Twilight Zone: The Movie
 

As our good friend Trouserpress said, we've never really talked about Twilight Zone:The Movie before.

Strange as it may seem, I've never seen it in it's entirety. I've seen the beginning and the end, I've seen Nightmare at 50,000 Feet and It's a Good Life, but not Kick the Can or the controversial segment starring Vic Morrow.

I've always distanced myself from post Serling Zone a bit, but I'm gradually coming round to the idea seeing as I've enjoyed several episodes of the 80's show, so I will get to the movie soon.

Sadly I don't think we'll ever see a release like Trouserpress mentions above. I don't think anyone involved wants to re-open those old wounds. I have two books about the accident and the court case that followed. Here's a link to one of them. I'll be adding the other to the site in due course.

I haven't read these yet, but I have skimmed them. I'm certainly no expert on the case, but it if the book's sleeve notes are to be believed, then it's easy to see why nobody involved will want to go near this again.

"How could this tragedy occur? Was anyone to blame? Outrageous Conduct reveals the facts behind the accident, when skilled movie makers exceeded the bounds of safety; the anxiety when Hollywood closed ranks to protect its own; and the raucous and very public trial, when counter charges of “outrageous conduct” flew between the publicity-conscious district attorney and the furious film director John Landis."

Like you Trouserpress I would like to see an independent documentary about it. In my younger days I did watch the tragic footage. I have no taste for watching such things now, but those images still stick with me. It's horrifying watching Vic Morrow genuinley struggling with the scene, carrying those two kids - and then their lives are just snuffed out in an instant.

Sombre stuff, but I know a lot of people genuinley enjoy the movie. So if I haven't already soured the mood! Post your thoughts on Twilight Zone: The Movie here!

Wow! glad to have prompted a new thread on here. I've never seen this film at all, which is odd given my love for TZ and my voracious appetite for old movies in general. I'm looking at ordering that book now, as it sounds fascinating. Is the other book, Special Effects: Disaster at Twilight Zone any good? It's pretty cheap on Amazon marketplace, so I'll probably end up ordering both: Special Effects: Disaster at Twilight Zone : The Tragedy and the Trial: Amazon.co.uk: Ron Labrecque: Books

When I watched The Bronx Warriors, in the excellent Shameless box set, it was both saddening and a bit weird to see Vic Morrow running around and hamming it up, knowing that it would be his last completed movie. Especially given his rather unpleasant end in that film!

I think TZ: The movie is available on DVD for pretty cheap. It's a shame that more isn't made of it given Spielberg and Landis' involvement, but like you said, I doubt either of them want to talk about it. I've met Landis a couple of times. I wonder what would have happened had I brought it up!

It's usually in HMV's 2 for £10 section if you have a look for it.

I've got mixed feelings about the film as Tom and I have discussed before, some aspects of it are great (Nightmare at 50,000 Feet & the majority of It's a Good Life), but a lot of the film feels like it's missing a spark. Maybe it was the accident or maybe it was a lack of faith in the project, but the film doesn't feel complete.

As also discussed in other threads, I feel the lack of a "Serling type presense" was also missing from the film.

EDIT: I'd also love to take a read of that. If you want Tom I could write up a review for it?

Where did you see this? I didn't think it had ever got out into the public domain. I am pretty curious to see it for myself too!

EDIT: Never mind. Just found it on youtube. That's pretty awful. It must have just been unbelievable for everyone there. It's almost mind-blowing that John Landis just didn't give up filmmaking there and then.

Yes, that's the fella. I haven't read either yet. Really must get around to it.

Just ordered it!

Absolutely mate. It would take forever for me to get round to it. Nice one.

Look forward to hearing what you think!

Christ, I've just watched that footage of the accident. That was really terrible. At least they wouldn't have suffered. The movie has always been a favourite of mine apart from the Spielberg 'Kick The Can' segment. Seeing that accident makes me think maybe it should never have been released.

I know, right? I can't get that out of my head now. On reflection, I'm sure everyone involved thought "What the hell were we thinking?" I always thought the helicopter was supposed to be shooting at them, I didn't realise that it was the camera copter. Landis wanted it as close as possible to get a good shot. Hadn't he heard of a zoom lens?

Having re-watched The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, I can't help but wonder what Spielberg's version would have been like. It's almost like the perfect subject matter for him and something he would have taken to like a duck to water.

I read somewhere that he wanted to have a "nice" story, rather than one of the scary ones, so that there was some kind of balance in the movie.

I had read that he did Kick The Can beacuse of the Vic Morrow incident.

From IMDB:

"Steven Spielberg briefly considered Rod Serling's The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street about neighborhood paranoia that's set off by a force of invading aliens from the original Twilight Zone series as a potential segment which he canceled because it involved nighttime filming with children and special effects. This was mainly due to the tragedy that occurred on the "Time Out" segment. He finally chose "Kick the Can" from the original series."

I was flicking though an old Twilight Zone Magazine last night that was released just prior to the release of the movie. It's amazing (but perhaps not un-expected) how absent the incident is. There's even an interview with Landis and it's very jovial and positive. I guess there's a chance that maybe it was done before shooting, but it doesn't seem to be.

You're right. I just read about it in the Spielberg biog Empire of Light.

Incidentally the film has recently come out on blu ray in the States. The only extra is an original trailer. No big surprise there.

Just started reading Special Effects: Disaster at Twilight Zone - The tragedy and the Trial. It's a very well researched book, written by a journalist who covered the trial. I had no idea that John Landis was also in the water at the time of the crash, just out of shot. There's an amazing photo taken seconds after it happened. He must have been terrified, as it could easily have been him.

How did you end up liking the book Trouserpress? Are you able to form an opinion on whether there's any blame to go around from it?

I just read in Robert Englund's Hollywood Monster that some lawyers who were involved with the trial were trying to get Robert to sue WB for an accident that happened on the set of V. Guess there were a few ambulance chasers who were trying to cash in on the tragedy.

I'm still only about half way through (as I have about another 3 books on the go at the same time!), but John Landis does not come across well at all. A bit of an arse to be honest!

At Christmas I got a couple of friends together and we checked out Twilight Zone: The Movie for the podcast for anyone who wants a listen http://www.thetwilightzonenetwork.co...the-movie.html