Monsters!/A Small Talent for War/A Matter of Minutes
- Episode aired Jan 24, 1986
- TV-PG
A young boy befriends an elderly neighbor and discovers his dark secret. / An alien ambassador comes to Earth and threatens its destruction. / A couple get knocked out of sync with time and ... Read allA young boy befriends an elderly neighbor and discovers his dark secret. / An alien ambassador comes to Earth and threatens its destruction. / A couple get knocked out of sync with time and meet the work crew that builds each minute.A young boy befriends an elderly neighbor and discovers his dark secret. / An alien ambassador comes to Earth and threatens its destruction. / A couple get knocked out of sync with time and meet the work crew that builds each minute.
Photos
- Aide (segment "A Small Talent for War")
- (as José Santana)
- Directors
- Sheldon Larry(segment A Matter of Minutes)
- Bill Norton(segment Monsters!)
- Claudia Weill(segment A Small Talent for War)
- Writers
- Rod Serling
- Robert Crais(segment Monsters!)
- Carter Scholz(segment A Small Talent for War)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn his introduction to "New Stories from the Twilight Zone", the series' executive story consultant Alan Brennert described both "Monsters!" and the Profile in Silver/Button, Button (1986) segment "Button, Button" as "good scripts mauled by bad directors, bad production, bad acting, or all three."
- GoofsWhen the mother comes to give the kid medicine, it is 12:05. When the clock shows again, right after he takes the pills, it changes from 12:06 to 12:07. Then when the kid asks what midnight is, right after the pills, the clock shows the time change from 12:09 to 12:10 - a very quick time change.
- Quotes
Alien Ambassador (segment "A Small Talent for War"): [seeing the World Peace Accords for the first time, the Ambassador laughs] I think you have misunderstood me. Your savagery is an issue. That's true. But, you see, on the thousands of planets under our control, we breed *warriors,* gentlemen. Warriors to fight for us across the galaxy! In your case, your savagery has not bred true. You are woefully backwards in the act of war. You fight erratically and clumsily. Your weapons are shockingly crude. And worst of all, in your hearts, you long for peace!
[tosses the accord away]
Alien Ambassador (segment "A Small Talent for War"): A small talent for war. Too small. Too small to be of any use to us. But no matter; we'll just have to try again elsewhere.
[snaps his fingers to summon the armada of invading ships]
Alien Ambassador (segment "A Small Talent for War"): But I thank you for a most amusing day. You people have a delightful sense in the absurd!
[teleports away]
- Alternate versionsThe original version that aired showed the monsters the people turn into up close. There's at least 10 seconds cut from the show of them as monsters, some pretty disturbing ones; and has never been seen since the original airing... 1984 level censorship going on here.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Clock (2010)
The first segment, "Monsters!", has some fine acting from Ralph Bellamy, but the script and direction are confusing and at times outright jarring, like how one scene ends with Bellamy's character telling the boy Toby to hurry home to his parents, and in the very next shot Toby is running up to Bellamy's house to ring the bell. The premise is interesting but so poorly explained that you can't quite swallow it, and if anyone can tell me what the ending is supposed to imply, I'd love to hear from you.
"A Small Talent for War" is a short but lowbrow "twist ending" tale. The people of Earth mistake the intentions of some aliens, but it makes no sense that they make the assumptions they do; indeed, if you judge the aliens on real world terms rather than with the knowledge that you're inside a sci fi story, their intentions are obvious from the beginning. Still, a cutting performance from John Glover as the alien ambassador makes this a reasonably amusing watch.
The episode goes out on a high note with "A Matter of Minutes", a delightful romp through the sort of zany tongue-in-cheek premise that is one of the hallmarks of the Twilight Zone franchise. Striking visuals and a dramatic plot in which the characters must play with the rules of the premise make this one pure fun. The fact that this doesn't rank as one of the best segments in the series is testament to the strength of the competition rather than any weakness here.
- flarefan-81906
- Mar 21, 2021