker has spent the last few years successfully fighting crime and garnering public support and even working alongside the police, but at the expense of his personal life now that everyone’s memories of Peter Parker being Spider-Man have been wiped, including that of his best friend, Ned and girlfriend, MJ. Already a huge commercial success in the first week following its release, Brand New Day just might be the film that reignites Neil and Skye’s love of and enthusiasm for comic book movies. So tune in to hear their in-depth and spoiler-filled review of a film that’s on course to become the most successful film of 2026 and one beloved by audiences and critics alike. 

Episode 155 of The Film ‘89 Podcast is a full-on history lesson as hosts Martin Kessler and John Arminio take a trip back to 480 BC as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of Zack Snyder’s big screen adaptation of legendary comic book writer Frank Miller’s 300. 300 tells the epic tale of the Battle of Thermopylae, and how an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian army in the mountain pass of Thermopylae. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the enemy in one of the most famous last stands in history. Snyder’s hyper-stylised film employed then-cutting-edge filmmaking techniques and remains one of the most faithful comic-book adaptations ever made. In addition to analysing the film, John and Martin delve deep into Greek history and discuss Christopher Nolan’s new adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey, as well as Wolfgang Petersen’s 2004 film Troy, loosely based on Homer’s The Iliad. 

On Episode 154 of the Film ’89 Podcast, Steve and Skye are joined by returning co-host, Becky D’Anna. A veteran of Hollywood movie marketing and a seasoned podcaster, Becky now has her very own podcast, the brilliant Hanging with Becky Podcast. The topic of this episode is a film that’s not only one of the Film ’89 team’s all-time favourites, it’s also become the most requested film for the team to cover, but moreover, it’s Becky’s all-time favourite film; from 1991, director James Cameron re-teams with superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger; it is of course, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Also starring Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick and Edward Furlong, T2 was not only the most expensive film ever made upon its release in July 1991, but it would go on to be a critical and commercial smash hit and the highest-grossing film that year. But more than that, it was a film so groundbreaking in its use of cutting-edge special effects technology that it would forever change the face of cinema. More than just an action-science-fiction blockbuster, T2 is a superbly written and impeccably directed film, and easily one of the greatest movies ever made and more than worthy of the usual in-depth Film ’89 treatment. 

Episode 153 of The Film ’89 Podcast lands just in time for this year’s July 4th celebrations, and there’s no more fitting a film that the guys could be covering than one that honours that great American holiday. Joining Neil and Skye (who definitely aren’t American) is returning co-host, filmmaker, producer and master cinephile (and importantly, an American), Mr Adam Rackoff. And the film they’re discussing is an epic alien invasion film that takes its cues from ‘50s science-fiction, ‘70s disaster movies, and also one of the Film ’89 Team’s favourite pieces of event television, the early ‘80s miniseries, V. That film is Independence Day, which celebrates its 30th anniversary the day this episode drops. With a superb ensemble cast and featuring jaw-dropping special effects that still impress three decades on, Independence Day, on a relatively meagre budget considering its scope and scale, would go on to utterly dominate the global box office in 1996, becoming far and away the most financially successful film that year. It would also set a new benchmark for special effects in an era where CGI was yet to dominate, and still puts many modern-day, big-budget effects-heavy movies to shame. In many ways, Independence Day is the sort of film that cinema is made for, and along with Jurassic Park, represents one of the very best examples of big budget '90s summer blockbusters, influenced by their 1970s disaster themed forbears, and is a film that will be ingrained in the minds of anyone who was of a certain age in 1996, who’ll never forget the cinematic phenomenon that was defined by those iconic images of colossal alien ships hovering over America.

On Episode 152 of The Film 89 Podcast, Steve and Skye are joined by a trio of returning co-hosts, Jacob Rivera, Kyle Reardon and Leighton Winstone, to discuss one of the all-time great serial killer thrillers, director Jonathan Demme’s multi-Oscar-winning 1991 adaptation of Thomas Harris’ best-selling novel, The Silence of the Lambs. Starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn and Ted Levine, the film would receive huge critical acclaim and worldwide box office success and would go on to become one of only three films to win “the big 5” at the Academy Awards; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress, as well as nominations for Best Editing and Best Sound. The Silence of the Lambs is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in the history of the medium and is given the in-depth Film ’89 treatment for its 35th anniversary. 

On Episode 151 of The Film ‘89 Podcast, Steve and Skye are joined by a trio of guest-hosts that may be the greatest ever assembled for a single episode of the podcast as they celebrate the 40th anniversary of James Cameron’s Aliens. The sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi-horror masterpiece, Alien, Cameron’s film wouldn’t be a retread, but an evolution of the story of Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), as well as expanding what we know about the life-cycle of the deadly species she encountered in the first film. Featuring a superlative ensemble cast, an electrifying pace and endlessly quotable dialogue, as well as incredible special effects and a landmark score from composer James Horner, Aliens is rightly considered not just one of the greatest sequels ever made, but one of the greatest movies, period. So join our battle-hardened crew as they dive into the making of this incredible film and give their in-depth analysis of Aliens for its 40th anniversary.