Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
65%RT Audience Score: 55%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 8 nominations
The Twilight Zone: The Movie suffers from the typical anthology-film highs and lows; thankfully, the former outnumber the latter
Twilight Zone: The Movie is like trying to mix oil and water, it just doesn’t work. The four short stories are unbalanced and the effort put in by each director is lacking. However, Joe Dante’s segment stands out as the only one that doesn’t feel like a rehash of the original series. Overall, it’s a film that’s stuck in the past and fails to capture the spirit of the iconic TV show. Stick to the original series and leave this movie in the fifth dimension.
Production Company(ies)
M K2 Productions, C E D Productions, France 3 Cinéma
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Carlitos Way – 15238 Victory Boulevard, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
PG
Year of Release
1983
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English, French, German, Vietnamese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Oct 9, 2007
Genre(s)
Sci-fi
Keyword(s)
Twilight Zone: The Movie, PG, Sci-fi, 1h 42m, directed by John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, George Miller, starring Vic Morrow, John Lithgow, Kathleen Quinlan, Scatman Crothers, Bill Quinn, Selma Diamond, written by John Landis, George Clayton Johnson, Richard Matheson, Jerome Bixby, MPAA rating, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Ed Siegel, Michael Blowen, Variety Staff, Roger Ebert, Vincent Canby, Dave Kehr, Mike Massie, Sergio Benítez, Diego Galán, Stephen Schiff, Simon Miraudo, anthology film, supernatural, TV show, short stories, racist, World War II, retirement home, teacher, boy, panicky plane passenger, gremlins, subtle storytelling, Wagner opera, Debussy sonata, horror, action pictures, Aesop-on-Mars, black-and-white, 1983
Worldwide gross: $29,450,919
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $90,118,566
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,071
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 9,827,543
US/Canada gross: $29,450,919
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $90,118,566
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 804
US/Canada opening weekend: $6,614,366
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $20,239,680
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 652
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $10,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $30,599,577
Production budget ranking: 1,145
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $16,477,872
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $43,041,117
ROI to date (est.): 91%
ROI ranking: 971
John Lithgow – John Valentine
Kathleen Quinlan – Helen Foley
Scatman Crothers – Mr. Bloom
Bill Quinn – Mr. Leo Conroy
Selma Diamond – Mrs. Weinstein
Director(s)
John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, George Miller
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 8 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (40) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (17)
Twilight Zone: The Movie fails because it tries to blend the spirit of the TV show into a medium whose spirit has evolved away from subtle storytelling. The result is like trying to merge a Wagner opera with a Debussy sonata.
May 2, 2018
Ed Siegel
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
The problem is not only that the film is divided into four short stories but that each director only gives us a 25% effort.
May 2, 2018
Michael Blowen
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
Plays much like a traditional vaudeville card, what with its tantalizing teaser opening followed by three sketches of increasing quality, all building up to a socko headline act.
May 18, 2008
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
The surprising thing is, the two superstar directors are thoroughly routed by two less-known directors whose previous credits have been horror and action pictures.
October 23, 2004 | Rating: 2/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
…a flabby, mini-minded behemoth…
August 30, 2004 | Rating: 2/5
Vincent Canby
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
Miller [leaves] no doubt that he was the finest stylist to emerge in the early 80s, with a sense of narrative rhythm linked to visual development that is wholly original and ravishing.
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
As with any anthology film, some episodes are better than others.
September 8, 2020 | Rating: 6/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
A selection that is clearly unbalanced and ends up splitting the film into two very different halves. [Full Review in Spanish]
April 28, 2020
Sergio Benítez
Espinof
These four short films are definitely only jokes. [Full Review in Spanish]
September 5, 2019
Diego Galán
El Pais (Spain)
Almost nothing in [Joe Dante’s] energetic segment has the sodden Aesop-on-Mars aura of the Serling oeuvre: it’s the only one you don’t feel you’ve already seen — in black-and-white, twenty years ago, for FREE.
May 30, 2019
Stephen Schiff
Vanity Fair
Only one thing about Twilight Zone: The Movie still haunts us today, and it wasn’t intentional.
October 14, 2013 | Rating: 2/5
Simon Miraudo
Quickflix
Where does it land? A fifth dimension beyond that known to most films. The middle ground between wowing & worthless, between so great & so what, and it lies between the pits of recklessly fatal hubris and the very summit of spirited genre filmmaking.
August 29, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/5
Nick Rogers
The Film Yap…
Plot
Prologue: a driver has a big surprise with his passenger. Segment 1 (“Time Out”): a bigot hates Jews, Black and Asians. One day he will live in World War II, be hunted down by the KKK and get attacked in the Vietnam War and feel the effects of his hatred. Segment 2 (“Kick the Can”): In a nursing home, the elder inhabitants learn that their minds can keep them young. Segment 3 (“It’s a Good Life”): a traveler hits a boy in a bicycle with her car and takes the boy home. Soon she learns that the powerful boy brought her home indeed. Segment 4 (“Nightmare at 20,000 feet”): a writer is scared to fly and soon he sees a monstrous creature destroying the airplane engines during a stormy night.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
John Lithgow plays a panicky plane passenger who sees gremlins attacking his flight in Twilight Zone: The Movie.
John-Landis.jpg
