21) Batteries Not Included (1987)

(3's out of 5)

"They're the fixers. They like to fix things."

Director

Matthew Robbins

Cast
Hume Cronyn - Frank
Jessica Tandy - Faye
Frank McRae - Harry
Elizabeth Peña - Marisa
Michael Carmine - Carlos
Dennis Boutsikaris - Mason
Tom Aldredge - Sid
Michael Greene - Lacey

Unless I'm mistaken, the trend in science fiction movies back in the 1980s was to pack them with good feels and warmth, likeable and marketable aliens, and emotion. Plenty of emotion. 

I suppose audiences had enough of aliens from space flying to Earth to pick fights and melt peoples' brains as was common in the atomic age of sci-fi/horror movies during the fifties and sixties. And then

"Star Trek" came along and had humans explore aliens and their worlds rather than aliens explore Earth. "Star Wars" took Earth out of the equation all together and added drama, charm and epic fun to the genre. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" gave aliens a more friendly face and gave the genre a more realistic depiction of how a government would react to visitors from space. These titles helped veer science fiction away from the trope of mean ol' aliens merely looking for a place to invade and a species to conquer. Of course, there was still room for unsympathetic and threatening aliens during this period. Ridley Scott's classic "Alien" (1979) came out after "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Star Wars." 

When the 1980s came around, it seems audiences were treated to a generous portion of loveable, friendly, and just plain nice visitors from space and other science fiction-y characters. We had "E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial," "Starman," "Explorers," "Short Circuit," "D.A.R.Y.L." "Howard the Duck" and "Cocoon" among other such titles back in the 1980s. For sci-fi movies, they have the warmth and feels that have audiences returning again and again. That seemed to continue on until the bad aliens intruded their way back in and blew everything up in "Independence Day" (1996).  

Jessica Tandy as Faye Riley in "Batteries Not Included."

However, in this period of family-friendly feel-good sci-fi movies comes "Batteries Not Included." 

It tends to be remembered here and there but generally overlooked. 

The movie stars Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy and was directed by Matthew Robbins. 

Cronyn and Tandy play elderly couple, Frank and Faye Riley, who live in an antiquated apartment building that stands in the way of urban development somewhere in the East Village of lower Manhattan. 

Frank has been running a corner cafe in the same building since the glory days of the neighborhood back in the 1940s and 1950s. Time has marched on. Age has crept in like overgrown ivy. Frank is really holding on to the neighborhood as it was and all the memories that are now nostalgic black and white pictures holding up the walls.  

The other tenants in the building have been resisting the pressure to move out which the development manager, Lacey (Michael Greene) has been putting on them. 

So, as a not-so-final resort, he sends a thug named Carlos (Michael Carmine) to "convince" the tenants to accept Lacey's bribe to move and terrorize the ones who refuse. When they stand their ground, Carlos gets to them individually. He torments Marisa (Elizabeth Peña), a young single pregnant girl who lives in the building. He also breaks through the door of artist Mason Baylor (Dennis Boutsikaris). And he smashes some of the items which the maintenance man, Harry Noble (Frank McRae) keeps in his basement apartment. 

Lastly, when Frank refuses to be intimidated and digs his heels in to stay put, Carlos vandalizes his cafe. 

Some of the tenants do finally pack up and move. 

Mason's girlfriend, Pamala (Wendy Schaal) breaks up with him, takes the bribe, and leaves. Also, longtime residents Muriel and Sid Hogensin (Jane Hoffman and Tom Aldredge), who are friends with Frank and Faye, take Lacey's cash bribe as well. To them, the building doesn't feel like home anymore. Why hang on to the past?

Frank is really torn on this. He doesn't want to leave. Faye is suffering from dementia which is gradually getting worse. And he knows if things continue the way they are, he won't have a choice anymore. 

Just when it feels like the darkest hour is upon the apartment building, two small intelligent spaceship looking alien...things... sneak into their apartment to seemingly help out. Faye notices them right away and is thrilled at their presence. She calls them the "fix-its" as they have an ability to fix random items rather quickly. In fact, they even fix Frank's cafe perfectly. 

When she talks about them, Frank thinks it's a symptom of her dementia. The small flying saucers take up residents in a shed up on the roof. 

Faye introduces all the residents to these crafts, which seem harmless.

They begin to help by first luring Carlos to a shed up on the roof only to scare him. 

The robots also begin fixing items, as well as storing different parts of random objects up in the shed. 

Soon, the tenants begin relying on these robot spaceship creatures to help them win against Lacey and his hired thug, Carlos, and keep their building. 

The movie by the end of the second act, the film starts dragging its feet to get to the heart of the movie. It takes too long to get to the plot. 

Despite its uniqueness, "Batteries Not Included" is still a predictable story. It went pretty much where I thought it would, and a few inches more. Far enough for me to think to myself, "Oh, they actually did that" by the end. 

It has heart. It has its charm. It knows what kind of movie it wants to be - a sci-fi drama with a touch of whimsical elements, feel-good scenes, and some laughs. To be fair, it accomplishes that. Outside of that, it feels like there needs to be more. Something seems to be missing. 

Evidently, the story was intended to be an episode of Steven Spielberg's fantasy anthology series "Amazing Stories." But Spielberg wanted it to be something more...a movie. So, that's what it became. However, the story would probably fare better as a television episode. It doesn't need to be a feature film. 

Elizabeth Peña, Dennis Boutsikaris, Hume Cronyn, and Jessica Tandy.

It's not a bad story; it's just in the wrong medium. Stretching the story out to 107 minutes creates a sense of empty places where something important, maybe unforgettable, should be. It feels much more like an episode of an anthology series. Even the title sounds like something from a sitcom or a fantasy anthology show. I might be nitpicking there. Nevertheless, it feels like a working title or an early suggestion for one. Even so, it's slightly clever. 

The characters are interesting enough and worth getting invested in. And seeing the antagonists, from Carlos to the greedy and callous developers he's working for, get what's coming to them is satisfying.

It's intriguing (though, again. predictable) but not exciting.

While it really strives for that touching family movie sweetness, it becomes overly sweet after two of the flying saucers create a baby flying saucer together. I can't suspend reality that much. 

And the whole family friendliness goes out the window after Mason paints a completely unnecessary nude portrait of Elizabeth Peña.

It's a mediocre movie that tries to create interesting characters and an entertaining plot. Its strength falls short, unfortunately. I think part of the reason for that is the story tries too hard with the sentimentality. The heartstrings are really pulled, and quite effectively, when Faye mistakes Carlos for her deceased son.   

It's a movie to experience once, and then maybe watch it again 15 or 20 years later, on a Saturday evening when you happen to stumble upon it while flipping through apps trying to find something to watch in an undecided frenzy. You pick it because you it's getting late and you have to pick something. So, "Batteries Not Included" it is.   

20) Death Race 2000 (1975)

(1.5 's out of 5)

"Some people might think you're cute. But me, I think you're one very large baked potato."

Director

Paul Bartell

Cast
David Carradine - "Frankenstein"
Simone Griffeth - Annie Smith
Sylvester Stallone - "Machine Gun" Joe Viterbo
Mary Woronov - "Calamity" Jane Kelly
Roberta Collins - Matilda "the Hun"
Martin Kove - Ray "Nero the Hero" Lonagan
Louisa Moritz - Myra
Don Steele - Junior Bruce (race announcer)
Joyce Jameson - Grace Pander (race announcer)
Carle Bensen - Harold (race announcer)
Sandy McCallum - Mr. President

The three, maybe four readers of my horror movie blog, 1000daysofhorror.blogspot.com, have probably noticed I've been working my way through director Roger Corman's eight Edgar Allan Poe films. 

Well, I've been hauling around a box set of four other Corman movies collectively called the "Roger Corman's Classics Collection." The set includes the titles "Hollywood Boulevard" (1976), "Piranha" (1978), "Rock n' Roll High School" (1979) and "Death Race 2000" (1975). I found it at a library book sale and purchased it for a mere buck-fifty back in 2021 or 2022. Since purchasing it, I've kept telling myself "Self, I'm going to watch these next." So, I'm finally starting it, beginning with "Death Race 2000." 

According to writer Ed Naha in his book "The Films of Roger Corman," the premise of "Death Race 2000" is based on a weird idea Corman once had (Naha, 80).

That idea surrounds the premise of future racecar drivers running over pedestrians to gain points while racing across America.

Evidently, according to the same book, people around Corman told him the idea was terrible and certainly not a money-making idea. Still, the movie got made and... here we are. 

"Death Race 2000" is a futuristic dystopian flick in which, after a world economic crash that occurred in 1979, the world markets have suffered economic ruin. The entire globe went through total civil unrest. 

As far as the United States goes, the government went through a restructuring and came out of that as a totalitarian government which uses martial law as a means to control the American people. 

In order to squash the inner-civil unrest among American citizens, the government has established a racing event that goes across the country, which distracts the people from their daily strife.

It's the year 2000, as the title indicates. The 20th annual death race is underway. 

Five unique drivers are participating with personalized cars. The drivers include the dangerous and mysteriously masked "Frankenstein" (David Carradine), gangster "Machine Gun" Joe (Sylvester Stallone), cowgirl "Calamity" Jane Kelly (Mary Woronov), Neo-Nazi "Matilda the Hun" (Roberta Collins) and the Roman gladiator "Nero the Hero" (Martin Kove). 

All racers, as expected, are determined to win this race. And all of America are tuned in. As they all race to the finish line, they can collect points by hitting innocent people along the way. For instance, people in wheelchairs are worth 100 points. Elderly people are worth 70. Children are worth 50. It's really grim stuff. 

Meanwhile, an American resistance group, led by Thomasina Paine (Harriet Medin), a distant relative of Thomas Paine, are attempting to overthrow the current regime led by a leader simply referred to as "Mr. President" (Sandy McCallum). 

Their plans are pretty much centered on sabotaging the race. To do this, they aim to kill all the drivers, kidnap Frankenstein, and use him as a bargaining chip against Mr. President. Little does Frankenstein know that they're being helped by his navigator, and Thomas Paine's great-granddaughter, Annie Smith (Simone Griffeth). 

The points matter in this race. Spectators are really pulled into the event. Some even place others or themselves in the roadways so that their favorite driver might hit them and gain more points. 

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this flick. It's shlocky yet intriguing enough to pull me in and try to determine what this movie is trying to depict. The storylines are glued together with commentators announcing the race as it progresses. 

This movie strikes me as parody as well as a socio-political commentary. Maybe it's a commentary on the rise of inhumanity in America, the methods of government distraction and the role sports plays in that, or it's just a dark, dark comedy. Whatever I'm supposed to take away from this movie, it's uncomfortable to sit through. 

David Carradine as "Frankenstein" in "Death Race 2000."

It ends on what is supposed to be a comedic chord, but it's just as dark as the rest of the movie. Everything else is cheesy one-liners, violence for its own sake, some sleazy stuff, and racing. It's the same kind of entertainment as watching something like WrestleMania or a demolition derby but with carnage, bloodshed, and callousness of the worst kind. Basically, I got exactly what I expected; it's an action movie about a race that devalues human life which fits in with the dehumanized mentality of the dehumanized society the race takes place in. It's an oddball, goofball, and exploitative film that I really don't think is meant to be anything bigger or more than what meets the eye. I didn't get much out of this movie, nor do I think I am really meant to. It's shock for shock's sake. 

The movie was produced by Roger Corman and directed by Paul Bartel who appears in all the films I mention above. 

Bartel is, perhaps, most known for directing and appearing in the 1982 black comedy "Eating Raoul." He also has a cameo in "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" as a theater manager, which was directed by Joe Dante. Dante also directed "Piranha" which stars none other than... Paul Bartel. 

"Death Race 2000" got a remake called "Death Race" in 2008. That spawned two prequels - "Death Race 2" (2010) and "Death Race 3: Inferno" (2013) as well as a sequel called "Death Race: Beyond Anarchy" (2018)

Corman also produced a sequel to the original film in 2017 called "Death Race 2050."

The movie has the same general dystopian or anarchical vibe as movies such as "Mad Max" "Rollerball" "The Road Warrior" and even "The Purge." 

While I really don't care to, I think I'll have to watch this movie again and see if there's something I failed to notice the first time. Somehow, I doubt it. 

19) The Day of the Triffids (1963)

(4's out of 5)

"In nature's scheme of things, there are certain plants which are carnivorous, or eating plants....This is a newcomer: Triffidus Celestus, brought to earth on the meteorite during the Day of the Triffids."

Director

Steve Sekely
Freddie Francis (Uncredited)

Cast
Howard Keel - Bill Masen
Nicole Maurey - Christine Durant
Janina Faye - Susan
Janette Scott - Karen Goodwin
Kieron Moore - Tom Goodwin
Mervyn Johns - Mr. Coker
Ewan Roberts - Dr Soames
Alison Leggatt - Miss Coker
Geoffrey Matthews - Luis de la Vega

I'm a bit torn initially where to plop this review. Here, or on my horror site, 1000daysofhorror.blogspot.com. "Day of the Triffids" (1963) is considered 

to be sci-fi horror as the story centers on invasive carnivorous plants from outer space that eat people. 

The movie is based on a 1951 novel by sci-fi writer John Wyndom, who also wrote "The Midwich Cuckoos." The 1960 horror/sci-fi classic "Village of the Damned" is based on that novel.  

I think it's more science fiction than it is horror, so it fits better on this platform. 

"The Day of the Triffids" is a movie I've had on my radar for years. I have an affinity for vintage paperback books, so I hope to find an old copy out in the wild someday.  

In this movie, which takes place in the U.K., a majority of mankind loses their eyesight during an intense meteor shower witnessed all around the Earth. 

However, merchant navy officer Bill Masen (Howard Keel) manages to keep his eyesight as he's treated in the hospital overnight. He wakes up the next morning after eye surgery to find that everyone in the hospital is gone. 

He leaves and wanders around London as most everyone in the city is meandering aimlessly, unable to see. 

Soon, sentient plants called triffids begin sprouting and growing all over the place. They poison their victims, and then consume them.

The plants are also able to free themselves from the ground and crawl around looking for prey. They send out spores, carried by the wind like dandelion seeds, which land in soil and grow into more triffids.

While all that is going on, scientist Tom Goodwin (Kieron Moore) and his wife Karen (Janette Scott) are living in seclusion at a lighthouse for, I think, scientific purposes. Their only knowledge of what's going on out in the world is through a radio. As news of the triffid invasion, and mass blindness peaks, they think they're safe from the ever-increasing triffid population since they're out in the middle of the ocean. 

That delusion abruptly ends when Karen finds one growing on the rock outside the lighthouse. 

She accidentally leaves the lighthouse door open and the triffids make their way in. Tom attacks and subdue them. However, they quickly learn these triffids can regenerate. 

Tom and Karen hunker down and come up with a plan to destroying these walking alien plants. 

Meanwhile, Bill heads to a train station where passengers are struggling and fumbling around blind. People are begging for anyone with eyesight to help them, 

Bill comes across a little girl named Susan (Janina Faye) who's orphaned and spent the night in the train luggage van. To Bill's surprise, Susan can still see. 

Later, while on their way over to France, they meet Christine Durant (Nicole Maurey) who takes them to a chateau that is being used as a safe place for those who are blind. 

The triffids are multiplying at a crazy rate of speed. Typical weed behavior. So, those who can see need to figure out how to conquer them for good...before the triffids wipe out humanity. 

"The Day of the Triffids" is as classic and as good an old fashioned alien invasion flick that I could hope for. 

For a movie about man-eating plants from space that's about 60 years old, the story still pulls me in. It's an entertaining, suspenseful story that manages to create a thrilling sense of apprehension. 

It has its campy parts which comes with such films from this period. Some elements don't age well. Still, that doesn't hurt the experience. 

The triffids make an insect-like sound that's creepy and off-putting. It's a bit laughable but is a nice touch.

The movie has some loose similarities to "War of the Worlds" as the alien plants nearly conquer mankind until they're easily exterminated by...would you guess... ocean water. The aliens from "War of the Worlds" die from the simple yet contagious cold virus. Both demises are simple, but effective.

I also wonder if M. Night Shyamalan took some inspiration from this movie for his 2002 sci-fi thriller "Signs." 

Similar to the destruction of the triffids, water is fatal to the aliens in Shyamalan's film. At least

in "The Day of the Triffids" the alien plants aren't intelligent enough to avoid the salt-watery Earth. 

The aliens in "Signs" who create sophisticated crop circles, and travel across space in spacecrafts equipped with cloaking devices and then land on a planet that's 71 percent water, which will kill them. 

Of course, it also reminds me of "Little Shop of Horrors" for clearly obvious, man-eating plant reasons.  

The plot point in which eyesight becomes a valuable commodity has an original feel to it. It's silently suggested the triffids intentionally caused this. It's an imaginative and creative part of the story. 

The pace starts to stretch itself thin towards the end of the second act. But it picks back up rather quickly. It's primarily thanks to the subplot of Tom and Karen out in their lighthouse that keeps the story much more intriguing. If it wasn't for their story, the movie would likely be much more of a bore than it is. 

The fun aspect comes with its classic sci-fi/ horror tropes that seem much more original for a movie from this era such as the all-too familiar car that won't start when danger is imminent. 

The movie has brilliancy as far as color goes. The version I watched, streaming on "CinemaBox" wasn't the greatest quality, but it wasn't bad either. 

Regardless, "The Day of the Triffids" is a movie and story of its own. For a classic sci-fi movie, something ideal for a drive-in, it still manages to deliver with barely a dull moment.  

An updated reboot or remake would be great. I'd be curious enough to watch an updated version. The story did have its own TV series back in 1981. "The Day of the Triffids" ran for six episodes over in the U.K.   

As for this 1963 film adaptation, it's among the best early survival picture I've seen. 

18) End of the World (1977)

(1out of 5)

"Unfortunately, there is no more time!"

Director

John Hayes

Cast
Christopher Lee - Fr. Pergado

Kirk Scott - Prof. Andrew Boran
Sue Lyon - Sylvia Boran
Dean Jagger - Ray Collins
Lew Ayres - Commander Joseph Beckerman
Macdonald Carey - John Davis
Liz Ross - Sr. Patrizia

After previously reviewing a bunch of more appreciated and well-remembered science fiction movies from the 1980s that current audiences seem to recall fondly, it's time to get to some the best of the worst shlocky and cheesy movies sci-fi has to offer. These are the movies I really created this platform for.

After a trip to Omaha a couple weeks ago, and visiting one of my favorite bookstores, "Half-Price Books," I found a set of 50 sci-fi movies packaged as "Nightmare Worlds." And among these 50 "Nightmare World" movies was the 1977 sci-fi you never heard of, "End of the World."

Released by a company called Mill Creek Entertainment, I often stumble upon these 50-film sets and have a few of the horror and thriller collections in my movie library. They're the only way to acquire some of these hard-to-find, "so bad, they're good" flicks people once thought needed to be filmed. These sets often run on the cheap side, especially when they're used sets which they normally are. These sets come in basically all genres. The movie quality is often poor. There's no digital enhancements or quality improvement. They're often too dark, grainy, and with poor sound quality. Yet, they still manage to be appealing. Chalk it up to good marketing, I guess?

Mill Creek Entertainment DVD collections might look sophisticated in a movie library, but the movies they normally include you wouldn't find in a $5 Walmart bin. 

So, why have I bought a few of these collections despite the negativities? I think its the appeal, and the feel that they're a deal. A sucker and his money are quickly parted.

So far, they're just plain B-movies with an emphasis on "plain." Not that I expected anything more. Still, I might just get one more set. And yes, I plan to watch as many of them as I can, if not all of them.

In the movie "End of the World," some actor named Kirk Scott plays Prof. Andrew Boran who works for NASA and is looking into unusual radio signals floating around space. The really unusual part is that these signals seem to be coming from Earth. What's even more unusual is that the signals are predicting severe natural disasters taking place around the globe. 

Christopher Lee, Kirk Scott and Sue Lyon doing absolutely nothing
in "End of the World."

Andrew pinpoints the source of the signals and goes to that precise location to check it out. Of course, like all NASA scientists tend to do, he takes his wife Sylvia (Sue Lyon) with him. It turns out the signals are emanating from a Catholic convent where a community of nuns are living. 

A Catholic priest named Fr. Pergado (Christopher Lee) is the chaplain for these sisters. 

What Kirk doesn't realize is that the sisters along with Fr. Pergado are actually aliens from a utopian planet plotting to destroy Earth through several natural disasters. These aliens replaced the actual nuns as well as Fr. Pergado and have taken on their appearances.

Zindar, the leader of this alien species, is posing as the priest. When he finally reveals his true identity, he tells Andrew and Sylvia that Earth has to be destroyed because it's nothing but a source of disease and violence. It's making the entire galaxy look bad, so it has got to go. 

Zindar, however, holds Sylvia hostage as a way to force Andrew to steal a crystal from NASA which he needs to transport himself and his alien pals back to their utopian planet. Andrew has no choice. 

He steals the crystal and surrenders it to Zindar. 

There's really nothing Andrew nor Sylvia can do to save their planet and the millions of people who are unaware of what's really going on with this surge of natural disasters. 

So, they don't do anything. In fact, Zindar, proving he's not such a bad alien despite destroying a cloister of holy nuns and their parish priest. and then working to destroy an entire planet and all the innocent people living on it, invites Andrew and Sylvia to live on his utopian home planet and learn their utopian ways. He thinks with their intelligence, they might be an asset to his people. 

With barely an ounce of guilt or sadness, they agree and beam themselves up to this alien planet after Zindar and the other aliens return. 

Then, Earth explodes. The end! 

The movie lives up to its title, at least. 

Movies like "End of the World" are the reason why the series "Mystery Science Theater 3000" exists- to give forgotten, and quite often deservedly so, movies some much needed substance.

Christopher Lee is the only worthwhile presence in this flick. Everything else us dull, except for a few explosion scenes. 

It's worth noting that Sue Lyon is famous for her role as Lolita in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 movie "Lolita." 

However, Lyon, along with her co-star Kirk Scott don't do much of anything in this movie. They don't

Sue Lyon, Liz Ross, and Kirk Scott.

even act. They just talk, and then barely react, and then talk some more. 

You'd think their characters would do everything they possibly could think of to save their planet. They barely even try to formulate a plan outside of leaving the convent and flag down a passing motorist. Once that leads to absolutely nowhere, they give up. I guess I failed to mention that Zindar can control things with his mind and when they flag down that passerby, he blows up the car and its driver with his mental ability. 

So, the two protagonists ditch Earth to go live in the utopian alien world with the same aliens who made Andrew and Sylvia an endangered species. If you can't beat them.... 

They're complete sell outs, and all that's left for them is making more humans on this new planet they're going to have to call home. 

It's a story that brings Douglas Adams' book "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" to mind. Andrew and Sylvia are like Arthur and Trillian after Earth is destroyed in that story.  

Except in this movie, we really don't know what happens to the last of the earthlings once they ditch the planet they barely lifted a finger to defend. 

For an oddball sci-fi movie starring the talented and exception Christopher Lee, "End of the World" is boring and uneventful. The movie thinks its bold and daring, mixed in with explosions and such. 

My copy of this movie has terrible picture quality as I mentioned above regarding the 50 movie sets. There's so much shadow and night shots, I couldn't tell what was happening. And it's all talk and no action. Not even Christopher Lee could make this movie worthwhile, though his performance is nothing short of fantastic. He's the only actor who emotes. The two main characters can't even bother to act shocked or scared. The movie almost doesn't deserve Christopher Lee's presence. 

"End of the World" plays out like a vintage thrift store paperback turned movie, and shot verbatim. It if was a book, at least my own imagination would fill in what's lacking in the movie. If only "End of the World" got the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment. That would have made it worth watching!

17) Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

(2.5 's out of 5)

"I never noticed how important it is to be seen."

Director

John Carpenter

Cast
Chevy Chase - Nick Halloway
Daryl Hannah - Alice Monroe
Sam Neill - David Jenkins
Michael McKean - George Talbot
Stephen Tobolowsky - Warren Singleton
Jim Norton - Dr. Bernard Wachs
Pat Skipper - Morrissey


Despite the term "invisible man" in the title of the 1992 sci-fi comedy "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" as well as the movie's obvious nod to Director James Whale's 1933 movie based on the book "The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells, I have to emphasize the word "an" also in the title. It's the memoirs of "an" invisible man. It's not "the" invisible man. 

The character that is the Invisible Man tends to be linked horror despite Well's story being a science fiction book. The 1933 film maintains a bit of that science fiction feel. The 2020 remake of "The Invisible Man" has a much heavier sci-fi tone than the original film. Yet they're both thought of more as horror movies likely due to Both versions keep the story's dramatic side, however.  

"Memoirs of an Invisible Man" is based on the novel of the same name by H.F. Saint which has been described as a thriller. Regardless, this movie has all the feels of science fiction with thrilling elements thrown in. So, I'm posting my thoughts about it on this platform. 

In this movie Chevy Chase plays stock analyst Nick Halloway who's working out in San Francisco. After work one evening, he heads to his favorite high-end club for a drink.
There, he runs into his buddy, George Talbot (Michael McKean). George introduces Nick to a friend of his, Alice Monroe (Daryl Hannah) whom Nick takes a keen interest in. 

She works as a documentary producer and the two hit it off really well. In fact, they both set up a lunch date. 

Nick ends up getting drunk that night, and has a nasty hangover the next morning, Still, he has to get to a company shareholders meeting at Magnascopic Laboratories. 

During the meeting, he sneaks off to find a place to sleep off some of his hangover. He finds a quiet spot in someone's empty office. 

Meanwhile, some lab tech accidentally spills his coffee on a computer, which causes a shortage that leads to a small explosion. 

Some kind of fluke of science occurs resulting in parts of the building turning completely invisible, including Nick.

This odd situation grabs the attention of corrupt CIA agent, David Jenkins (Sam Neill), along with other agents, while they investigate the invisible building. 

Nick panics as he tries to wrap his head around what just happened to him. After all, he suddenly can't see himself as he moves objects around. Jenkins sees these objects moving by themselves, obviously meaning someone turned invisible. 

They rescue the invisible Nick out of the building and place him in an ambulance. 

While he's in the ambulance, one of the agents makes a comment about how Nick will be studied by scientists for the rest of his life. 

Naturally, Nick freaks out even more at this notion and escapes. 

Rather than inform CIA headquarters, Jenkins decides to pursue Nick and turn him into the ultimate CIA secret agent. 

Nick goes on the run, trying to hide from Jenkins and his CIA stooges. They've already broke into his apartment in an attempt to locate Nick. So it's no longer safe there. Instead, he hides at the club, and then approaches Dr. Bernard Wachs (Jim Norton), who was speaking at shareholders meeting at the time of the incident, to ask him if he can reverse his invisibility. 

From there, he hides out inside George's beach house out near San Francisco, unbeknownst to George. In fact, no one except Jenkins knows he's invisible. They don't know what has become of Nick.  

Jenkins gets a hold of Nick's background information and considers him a nobody - somebody who was already invisible before he literally became so. 

Nick sneaks into Jenkins office, which is more like a villain hideout, and tries to see what information they have on himself. 

Jenkins eventually figures out Nick is in there and tries to talk him into recruitment. But Nick is appalled at the thought of killing people. 

However, Jenkins goes out of his way capture Nick and force him into the CIA's service. Meanwhile, Nick frantically tries to figure out a way to live as an invisible man, and be able to support himself in this unfortunate situation. He reveals himself to Alice shortly after she, along with George and a couple of their friends, suddenly arrive at the beach house for a vacation. They have no idea he's as they settle in for a few days. 

The only interesting parts of the movie are Chevy Chase function as an invisible man, and the early special effects that surround that, as well as watching the two main characters work out a 

Chevy Chase and Daryl Hannah in "Memoirs of
an Invisible Man."

relationship under these unusual circumstances. 

A lot of those invisible man details are clever, such as one scene in which the audience can see cigarette smoke fill Nick's lungs. In another scene, Nick sees the Chinese food he's eating start digesting in his stomach, which makes him throw up. 

Everything else in the story seems contrived, which is weird when considering the movie is about an invisible man. Sam Neill's CIA character, and the entire villainous CIA agents, act more like mafia thugs than actual agents. They get in the way of the story, despite the sense it makes that government officials would take keen interest in a man who's suddenly invisible. This plot point is badly written. 

In fact, if the CIA agents weren't so villainous nor such a big part of the story, and the film focused more on Chase trying to function as an invisible man along with Daryl Hannah's character trying to work out their relationship, the movie would be more memorable and entertaining. With Chase being cast in the lead role, less chasing would leave more room for him to be the comedian he's good at being. The way the story is, he's forced to focus more on surviving and escaping capture than throw in more comedy. It also doesn't give Chase and Hannah enough time to work off of each other. What a shame!

The movie doesn't need this evil, sinister antagonist from beginning to end. 

All "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" has to depend on for its entertainment value is the invisible man parts, and the special effects.  

16) Starman (1984)

(3 's out of 5)

"Please come and visit our planet Earth!" 

Director

John Carpenter

Cast
Jeff Bridges - Scott Hayden / Star Man
Karen Allen - Jenny Hayden
Charles Martin Smith - Mark Shermin
Richard Jaeckel - George Fox
Robert Phalen - Major Bell
Tony Edwards - Sergeant Lemon
John Walter Davis - Brad Heinmuller
Ted White - Deer Hunter


If our government... heck, if several governments around the world got together and sent a message into the vast spaces of space inviting whomever is out there to come visit Earth, and someone from another planet accepted that invitation and showed up, these governments would probably welcome them with a lot of firepower. If aliens are visiting us, that's probably why they do so cautiously and secretly. Such a global welcome wagon doesn't seem far-fetched and alies are too smart to put it past us.

On a personal note, I've unwittingly focused on sci-fi movies about charming and likeable aliens released during the 1980s in my last few reviews. Maybe I ought to toss in a few movies with hostile aliens trying to take over Earth and ruin everyone's good time. Remember in "Ghostbusters II" when Dr. Venkman (Bill Murray's character) said, "And that is the whole problem with aliens, is you just can't trust them. Occasionally you meet a nice one: Starman, E.T. But usually they turn out to be some kind of big lizard!"

John Carpenter's 1986 sci-fi romance "Starman" is a movie that pops up in conversation from time to time. Not often but comes up.  

In this movie, Marion Ravenwood from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and...uhh... the last two Indiana Jones movies, "Crystal Skull" and "Dial of...weak characters," hooks up with "the Dude" from "The Big Lebowski" who's actually an alien from Alienland. 

In 1977, in "Starman" time, a space probe is launched carrying a gold LP. That's a record for anyone who has no idea what an LP is. This record has a message inviting any alien civilizations with record players that might exist out there to come visit Earth. 

Well, an alien civilization picks up the invitation and accepts the offer.

Karen Allen and Jeff Bridges in "Starman."

So, they send a scout to Earth to see if it's safe to visit and worth their time, because these aliens aren't stupid. To nobody's surprise, the U.S. Government shoots down the alien scout spacecraft, which was sent to make contact with earthlings. 

The ship crashes somewhere in Wisconsin. 

The alien scout, which looks like a ball of glowing energy, makes its way into the home of Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen). She's a widow living on her own.

While she's asleep, it rummages through some photo albums of her late husband Scott (Jeff Bridges). She keeps a lock of his hair in her album. The alien extracts some of her husband's DNA from that lock of hair, and is able to take his form. 

Jenny witnesses the alien's quick development from baby to grown man right in her own living room. Once the shock where's off, she thinks this thing that looks just like her deceased husband  must be hostile. So, she tries to escape.

The only English this alien knows is what he and his race heard from the message sent by the government. 

He doesn't know how to ask Jenny to drive him from Wisconsin to a rendezvous point in Arizona to meet up with the head ship his people are sending to pick him up. He only has a few days to meet up with them, or they'll ditch him and he'll die. 

Jenny thinks he's kidnapping her and forcing her to drive him to Barringer Crater in Arizona. He finally reveals to Jenny that he means no harm, and is really a friendly entity. He's here to observe.

National Security Agency director George Fox (Richard Jaeckel) is able to determine that the spaceman's ship was initially heading to the Barringer Crater before being shot down. So, he sends scientist Mark Shermin (Charles Martin Smith), who helped develop the original invitation, to find the spaceman and capture him on behalf of the U.S. Government. 

Shermin manages to figure out that the spaceman is disguised as a human, and that he and Jenny are travelling across the U.S. towards Arizona.

Meanwhile, as Jenny and the Starman drive day and night to get to Arizona, the spaceman closely observes how people of Earth behave. He also has special alien powers, like the power of healing and reviving dead things. 

As expected, Jenny falls in love with him, which is understandable considering he's a clone of her deceased husband! The Starman, meanwhile, is a kind-hearted loveable alien who just wants to see how people on Earth behave, and do good things along the way, like revive a dead deer.

I have to take some points off for a weird sex scene that's presented as charming. Since the alien is basically a clone of Scott, he and Jenny have sex on board a box car. And afterwards, he tells her, "I gave you a baby tonight." It's awkward!

Earlier, Jenny told the alien she and Scott had tried to have a baby but couldn't due to medical issues.

So, since he has Scott's DNA, he says the baby is from both himself and from Scott's. The baby will have his huge alien intellect and special alien powers. It's creepy and anything but touching. 

Jeff Bridges doing weird alien things in "Starman."

Anyways, "Starman" is basically E.T. turned science fiction romance. The main character comes to Earth for a visit (like aliens tend to do) and then has to get back home quickly. 

The movie could easily go into the realm of being a silly fish-out-of-water flick, but it doesn't. It narrows things down between two characters and makes them interesting and memorable. It's a more personable and relatable film, with some feel-good elements. I'm not referring to that weird sex scene.  

How Karen Allen could maintain a straight face working alongside Jeff Bridges as he delivers his lines like he's impersonating an dubbed monster movie while moving his head like a timid canary deserves a round of applause. 

Director John Carpenter needs no introduction. He's directed some fantastic and popular movies. Carpenter is a legend in the realm of horror and sci-fi.  

I've mostly seen his horror movies, which is what Carpenter is best known for - "Halloween," "Christine," "In the Mouth of Madness," and "The Fog" to name a few titles, his science fiction movies don't normally go the route of romance. "The Thing," "They Live," and "Village of the Damned" are certainly not light-hearted feel-good sci-fi flicks. 

His 1992 comedy-drama "Memoirs of the Invisible Man" with Chevy Chase and Daryl Hannah, which I watched over 20 years ago, might be considered a bit similar to the kind of story "Starman" is as far as its romance is concerned. Carpenter's style is something I'm eager to dig into and discuss at some point. That'll be another post at another time. 

Until then, there's one or two more friendly alien movies from the 80s I plan to get to. Whether I do them next, or avert my attention to the hostile aliens, I haven't decided yet. 

15) Flight of the Navigator (1986)

(4.5 's out of 5)

"Compliance!" 

Director

Randal Kleiser

Cast

Joey Cramer - David Freeman
Veronica Cartwright - Helen Freeman
Cliff DeYoung - Bill Freeman
Sarah Jessica Parker - Carolyn McAdams
Matt Adler - Jeff Freeman (16 years old)

Albie Whitaker - Jeff Freeman (8 years old)
Howard Hesseman - Dr. Louis Faraday
Paul Mall (aka Paul Reubens) - voice of Max 

Disney's 1986 sci-fi adventure film, "Flight of the Navigator" is a movie I loved in my youth. 

I had the impression it was a movie not too many people noticed. If that was the case years ago, it seems to have been pulled from the ranks of minor obscurity where a number of Disney movies from the 1980s remain. It is a much appreciated and fondly remembered movie now, looked fondly upon with nostalgia. 

That certainly isn't the case with some of their other movies which Disney probably wants to keep hidden under the secretive Disney vault rug such as "Midnight Madness," and "The Devil and Max Devil" which I've mentioned before. 

The story begins in 1978, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., as 12-year-old David Freeman (Joey Cramer) and his family are set to celebrate July 4th on their boat out in the water where they'll shoot off some fireworks. 

David has to go fetch his kid brother, Jeff (Albie Whitaker) at his friend's house. 

Walking through a wooded area, Jeff scares him by jumping out of a tree and then runs home. Before going home himself, David peers into a ravine, falls in and is knocked unconscious. 

Joey Cramer as David in "Flight of the Navigator."

When he wakes up and returns home, someone else is living in his house. His own family is nowhere to be found. 

David doesn't know that the year is 1986 and that he has been missing for eight years. 

When police reunite him with his family, he's shocked to find his family has aged, but he's still 12. His younger brother, Jeff, is now older than David. 

Meanwhile, an alien ship crashes into some power lines. NASA confiscates the ship and brings it back to the space center in Florida. 

While in the hospital for observation, doctors notice his brain wave patterns are creating images that match the design of the downed space craft. His brain is also filled with star charts.  

Dr. Louis Faraday (Howard Hesseman) over at NASA is told about the images coming out of David's head. He persuades David's parents to allow their son to spend 48-hours at NASA for observations, promising them he'll get answers as to where David has been the last eight years, and why he hasn't aged a day. 

By examining David's brain waves, Dr. Faraday and other NASA scientists deduce that the boy was taken to the planet Phaelon 560 light years from Earth. 

To get there, the ship travelled faster than the speed of light for over two hours. Time passed slowly on Earth causing everyone to age normally. For David, the trip was only a couple hours causing him to barely age at all. 

Faraday is going to need to break his 48-hour promise and keep David there longer.

The ship starts to telepathically communicate with David. 

He manages to sneak out of his room at NASA, thanks to the help of NASA intern Carolyn McAdams (Sarah Jessica Parker - yeah, she's in this), make his way to the hanger where the ship is being kept, and sneak onboard. 

David meets the ship's robotic commander (voiced by Paul Reubens, aka Pee-Wee Herman, who is credited as Paul Mall), which introduces itself as a Trimaxion Drone Ship. David calls the robot commander "Max" for short. 
And Max makes David the navigator. 

Max says that since humans use only 10 percent of their brains, he took David aboard to keep additional information needed for an experimental project inside his brain. Max has been travelling the spans of the galaxy to collect specimens from other planets. 

David agrees to undergo a mind transfer so Max can collect the information in his head. This introduces Max to human emotion and behavior. 

The two travel around the world, and out into space, as David tries to get back to his family.  

He wants to return to his own time when he was picked up. But Max thinks going back into time could prove deadly. 

"Flight of the Navigator" starts off on a serious, dramatic tone and then shifts into an adventure. 

It glides along the realm of goofiness, especially when Max transfers information from David's mind and starts speaking like Pee-Wee Herman. 

David also adopts one of the alien species called a Pukemaron collected on board the ship as his own personal pet/ sidekick. There's also a music sequence with "I Get Around" by the Beach Boys which might have been hip, or rad, or cool back in the 1980s. It's a sequence that didn't age well. Cheesy! But I'm happy to look past all that.

Thankfully, the silliness knows when to say when. In other words, the silly factor doesn't overstay its welcome. It entertains the kids in the audience for as long as it needs to, and then jumps back into the serious mode it needs. 

Joey Cramer gives a respectable performance. This works especially when his world is changed drastically completely at random, and he cannot wrap his head around why his life has changed. 

He makes David a sympathetic, memorable and very likeable character. It doesn't surprise me that fans of the movie have flocked to him at conventions and appearances all these years later.  

It's a well-performed fun family movie with decent special effects and a tight theme on the importance of family.

I don't know if "Flight of the Navigator" was an obscure sci-fi movie. Like a lot of movies from the same decade, it has since had a resurgence among nostalgic fans thanks to its inclusion on the streaming app, Disney+ as well as the 2020 documentary, "Life After the Navigator."

The "Trimaxion Drone" ship from "Flight of the Navigator" on
display at Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World.

photo by Mike Sellman

Joey Cramer had a fall from grace after various arrests including one in 2016 in connection with a bank robbery up in Canada. But it looks as though he has amended his rough past and embraced the joy and thrill the now 38-year-old movie continues to give audiences. Kudos to Joey Cramer!

It's an innocent movie with a captivating plot. It's likeable. And like most off-the-radar movies, especially from Disney, "Flight of the Navigator" has its cult following. This following is well deserved.

Randal Kleiser has directed some favorited movies - "Grease," "The Blue Lagoon." "White Fang." and "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid." Not great films but enjoyed never-the-less. 

I give "Flight of the Navigator" a high rating due to its enjoyability, emotion, innocence, complexity alongside its simplicity, warmth, respectable special effects, and depictions of the importance of family. 

I recall seeing the Trimaxion Drone ship from "Flight of the Navigator" on the backlot tour at Disney World's Hollywood Studios back in 2014. I wondered if I was the only person on that tram who recognized it and knew where it was from. I'm sure I wasn't but I like to think I was. 

There has been chatter online about a reboot. Selfishly, I want "Flight of the Navigator" to remain that smaller innocent film I enjoyed time and time again so many years ago.