MovieChat Forums > Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) Discussion > It's a decent horror anthology movie but...

It's a decent horror anthology movie but you can't help but be disappointed given the talent involved.

posted 5 months ago by [deleted]
6 replies | jump to latest

John Landis at his peak, coming of movies like The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London, he also made Trading Places around the time of this.

Steven Spielberg coming of movies like Jaws, Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Joe Dante coming of Piranha and The Howling. He worked on this just prior to directing Gremlins.

George Miller coming of Mad Max and Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior).

I don't need to google to even see if another horror anthology movie has had such talent involved, because there is zero chance. Some of the other great anthology movies, such as Creepshow, had just one director for all segments.

Ultimately this movie is just alright and due to the colossal fuck up that resulted in the death of 3 people on Landis' segment this movie is forever tarnished.

[–] [deleted] 5 months ago

My ranking of the segments;

1. Nightmare at 20,000 feet (George Miller)
2. It's a Good Life (Joe Dante)
3. Time Out (John Landis)
4. Kick the Can (Steven Spielberg)

Those are hardlocked. Miller's is great, Dante's is very good, Landis' is poor and Spielberg's is awful.

[–] jk90us (7338) 5 months ago

Good ratings.

What did you think of the opening?

[–] [deleted] 5 months ago

It was a fun opening, though it's too short to really rank it among the core segments, though if I had to I'd stick it in the middle I guess, below Dante's and above Landis'.

[–] jk90us (7338) 5 months ago

I agree.

Miller’s was fantastic.

The opening was good and Dante’s segment was creepy fun.

Spielberg’s was sappy as hell and boring.

Landis’s unfinished version was flat too.

[–] christomacin (4660) 8 days ago

Actually, I can think of a horror anthology with a similar level of talent involved. "Sprits of the Dead" (1968):had segments directed by Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim, and starred Jane & Peter Fonda, Terence Stamp, Brigitte Bardot, and Alain Delon, with music by Nino Rota. Like TZTM, there was one brilliant episode (Fellini), and two so-so episodes. TZTM had four parts (one of which is quite poor) to SotD's three,

[–] mikethemartian (6774) 8 days ago

I liked the part with Albert Brooks.