FROM MY CRITERION COLLECTION - 'Godzilla vs. Biollante' (1989)

"Godzilla vs. Biollante" (1989)

In 1975, after the release of “Terror of Mechagodzilla”, Toho Co. decided to give Godzilla a bit of a rest, thus ending the Showa era that began with the original “Godzilla” in 1954. In 1984, though, on Godzilla’s 30th anniversary, Toho brought the big bad kaiju back in a big way. “The Return of Godzilla” brought the series back to its darker, more serious roots.

Once again, Godzilla was a force of nature that once again terrorized Tokyo. It ignored the storylines of all previous films except for the original movie. It was bigger, badder, and better than ever. Still, even though the movie was praised for the updated special-effects and the return to a more serious tone, the movie was somewhat criticized for having a “been there, done that” feel.

So, for the next film in the series, the filmmakers wanted to create a story that would address another potentially grave threat to humanity in the then-modern times of the late 1980s. One thing that was on people’s minds, almost on the level of nuclear fears, was the fear of biological weapons engineered by man to use against the enemy.

Godzilla and Biollante square off in the second film from the Heisei era!

Therefore, “Godzilla vs. Biollante” was born. The story involves a grieving scientist who previously lost his daughter. He has engineered a new plant with the cells of his daughter, the cells of a rose, and the cells of Godzilla which were recovered from residue left behind after his previous attack. Eventually, the plant mutates into a giant monster.

Meanwhile, Godzilla has been dormant inside the volcano that he was thrown into at the end of “The Return of Godzilla”. However, the threat of an eruption means that he could soon escape his natural prison. In fact, the eruption is helped along after a failed American plot to get Japan’s Godzilla cells when bombs they set around the volcano go off and unleash the King of the Monsters once again.

Of course, as the title suggests, Godzilla and Biollante eventually duke it out in two major battles that are some of the best ever committed to film during this era, known as the Heisei era. In between the battles, Japanese forces are desperately trying to find ways to stop Godzilla as he once again threatens Japanese cities.

Meanwhile, humanity is still trying to stop the menacing King of the Monsters!

With all of the classic Godzilla films that I’ve seen over the years, “Godzilla vs. Biollante” is one of my absolute favorites. The special-effects are, for the most part, extremely well executed and hold up surprisingly well even today. Now, if you’re not a fan of the old “suitmation” effects used to bring Godzilla to life, then this film won’t win you over, but the story just might.

The movie is bonkers in places. There’s a spy storyline involving crazy Americans, an assassin from a Middle Eastern country, and Japan’s own forces. There’s a special girl who has strong ESP abilities and, as mentioned before, a giant plant monster that has not only Godzilla’s cells, but the cells of a scientist’s daughter whose spirit may just inhabit the huge monster.

Still, despite its more fantastical themes and plotlines, the movie remains surprisingly grounded like its predecessor. Godzilla is not a force for good or even an antihero. He is still a threatening monster that Japan is desperate to stop by any means necessary.

My only real criticism for the movie is the music by Koichi Sugiyama. Beyond using Godzilla’s iconic theme here and there, the score is slightly distracting and it feels generic and doesn’t fail to remind you that this movie was made in the 1980s.

The score and a few wacky moments aside, though, I can’t help but recommend this movie to anyone who claims to be a fan of Godzilla. I’m a little surprised that this also seems to be the only film the Criterion Collection has released physically from the Heisei era as of this writing. 

I’m hoping that maybe they’re thinking of releasing a collection like they did for the Showa era, but for the time being, I’m glad they at least picked “Godzilla vs. Biollante” as it is definitely one of the best Godzilla films around.

REVISITING SPIELBERG #3 - Spielberg Becomes a Household Name with "Jaws"!

In 1974, director Steven Spielberg was working on and about to release “The Sugarland Express”. The two producers who got the movie made for him were Richard Zanuck and David Brown. One day, while working on “Express”, Spielberg noticed a manuscript for a book that was about to be released and a story that Zanuck and Brown had already optioned for a big screen adaptation.

Spielberg was excited by Peter Benchley’s debut novel, “Jaws”, and asked Zanuck and Brown if he could be the one to bring it to the big screen. Unfortunately, the studio had forced Zanuck and Brown to hire another director for the project when they bought the rights. This unnamed director (whom Zanuck, Brown, and Spielberg would never reveal) kept referring to the shark as a whale and so the producers quickly canned the director and went back to Spielberg.

The production of “Jaws” is almost as legendary as the movie itself. The movie was originally supposed to be shot in 55 days. Due to Spielberg’s demand that the movie be shot on the ocean instead of a backlot somewhere, technical difficulties and mother nature itself caused the shoot to balloon to what would ultimately be a 159 day shoot.

Spielberg jokingly rests inside of "Bruce", the name they gave to the mechanical shark in "Jaws".

The major problems mostly had to do with the mechanical shark that was built for the movie, affectionately (or infamously based on who’s talking). It almost never worked and when it did, they could only get a few shots at a time before it would break down again. The reason it kept breaking down was that it was tested in a fresh-water tank at the studio and not in the saltwater ocean.

Spielberg’s own inexperience and naivety about shooting on the ocean also played a factor and the young director didn’t know if he’d still have a job from day to day. Thankfully, the studio stood behind him even though the movie’s troubled production was drawing negative press at the time.

With the shoot going way over schedule, that also meant that the original budget of $3 million went up by $6 million for $9 million total. After the production ended, Spielberg revealed that the shoot had traumatized him for a long time as he thought his career, even with the film finished, was over due to all the production problems.

Thankfully for Spielberg and all involved, the gamble paid off. The book became a smash hit and Universal took part in what was then an innovative marketing campaign that included an extensive TV and radio budget for advertising. When the movie was released in theaters, it went on to earn over $470 million, surpassing “The Godfather” as the highest-grossing film of all time, a record that would stand for the next two years until “Star Wars” surpassed the movie.

Robert Shaw, Rob Scheider, and Richard Dreyfuss play Shaw, Martin Brody, and Matt Hooper in "Jaws"!

The term “summer blockbuster” was officially coined thanks to “Jaws” and Spielberg suddenly found that he was now a household name. I could go on forever about the movie’s production, but there are several documentaries that cover the production including last year’s “Jaws @ 50”, which is a good watch if you want to know more. So, on with my review though I don’t know what else I can add to the proceedings that hasn’t been said before.

For anyone who happens to not know the story of “Jaws”, it follows Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), a former big city cop who has moved his family to the fictional Amity Island, a small beach town that relies on tourism during the Summer. Unfortunately, a giant Great White Shark has decided to make its territory there and now no one in the water is safe.

Along the way, Brody must face off against a mayor and town that is resistant to him closing the beaches. He receives a little help, though, from a marine biologist named Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and a gruff shark hunter named Quint (Robert Shaw). Together, they decide to hunt down the shark once and for all with Brody wanting to simply get rid of the shark, Quint wanting money, and Hooper wanting to research the massive animal.

This is the shining example of a damn near perfect movie. Despite how hard it was for Spielberg to get this movie made, the pain and efforts of him and his crew paid off beautifully. The story is a simple man vs. beast narrative, but the performers, the direction and the cinematography elevate the story beyond its simple confines to create a masterpiece.

Brody has a famous first encounter with the shark before uttering the legendary quote, "You're gonna need a bigger boat."

Schneider is perfect as Brody, an everyman who has to face off not only against the shark but corrupt politicians who are only concerned about their bottom line and how much the town will make during the Summer season. Dreyfuss is also perfectly cast as the one expert that tries to warn the town only to be ignored by everyone but Brody in spite of his expertise when it comes to sharks.

Then, there is the MVP of the movie. The big hunter himself known as Quint, played to perfection by Shaw. It’s known today that Shaw was prone to binge drinking during the production and had a very contentious relationship with Dreyfuss due to their very different acting styles.

Yet, somehow, Shaw turns in a performance that makes him steal every scene he’s in. In the original screenplay, there was a far longer and more detailed monologue about the U.S.S. Indianapolis. Shaw, himself a playwright, was allowed to simplify and tweak the monologue, turning it into one of the most memorable monologues in film history.

As for the shark itself? Well, when we do see it, it is quite terrifying. When we don’t see it, it’s even more terrifying. Remembering that seeing less of the monster can actually be a good thing, Spielberg turned the shark not working into an advantage.

We see the shark through its POV and other elements, such as when Quint shoots some barrels into it to keep it near the surface, always reminding you that there is a deadly force in the ocean. The opening with the initial shark attack where we just see the victim flailing about as something under the water is dragging her around is far more frightening than actually seeing the shark gobble her up.

Yes, at the end of the day, a miracle was performed. In spite of its troubled production, Spielberg, his cast, and his crew did the impossible. They made a movie that is just as endearing today as it was when it was released over 50 years ago. It’s one of the few movies that you can say is damn near flawless and it still feels like I’m watching it for the first time with every viewing.

After the movie was released, Spielberg had free reign to make whatever movie he wanted. He chose to make a deal with Columbia for his next project. It turned out to be a movie that makes you look up at the stars instead of the dark, murky oceans as I revisit 1977’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”!

THURSDAY NIGHT HORROR! - 'Thirteen Ghosts' (2001)

Welcome back to “Thursday Night Horror!” In this article, I take a look at “Thirteen Ghosts” from 2001. Now, even though this movie is 25 years old, if you haven’t seen and want to avoid SPOILERS, then leave now and go watch the movie first.

As always, if you don’t care about spoilers or you’ve already seen the movie, then I hope you enjoy the read!

“Thirteen Ghosts” is a remake of the 1960 William Castle production, “13 Ghosts”. The movie is about a family that inherits a mansion from a long-lost relative only to discover that it is made completely of glass and filled with ghosts. When the movie came out in 2001, it came out to very little fanfare and negative reviews.

To be honest, when I first watched the movie, I thought it was alright but did quickly dismiss it myself. I didn’t think about it for years until I noticed that it had grown a nice little cult following. Every once in a while, I would see a post from someone talking about how it was an underrated movie and should be given a second chance.

In 2013, I got back into the horror genre in a big bad way after seeing “The Conjuring”. I had pushed the horror genre to the side in the 2000s due to all the remakes and reboots that were coming out. When I got back into the genre, that included making up for films I had missed while I was turning my nose up to horror films and revisiting older horror films that I hadn’t seen in awhile.

Tony Shalhoub and Shannon Elizabeth star in "Thirteen Ghosts"!

Eventually, I got back around to “Thirteen Ghosts”. After I rewatched it, I must admit that I had a much better reception to it than the first go around. I quickly noted that the production of the film was top notch with expert-level production design.

That actually may have been one of my problems with the movie when I initially saw it. With newer HD cameras, horror films were starting to look glossy and clean. I think some part of me always wants a horror film to be down and dirty with a grainy texture to match the dark stories being told.

I do like that the characters have to wear specialized glasses in order to see the ghosts. That’s a good nod to the “Illusion-O” glasses that Castle utilized in the original “13 Ghosts”. 

Castle loved coming up with various gimmicks for the audience to interact with during the film they were watching. For “13 Ghosts”, during the movie, the cast and set would turn blue and the ghosts would be red. The audience had to put on red glasses in order to see the ghosts and blue glasses in order to make them disappear.

Several ghosts haunt the Kriticos mansion in "Thirteen Ghosts"!

Another aspect of this newer version of the movie that I liked was the variety of ghosts. Again, the production of the movie is great and they spared no expense on the ghosts as well.

Now, admittedly, the scare factor here is another flaw of the movie. While there are definitely some scares that are effective, the movie is not overwhelmingly scary and since the tone of the movie is also not consistently eerie, the movie does lose some points in the scare category.

However, the cast is fun to watch and I do disagree with other critics who said that the characters were not memorable. Tony Shalhoub is great as Arthur, the family man and widower who inherited the house. Matthew Lillard is also great as the tortured Dennis Rafkin, the former assistant to Cyrus Kriticos, Arthur’s uncle who gave him the mansion.

Speaking of Cyrus, it comes as no surprise that he’s not really dead as it appears he is killed during the opening of the movie. He is also the big bad of the movie, more than the ghosts themselves. He is played to villainous perfection by F. Murray Abraham. When you have someone like Abraham at the helm of a character, you know that character isn’t gonna just be in the first few minutes of the movie.

So, is the movie perfect? No. It may still have a bit too much polish to it and the scare factor is impacted. However, a solid cast, some impressive ghost designs, and a good villain do make this the one thing that film needs to be overall: a fun time.

FROM MY COLLECTION - 'The Killer' (1989)

"The Killer" (1989)

Welcome back to "From My Collection", a retro review series where I randomly pull a film off my shelf and share my thoughts on said movie. Now, these are older films, so I should let you know that I don't mind including SPOILERS in these reviews.

So, if you want to watch the film first without spoilers, then do so and come back here when you're done. If you don't care about spoilers or you've already seen the movie, then I hope you enjoy the read!

Even after all these years, I never saw any of the international films that made director John Woo a household name. Namely, I’d never seen any of his collaborations with Chow Yun-Fat. I’ve started to correct this oversight and I’ve started with 1989’s “The Killer”, a film that is said to have been a major inspiration for American directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriquez.

Yes, my first experiences with Woo began with 1996’s “Broken Arrow”, which I think is an underrated 1990s action film. Of course, I also saw 1997’s “Face/Off” which, despite a preposterous plot, is also a great example of 1990s American action films. I even enjoyed “Mission: Impossible 2” despite the fact that it is, admittedly, the weakest entry in the long-running franchise.

Now, though, I’ve finally watched one of his classics. So, what did I think of the movie now that I finally got to watch “The Killer”?

Ah Jong and Li square off in "The Killer"!

To be honest, I loved it! Chow Yun-Fat is great as Ah Jong, an assassin who becomes disillusioned with his profession after he almost blinds a young singer named Jennie (Sally Yeh). He decides to take on one more job in order to get the money that will help Jennie receive new corneas in an attempt to restore her sight.

What Ah Jong soon learns, though, is that a police detective, Li Ying (Danny Lee), is hot on his trail. While executing his latest job, Ah Jong also discovers that he’s been betrayed by his employers. Now, he’s on a quest for revenge and attempting to evade police while also trying to be there for Jennie.

Soon, the movie becomes more about two men on the opposite sides of the law finding respect for one another. Ah Jong knows that Li is an honorable man while Li is fascinated with Ah Jong’s morals and ethics that contrast with his chosen profession. The two soon grow a bond as they must also face off against a far worse and more evil Wong Hoi (Shing Fui-on), the menacing leader of the Triads that are trying to kill Ah Jong.

Ah Jong on the job in "The Killer"!

The movie concludes with a thrilling action scene set at a church where Ah Jong sometimes finds refuge. This sequence is preceded by several other well done and over-the-top sequences that includes tense standoffs, chases, and a heaping helping of duel gun wielding action. The movie is also the first time that Woo uses doves as a long-running image in his movies.

This is truly where Woo became a master of the action genre. I can see now why Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriquez were inspired by the movie. Woo himself has credited Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets” as an inspiration and that can definitely be seen in the movie as well.

Now, I will say that the movie is over-the-top and that may be a bit of a turn off for some who want a little more realism in their action films. For example, there are several scenes where it seems Woo just turned on an infinite ammo setting as bullets fly all over the place.

Also, the movie can come off as a little cheesy at times and the movie’s crime story plotline doesn’t necessarily break new ground. There are also several songs sung by Yeh that don’t really feel like they belong with Yeh herself later saying that they felt out of place. Apparently, these were added due to a request by the film’s studio.

At the end of the day, though, Woo’s confident direction and Yun-Fat and Lee’s camaraderie make the whole bloody affair work. It’s a movie that meditates on friendship and honor and how a good person can be found even in the darkest of places. It’s also a quest for redemption for a man who regrets the profession that he’s in.

If you’re looking to see what a shining example of classic Hong Kong action cinema is, then look no further than “The Killer”!

REVISITING SPIELBERG #2 - Jumping to the Big Screen with "The Sugerland Express" (1974)

Welcome back to my "Revisiting Spielberg" series! In this essay, I take a look back at Steven Spielberg's first film made for theatrical distribution. I hope you enjoy the read!

Steven Spielberg finally made the jump from the small to the big screen in 1974 with “The Sugarland Express”. It was produced by Richard Zanuck and David Brown, producing partners who had wanted to work with Spielberg.

The movie is a highly fictionalized film inspired by a true slow chase across Texas that occurred in 1969. The story was developed by Spielberg along with Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins, the duo that would go on to write the screenplay. In the movie, Goldie Hawn plays Lou Jean, a struggling mother who has just been released from a correctional facility.

She then meets her husband, Clovis (William Atherton), who is incarcerated with four months left on his sentence, and informs him that their son is about to be put into foster care in Sugarland, Texas. Clovis agrees to break out and, after hitching a ride with a couple, they steal the car when stopped by Patrolman Maxwell Slide (Michael Sacks).

Goldie Hawn and William Atherton are on the run in "The Sugarland Express".

Soon, though, they crash that car and take Slide hostage when he attempts to arrest them. A slow-speed pursuit begins involving several police cars and headed up by Captain Tanner (Ben Johnson) as the young, naive couple makes their way to their son.

The movie is surprisingly heartfelt given the premise and the fact that you know there are only a few limited ways the story could logically play out. A genuine camaraderie begins to develop between Lou Jean, Clovis, and Slide while on their odd journey. Clovis and Lou Jean actually do respect Slide while Slide understands why they are doing what they’re doing and he knows that they don't really want to hurt him.

Another great aspect that this film doesn’t fall victim to is trying to make anyone look like the bad guy. Captain Tanner, for example, is a cool headed man who also understands that Lou Jean and Clovis aren’t really trying to hurt his man, but he simply can’t take that chance but also can’t let them go.

Panavision created its first Panaflex cameras which allowed for 360 degree control within the car.

There are times when other patrolmen and even vigilantes try to get involved and Captain Tanner has to deal with them more than he has to deal with Clovis and Lou Jean. Everything about the story does feel right, though I wish there could have been even more scenes between Lou Jean, Clovis, and Slide as I liked following them throughout the picture.

The performances are also great. While Hawn gives an authentic performance and is top-billed for the movie, she’s really more a part of an ensemble. Atherton is great as Clovis, a man who is roped into this craziness and there are times where you can see his doubt in what they are doing, with one scene showing just how scared he is of what’s to come down the road.

Johnson is also another standout as Captain Tanner. He has a tough persona and wants to capture Lou Jean and Clovis, but he also has sympathy for them that doesn’t undercut his stern presence. Again, in other car chase movies, Tanner could have easily been turned into the bad guy against these two antiheroes who are just trying to get back to their kid.

Unfortunately, for the movie, it sort of came and went at the box office. It only made $13 million against a $3 million budget. However, a few important things did emerge from the movie. The first, on a technical level, is that Panavision developed its first Panaflex camera, a smaller camera that allowed Spielberg to film within the car and give him full 360 degree control.

Another important thing that emerged was a long-running relationship between Spielberg and legendary composer John Williams, a man who has gone on to score all but five of Spielberg’s films. Finally, I mentioned that the movie was produced by Zanuck and Brown.

Zanuck and Brown eventually got the rights to a certain book by Peter Benchley. After losing their original director for the project, they hired Spielberg to adapt “Jaws” into a major motion picture, but more on that saga later.

In the meantime, if you haven’t given “The Sugarland Express” a chance, I say give it a go. It’s a pretty solid big screen debut for a director that would soon be one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, directors of all time.

THURSDAY NIGHT HORROR! - 'Pieces' (1982)

So, there is a cheap plastic green skull with eyes that are supposed to light up when you walk by it in my house. The top of the skull is cut open so you can put candy in there for Halloween. Truth be told, it has never quite worked right and it seems to want to eerily go off whenever it wants to, sometimes randomly in the middle of the night.

It’s either malfunctioning or it truly is possessed by a sinister spirit… I’m not really sure at this point.

Anyway, instead of using it for candy, my roommate Courtney went out and found a ton of the more obscure movies or low-budget B movies, wrote them down on slips of paper and threw them into the demonic bowl. Ever so often, I’ll draw one of these movies and hand it to Courtney so he can confirm that it’s still available on whatever platform it should be on.

The key is that I don’t know what the movie is until the movie starts. Well, this past week, I drew a 1982 film that has a pretty healthy cult following among hardcore horror fans. The movie is called “Pieces” and it comes from Spanish director Juan Piquer Simón and the exploitation producer Dick Randall.

A mysterious serial killer stalks a group of young college students in "Pieces".

The movie is about a serial killer that is targeting young women at a Boston university while two cops practically deputize a student to figure out who it is doing all the killing. Meanwhile, every kill is accompanied by the killer putting together a puzzle of a naked woman with each of the “pieces” that he needs for his own devious purposes.

Make no mistake about it. This is a sleazy exploitation slasher with more than a few hints of giallo baked in for good measure. This is a movie that surges into the “it’s so bad, it’s good” territory with pride. I can understand why critics went after this movie upon its initial release because it goes all over the place even up to its random and crazy ass ending.

The movie has some decent slasher kills and Simón uses his extremely low budget pretty well even when some of the effects are obviously fake. Also, the movie was made with actors that spoke everything from English to Italian to Spanish, so the whole thing is dubbed, even the English actors.

There’s not much more to say about this movie, to be honest. The movie was developed by Randall and Simón took on what was ultimately a 30 page script that he had to expand, which included a crazy random scene where a character is attacked by a Bruce Lee clone named Bruce Le. It turns out that this ends up being a “martial arts professor” and Le was hired by Randall because… well, why not put him in this random ass movie.

I think it goes without saying that this movie is not for the mainstream. It has terribly bad dialogue, low production quality, and horrible acting… yet, I love this cult gem. This movie is for the true horror fans who love to dig for the lowest of the low. “Pieces” is pure slasher exploitation trash of the highest order.

FROM MY CRITERION COLLECTION - "The War of the Worlds" (1953)

Welcome back to “From My Collection” where I take a look at a movie pulled from my very own collection! Word of warning, though, I’m often talking about films that have been out for years or even decades, so I’m not afraid to drift into SPOILER territory, so if you haven’t seen any films I discuss in this series and don’t want to be spoiled, please stop reading and go see the film first before you come here and read the review.

If you’ve already seen the film or you just don’t care about spoilers, then read on and I hope you enjoy the article!

How do you adapt a 1898 story from H.G. Wells about an alien invasion from Mars for the 1950s? You take the story, change the location from London to California and add a nice sized helping of Cold War fears into the mix. Producer George Pal was tasked with bringing the classic story to the big screen in 1953.

The story starts in Linda Rosa, California, when a mysterious meteor falls from outer space. Eventually, the meteor opens up and deadly spacecraft from Mars emerge and begin to terrorize multiple locations around the world. Eventually, the Martians prove to be way more advanced and intelligent as their invasion continues and nothing humanity does to defend itself seems to be effective.

The story is told mostly from the perspective of Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry), a scientist that is trying to figure out a way to penetrate the Martian forces so that humanity can fight back. With him is school teacher Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson), a character that mostly screams throughout the picture because… well, let’s just say it was a different time for female protagonists vs. male protagonists.

The Martians attack in the classic 1950s sci-film epic, "The War of the Worlds".

The movie is the pinnacle of 1950s sci-fi with state-of-the-art special effects for its time that also earned the movie an Academy Award. Surprisingly, while you can definitely see how the effects were made, the movie holds up extremely well. You see the DNA of other alien invasion movies such as 1996’s “Independence Day” and, of course, Steven Spielberg’s own adaptation of the story from 2005, “War of the Worlds”.

As far as the performances go, all of the actors are pretty solid here. Barry is great as the typical leading man who stands out amongst the cast as a leading man tended to do back in those days. Robinson is given the short end of the stick by having to play Sylvia as a shrieking and oftentimes annoying character but that’s not her fault and she plays the role well at least. Again, different times and if that character were written today, she’d be a far more stronger character in spite of any fear she may be facing.

My only real problem is the problem that I have with H.G. Wells’ original story. The ending is anticlimactic. The movie seems to be hitting a new height when suddenly Wells’ abrupt ending to the story kind of stalls it. At the end of the day, it is not humanity that stops the invasion, it’s the various bacteria and diseases of Earth that take them down due to their bodies not being immune to them as ours are.

It’s not the worst ending in the world, but it is definitely a deus ex machina ending that has plagued every adaptation of Wells’ story. It feels like Dr. Forrester is going to work for a solution to the invasion, but Earth beats him to the punch and the Martians go out not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Still, the conclusion aside, the movie is still incredibly entertaining and if you’re a fan of 1950s sci-fi and you somehow haven’t gotten around to this one, you owe it to yourself to correct that oversight. If you’re not new to the film, then maybe it’s time to pop some popcorn and revisit this bonafide classic!

REVISITING SPIELBERG #1 - Spielberg on the Small Screen & "Duel" (1971)

Welcome to a new ongoing series called “Revisiting Spielberg” where I plan to revisit one of the famous directors’ numerous films in chronological order while also talking about where the director was at that point in his career. Today, I’m giving a brief history of Spielberg’s journey to becoming a successful television director when he got his start at Universal Studios and concluding with a review of his first feature-length film, the made-for-TV movie “Duel” in 1971.

I hope you enjoy it!

If ever there was a person on this planet born to be a filmmaker, it is director Steven Spielberg. He started young, too. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Spielberg grew up primarily in Phoenix, Arizona. At the age of 13, he started to make 8mm films with his friends, coming up with clever ways to create special-effects and camera angles.

Spielberg said he almost gave up being a filmmaker at 16 after he saw what would become his personal favorite film, 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia”. He thought that the film set the bar too high, but after repeat viewings of the film, his love for cinema only grew and he said that there was no way at that point that he wouldn’t become a filmmaker.

He did try to go into film school, but the University of Southern California wouldn’t accept his application due to low grades in high school. He did finally enroll in California State University, but later dropped out. It was Universal Studios where Spielberg would learn the most about filmmaking.

One summer, he got a three-day pass but on the fourth day, he walked in with no trouble without the pass because security knew who he was. He ended up spending almost the whole summer as an unofficial apprentice of the studio.

Steven Spielberg's first directing job was with Joan Crawford for the segment 'Eyes' in the TV anthology film "Night Gallery".

Universal asked Spielberg to make a short film which turned into the 26-minute 35mm film, “Amblin’”. Universal executive Sid Sheinberg loved the short and offered the 22-year-old Spielberg a seven year TV contract with the studio. Spielberg accepted and became notable for directing Joan Crawford in the segment ‘Eyes’ for the Rod Serling anthology film “Night Gallery”.

Spielberg would also be notable for directing the first regular episode of “Columbo” titled ‘Murder by the Book’. Star Peter Falk was impressed by Spielberg’s filmmaking imagination that helped set the tone of the show. Also, while Crawford initially wanted the director replaced due to his age, Spielberg and the actress got along famously with Crawford raving about the director with reporters.

However, Spielberg’s biggest achievement on the small screen was 1971’s made-for-TV movie “Duel”. It aired on ABC as an installment of their “Movie of the Week” series. Director George Lucas said that he didn’t know Spielberg yet and among him and other directors such as Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, and Francis Ford Coppola, he was seen as a studio insider who had been crowned prince of Universal, making glossy studio fare but nothing more.

A monstrous truck terrorizes a distraught Dennis Weaver in "Duel".

While at a party given by Coppola, Lucas snuck off to another room to watch the first part of “Duel” to see what Spielberg was up to. At the first commercial break, he rushed to Coppola and said that they needed to watch the rest of the movie because Spielberg was great.

The movie follows a businessman named David Mann, played by Dennis Weaver due to Spielberg’s admiration of Weaver’s performance in “Touch of Evil”. On his way to an important meeting, David is soon terrorized by a huge, dirty semi-truck being driven by a mostly unseen driver. You have no idea why he is chasing down David and you never see the truck driver’s face.

This makes things all the more terrifying for both David and the audience as it is confusing as to why this truck driver is trying to kill David. Not seeing the driver also helps establish the truck itself as the main antagonist of the movie.

Of course, the DNA of later Spielberg films, especially “Jaws”, can be found here. It’s a movie about an everyman who is being terrorized by an almost overwhelming predator. The good news is that this movie is helped by Weaver’s performance as David as you see and feel the fear he is going through.

Dennis Weaver gives a strong performance in 1971's "Duel".

No scene in the movie expresses this more than a scene where David manages to get to a small diner to get away from the truck and try to calm down. Unfortunately, he eventually notices that the truck is outside and anybody in the diner could be the driver. He tries to figure out in vain who the driver is and the tension is genuine.

Speaking of the truck, it’s a genuine monster as Spielberg chose a dirty old truck that looks more like a beast than a semi. It sells the danger easily along with Weaver’s aforementioned performance.

Of course, the movie works mostly due to Spielberg’s solid direction. He chose to film the movie completely on location and outside. This gives the movie an authentic realism and the chases are well shot and choreographed. At the age of 24, Spielberg was already a confident and true filmmaker.

If you’re a fan of Spielberg’s movies, then you need to forget that this is a made-for-TV film as Spielberg made a movie that could have easily been made for the big screen. In fact, after the success of the movie on television, Universal did give the movie a limited release in the U.S. and a wide release internationally.

The movie has gone on to maintain a strong cult following and is often considered one of the best television movies ever made. The movie still holds up today and it was a strong start for Spielberg’s feature-length films.

Next week, we finally travel from the small screen to the big screen as I take a look at Spielberg’s first theatrically released feature film, 1974’s “The Sugarland Express”. Until next time, I’ll see you at the movies!

THURSDAY NIGHT HORROR! - "Day of the Dead" (1985)

In 1968, writer and director George A. Romero made an ultra independent film called “Night of the Living Dead” and invented the modern day zombie horror film. Ten years later, Romero returned to the genre with the second film called “Dawn of the Dead”. The movie was an incredible upgrade over the original and one of the rare horror films beloved by mainstream film critics at the time.

After the success of “Dawn”, Romero actually began work on a third film soon after, but he shelved the project for a few years in order to work on other projects. Eventually, he returned to his ideas for a third “Dead” movie that would be titled “Day of the Dead”.

Initially, his idea was a sprawling film showing how the zombies had completely taken over the world with only a few cities of humans still existing. However, the film was deemed too expensive to make unless Romero promised to make a movie that could attain an R rating.

Bub begins to remember in 'Day of the Dead'!

Romero didn’t want to give up being able to release the film unrated, so he agreed to a smaller budget with full creative control on the condition that he retool the script to match the budget. This revision had Romero moving the action into an underground bunker where scientists are trying to research the zombie outbreak and potentially find a cure.

Also with the scientists is a ragtag team of military personnel that are on edge and tired of trying to capture zombies for the scientists. Of the cast, the two major figures that can be found clashing against one another include Lori Cardille as Dr. Sarah Bowman and Joseph Pilato as Captain Henry Rhodes.

Sarah is a sane and rational scientist who can see how the zombie apocalypse has changed everyone. Even she is affected as she is plagued by nightmares of the zombies, an example of which is shown during the movie’s iconic opening sequence.

She may also be a little naive about humanity’s hopeful future as she still believes a cure to the infection may be found. Her naivety is pointed out to her by Terry Alexander’s “Flyboy”, a Jamaican helicopter pilot that also proves to be one of the best supporting characters alongside his alcoholic partner, Jarlath Conroy’s Bill McDermott.

Sarah is plagued by nightmares in 'Day of the Dead'!

Pilato’s Henry, on the other hand, is a completely unhinged commander who is more of a threat to Sarah and the other protagonists than the zombies are. He’s tired of waiting in the bunker and he’s tired of losing his men to the zombies. This is understandable, but his psychotic nature makes him anything but a sympathetic character.

The movie does not make any excuses for its more nihilistic approach to the story. “Dawn of the Dead” ended with at least a shred of hope for humanity when the characters escaped at the end. Here, though, the movie embraces that the zombie apocalypse has arrived and humanity is more than likely fucked beyond repair.

It does introduce interesting concepts to the zombie mythos, though. The biggest of which is that zombies may be able to recover some of their former identities. This is shown most prominently with Bub, played to perfection by Sherman Howard. Bub is a zombie that actually manages to recover some of his more human behaviors that plays an important part later in the movie.

The movie had a lukewarm reception from both the critics and audiences at the time of its initial release. Thankfully, over time, the movie has found its following and has been reevaluated by critics. In fact, Romero himself would go on to claim that this was his personal favorite among the films he made in the “Dead” series.

For me, I think I would say that while I like “Dawn” more, “Day of the Dead” holds a special place in my heart. Maybe it’s the darker tone. Perhaps it’s the amazing special-effects from effects wizard Tom Savini and his team that included a young Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger, two men who would become known later for their work on “The Walking Dead”. It may even be that it’s due to the fact that I discovered this movie in high school, a prime time for any zombie fans to discover their first zombie movies.

No matter the reason, all I can say is that I love “Day of the Dead” and I’m glad to see that it definitely discovered its own cult following like Romero’s previous films did. The movie is a prime example of just how great a zombie film can be with fantastic characters, a dark story, and fantastic special-effects!

FROM MY COLLECTION - 'Godzilla' (1954)

Welcome to my new retro review series, ‘From My Collection’, a series of essays talking about films that I’ve picked out of my personal collection of movies! Today, I’m talking about “Godzilla” from 1954. I hope you enjoy this series and hope to have a post every Wednesday.

On a flight back from Indonesia, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka was inspired by the American monster film, “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”, to make his own monster film in Japan. Tanaka felt that the idea had potential because of nuclear fears since the end of World War II and the financial success of not only “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”, but also the re-release of “King Kong” in 1952 which earned more money than previous releases of the film.

The project was approved and what was initially titled “The Giant Monster from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” was retitled “Project G”. Eventually, the movie was retitled to “Godzilla”, or “Gojira” in Japan.

The movie became one of the pioneering titles of the kaiju genre. It also became a pioneering film featuring “suitmation”, a technique where a man dresses up as the monster and destroys a model city to capture the effect of a massive monster destroying a major city. Surprisingly, when the movie was initially released in Japan, it was met with mixed reviews from critics.

Godzilla terrorized Tokyo in 1954's "Godzilla"!

Some of them thought that it negatively exploited all too real fears about nuclear weapons and that the movie shouldn’t have been made. However, after the “Americanized” version of the movie, “Godzilla, King of the Monsters” came out in ‘56, American critics applauded the commentary about the dangers of nuclear weapons and the movie was quickly reevaluated.

The movie went on to become a massive success and has spawned a massive multimedia franchise that continues to this day. Not only has Toho continued to make Godzilla films over the years, Legendary Pictures started up an American series known as the “MonsterVerse” that has also been successful at the box office.

So, how does a 72-year-old film about a monster rampaging through Tokyo hold up in today’s world? Surprisingly well, if I’m being honest. Sure, the special-effects are beyond dated just due to the simple nature of aging and how special-effects have improved over time.

However, the story of a monster created due to the effects of nuclear bomb testing is still strong today. Nuclear weapons are still a very real threat today and so the message of the movie is still sound.

The performances are also great. There is a solid cast here, including two standout performances. One comes from Momoko Kochi as the zoologist Emiko Yamane who wants to study Godzilla and how he is resistant to radiation. The other performance of note is Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, a scientist who has made a terrible discovery that he doesn’t want to share with the world but it may be the only thing that will ultimately stop Godzilla once and for all.

Going back to the special-effects for a second, I will say that despite the aging, they still have a certain charm to them. I was kind of surprised to say that I still got sucked up into them and forgot I was watching a special-effects movie for a second.

Now, the movie is slow to reveal Godzilla. You only hear his iconic roar and there may be a sudden flash before a boat is sunk in the ocean. However, by not giving away the goods right away, the anticipation of finally seeing the hulking monster builds until he finally hits the mainland.

Ultimately, “Godzilla” still has a story that is as relevant as ever and definitely worth your time if you’re into science fiction, monster movies, Japanese cinema, or all of the above. This Godzilla doesn’t just have a mighty roar, it’s still got one heck of a bite after 72 years.