ddc300 Reviews

Crooked Lines (2003)

Light comedy about Bumbling Brooklyn Mobsters in Training

[7/10 · 28 January 2019]

Crooked Lines is a good-natured comedy. Yes, some of the actors have no comedic talent (they look like neighborhood locals). Best performance came from Mario Cantone as a hyper-active gambler specializing in Hockey, of all things. And the scenes between Cantone and his Bull Terrier are hysterical. And the cameo of David Johansen wasn't bad either...quite funny actually. Ben Stiller was involved in the production and his mom Anne Meara had a supporting role. Jim Breuer wasn't bad, but the other leads lacked true comic timing.

Movie was filmed in south-eastern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Gerritsen Beach, Marine Park and Mill Basin. One or more of the production personnel hailed from one of those neighborhoods.

Land of the Giants: The Clones (1969) Season 2, Episode 11

One of the better episodes in Year 2

[9/10 · 13 November 2015]

"The Clones" really stands out as having a truly science-fiction based storyline, that for it's time (1969), was just only being discussed in mainstream media because of real experiments that had been done on frogs (as mentioned in the episode).

I suspect writer Oliver Crawford deliberately focused on the character of Dan because actor Don Marshall turned in a superb performance in the the "Star Trek" episode "The Galileo Seven", which coincidentally Oliver Crawford had also written. The main cast (except for Heather Young) are excellent in their roles...particularly Deanna Lund and Stefan Arngrim who get to play 'bad guys' for a change as their evil duplicates.

Interesting how Dan's race becomes a major point in the story to determine who is and who isn't a clone. Nice dramatic points and certainly one of the earliest TV series to deal with the subject of cloning. SF shows prior to this used the term 'duplicates' as the scientific term of cloning had not yet been added to the American lexicon.

Guest star William Schallert turns in a fine performance as not necessarily and evil scientist but more as a determined man who doesn't see the flaws in his methods.

Guest props include the cryogenic tubes from "Lost in Space", and assorted IBM SAGE equipment left over from "The Time Tunnel" in the lab sequences.

The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1980 TV Movie)

This Bridge spans across banality

[4/10 · 12 March 2014]

Being an Irwin Allen aficionado, I went an purchased the DVD to this TV-movie. While the premise is a good one, the casting is a bit askew as Desi Arnaz, Jr. is grossly miscast as a bank robber (his acting is so forced it's pathetic). James MacArthur delivers his lines in a bored, detached, almost nonchalant manner. There was really no reason this movie couldn't have been done as a traditional 2-hour event. Instead we get loads of soap opera histrionics (in flashback) to fill-out the second-half, showing how the various characters -- now stuck on the collapsing bridge -- first crossed paths with one another. A similar script was done for the equally dull and excruciating, "Hanging by a Thread" (1978). The saving grace for this film was the physical and miniature effects. For TV in the late 70s, the effect of the full-scale bridge set coming apart was quite well done, as was the model-work showing larger spans breaking away and falling into the river below.

Irwin Allen was at his end with Warner Bros. at the time he made this (1979). It was his last TV project before moving over to Columbia Pictures the following year, and clearly, Warner Bros. had no real faith in the project, hence it's airing on NBC nearly four years after it was made(1983), and on a night when it was due to be clobbered in the ratings (aired against the final episode of M*A*S*H on CBS).

Journey to the Center of Time (1967)

I've seen the future, and boy...does it SUCK!

[1/10 · 7 February 2011]

A movie that starts out boring you to tears with a conference room sequence where the main scientists are trying to explain the technical aspects of time travel to a narrow-minded corporate exec. Turns out the audience ends up more confused by all the verbal masturbation than Jim Brady as the exec.

The budget here is so small that the time machine seen in long shots looks like a model of a metallic sphere. But when we see the cast of scientists moving in and out of the thing, it is merely a vault door! Clearly the production team was influenced by Star Trek's Enterprise Bridge (classic series) when they built the interior set of the time machine: it is round with a lowered floor, complete with a railing that runs around the edge of the upper platform, with a large viewing screen at the other end of the room.

After landing thousands of years in the future we're greeted to Lyle Waggoner and some other actors looking rather goofy as 'men from the future' wearing vests, silver 'Hammer Time' pants and over-sized boots. In the future, for some reasons, people stand around and orate on pedestals of varying heights.....very odd, that scene.

The only scenes that included anything CLOSE to 'production values' were the prehistoric jungle, and cave sequences. Looked to me like Producer/Director David Hewitt got permission to film those scenes at 20th Century-Fox where TV series like "Lost in Space" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" used fairly impressive cave sets extensively. Likewise, I suspect the jungle scenes were filmed on the "Land of the Giants" set as the JTTCOT similarly had a foggy-type look to it. Otherwise, this film featured schlocky, minimalist sets (aka Limbo sets).

The movie had too many gruelingly long scenes where the crew of the time machine (and the audience) is looking at various periods of time (mostly footage of wars) through the main view-screen. This movie just dragged on and on and on. Finally ending with a twist on the story of 'Adam and Eve'.

Hewitt actually stole a cue from Irwin Allen's "Time Tunnel" series by having a band of young people back at "Time Central", a sort of mission control for the time machine. Funny thing: it was never included in the early scenes prior to the launch of the time machine, making it appear as though director Hewitt shot the 'Time Central' scenes later, as an after thought (or perhaps because he saw Allen's "Time Tunnel" and decided to copy the 'back-at-the-lab' setup for his film). Interesting that similar reel-to-reel type computers seen in "Time Tunnel" appear in JTTCOT.

I guess Producer/Director David Hewitt wasn't thrilled with 'The Time Travelers' and so did this film in 'retaliation' against his former partner, Ib Melchoir. Either that, or perhaps Hewitt wanted to 'cash in' on the time-travel theme since "The Time Tunnel" TV series was in production at the time this movie was being filmed. Whatever the reason, this movie fails on so many counts that -- to me -- it's probably THE WORST movie I've ever seen. It sucks on (1) Acting, (2) Production Design (?), (3) Special Effects (?), (4) Screenplay, and (5) Music. It literally has NOTHING to offer. And yet both Brady and Abraham Sofer are true character actors that have done much better before and since this turkey.

I bet you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who would actually ADMIT to sitting through this garbage when it was originally run in theatres.

Sadly, I can only recommend this celluloid monstrosity to a true insomniac.

The Swarm (1978)

The Worst Episode of 'Lost In Space' is Better Than This!

[3/10 · 3 March 2009]

Irwin Allen outdid himself in shameless exploitation of 'over the hill' has-been actors & actresses. There are not many audiences in the late 70's that really would've cared to see a cast of mostly veterans of western cinema battling and/or escaping from homicidial bees. Ben Johnson, Slim Pickens, and Fred MacMurray all looked like they were looking to jump on a horse and giddy-up into the sunset.

The overacting of Micheal Caine only adds to the campiness of 'The Swarm'. Jose Ferrer was thrown in only because he was simutaneously appearing in ANOTHER unintentionally campy Irwin Allen production, "The Return of Captain Nemo" (aka 'Amazing Captain Nemo'), a CBS mini-series, just a few sound stages away on the Warner's lot. Patty Duke Astin was a contract hold-over from a previous (and decent) Irwin Allen TV movie, "Fire!" (1977). Poor Richard Chamberlain gets toasted (again in an IA produciton), but this time in a nuclear power plant explosion (one of the BEST effects in the movie, IMHO).

"The Swarm" is the closet thing that Irwin Allen made that mimicked his original unintentional comedy classic, "The Story of Mankind" (1957). Both included a sizable list of Hollywood 'old timers' (probably acquired at a discount), with dialogue so lame that you would hope SOMEONE would ad lib just to make it funnier.

Code Red: Code Red (1981) Season 1, Episode 0

Pilot to Short-lived ABC-TV series

[26 May 2008]

This TV-movie served as a pilot to the last series produced by Irwin Allen (Master of Disaster). The series concerned itself with the exploits of a family of firefighters headed by Lorne Greene. Of interest were a female firefighter and a Native-American arson investigator (two non-traditinal roles).

Among members from prior Irwin Allen endeavors are Burr De Benning ("City Beneath the Sea", "Amazing Captain Nemo") and musician Richard LaSalle ("Land of the Giants", "Swiss Family Robinson", "Fire", etc.).

The original concept of "Code Red" was based on a script by Irwin Allen called "Pumper One". The story was set in San Francisco and was based on the fire department featured in "The Towering Inferno". When Allen moved from Warner Bros. to Columbia Pictures in 1981, he had to remove all "Inferno" references. Thus, "Code Red" was born.

The Fifth Missile (1986 TV Movie)

Similar to a "Voyage" episode from 1964

[8 December 2007]

When I first saw this years ago on network TV, I knew the story seemed familiar, but I couldn't remember where I saw it. Then "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" was released on DVD and it came to me: there was an episode where a 'sister' submarine was destroyed and the Seaview was sent to investigate. Along the way the Admiral (Richard Basehart) becomes an unstable paranoid -- much like David Soul in "Fifth Missile". I forgot the specifics, but as with this movie the plot device of 'something in the air' is used to create a tense situation on the submarine.

Good performances from a solid cast of pros makes this an interesting TV movie. Had there been a larger budget this could have made an excellent theatrical film. Some obviously poor special effects and a dull soundtrack are overlooked because the plot's tension keeps things moving.

This film is ripe for DVD distribution.

The Stranger (1973 TV Movie)

Mediocre TV SF flick deserves a second-look

[4/10 · 22 November 2007]

The storyline of "The Stranger" mirrors somewhat the 1969 film "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" (made by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson of 'Thunderbirds' and 'Space: 1999' fame). A parallel-universe Earth is the premise of both films. But there is a difference. Where the world in "The Stranger" features a totalitarian regime out to squash the freedom of the citizenry, "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" merely showed a true mirror world where handwriting, roads, houses, machinery of every kind, and of course internal organs were all in reverse (or mirrored) order. So, the similarity of parallel Earths is the only connection of both films.

Similarly, the TV series "Land of the Giants" came before both of those films, having run from 1968 to 1970. It featured a world that was nearly parallel to the Earth with the exception that the planet was populated by giants 12 times the size of the humans who crash-landed there. The idea of a totalitarian government out to capture and contain the 'little people' was similar to the premise of "The Stranger" more-so than the premise of "JTTFSOTS". Perhaps because of the similarly to "LOTG", a series to "The Stranger" was shelved. Had it turned into a TV series it would have been a sci-fi version of "The Fugitive," with star Glenn Corbett being chased by the baddies from week to week, hiding out in different locations, etc. BTW, a stronger script could have helped this film along.

Ambush Bay (1966)

The Music and Imagery saved this otherwise pedestrian WWII epic

[14 September 2007]

Just picked up this DVD for a song. Yes, the acting is wooden, the characters are archetypes of classic WWII yarns, and the blood was obviously red paint. But this film does include two nice touches: the cinematography, and the music score. I thought I recognized the music: Richard LaSalle was the composer for "Ambush Bay" and many of his music cues from this film turned up as incidental music on most of producer Irwin Allen's TV projects throughout the 1970's. The "Land of the Giants" series used a lot of his music in the later episodes.

Oddly, in a peculiar coincidence, "Ambush Bay" co-script writer Ib Melchoir was a noted sci-fi film scribe, having penned "The Time Travelers" (1966), and is credited with creating the idea for producer Irwin Allen's "Lost In Space" (for which he was not given credit). And the tie-in is that composer LaSalle contributed scores to both "Time Travelers" and "Lost in Space" (sometimes fact IS stranger than fiction).

The Man from the 25th Century (1968 TV Short)

Wacko from the 25th Century

[4/10 · 2 August 2007]

Irwin Allen was running out of ideas for series after "Land of the Giants", because all he came up with was "City Beneath the Sea", a kind of sequel to his "Voyage" series, and "Man from the 25th Century," the latter being a sort-of retread of "The Invaders" with a bit of Gerry Anderson's "Captain Scarlet" thrown in for good measure.

"The Man from the 25th Century" went no further than a 10-minute presentation film (similar to a theatrical trailer), that depicted the basic premise of the series for the purpose of getting an OK by studio execs. I'm sure the suits were as confused as I was over this hokey and disjointed film.

First, we see James Darren -- the title character -- a human taken to an alien planet as a infant being trained by his 'elders' for a mission involving the destruction of the earth's alien-defense installations. He displays nice martial-arts skills and disposes of his opponent. He is then sent to earth in one of their flying saucers (the Jupiter 2 from "Lost in Space") and lands in Glacier National Park where one of the installations is located. Why the defense installation did not notice his ship coming down and landing is one of the first in a series of head-scratching moments in this mess. After being accepted as "Robert Prentice" (the human he is impersonating), Darren is given a guided tour of the complex. Given a moment to be alone, he gains access to the complex's atomic-core control-room (a cleverly re-dressed Jupiter 2 upper-deck) and begins to wreck havoc in a typical Irwin Allenish fight scene complete with short-circuiting control panels. Darren is overpowered and taken into custody, but it soon becomes apparent that the aliens must do away with Darren now that he's caught. So, what do they do? The alien leader sends a robot/duplicate(?) of Darren and we soon have yet ANOTHER well-choreographed fight scene with sparking and exploding computer equipment whenever someone leans against them! All the while, the humans in the complex have MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED in typical "Lost in Space" 'pop-out' effect, only to REAPPEAR after the human James Darren has eliminated his opponent. The military leader of the complex asks Darren 'What happened?' and all Dareen can say is "You couldn't begin to comprehend......this is only the beginning." And the film ends with that line! No wonder it was never picked up as a series!

Oddly, Irwin did not give up on the concept as he had two of his trusted writers, Anthony Wilson (LIS), and Arthur Weiss ("Time Tunnel"), write a two-hour made-for-TV version of "Man from the 25th Century" in May of 1970. This time around Allen's intentions were likely to try and sell the concept to ABC to use "Man" as a possible series for the Sunday night time slot in Sept. 1970, a spot vacated by recently canceled LOTG. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Allen only had the funds for one project that year and NBC okayed "City Beneath the Sea" as a TV film and that's the project that got the green-light.

Swiss Family Robinson (1975–1976)

Not on Par with his Sci-Fi Series of the 1960s

[2 August 2007]

"Swiss Family Robinson" was a strange turn for Irwin Allen since he was known for his futuristic action-adventure series of the '60s. Allen's "Swiss Family Robinson" had a setting of not the future or present, but in the traditional setting of the book by Johnathan Wyss -- an unknown island in the early 19th Century.

The reason that Irwin Allen's name is in front of the titles is because the "Swiss Family Robinson" had been done before (the famous Disney film being the obvious one). And I believe there had been either an Austrialian, or Canadian-made "Swiss Family Robinson" series -- ironically, one of these series was even in production at the time Allen was making his series! So, by throwing his name up before the titles let audiences know this was not any run-of-the-mill production, but the "Irwin Allen version".

Additionally, this was the first time Allen did not 'create' the concept of a TV series. Despite his seasoned technical crew, the series was a disappointment, since it was made on the heels of his spectacular "Poseidon Adventure" and "Towering Inferno" movies. The SFR was lackluster and most of the story lines were predictable and lacked suspense. The effect of the volcano erupting was clearly a miniature (and not a very convincing one at that).

The series' only saving grace was a two-part episode that served as a potential spin-off series called "Jean Lafitte". Starring young, newcomer Frank Langella in the title role, the two-part show was an exciting and fun romp with Lafitte involved in the war of 1812. (Actually, this proposed spin off might have made a much more interesting and action-filled series than it's parent program).

Out of the series cast, the one who made the show enjoyable was Cameraon Mitchell, as Jeremiah Worth. This character was not in the book and was clearly created by Allen as a Smith/Fitzhugh type of curmudgeonly, sea-dog of a character. Mitchell was superb in his role as the weaselly Jeremiah -- a wayward sailor who was always looking to increase his wealth and save his own hide first (like Smith), but when push came to shove was there to assist the Robinson's when they were in a jam (ala Fitzhugh).

Allen's LAST series, "Code Red" (1981), although set in present day Los Angeles, was at least exciting and had decent writers that kept the audience interested in the characters and the action going on around them. Sadly, I could never get excited about "Swiss Family Robinson". For whatever reason, either because of casting or the pedestrian story lines it never really appealed to me.

After the failure of "Swiss Family Robinson," Irwin Allen packed up and moved to Warner Bros. studios where his first project, "Flood" utilized three cast members from SFR: Martin Milner, Cameron Mitchell and Eric Olsen.

Flood (1976 TV Movie)

One of the Better TV Disaster Films

[6/10 · 25 July 2007]

Better than average made-for-TV disaster film by the master himself, Irwin Allen.

Plot in a nutshell: Milner and Culp are believable as the owners/operators of a helicopter company in a small Oregon town. Mayor Richard "Adm. Nelson" Basehart tries to hide the fact that the earthen dam protecting the town of Brownsville is on the verge of collapsing. Milner takes him to task for being concerned only with town commerce and not protecting the lives of his constituents. In the end Milner and Culp use their copter to assist in the rescue of a number of townspeople when the dam finally bursts.

Stars Martin Milner, Eric Olsen and Cameron Mitchell were all holdovers from Irwin Allen's short-lived TV series, "Swiss Family Robinson" which went off the air earlier in the year. Look for Irwin Allen 'stock players' like Francine York, Elizabeth Rogers and Whit Bissell in the hospital scenes.

Fantastic Voyage (1968–1969)

Was Supposed to have been a live-action series

[8/10 · 4 July 2007]

The interesting aspect of the Fantastic Voyage animated series is it's history....originally 20th Century-Fox was considering doing a live TV series based on the film. Veteran TV writers William Reed Woodfield and Allan Balter ('Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea', 'Lost in Space', 'Mission Impossible') came up with the series version in 1967, but the series idea was shelved, partially due to the untimely death of writer Balter in a plane crash.

20th Century-Fox had given the rights to another of their sci-fi action-adventure films, 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' to Filmation the previous year and was warmly received. So Fox decided to go with the less expensive route of animation rather than live-action with the added expensive of model work and set building (ala Land of the Giants).

In is also interesting to note that Filmation later did a special animated version of 'Lost in Space'....rumors abounded in the mid-70's that if the LIS cartoon had been picked up by the ABC network, then Filmation was poised to do animated versions of the other Iriwn Allen series, 'Time Tunnel', 'Land of the Giants', and 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'.

Short Walk to Daylight (1972 TV Movie)

Two different versions of this film!

[4 July 2007]

I remember the first time I saw this film on the Movie of the Week...it was a very well-done movie IIRC. The idea of an earthquake hitting New York seemed kinda far-fetched, but you overlooked that due to the cast and the great direction.

Something odd happened to 'Short Walk to Daylight' when it went into syndication and was playing on the 'late night' slots: I seemed to remember that new footage was added creating a sub-plot of young radicals that had planted a bomb in NYC that caused the devastation to the subway system. Does anyone remember this version? I believe Univseral Studios was BIG on doing this to other movies of theirs, like 'Airport '75' when it came to TV. Their modus Operandi was to add deleted or film new scenes to movies to make them more 'sellable' to TV audiences. In the case of 'Short Walk to Daylight' the subplot of terrorists might have been a way to make the disaster more plausible since an earthquake of the magnitude indicated in the movie hitting New York is rather slim to none.

Viva Knievel! (1977)

The Curse of Irwin Allen is evident here!

[2/10 · 29 October 2006]

No one noticed the influence of Irwin Allen in this wretched production? The "Poseidon Alumni" of Red Buttons and Leslie Nielsen? The casting of Eric Olsen and Cameron Mitchell (two holdovers from Allen's poorly received "Swiss Family Robinson" series)? And the "Allen Tradmark" of casting over-the-hill has-beens -- in this case Gene Kelly -- in a 'throw away' role? Allen even threw in one of his old 'stand-bys', Albert Salmi (Captain Tucker, the space pirate from two episodes of "Lost In Space").

Almost the entire production crew is from the Irwin Allen camp including legendary special effects man L.B. Abbott (what for you ask -- I didn't see any 'special effects?). Even Allen's costume designer, Paul Zastupnevich, is along for the ride. Allen's wife played the Mother Superior in the famed scene where the orphan throws his crutches away at the sight of seeing Evel as he sneaks into the orphanage in the middle of the night(!).

The story behind this film is that producer Sherrill Corwin (who was the head of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences during the '70s), was a major financial contributor to Irwin Allen's "Poseidon Adventure" and "Towering inferno." Allen needed backing because the studios baulked at the high production costs. But, by the mid-70s Irwin was 'The Man' and now it was 'pay back time' for Corwin when he wanted to hype Knievel, who by that time was a superstar among the teen-set. True, Evel Knievel WAS bankable when it came to packing arenas, selling lunch boxes, action figures and toy motorcycles. Problem was that in the acting department Evel was as wooden as a tree trunk and this movie shows it.

Not helping matters was the horrendous screenplay by Norman Katkov and Antonio Santillian (whoever he is), and the ingredients for a GRADE A Turkey were assured. It is surprising that Katkov co-penned such a bad script since he was also responsible for the famous "Blood and Orchids" mini-series of the early '80s. But then again, he was also one of the primary contributors to the screenplay for another Irwin Allen travesty: "The Return of Captain Nemo" (aka "Amazing Captain Nemo"), a mini-series produced or should I say released the following year.

"Viva Knievel" is best enjoyed by those suffering from insomnia or otherwise get their kicks from bad-movie marathons.

Outrage! (1986 TV Movie)

Truly Unusual Irwin Allen Production!

[7/10 · 29 October 2006]

The most stunning thing about "Outrage" is not so much the intriguing storyline, but rather the fact that it was produced by Irwin Allen, the "Master of Disaster" of '70s cinema, and also responsible for erstwhile sci-fi TV series of the '60s like "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" and "Lost In Space." His productions are usually criticized for their lack of attention to the finer details like the script and dramatic performances. But here, he surprises his critics (and fans) with a taut, and timely subject that is more "Law and Order" than "Poseidon Adventure." No action sequences, no explosions or people running around in rubber monster suits. Just good acting with a provocative plot line.

My only complaint is that Robert Preston's character seemed a bit 'dated' by 1986 in the way he lived through his religion....I mean, I didn't know many New York Irish Catholics in the '80s that were THAT religious (particularly a man). I assume the director wanted his Catholicism 'played to the hilt" to emphasis Preston was above reproach to further the courtroom dramatics.

Hard Luck (2006 Video)

"Hard Luck" has a "Pulp Fiction" narrative

[7/10 · 22 October 2006]

This Mario Van Peebles and Larry Brand penned movie is a unique blend of two genre films, the "gangsta" and "psycho-on-the-loose."

There is also a wink that the director (Peebles) takes at the old 'screwball comedies' where a couple usually gets involved in a situation that neither wanted to be in from the beginning. And of course part of that scenario has a 'Bonnie and Clyde' overtone as the couple (Snipes and Jackie Quinones) try and stay one step ahead of both the law and gangsters that were 'short changed' by Snipes in the beginning of the film.

There is a little bit of 'political statement' at the very beginning of the movie that doesn't take away from the crux of 'Hard Luck.' For some reason Peebles wanted a 'current event' added to a film that did not warrant it. Over time the scene in question will only date the film.

Not wanting to spoil it for anybody, but lets just say Peebles has assembled a great cast -- some known faces and some relatively new ones -- and puts them to good use. While the material is sort of a 'walk in the park' for Snipes, you will be surprised by some of Peebles' unique choices at casting. Hint: be prepared to see Cybil Shepard in a new light! ;-D