PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

generationofswine I don't understand where the "This is the first movie to give me nightmares" reviews are coming from...I mean, this was a PG movie from the '80s. And the '80s was a decade where ratings never really mattered. "Robocop" horribly bloody scenes and I remember watching it with a hole bunch of other 8 year-olds and parent's that thought "yup, kids are going to love this movie." "The Twilight Zone: The Movie" was tame compared to soooo many other movies people that were little kids in the '80s liked to watch..."Nightmare on Elm Street." My mom and dad made me wait until I was in 3rd grade to watch that one.Anyway, almost all of the stories had happy endings, almost all of them had morals. And even as a little kid you can walk away learning something about life.And we did, in our own little way. It falls under a beloved Childhood Classic for a lot of kids my age...who are adults now. Not as cherished as The Goonies, but still one of the movies that we would never pass on when the opportunity to watch it came around...And the amazing thing is, that stuck to adulthood. I can pass on childhood favorites like Firewalker and Iron Eagle...but I can't pass on this...I still have to sit down and watch it.

Realrockerhalloween The movie was a sorted affair dealing with four directors, script rewrites, tragedy and high expectations that nearly canceled the entire production. Starting off in the right direction with a bookend of a man picking up a hitch hiker until everything goes terribly wrong. Staying true to the heart of the original series the morality cautions are ever present with the dangers of picking up strangers, racism, staying young at heart, abuse of power and disbelief. The first take would be an instant new classic in the vain of his image if a helicopter hadn't crashed on the set and killed three actors (two children). Legally able to proceed on Landis was force to shorten his segment so the man never leans his passion but receiving punishment for crimes again humanity. Forcing Spielberg to make his second segment more light hearted with a charming remake of Kick the can which has its cute moments yet doesn't work in a horror movie setting.Joe Donte for it back on track with it's a good life, but it's plagued with humor, fake noticeable props and comes out to cartoonist to get the willies. Last and least was the most shocking, scary and best directed segment by George Miller updating terror at 50,000 feet which seems lasted by three duds preceding it. Such a shame as it had potential to spawn off countless sequels instead of direct to TV short living series.While not bad in the least it could've been a grand masterpiece.

Theo Robertson It seems a bit strange waiting till 20 years after a TV show has been cancelled before making a film version . That said THE TWILIGHT ZONE is one of the shows that's always being syndicated somewhere and the directors involved in this project were all established movie brats who really know pop culture and live sleep and breath nostalgia . Indeed it was the likes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE that fired their imagination and got then in to the film industry in the first place . This is an affectionate tribute to the original show using an amusing linking sequence bookending the film and like the TV series it's rather jit and miss . Unfortunately it's probably best remembered for the film that ended the life of actor Vic Morrow !!!! SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS !!!!!Segment 1 ) Bill Connors is a bitter and twisted bigot who has just been passed over for promotion . Exiting a bar he finds himself in Nazi conquered France . A very obvious type of redemption plot . Or it would have been if Vic Morrow hadn't been killed on set . Instead we get a different type of ending which is both downbeat and surprising Segment2 ) Residents of a care home find their lost youth . Dear oh dear . If you think Spielberg is the greatest director who ever lived take a look at this and tell me it doesn't belong on the Disney Channel . Mawkish , silly , manipulative and just in case you don't get it the musical score does all the thinking for you .Certainly one of his creative low points Segment 3 ) A strange tale featuring a teacher arriving at the house of a boy and everything being not what it seems . Not a brilliant story or told particularly well but Joe Dante concentrates on the technical merits . Check out the impressive use of shadows and bare in mind the monsters seen were created by hard working effects men and not done via CGI Segment 4 ) A man is on a plane and sees a demon on the port wing . Yes it's a remake of Nightmare At 20,000 Feet but while that episode now comes across as high camp here it's merely tongue in cheek and concentrates on tension and does have a couple of very effective startle moments along with an intense performance from John Lithgow

david-sarkies Personally I thought that this movie was long and boring. It is different from a lot of movies though because it is actually four short movies compressed into one with the common theme of the imaginary and the horrifying linking them. This was screened during Halloween meaning that this is probably viewed more as horror than as science-fiction, which is what I originally believed the Twilight Zone to be. In fact the original series was similar to the movie in that it would show three short films every week with a similar horrifying or science-fiction theme. From the Twilight Zone are spawned many other imitations such as Amazing Stories, which is also based on a short story magazine, Freddy's Nightmares, The Outer Limits, and other such shows. I will explore each of the four stories, though we must remember that the movie has a more horrific bent that science-fiction, especially considering the prologue and the quote, "do you want to see something scary." The first film as very anti-racist. It begins with a red-necked bigot going on about the Jews and the Negroes who are taking over his job. He leaves the pub to find himself in Nazi Germany and being pursued by Jew hating Nazis. He is then sent to the deep South where he is lynched as a Negro, and then to Vietnam where he is viewed by the American soldiers as Viet-Cong, and finally goes back to Nazi Germany where he is shipped off to a concentration camp. The moral of this is that racism is wrong and everybody is equal. It is a bit sickening to watch this because though it is trying to show us that racism is not tolerated, one thinks that the only people who will appreciate this are those who already agree that racism is bad. Instead it seems to reinforce the idea that we are really good for not being racist while they are really bad for being racist. But, if one person is affected by the film and begins to change his views then obviously this has done some good.The second is the most sickening, and I was not surprised to see Spielburg's name plastered to it. It was a happy little film about people in an old folks home who meet an old Negro who gives them their childhood back. Most decide to return to being old while one remains a child. The theme in this film is that being old does not mean we are useless. Instead it is designed to show us that we still have a lot of potential even if it does not seem that way. Still I thought that it was very optimistic, something that seems to be a trait of Spielburg.The third is the most bizarre and is about a child that has incredibly powerful mind powers. He is so powerful that his family tremble in fear about him and give him everything he wants. He has cartoons everywhere and eats junk food every night and his parents are scared of him because they know what he can do. But this film is more about the teacher that meets him and is willing to stand up to him. Her lack of fear is what changes the boy. He is used to everybody being scared of him, but she is not and she is willing to put him in his place. Thus when everybody else is dealt with she still remains. I guess this is a film about standing up to our fears. People are the strongest when our fear lets them be, but by not showing any fear truly weakens them. This raises the question of what is fear. There is the commandment to fear God, but what have we to fear of God unless we are rebelling against him. It was not like they were rebelling against the child, but rather they were scared of him. Unlike the child, I think we need to fear God, that is hold him in awe because we know what he can do. We have seen it with Sodom and Gomorrah and countless of other nations and cities. He has done it once and he will do it again.The forth was probably the most boring. It was supposed to be tense, but I thought that John Lithgow was seriously over acting, much worse than Jim Carey. He is on a plane and is hysterical. When the engine is struck by lightning he sees a creature on it ripping out the next engine so he tries to warn people of it. This reminds me of a Simpson's episode which was taken from it, but in the Simpsons it was a creature ripping out the wiring of the school bus. Other than that there is nothing much that I really want to say about this.The Twilight Zone has some ideas flowing through it, but it is supposed to be a horror. Unfortunately the tenseness that it builds is destroyed by over-acting, and the attempt to do too much with effects. The creation at the end of the third film of the flowers in the desert look fake, but then this could be a symbol of the true falseness of the power. Everything in the third is related to cartoons or very disproportioned. It symbols an untrained power that needs to be channelled and used properly. Still, this is not on my best movie list.