Year: 1983
Director(s): Spielberg, Miller, Landis, & Dante
Country: US
Language: English
Created by Rod Sterling, The Twilight Zone encapsulated a wide variety of genres including psychological horror, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, and psychological thriller; each episode often concluding with a surprise twist and moral lesson. The original series. shot in black and white, ran from 1959 to 1964. It was critically and commercially successful. Its success led to a feature film, a radio series, a comic book, a magazine, and various other spin-offs that spanned five decades.
Four directors (Steven Spielberg, George Miller, Jon Landis. and Joe Dante) collaborated to remake four episodes of the popular television series The Twilight Zone for this movie. The episodes are updated slightly and in color.
I don't have a problem with the film trying to recreate old episodes rather than creating new ones, however I think the chosen collection of "classic" stories is a mixed bag at best. The first story, wherein a racist businessman gets a taste of his own medicine is remarkable. Based on Season 3 Episode 13's A Quality of Mercy, it's a fantastic intro that evokes themes of the television show. The second segment, directed by Spielberg, slows the film to a crawl. Kick the Can, a story about senoirs wanting to be children again, is far too sentimental in this horror filled picture. It completely shifts the tone and feels very of place.
It was smart to create a film out of four episodes, rather than ruin one particular episode by making it 2 hours long. However I feel the film missed out, as the most appropriate episode to remake for this film would be To Serve Man, but I guess Spielberg thought otherwise. The final segment Nightmare at 20,000 Feet demonstrates great acting by John Lithgow, who plays a frightened passenger that thinks a gremlin is destroying the plane from the outside. George Miller (of Mad Max fame) directs perhaps the best segment in this picture.
Twilight Zone: The Movie is a bit of a disappointment compared to the original television series. It's also a disappointment compared to The Simpsons' parodies of many Twilight Zone episodes (as well as horror movies in general) which they feature on their annual Treehouse of Horror specials. It's not a terrible film, I've seen all but the second segment more than once, but if you can find the originals I implore you to watch them instead. Three people (which include three illegally hired children) DIED making this picture.
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