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Blast from the Past

Blast from the Past

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great movie
Review: I didn't catch this in the theater, but when it came out on video I had to see it, mostly to see what Christopher Walken was doing. What a thoroughly pleasant surprise. Walken and Spacek are rioutous as Fraser's well-intentioned parents, Fraser is perfectly cast, Silverstone looks great and convincingly plays upon modern vanity and cynicism, while Dave Foley is an ideal rational antidote to the ruckus around him. I can't remember the name of the guy (he's been on TV and used to be in a Keystone beer commercial) playing the soda archbishop, but he's hilarious. There's some stylish dancing, cornball jokes that are funny for once, interesting sets, fine comic acting and a diverse, well-chosen soundtrack incorporating oldies, swing, and random pop from the 90's. Best of all, this is a feel-good movie (but not a chick-flick), can appeal to just about everybody on the planet, and is a nice cure for the parade of violence and disrespect that permeates modern American culture. I've seen it half a dozen times and it still cracks me up--I'm really glad to have it in my collection.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Goofy and very funny!
Review: This movie isn't going to win any oscars. Except, perhaps, for the supporting roles played by Christopher Walkens, Sissy Spacek, and Dave Foley. So leave your brain at the door when you watch "Blast from the Past" and you'll enjoy this movie much more.

I laughed out loud on many scenes throughout the flick. It's another Boy meets Girl movie, but yet with a different twist.

Alicia Silverstone looks absolutely great in her scenes. The chemistry between Alicia's character and Brendan Fraser's character was nice and heartwarming. Look for a lot of goofy antics and premises throughout this film.

With it's family oriented PG-13 rating, I give this one a thumbs up!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very funny commentary about how nice people used to be
Review: This is a nice, funny movie, which along the way makes an interesting point. The plot is pretty straitforward, but this is a comedy not a drama, and it is plenty good enough to get us from joke to joke.

Films lately seem to be saying that really nice guys come from some other decade, or even century (Kate & Leopold). This might say more about the audience (do we more readily accept niceness if it is ancient?) than the writers, but it is something the film makes you think about, when you're done laughing.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Sweet Fantasy Comedy works thanks to Good Performances.
Review: Life in the Early Sixites, When a Paranoid Genuis (Oscar-Winner:Christopher Walken) insists that his Wife (Oscar-Winner:Sissy Spacek) to Stay underground with him and thier Unborn Son, just Until the Cuban Missile Passes...for 35 Years!From that Point and On, thier Son (Brendan Fraser) was Born in Underground just into that, they run Out of Food. Thier Only Son decides to leave the Underground Home to be in the Outside World of Los Angeles. His Innocents and Matters creates an Outrageous Hilarious Situations in the Life in the Late Nineties.

Directed by Hugh Wilson (Police Academy, The First Wives Club, Dudley Do-Right) Creates a Light, Extremely Funny Comedy Works, thanks to Fraser`s Engaging Comic Performance, Walken and Spacek are also Great as the Parents of thier Only Son. Alicia Silverstone plays Fraser`s love Interest in this. Also Kids in the Hall`s:Dave Foley is Fun as Silverstone`s Gay Roommate. This Movie was an Box-Office Disappointment in the Winter of 1999. This Film is Enjoyable and Surprisngly Clever make this Delightful Romantic Comic Fantasy Flick to Perform Well. European Version runs 111 Minutes. Super 35. Grade:A-.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sweet and Funny
Review: In 1962, my junior high school science roject was to build a model fall-out shelter, complete with lists of supplies for 30 years underground. My father, who was a scientist, hung out with a bunch of guys who so closely resemble Calvin Weber (Christopher Walken) that I was startled to see him in the movie. These guys built hi-fis and robots in their basements for fun; and yes, my parents listened to Perry Como! BFTP portrays the essence of those times fondly and with a pointed humor. Both Sissy Spacek (the mother) and Christopher Walken (the father) do beautifully comic turns in this film as a couple having retreated to their fall-out shelter for a 35 year stay in the mistaken belief that Los Angeles has been bombed.

Brendan Fraser's performance as the bright but impossibly naiive Adam Weber is brilliant. Playing a totally sheltered (no pun intended) 35 year-old encountering the outside world for the first time, Fraser manages through use of his mobile facial features and skillful body language to look like a nerdy 14 year old. The performance was strongly reminiscent of Tom Hanks in BIG.

Alicia Silverstone and Dave Foley play strong supporting roles as Eve, Adam's love interest, and her gay room-mate Troy. The strongest scenes in the movie feature all three of them. For major laughs, watch Eve and Troy's faces while they watch Adam make a splash on the dance floor.

This movie made me a Brendan Fraser fan. I liked it so much I bought copies for several people for Christmas. Lest you think this is only for Boomers, I showed it to a 24 year old friend who completely cracked up over it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Entertaining and Underrated
Review: Tremendously underrated film. I don't understand some of the negative comments, but this is a highly entertaining movie. I can't name the good actors in this because EVERYBODY did a fantastic job, even Alicia Silverstone.

The plot is pretty simple. In 1962, at the height of the Cuban Missile crisis, a young Southern California couple heads down to their elaborately designed fallout shelter, built by the genius, yet paranoid husband (Christopher Walken). They had only planned on staying for a few days, but at the same time, a military jet crashes into their house above. They mistakenly think the crash is a nuclear bomb explosion, so they seal it up and stay down for 35 years. The wife (Sissy Spacek) is 9 months pregnant at the time, so she has her baby (Brendan Fraser) in the shelter.

After 35 years, the father is ready to explore the world to see if it is habitable, but just as he's about to get some much-needed supplies, he has a mild heart-attack. They send their son out instead with a long list and $3000 in cash. He has also expressed being lonely and says he wants to find a wife.

The most entertaining and pleasant portion of the story is how a very nice, conservative upbringing with absolutely no outside negative influences can stick out like a sore thumb in modern society. This is also sad, to think how low we've sunk. But still, it's extremely refreshing to see a small sparkle of goodness walk around the Los Angeles area, creating positive results everywhere he goes.

The only problem that I have with it is that it is not 100% believable. Some of the scenes were overlooked in the making that kept reminding you that it wasn't real. Even though he had never seen some of the electronics, he seemed to pick them up a little too fast: TV with remote, elevator, telephone, etc. The first time he EVER saw the ocean (or any large body of water) in his entire life, he made a PERFECT dive into the water?!

But the good far outweighs the bad in this one. I highly recommend this to just about everyone out there. Younger kids might not quite understand some of it, but other than that, everyone should enjoy this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Entertaining, Witty and Extremely Likeable Comic Fantasy
Review: Calvin Webber (Christopher Walken) is a slightly mad genius living in Los Angeles at the height of the Cold War. Paranoid about the communist threat, he has made a vast and elaborate nuclear bunker under his house. And, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, he takes the precaution of going into it with his pregnant wife Helen (Sissy Spacek). By bizarre coincidence, just as they get down underground, a military aircraft crashes on their house. Convinced this is the dreaded nuke, he locks in and they prepare to stay there for 35 years until the radiation reaches safe levels. Finally come the 1990s and son Adam (Brendan Fraser) is sent out to reconnoitre and get look for fresh supplies in what they are convinced is a nightmarish and disintegrated post-apocalyptic world. (The neighbour has gone badly downhill in a way that makes this a more than understandable mistake.) Out he goes armed only with an indefatigable innocence and decency, an unshakable conviction that Perry Como is at the cutting edge of popular music and what he does not yet realize is a huge fortune in vintage baseball cards. After a few hours he is seriously at sea and hopelessly lost. Then he meets Alicia Silverstone's wordly and cynical Eve...

The central conceit of this film is the clash of what is basically a 1950s sensibility with the harsh and cynical realities of 1990s America. That way it strongly recalls 'Pleasantville', made a year earlier. But this is a much better film. While 'Pleasantville' rather condescended to the past, with its knowing modern kids teaching stuffy old 50s types how to be cool and have sex, this film is much more intelligently ambivalent about the blessings of modernity and has a very nice satirical edge. Not to mention much funnier. It is Eve who learns from Adam far more than the reverse. It's essentially an unusual romantic comedy with a bizarre fantasy premise. But it's an unusually sharp, witty and unintelligent romcom. A certain mismatch between British and American senses of humour may partly explain why I seldom laugh out loud at American movies. Several lines in this were notable exceptions. Its best moments recall, as very very few contemporary films manage to recall, the sharply observed intelligence of the great Hollywood romantic comedies of the 30s and 40s. Fresh, entertaining and extremely well-acted, it's well worth a look.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Just a nice movie...
Review: OK, you can read the 128 other reviews, many of which feel compelled to tell the plot of this movie when Amazon has already done so, or you can take 60 seconds and hear my opinion for what it's worth...

This is not a complex movie, it is meant to be a funny look at the culture shock Brendan Fraser gets when he emerges from 30 years in a fallout shelter into modern-day L.A. And guess what, it is funny! All the actors give fine performances, the criticism of Alicia Silverstone is unwarranted because she is SUPPOSE to be playing a whiney, self-centered, shallow Los Angelan. The cussing is necessary to prove a point, and it is kept to a minimum. All in all it is a lighthearted movie with a good ending. Sure, it may be somewhat predictible, but it is entertaining and well worth renting and buying.

OK, I asked for a minute of your life to hear my opinion, and that is it. Thanks for your time, I hope it was worth it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great!!
Review: Feel Good Movie....made my day a heck of a lot better!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Comedy that is Actually Funny!
Review: We are now all familiar with "situation comedies" that are forced to use a soundtrack due to the inability to arouse any response - particularly laughter - from a live audience. Then we were faced with a barrage of film "comedies" in which the only common themes were grossness, an inability to act and universal idiocy.

BLAST FROM THE PAST is indeed a blast - a full-throttled engine for enticing laughs from the viewer. An eccentric Sacramento Valley man (played to perfection by Christopher Walken) builds an enormous underground fallout shelter and the expected event happens: Thinking a nuclear war has started he locks in his wife, Sissy Spacek, who would have stolen the show if not for the dazzling performance by Brendan Fraser who stars as the son raised for 35 years underground.

Upon surfacing he goes forward with baseball cards (originals of the greats) and stock certificates and through a series of hilarious events slowly convinces the girl of his dreams (Alicia Silverstone) that he is who he says and in the end, they all live happily ever after.

It is hard to select favorite scenes but the double entendres and new jargon (for our hero) are favorites as well as his introduction to new technology. The over-the-top jitterbug with two ladies was worth the price of the movie. This is one for the collection.


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