MovieChat Forums > Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) Discussion > Does anyone else skip the John Landis ep...

Does anyone else skip the John Landis episode when watching this?

posted 10 years ago by FX_Lord
19 replies | jump to latest

Every time I watch this, and that is probably too often, as a rule I will skip the yawningly boring John Landis episode at the beginning.

There's this bigoted racist who is made to suffer through a series of 'racially motivated' events from history where he is the receiver. It might have worked better if we actually cared whether he lived or died. It is difficult to care for a racist bigot.

This film would have been fine were it not for this episode. I think it single-handedly destroyed any possibility of a sequel.

"I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody."

[–] brady-vallbacka 10 years ago

I'm not with public opinion on this one. I still stand by my theory that Joe Dante's part was the worst. So dated and nearly laughable it was so bad. Landis' part was much better than Dante's

[–] FX_Lord 10 years ago

A story where a character doesn't develop is not a story. Dante's part had character development, Landis's did not.

You're not with public opinion at all there my friend. You're not racist are you?

"I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody."

[–] brady-vallbacka 10 years ago

I'm not racist I just really thought Joe Dante's episode was beyond stupid.

[–] michaelsmith30 10 years ago

I believe he may have had a change of heart towards minorities. Remember the scene filmed during the helicopter crash? He was helping two Vietnamese children escape harm's way before the crash. He practically risked his own life helping those kids escape.

[–] FX_Lord 10 years ago

I have actually watched the video of the helicopter crash in the meantime. It certainly looked that way, at least then the film would have had a point.

"I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody."

[–] kaydie-fee 10 years ago

The 2nd one by Spielberg was the worst - old people turning into kids and prattling around for 20 painful minutes with some corny music playing in the background - I usually skip it

[–] FX_Lord 10 years ago

In my opinion that wasn't the worst. I kind of think of it as a precursor to Cocoon.

On the other hand, I did think it was extremely weak. By that reckoning, wanting to frontload the film with the worst episodes, they got the order exactly right.

"I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody."

[–] coldnaps 10 years ago

Like it or not, the first segment best captured the feel of the original series.

[–] FilmJunkieVGS 10 years ago

What's kind of funny about this topic was I didn't know the John Landis' story even existed until it was released on DVD years ago. In my youth, I watched a VHS tape of the movie that was recorded from HBO or Showtime. Because of the nature of the first story and the fact that I was young, my sister (at the request of my folks) edited the tape to not include the John Landis' story. For years, I thought the movie went from the opening with Brooks and Aykroyd right into the Kick the Can story. To this day, the John Landis' story included in there still feels unnatural from the way I watched it as a kid. Just thought I would share that.

[–] FX_Lord 10 years ago

Your folks were very responsible if they thought to remove that episode before showing you. There's no telling how a young mind might react to the racist overtones of the first episode.

What is more, the end result of that episode (granted minus the character's development - scene(s) lost in lieu of the accident) was pretty one dimensional and boring and may have actually put you off watching all the other episodes.

"I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody."

[–] cjchamp2001 10 years ago

The reason it was boring and had no character development was because the actor who played the main character ( as you probably know) was killed midway through shooting. I believe Bill was supposed to have a moment of redemption and we're supposed to like him at the end, but the story had to be rewritten because it was unfinished. The segment 1 should have been cut all together because it was incomplete and your right it ruined the story.

[–] FX_Lord 10 years ago

Glad to see I'm not the only person with that opinion. Thanks.

"I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody."

[–] Zach126 9 years ago

I didn't find it boring at all. Nor did I think it ruined the movie. It was interesting to see a man, who's a major bigot, put through the trials & tribulations of the ppl he hated & see it through their eyes. I do agree that it was incomplete (becuz of Mortow's death) but it still wasn't boring and IMHO was the best segment after Nightmare at 20,000 feet.

[–] Mightygill 9 years ago

I personally felt this was the best segment, followed by the airplane one, the old folks one and lastly the bizarre one with the child. Seeing a man such as himself get what was coming to him and seeing it from the other side was absolutely fascinating to me

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[–] InkedInBlood 9 years ago

You have the mind of a child.

I don't like the way blood money spends.

[–] FX_Lord 9 years ago

Thank you very much :)

"I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody."

[–] BoSoxRules 8 years ago

No, I skip the Steven Spielberg yawnfest.

[–] richspenc 8 years ago

Yeh, I agree. I thought Vic Morrows racial adventure segment was the best. It was a great idea carried out well with a racist man experiencing what it's like in the other people's shoes and him getting the taste of his own medicine he deserved after seeing how racially hateful he was at the start of the segment. The whole segment was very interesting and carried out well. It was also the only original story that wasn't copied from the original Twilight zone series. Except for John Lithgow's Nightmare at 20,000 ft, each copy was inferior to the TZ originals. Especially the Steven Spielberg yawnfest.

[–] atd8vii (593) 6 years ago

Spielberg's segment was definitely the worst, but Landis' wasn't much better either. It was just a heavy handed, cheap looking mess that wasn't made very well. The Morrow incident is unfortunately the only reason why this film lives on, I think that even if the stunt went according to plan and no one was killed it would have been a forgettable segment, much like the whole movie.