Reviews (27)

One of the best movies about the effects of the Vietnam War
I've seen quite a few movies dealing with the subject of the war in Vietnam but this is the best by far. I love the realism in this film and how effective the plot of the movie plays into the lives of the two main characters. This is one of the best films ever made period, the acting,writing and directing is superb on all counts. John Voight is brilliant in this movie as the bitter paraplegic. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1978, which I was glad that he did because he truly deserved it. Bruce Dern (in his Oscar nominated role) is also wonderful and very convincing even Jane Fonda who I have never been fond of was very good. This movie was directed by the late Hal Ashby and Waldo Salt wrote the terrific screenplay. This film is excellent in every way and it would make a great addition to anyone who collects great movies such as this one.

One of the most important films on Vietnam!
This movie really blew me away. I rented it the other day not expecting much, but after the movie ended I realized how wrong I was! Jon Voight does an incredible job as the wheelchair-bound Vietnam War vet who falls for Jane Fonda. Bruce Dern is almost as good in his portrayel of Fonda's husband, who goes to fight in the jungles of 'Nam while Fonda & Voight fall in love. I've never been a big Jane Fonda fan because of her actions duing the war, but she did a very good job. However, I don't think it was academy award winning acting. Jon Voight's award was well deserved, though. One of my favorite moments is when he talks to the high school students at the end. The film is great & I loved it, but it's far from perfect. For example, the movie ends rather abruptly without totally resolving the plot. And how come one of the last things we see is Bruce Dern's rear!!! It adds absolutely nothing to the plot & takes away some of the power of Jon Voight's speech. One last thing I've got to mention is the awesome music. I've never heard so many great '60s songs in one film, and they add so much to the movie's dramatic mood. I especially liked the song "Once I Was" by Tim Buckley played during Jon Voight's speech at the end. I highly recommend this film for everyone (except kids!).

HORSE MANURE
As if to counter-balance "The Deer Hunter", good old Jane Fonda starred in "Coming Home" (1978) with Jon Voight. Saved by the pure benevolence of American goodwill from a treason trial, she was allowed to pursue her craft (she is excellent at it). "Coming Home" seemed to be the realization of the self-fulfilling prophecy she created in 1972. It was that year that she traveled to Hanoi, the heart of America's enemy, and allowed herself to be posed on Communist tanks, wearing an army helmet. It was blatant "aid and comfort" provided to an enemy during a time of war. Jane did not stop there. Like a modern day Tokyo Rose, she got on the radio and told the troops their wives and girlfriends were having sex with hippies and protestors back home. To this day, the G.I.s have never forgiven "Hanoi Jane". She tried to apologize and say she was wrong, but her heart was never in it.
Eventually she married CNN founder Ted Turner, a man who may not be the anti-Christ (but may be), and may not have achieved his success by invoking Satan (but may have). When Turner saw CNN employees adorned in "ashes" to worship Ash Wednesday, he went ballistic about "Jesus freaks" in his employ. Such a crime! Jane, in the first move she ever did that I liked (other than wearing skintight sex clothes in her hot-selling workout vids), declared she was a "born again Christian." That was the last straw for Turner, who divorced her. There is no word on whether Christianity took in Jane's life, but I wish her well.
In "Coming Home", she portrays the very cheating wife she described to the boys in her "Hanoi Jane" days. She tries to pepper the performance with an apology to her officer husband, Bruce Dern, but it ends up being more of an explanation, which in light of what we know about Vietnam does not wash. Two thumbs down.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
STWRITES@AOL.COM

THE MOST MOVING OF THE VIETNAM WAR FILMS
More emotional than THE DEER HUNTER, and that's going some, Hal Ashby has a masterpiece that moves even the most macho of hearts, especially when Tim Buckley's "Once I Was" plays its first five notes. Oscar worthy, as well as winning, COMING HOME is a gripping work of artistic integrity. Forgotten among the two big Oscar winning roles are Bruce Dern and Penelope Milford (both Best Supporting nominees) and Robert Ginty, all 3 of whom do more than fill screen space. The Rolling Stones "Out Of Time" cannot be more perfectly placed.

A Serious And Sensitive Portrayal Of Vietnam Vets!
Who would have thunk?? How is that someone as adamantly against the Vietnam war made such a transition that she starred in this terrific melodrama focusing on what happens to those who gave their all for their country, and have to live with the consequences. Certainly none of us veterans would have supposed Hanoi Jane to be capable of such a mind-boggling transformation. Yet her personal feelings about the damage done to our young men and women "in country' were truly galvanized by what she learned in preparing for her role as the wife of a Marine officer at loose ends with her time and spirits, and volunteers her time at the local Veteran's hospital. Both she and co-star Jon Voight won Academy Awards for their thoughtful, moving, and emotional portrayals of people caught in the biggest and most overwhelming geo-political issue f the sixties.

The entire ensemble cast is wonderful, with Bruce Dern superbly playing the marine officer feeling confused and cuckolded, on an emotional knife's edge as he learns of her romantic and emotional betrayal with the wheel-chair ridden Voight, and neither of them can save him from the roaring emotions Dern feels roaring through his head. This is a sensitive screenplay that introduces a lot of fairly sophisticated and sometimes shocking aspects of real life onto the screen, but it is so well done that it all seems quite natural and open and healthy. For example, this was the first time paraplegics are seen making love on-screen, and the action is both realistic and fairly explicit. So forget about Jane's confused and somewhat tortured past, take a chance and give this movie a roll. I know you will love it. Enjoy! ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!
Okay now that my Brady colors have been revealed let me say Marsha Mason is the best part of this. I bought this b/c of the great Anthony Hopkins but honestly, in this picture he is upstaged. Marsha Masons performance even rivals the great performance of Ellen Burstyn in the Exorsist. Still, the movie has a few too many weak points to be great.

Most notably, the courtroom scenes. This case would be thrown out, no doubt about it. The jury would have no evidence they could examine out in the open and even having the scenes in the movie sorely undermines the credibility of the story.

The husband is decent, a bit overbearing, now lets discuss Ivy. She has the serious look of someone who should star in this type of movie. A real odd look that is beautiful and yet ... well, odd. But the sound direction is totally off. The dubbing used here for her "drop-outs" is so noticable. Just about every line she has has been obviously overdubbed, and poorly, it comes off as a strange "whine". Still, even with this Ivy/Audry has a sort of timeless quality about it.

Everything about the movie technically is good. The soundtrack has some spooky elements in it but never really approaches greatness. The dvd has a trailer (whoopie!) but nothing else which is a downer for anyone who owns Carrie. Still, it's the story I've always been drawn too when I think of Audrey Rose and the sort of ambiguous ending which I personally like, I think it's held up pretty well. If we could give 1/2 stars bump this to 3.5. Give me some interviews and a remastered soundtrack and this could be a 4 easily.

Quite a good little horror film
One of Anthony Hopkins first major films where he plays the grief stricken father of a child who was tragically killed in a car accident, burnt to death before she could be rescued. This is a slow moving film that follows Hopkins as he tries to convince Marsha Mason that her daughter Ivy is in fact the reincarnation of his child Audrey Rose. Despite some terrible reviews from critics, this is a chilling little film that tries to look at the concept of reincarnation intelligently whilst at same time maintaining its momentum as a horror story. There are some great moments such as the window episode when Ivy/Audrey Rose relives her attempt to get out of the burning car. I kept hearing "HOT HOT HOT" for days after watching the film, so all credit to then newcomer Susan Swift who played the reincarnated child Audrey Rose/Ivy. Hopkins and Mason are convincing as the respective parents of Audrey Rose/Ivy and though the film isn't a masterpiece of direction and cinematography it is still is a very good film. The final scene where Ivy/Audrey Rose is regressed back to her "first" death is both poignant and heart wrenching. Not bad for a film made in 1977 and certainly better than many of its critics have made out.

things of soul also fails in cinema
I don't think this is an terrific film as commonly catalogued. It's a fable about reincarnation as believed in Hindu religion and not so badly conceived although contains a basic failure. Audrey Rose, a little girl eleven years old has disturbing nightmares that worsen progressively. Furthermore his parents are alarmed because a man are watching her. The explanation is this man had years ago a daughter killed in a car accident and he believes Audrey Rose is truly a undue premature reincarnation of her daughter and these is the origin of the strange crises Audrey suffers. Audrey isn't posessed by any devil, simply she expects a better life. Well I find one uses to think things from beyond the grave can't have these defects more own of carnal, human incapacity.

BORN 1959....DIED 1964.....BORN 1964....
Audrey Rose. Who or what is Audrey Rose? Is it a demon? Is it a ghost? No. Audrey Rose a little girl. A little girl who died a tragic death and maybe living in another body of another girl......

Meet the Templetons. Janice and Bill. They live in a high-class New York apartment building with their 11-year-old daughter, Ivy. Suddenly, Ivy's personality has changed. She's not acting 11. But acting like a 5 year old. And she's been having a sleepwalking problem too. She'll get up (though, obviously sleeping) and run around her room screaming "Mommydaddymommydaddyhot!hot!hot!" and has even scorched her hands on some invisible hot fire.

Enter Elliot Hoover. A middle aged mysterious man who follows Janice and Ivy home from school every day. But he stays far behind them. Every day, Janice worries that the mysterious man is going to attack her.

One day, Elliot finally gets the chance to tell Janice and Bill something that has been bothering him. He believes that their daughter Ivy is a reincarnation of his dead child, Audrey Rose. You see, she was in the car that his wife was driving when it skidded off the road and into a ditch below where it caught on fire.He tells them that he moved into town around around the same time that Ivy has had her night fits. Suddenly, from the upstairs of their apartment, Ivy has another fit, screaming "Mommydaddymommydaddyhot!hot!hot!" The Templeton's are horrified to discover that the only way to calm her down is for Hoover to say "Audrey! Audrey Rose! It's daddy! It's daddy!" until she falls asleep peacefully. The Templeton's tell Hoover not to return to their apartment and to leave them alone.

After countless attemps to contact the Templeton's, Elliot kidnaps Ivy and is arrested. During a court battle, Ivy is taken away from her regular school and is brought to a Catholic Elementary where there will be no reports covering the possible "reincarnated girl". During that time, Ivy is upset because all the girls tease her after sneeking in a newspaper with Ivy on the front. During a special holiday event at the school, the children build a gigantic snowman and dance around it singing "Old man winter go away! Don't come back till Christmas day" Ivy is forced by Audrey Rose to walk into the fire and kill herself, but is stopped by a nun. Meanwhile, the trial is still going on and a witness who was in the car accident (the trial is now about reincarnation and if Elliot was right) said the last words she heard Audrey Rose say was "Mommydaddymommydaddyhot!hot!hot!".

Ivy is taken out of the school and Janice believes that Ivy is really Audrey Rose from the second she was born. Bill doesn't. Elliot is found "Innocent" and Janice agrees to Elliot's decision to put her under hypnosis to see what she can remember. It is done live on tv. Suddenly, Janice is startled when they go back in Ivy's memory to discover Audrey Rose yelling "Hot!Hot!Hot!Hot!Hot!Hot!Hot!Hot!Hot!" constantly. They try to take her off the hypnosis quickly, because if she doesn't snap out of it soon: she'll die.

RECCOMENDED TO FANS OF:
The Exorcist (1973)
The Omen (1976)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)

CAST

Marsha Mason......Janice Templeton
John Beck.............Bill Templeton
Anthony Hopkins..Elliot Hoover
Susan Swift..........Ivy Templeton

THE MOVIE 3/4

THE PICTURE QUALITY: 6/10: Some sparkles. It's presented in a matted 1.85:1 widescreen transfer.

THE AUDIO QUALITY: 6/10: Mono soundtrack. There is Spanish and French language tracks, both mono as well. Dolby Digital.

THE SPECIAL FEATURE: A teaser trailer. Too bad it wasn't a full trailer however, it uses only a few seconds of scenes from the movie. Runs about 19 seconds long.

SUBTITLES: French and Spanish.

A Good Little Thriller About Reincarnation!
Audrey Rose is a good little thriller about reincarnation. it's not scary in a horror movie sort of way like The Excorcist or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre so if you are looking for a movie about demon possession or a movie with lots of blood, guts and decapitations than this aint your flick but if you like stories about reincarnation than this just may be the flick for you! Audrey Rose is more what I would call psychological Suspense and drama then horror and I enjoyed watching it and I thought the girl who played Ivy was really good. And it also stars Anthony Hopkins who is brilliant as Eliot Hoover and Marsha Mason also turns in a great performance as Ivy's mother Janice. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

very nice story, a lesson for all

A FAMILY THING

Robert Duvall, James Earl Jones, Michael Beach, Irma P. Hall, 1995

Synopsis

An Arkansas man (Duvall) in his 60's finds out, after his mother dies, that his birth mother was a black woman, who died giving birth to him. He then goes to Chicago to find his half brother (Jones), who does not want anything to do with him. It is thru his Aunt T. (his birth mother's sister) that the two men grow to understand the truth of their relationship.

My Review

You can't go wrong with Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones. Irma P. Hall (grandmama from 'Soul Food') gives a great performance giving this movie that special boost that makes it worth seeing and talking about. The flashback scene near the end of the film is superb. An interesting and touching story.

MOVIE BY OUTSTANDING VETERAN ACTORS FOR EVERYONE
Oddly enough, I purchased this video from a bargain bin of pre-viewed tapes at a local video store. The cast led by Robert Duvall (Earl Pilcher Jr.) and James Earl Jones (Ray Murdock ) was enough to peak my interest. I had not heard of FAMILY THING until taking it home that evening. This is the poignant story of an intense midlife crisis lived through by an ordinary middle aged white Arkansan, played by Duvall. Head of an extended family, upon his mother's death Pilcher is handed her personal letter to him by their family minister. Her letter says, his secret birth mother was his adoptive mother's then taboo Black friend. Also, he has an older half brother Ray Murdock (skillfully played by James Earl Jones). This is how the story begins. A central character named Aunt T (Murdock's surrogate mother) is so well played by veteran actress Irma P. Hall that her not receiving a nomination for an Academy Award cannot so easily be explained as an oversight. The tensions, ironies and intense character developments interpreted by Duvall and Jones keeps this movie alive from beginning to its happily resolved end. It is too bad that censors in Hollywood were embarassed by common and infrequent street talk and a mild childbirth scene in a flashback. Making an optimistic guess, these innocent segments alone led to the movie's PG-13 rating. Yet it contains important social and family messages that should be received by all children (and adults). Having raised four of my own, my position would have been to allow my nine years old and older to see Family Thing on their own.

IMPORTANT AND WELL MADE MOVIES STILL CAN BE SEEN AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM. Family Thing is one of them.

One Great Movie!
To make a long story short, this is one awesome movie. I'm proud to own it on dvd. I highly recommend it. This movie plainly proves that we're all God's children, pure and simple!

EXCELLENT MOVIE -- A FAMILY THING
When my husband asked me to watch this with him, I was like "ok, there's nothing on cable, might as well". I wasn't really thrilled about watching it but to my surprise it is one of the BEST movies I have ever seen. Robert Duvall is super in this movie not to mention James Earl Jones. This movie really says it all "it doesn't matter your color...family is family, it's just A FAMILY THING. I give this 2 thumbs up and 5 stars.

Overlooked masterpiece
When I looked over the video box and saw the fine cast, I rented this movie expecting some enjoyable but fluffy entertainment. However, this sleeper turned out to be a true masterpiece, easily making my list of all-time best. Within the first few minutes, Robert Duvall gives us a study in fine acting when he confronts his father with the mother's letter about their long-buried family secret. And how many people would recognize the authentic Southern slang when James Earl Jones declares, "I ain't studyin' you!"

The only flaw I can find in this picture is the jarring music that inappropriately breaks the mood to introduce the final credits. But that's the only one, a millionth of a percent. I will snap up the DVD now that it is available.

Good story, great cast, engrossing from beginning to end. So why didn't this movie receive more attention? Was it because it isn't the kind that generates huge box office receipts? Was it moviedom politics? Or did the reconciliation between brothers who grew up on different sides of the color line make the p.c. types, the ones for whom injustice and victimhood are the only valid racial topics, uncomfortable? ... Read more

Description

The evil is back. The Exorcist novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter William Peter Blatty triumphs again with this spellbinding sequel starring George C. Scott.Year: 1990 ... Read more

Reviews (92)

Uh, It Was..... Wierd.
OK Just for a warning. I just finished watching this movie, so maybe my opinion isn't the best. I usually watch a movie and don't like it, but then when I watch it again I like it. However, I don't want to watch this one again. I found it quite boring and it unfortunately departed from the story set by The Exorcist and Exorcist 2 The Heretic. To be perfectly honest, I LOVED the 2nd film, and I think this one should have followed where that one ended. But, William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist 3 goes in a completely different direction. Not like Halloween 3 Season Of The Witch (which I loved), but it doesn't have Kitty Winn, or Linda Blair, and that's unfortunate.

The film begins confusing enough (only to get more confusing in the end) with some weird "Dream Sequence" and then goes on so that we can meat Lt. William Kinderman (George C Scott), the officer who knew Father Karras (Jason Miller). It is now the 15th anniversary of Karras' death, as he fell out a window while exorcising little Reagan. Kinderman begins to investigate a handfull of deaths that are in the exact same way "The Gemini Killer" murdered his victoms. Meanwhile, there's a paitient in room 11 who looks just like Karras, and claims to be The Gemini Killer. The movie then starts to fade as "The Gemini Killer" starts babbling about rturning from the dead and it all gets very confsing just to lead to a dissapointing conclusion.

...the moment it began, I got bored and went to take a nap (a 3 hour one) and the next day I watched THE WHOLE THING. Despite my hearts protests to turn the movie off and ditch it. Well, after watching it, I thought "Wow. The biggest waste of time movie EVER. And I just watched it". Well, I haven't gained anything from watching it as I did watching the firstand second.

If you ACTUALLY DID enjoy William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist 3, I'd recomend the first and second film, as well as the Omen Trilogy.

LEGION A MOVIE GREAT ON ITS OWN TERMS!
To start off with, this movie should have been called " Legion " not " Exorcist 3 "; obviously, Mr. William Peter Blatty { in a director debut nothing short of astonishing } was under some studio pressure to sell the movie as a sequel to attract mviegoers. " Legion " is a continuation of Det. Kinderman---played wonderfully and world weary by the magnificant George C. Scott---dealing with grisly murders that AT FIRST appear to be the work of a copycat of the ruthless and evil " Gemmini Killer "
James Venemin. But later on Kinderman gets more than he ever bargined for: following the murder of his friend Father Dyer who is admitted into a hospital { a gruesome one that appears to be the work of the killer Kinderman is after }, the detective is blown away to find in a " isolation tank " in the psyche ward of the hospital...Father Karras! But Father Karras is claiming to be James Venimen , who appears often to the viewer as a particular psychopathic Brad Douriff { who is iddeally evil here playing the role with satanic glee }!

This movie contains very little gore; is thought provoking, atmospheric and VERY scary. And seeing the " Exorcist " s 1 or 2 is completly uneccesary to understand it and to enjoy this movie which deals with the evils of Man, as one reviewer said befor, the silence of God, demons both figuritively and literly, and most compelling, Kinderman's stuggling faith.

Kaenan James

Nothing can beat the original
This one sucks, and I never even seen it, The first one was the best, its declared as the scariest movie ever. none of these even comes close.

Wonderfully directed, but a little too "talky"
I really tried hard to find something--anything--to push this film over into the 4 star territory, but I just could not do it. That would be dishonest of me to give the impression that it was of film of such classic status.
Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a worthwhile movie and not a waste of time to watch by any means. Blatty's directing is very unique and at times extremely artistic in its creepiness. He is incredibly talented at creating an eerie vibe by using bizarre camera shots and borderline psychedelia, and personally I think he should have directed more horror films. The story, within the world of the Exorcist films, is believable and not necessarily a "roll your eyes in disbelief" kind of plot. Bringing back Jason Miller lends credibility to it that may not have been given otherwise.
My only gripes are the confused acting of George C. Scott--not his typical kind of role and I just don't see him meshing with the strange behavior of Kinderman all that well--and the extraordinary amount of dialogue. Blatty likes to really bash us over the head with conversations, especially between Scott and Brad Dourif. These seemingly endless rantings get very tiresome after the first five minutes of sitting there watching these guys go back and forth, not to mention having to deal with Dourif's constant overacting. Blatty wants us to know just how clever he can be (as well as how nonsensical he can be, considering some of Scott's lines), but this is overkill.
Aside from those points, it is certainly a very visually enthralling film. I remember reading about TE3 in Fangoria before it came out and, upon seeing the final product, noticed that some of the gorier scenes--which had clearly been filmed--were left out. One scene I recall from a photo in the magazine showed the priest in the confessional holding his head in his lap after the old lady got to him. Removing that was probably a good decision since this sort of film leaves the horror to your own imagination rather than shoving it in your face.

The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III is fantastic.I had heard so many good things about it and it was everything I expected.George C. Scott does an amazing and touching job as Lt. Kinderman.Jason Miller reprises his role as the priest from the original.The characters are great.The dialogue is reasonable.The plot is great.Even though it isn't better than the original it is an excellent sequel.The story really interested me.I'm glad they talked about the stairs from the original and included it in this one.(SPOILERS)The voice in the reconciliation scene was really creepy.The way they described one of the priests and black boys death was terrible but also interesting.Make sure to check this one out.A woman crawls by unnoticed - on the ceiling like a fly.A long- dead killer claims victim after victim.Flames erupt, snakes slither, the ground opens and reveals a writhing pit of the damned.The evil is back.(8/10)

"Amazing! A sequel that stands on its own and still creeps me out at times."

-- Robin Clifford, REELING REVIEWS ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Columbia Home Vid Forgot the DELETED Scenes!!!
I loved this movie ever since i saw it when i was a kid.
Two additional scenes were added to the broadcast television premiere on ABC. One that stands out is a scene with Jane (Fonda) getting a job behind a cosmetics counter and having to confront a very difficult obese older female customer. This was a very funny scene that seems to now be lost and Is NOT going to be included in the new DVD release.
I didn't have a VCR at the time to timecapsule this extended version, It never was again! I hoped that it would make it's way onto DVD.
Columbia why do this!!!!! that scene as I rembember it was one of the best scenes in the film and made it even more enjoying. Unhappy fan :(

A Comic Tour De Force!
This film is a great comedy form the latter half of the 1970's.
Jane Fonda and George Segal play well of against eachother as a husband and wife forced to face economizing and pinching their pennys after Segal loses his job. After losing welfare and unemployment benifits, they resort to crime to pay the bills!
All in all a god movie and finally worthy of the DVD treatment!

One of my favorite movies
Charming and still funny. Sadly unknown. If you watch this alongside "Klute," you'll see how versatile Jane Fonda is.
RELEASE THE DVD!

Yes, where's the DVD version of this great movie ?
I bought this recently wondering if the fun would still be there after a few decades. Sometimes things have to be rethought, updated. "Dick and Jane" still works all by itself. We might be conditioned to think of Jane Fonda for her dramatic roles, but she is a superior comedian and does a superb job as Jane.

I consider it one of the top movies of all time -- but many people need weight and heft before they will stake any such claim. If you are one of those, I'm sorry. I will always love this film.

If anyone knows how to campaign for a DVD version, let us know. A few other reviewers have asked for a DVD version, I see.

One reason I wanted to write this review is that I recently saw "The Morning After" and was surprised that my opinion was so different than most reviews I researched. This is a fine look at Jane Fonda's ability by Sidney Lumet. I think a lot of people misunderstand what they are seeing, however. If you don't "get it" you might not appreciate the brilliance of this performance: we don't know who Fonda is portraying for most of the movie. Seeing an actor is most often like receiving a specially prepared gift. The actor's work ususally supplies a lot of "givens" to the developing story. Not the case in "The Morning After." Here, we are challenged rather than coddled to. Only near the end do we find that the character's history includes more than the status of a "ne'er-been" TV walk-on actress.

I was will be thinking about this movie for days and watching it again. And watching "Fun with Dick and Jane" more, too. Both of these films should make you proud of a job well done by Jane Fonda.

Hysterically funny and clever!!
I actually saw this at the theater when it first came out. I nearly wet my pants laughing. It's a little dated in styles now but still just as funny as ever. I'm sure everyone can relate to some of the scenes. One of my all time favorite movies and I am waiting to buy it on DVD! ... Read more

Amazon.com

There's nothing wrong with Randall Kleiser's Big Top Pee-Wee that Pee-Wee's Big Adventure director Tim Burton wouldn't be able to fix. Take the scene in which entwined farmer and botanist Pee-Wee and ravishing circus performer Gina (Valeria Golina) blissfully ponder the shapes of the clouds. One can only imagine the wondrous forms Burton would have animated in the heavens. In Kleiser's sequel, they are mere cumulus. A talking pig and a sympathetic gallery of outcast circus performers (including a young Benicio Del Toro as the Dog-Faced Boy) notwithstanding,Big Top squanders much of the first film's magic and goodwill. Blame it on the script, which places arrested adolescent Pee-Wee in a small town that is unaccountably hostile to him. Blame it on Paul Rubens, who, perhaps rebelling against his own iconic creation, puts Pee-Wee in some disquieting libido-fueled situations, such as jumping his schoolteacher girlfriend Winnie (Penelope Ann Miller)."The children," Winnie fights him off as her class looks on. Indeed. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Under-rated Pee Wee circus adventure.
'Big Top Pee Wee' is a must-see for two reasons - for Danny Elfman's typically exuberant score, its hurtling rhythms and circus melodies lending the film an appropriately carnivalesque atmosphere; and the art direction. Pee Wee's home and the town it borders is almost as stylised as the worlds of Tim Burton, with its exagerrated shapes and hyper-real colours. Pee Wee lives on his farm with a herd of animals, including Vance, the talking pig who assists him in his scientific work, the cultivation of odd, genetically modified food (e.g. plants that grow sausages). This cohabitation with beasts scandalises his mean-spirited neighbours, who virtually ostracise him as a pervert, with the single exception of his fiancee, apple-pie schoolmarm Penelope Anne Miller, who diverts his sexual urges with the 'favourite' egg sandwiches he loathes. One day, a storm hits the area; when Pee Wee emerges from his shelter, he is surrounded by the wreckage of a circus. He invites its performers to stay and put on a show in spite of the locals' opposition, and falls in love with Italian acrobat, Gina.

Like his first director Burton, Pee Wee mixes cartoon social satire, in which caricatures represent wider represions, with a fantasy world in which dreams and imagination can be free. For Pee Wee, the boundaries of these worlds fail - his absent-minded indifference to the world around him is matched by a physical clumsiness that hobbles his attempts to mentally soar.

'Big Top' is a far less elaborate affair that his brilliant debut, 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure' - the plot is almost insultingly simple-minded, and there are no gadget-crammed set-pieces. As Pee Wee becomes more adult and sexual, however, his persona becomes more perverse, even grotesque, combining innocence with lechery, decency with deceit. The circus world is vividly realised and characterised, providing an enjoyably cliched putting-on-a-show-in-a-barn energy, but even here, in an unsettling 'Freak Show' segment, Pee Wee's dark, 'abnormal' side is fetished.

GROW-UP! Pee-Wee is a comedian, not BARNEY
This isn't a 5-star movie but since everybody else is giving it 1 star I feel I need to balance out the overall rating. This movie is pretty funny. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure wasn't funny at all, it was just amusing. Okay the escaped prisoner guy was funny but that's about it. Besides, Tim Burton is WAY overrated. Just look what that fool did to BATMAN and PLANET OF THE APES. When I was growing up, BATMAN and PLANET OF THE APES were the coolest things ever. Tim Burton ruined them with his silly movies. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure was supposed to be silly so I guess it's okay, but it still wasn't funny. All the jokes were recycled from Pee-Wee's stand-up routine of the previous 5 years. Maybe they were new to little kids but I'd heard them all before I saw the movie. BigTop at least has new jokes. COME ON, don't tell me you didn't laugh at the HOT DOG TREE. Sure, if you're 8 (or have the mentality of an 8 year old) you won't get the more subtle humor of Big Top, preferring the over-the-top gags like Large Marge. Go watch that lousy Beetlejuice movie if that's your idea of humor.

Ok, so its not his best...
But you have to remember Ruebens had help from Phil Hartman in writing Big Adventure, and Tim Burton Directing. So yeah, its not nearly as good as the first, but good none the less. Its about time that it came out on DVD and I am eagerly awaiting the Playhouse collection later this year.

On a side note, did anyone elses DVD not come with a booklet inside? Mine was empty.

Booo!!! Hisss!!
Fans of Pee Wee's Big Adventure or Pee Wee's Playhouse should NOT see this movie. Summed, up it's just lame. It lacks the intelligent adult humor of the others and is basically just a kid's movie. If you're planning on buying this, DON'T. Buy Pee Wee's Big Adventure or wait for the Playhouse DVD set.

please stand by
Dear Amazon.Com
My dad saw this movie when it came out and didn't like it because of
all the romance in this movie infact I am working on a looney tunes mini-movie for Warner bros. (the people who made Big Adventure which my dad like better) and I am not putting the part with the kiss into my movie and what would the animated me think about this anyways as the animated me said in my mini-movie "the original release [of big adventure] was a classic" in ways big adventure is considered as classic moviemaking but this was not
signed Michael E. Jones ... Read more

Description

TARGETS is a thrilling horror film that follows the story of Byron Orlok (Karloff), an aging horror film star who is contemplating his retirement.Meanwhile, Bobby Thompson (O’Kelly) is a seemingly mild-mannered husband and son whose obsession with firearms is his way of coping with his otherwise mundane life.But, when Thompson suddenly snaps and his harmless hobby turns into a dangerous reality, Los Angeles doesn’t know what hit it as Thompson unleashes undeserved fury upon innocent drivers on the L.A. freeway.And if that weren’t tragedy enough, things take a bigger turn for the worse when Orlok and Thompson’s paths cross as Orlok makes a special appearance at a drive-in theater where Thompson happens to be waiting with his arsenal. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Victims of the Screen World
Peter Bogdanovich produced, directed, edited and wrote the screenplay to TARGETS. The film has a curious and dichotomous quality to it. On one hand Bogdanovich handled the sniper (a very clean-cut Tim O'Kelly) in a very real, threatening and unprecedented way for its time. O'Kelly looks so much like the all-American kid from next door that he is all the more frightening making the film very unsettling. O'Kelly munches on a sandwich and guzzles down soda in-between his targets. Moreover the sniper is ferreted out by a famous horror film idol (Boris Karloff) from the golden age of Hollywood. The confrontation comes at a drive-in theatre of all places in an unusual climax. The film is suspenseful and alluring. Once you start watching it you're hooked. Is there a message to this film? Perhaps there is. The finale is almost pure hokum, but perhaps that is the point. Leave the killings, the violence and horror up on the screen. Don't let it escape into the real world. Get your jollies at the movies then drive home and lead a normal life. Perhaps that was true 30 years ago.

A Forgotten Gem.
TARGETS was the directorial debut of Peter Bogdanovich and was one of the last films that Boris Karloff ever made. The movie ties two seemingly separate stories together and unites them in a climax at a drive-in movie theatre. Karloff plays an aged actor famous for his roles in horror movies who decides to retire. He agrees to make one last public performance before moving back to Europe permanently. Meanwhile, Tim O'Kelly plays a psychopath who murders his wife and mother before going on a shooting rampage with a sniper rifle. It's quite intriguing how the two stories connect and are finally tied together in the end.
The movie causes one to think and is a good film to watch nowadays to consider the impact media may or may not have upon violence.

There are several scenes in the film worthy of discussion, but two particularly stick out in my mind. The first one is when Karloff awakens in the morning and startles himself in the mirror. It makes me wonder how much of a success he might have had as a comedian. The second scene is when Karloff's character is discussing what to do at the drive-in as his swan song and he decides to tell a story. The story he tells is "Death Speaks" by W. Somerset Maugham. Hearing the story told by Karloff can give one the chills just by listening to it.

Overall, a fine little movie worth watching.

a grand exit (well cose to an exit)
corman wows here and reminds us that we really lost a very good director when he decided to devote all of his time to producing.
regardless, forget those last, depressing mexican horror quickies that karloff wheezed his poor dying self through. keep this as his bow. it's a nice summation of a glorious career.

Ahead of Its Time
Peter Bogdanovich produced, directed, edited and wrote the screenplay to TARGETS. The film has a curious and dichotomous quality to it. On one hand Bogdanovich handled the sniper (a very clean-cut Tim O'Kelly) in a very real, threatening and unprecedented way for its time. O'Kelly looks so much like the all-American kid from next door that he is all the more frightening making the film very unsettling. O'Kelly munches on a sandwich and guzzles down soda in-between his targets. Moreover the sniper is ferreted out by a famous horror film idol (Boris Karloff) from the golden age of Hollywood. The confrontation comes at a drive-in theatre of all places in an unusual climax. The film is suspenseful and alluring. Once you start watching it you're hooked. Is there a message to this film? Perhaps there is. The finale is almost pure hokum, but perhaps that is the point. Leave the killings, the violence and horror up on the screen. Don't let it escape into the real world. Get your jollies at the movies then drive home and lead a normal life. Perhaps that was true 30 years ago.

Lost Treasure
Boris Karloff gave one of his finest performances in this film and proved that he didn't have to be the movie's monster to be the star. The transfer quality is excellent, the special features aren't much but they provide great value. It was a kick for me seeing LA in the '60s and ztill recognizing landmarks. I was especially impressed with the funky 60's decor in the killer's house - it looked like the house I grew up in! ... Read more

Description

Crawldaddy and her kids have been travelling cross-country selling fine leather apparel in their van. Unfortunately they break down right in the middle of killin' this rich businessman. Tom and his wife decide to put them up for the weekend. However, their neighbor Paul, a disturbed ex-cop, discovers that the clan has been killing people and skinning them alive! It's the most realistic "crazy backwoods family" movie since THE HILLS HAVE EYES and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. It's fun for the whole family...the Manson family, that is!! ... Read more

Description

There’s a new drug on the streets! While on a stakeout top nail adealer’s top aide, hardboiled cop Eddie Boone loses his partner and gets injected with adangerous new designer drug with nightmarish side effects. While searching for hispartner, he begins to see the world a little differently – the urban streets are now full ofmutants, monsters, and mayhem! The trail leads to a den of evil where Eddie isintroduced to The Drug Lord, the mastermind behind the lethal narcotic, and ends with anexplosive finale that will have you glued to your seat in nervous anticipation of the nextsecond of terror! (aka Street Zombies). ... Read more