Message-ID: <3194@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 13-Jan-85 16:14:28 EST
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.3194
Posted: Sun Jan 13 16:14:28 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 16-Jan-85 21:13:45 EST
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
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Xref: watmath net.sf-lovers:5641 net.movies:5458
The LA Times Calendar section for this Sunday features their annual listing
of upcoming films. They list ~250 films to be released in the next year.
I have here culled out those that, from the brief descriptions, appear to
be fantasy/SF films. In a few case, I have included my own comments, in
brackets. The releasing studio is in parenthesis at the end of the blurb.
I have included horror films which have fantasy/sf elements.
Winter
"The Company of Wolves"
Angela Lansbury and David Warner are featured in this adult
adaptation of "Little Red Riding Hood". [This was one of the best films
I saw at Filmex, the LA film festival, over the summer. Very good.]
(Cannon)
"Creator"
Peter O'Toole is Harry Wolper, an eccentric Nobel Laureate
biologist preoccupied with creating a copy of his wife, who died 30
years ago. Mariel Hemingway and Vincent Spano help him discover that
life is in the present, not the past. Directed by Ivan Passer.(Universal)
"Perils of Gwendolline"
Fantasy adventure about a colorful heroine and a reluctant hero.
Stars Tawny Kitane. (Goldwyn) [Sounds cheap, but Goldwyn usually only
releases prestige films (we're not talking MGM here, but a small producing
company), so it might be OK.]
"The School Spirit"
A comedy concerning a ghost-like jock who hovers around a high
school campus. (Almi)
"Superstition"
An abandoned mansion is the site of unearthly terror. (Almi)
"Titan Find"
Klaus Kinski leads a team of astronauts who inadvertantly
unleash a deadly alien force in the form of a horrifying 200,000
year old creature on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. [Sounds vaguely
familiar, doesn't it?]
Spring
"The Adventure of Hercules"
Hercules (Lou Ferrigno) muscles his way into a war between
the gods to save Earth from certain destruction. [Considering the last
Hercules picture with Ferrigno, this will probably be a real dog.] (Cannon)
"Baby"
William Katt, Sean Young, and Patrick McGoohan star in an
adventure saga of a young couple who discover a family of dinosaurs
while on an expedition in Africa. Directed by B.W.L. Norton. [No,
I never heard of him or her either. Any bets that McGoohna plays
either a). a kindly or not so kindly elder scientist, or b). a big
game hunter?] (Disney)
"B.C. Rock"
Animated feature set in prehistoric times with music by
Hall and Oates, Leo Sayer, and Rick Wakeman [Perhaps polishing up
bits and pieces of his "Journey to the Center of the Earth".]
(Almi) [Anyone know who these Almi guys are? Sounds Italian, and
so does their release schedule.]
"Brazil"
Monty Python's Terry Gilliam directs this "comedic nightmare"
about a bureaucratic state where, among other concerns, a character
named Tuttle (Robert De Niro) has his freedom saved because a beetle
falls into a computer. Also stars Python cohort Michael Palin and
Jonathen Pryce. [The latter is the real star. De Niro's part is
apparently little more than a cameo. Pryce, who is very up and
coming in the world of British theater/film/television, is best
known to American audiences as Mr. Dark in "Something Wicked This
Way Comes".] (Universal)
"Defcon 4"
Three astronauts return to a world ravaged by nuclear war and
must fend off crazed survivors as they confront a new and terrifying
reality. (New World) [Which means it will be cheap, but not necessarily
bad.]
"Exterminators of the Year 3000"
Action-adventure about the battle between a "Road Warrio" type
hero and nuclear mutants. (New Line)
"Ladyhawke"
Rutger Hauer, Matthew Broderick, and Michell Pfeiffer are featured
in Richard Donner's exploration of the magical side of the Dark Ages.
[The coming attractions look good.] (Warner Bros.)
"The Last Dragon"
Music, dfhance, and martial arts mix it up in this Motown
production of an urban fairy tale set in New York City. [Maybe not
a fantasy film.] (Tri-Star)
"The Lift"
It's best to use the stairs in this Dutch-made horror film about
an elevator gone awry. (Island Alive) [Which doesn't usually release
cheap schlock]
"The Noah's Ark Principle"
A scientist in an orbitting U.S. weather station is ordered by
the government to divert attention from American soldiers trapped fighting
a war in the Middle East. [By broadcasting Arabic erotica instead of
weather forecasts, perhaps?] (MGM/UA)
"Primal Urge"
When an anthropology student is transported back in time
25,000 years, he tinds that prehistoric man is only half as interesting
as prehistoric woman. (Crown)
"When the Rain Begins to Fall"
The multifaceted Pia Zadora stars in a spoof of beach movies,
science fiction and rock 'n' roll where six inch aliens grow to full
height after being removed from refrigeration. Originally titled
"Voyage of the Rock Aliens". Directed by James Fargo.
"Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold"
A female Indian Jones type (Laurene Landon) sets off to find
an ancient Mayan fortune. (Crown)
"Zombie Island Massacre"
It's no quiet holiday when jet-set tourists discover a voodoo
ceremony on an island paradise. Rita Jenrette (ex-wife of ex-
Congressman John Genrette) heads the cast. [Sleazy to the max, no doubt.]
(Troma)
Early Summer
"Back to the Future"
Steven Speilberg produces the story of a teenager who travels in
time. Directed by Robert Zemeckis ("Romancins the Stone"), starring Eric
Stolz, Christopher LLoyd, Lea Thompson, and Crispin Glover. (Universal)
"The Black Cauldron"
Based on Lloyd Alexander's award winning series of books, this
epic (and costly: $25 million and 10 years in the making) Disney animated
production chronicles the struggle to gain possession of a mysterious
force capable of producing an army of deathless warriors. With an
original score by Elmer Bernstein. (Disney) (Erroneously reported in
last week's Calendar as opening in 1986.) [Word from those who have
seen clips is very good indeed. The animation is supposed to be superb.
Some hints of inappropriate comic relief have snuck out. The main
villains are apparently scary enough that Disney expects a PG rating,
its first on an animated film.]
"The Bride"
The Police's Sting stars as Baron Henry von Frankenstein, a
brilliant scientist who creates a beautiful female bride ("Flashdance's"
Jennifer Beals) for his well-known creature. The baron decides, however,
to keep the girl for himself. Directed by Franc Roddam ("Quadrophenia").
(Columbia)
"Goonies"
Steven Spielberg's production involves a group of kids who
find themselves on a comical and magical adventure. With Ke Huy Quan,
last seen as Harrison Ford's sidekick in "Indian Jones and the Temple
of Doom". Directed by Richard Donner. (Warner Bros.)
"Life Force"
The original title of this film, "Space Vampires", speaks best
for the story. Stars "The Stunt Man's" Steve Railsback. Directed by
Tobe Hooper ("Poltergeist"). (Tri-Star)
"Nuke 'Em High"
Toxic waste seeps into the water supply of a high school, creating
school daze, so to speak, and unleashing a monster on campus. Richard
Haines ("Splatter University" directs. (Troma)
"Red Sonja"
Sonja is the female version of Conan the Barbarian. Stars Arnold
Schwarzenegger (not playing Conan), Sandahl Bergman (another "Conan" alumnus)
and Brigette Nielson in the title role. Directed by Richard Fleischer
("Conan the Destroyer"). (MGM/UA)
"Return to Oz"
Dorothy Gale (newcomer Fairuza Balk) revisits the enchanted land
of Oz to rescue the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion from
the Nome King who has destroyed the Emerald City. With Nicol Williamson,
Piper Laurie, and Jean Marsh. Written and directed by Walter Murch, with
uncredited assistance from Geore Lucas and Steven Speilberg. (Disney)
"Starchaser: the Legend of Orin"
An animated 3-D film about a good boy and his space-age battles
with an evil villain. [Sounds Japanese] (Atlantic)
"Teen Wolf"
A horror-spoof comedy about a popular high school boy who suddenly
finds out that he's a werewolf. (Atlantic)
"Thunder Women"
The year is 2890, and savage Amazons rule the post-apocolyptic
wastelands of Colorado. Two men escape from their female enslavers, and
before you know it, there is equality between the sexes.
Late Summer
"Cocoon"
A group of elderly humans meet up with some young aliens who have
come to earth on a mission of mercy. Stars Steve Guttenberg, Maureen
Stapleton, and Jessica Tandy. Directed by Ron Howard. (Fox)
"Explorers"
Joe Dante ("Gremlins") directs the story of three 13-year-old
boys who create a spacecraft from spare parts found in a junkyard.
[Special makeup effects expert Rob Bottin is working on this film, so
it sounds like the kids will succeed in taking off.] (Paramount)
"Fright Night"
A 16-year-old boy, unable to persuade others that his
debonaire neighbor is really a murderous vampire, turns to the host
of a TV horro show for help. (Columbia)
"The Heavenly Kid"
Eighteen years after being killed in a car accident, a teen-ager
comes back as an angel to give another teen-ager a sense of self-worth.
(Orion)
"Legend"
Director Ridley Scott's first film since "Blade Runner" stars
Tom Cruise as hermit Jack o' the Green. The story follows the mythical
adventures of Jack and a host of goblins, faeries, elves, pixies,
leprechauns, and unicorns. (Universal)
"My Science Project"
A fantasy-adventure about a teen-ager whose desperate search for
something to turn in as his science project results in a discovery so
extraordinary that his entire high school campus crashes through new
frontiers of science into a new dimension that no one ever knew
existed. (Disney) [Disney is going in very heavy for fantasy and sf
this year.]
"Road Warrior II"
Mel Gibson is back for another go-round in the post-apocolyptic
future as Max finds a band of children living in a crack in the Earth.
George Miller, who made the original, co-directs. Tina Turner co-stars.
[I don't like the sound of this "co-direction" business...] (Warner Bros.)
"The Stuff"
The ice cream industry is in for a sudden thaw when "The Stuff"
becomes the food craze of the year. But "The Stuff" turns out to be
shockingly worse for you than ice cream: it's an all-consuming parasite.
(New World)
"Weird Science"
A teen-aged version of the "Frankenstein" story, with a pair of
awakening computer wizards creating their own very luscious monster -
played by model Kelly Le Brock. Directed by John Hughs ("Mr. Mom") and
starring Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Michael-Smith. [ A fairly blantant
attempt to rip off "The Bride".] (Universal)
"The Clan of the Cave Bear"
Daryl Hannah stars in the film adaptation of Jean Auel's best-
selling book. Hannah is Ayla, an orphaned Cro Magnon woman, who collides
with lesser Neanderthals. Written by John Sayles ("Baby It's You"),
directed by Michael Chapman ("All the Right Moves"). (Warner Bros.)
"Free Spirit"
Glenn Close, Mandy Patinkin and Ruth Gordon star in a story of
a movie flapper of the 1920s who returns from the dead and saves a
marriage in crisis. (Orion)
"Return of the Living Dead"
Not to be confused with George Romero's opuses. Corpses come
to life to seek the brains of living humans in this campy horror film.
With Clu Gulager. Screenwriter Dan O'Bannon ("Alien") makes his
directorial debut. (Orion)
Christmas
"Enemy Mine"
"Das Boot's" Wolfgang Petersen directs this tale of two enemy
space pilots - one human (Dennis Quaid), the other not (Lou Gosset, Jr.)-
as they fight and learn to respect each other in a distant galaxy.
(Fox)
"Santa Claus - The Movie"
Santa (David Huddleston) must save his activist elf (Dudley
Moore) from a greedy toy tycoon (John Lithgow) in this modern day
adventure. Jeannot Szwarc directs this reported $50 million venture by
"Superman's" Ilya and Alexander Salkind, making it the most expensive
film of 1985 - so far. [My bet is that Santa saves Moore from Lithgow,
but that no one can save the movie from Szwarc. $50 million down the tubes,
and I'm glad I'm not one of the Salkind's investors on this one.] (Tri-Star)
No Release Date announced
"Frog Dreaming"
"E.T.'s" Henry Thomas stars in a mystery adventure about a boy
whose father is killed in Vietnam. [Mark Leeper says that Variety listed
this as a fantasy film.]
"Radioactive Dreams"
Two young men emerge from a bomb shelter after spending 20 years
reading pulp novels, then dodge disco and surfer mutants as they search for
the keys necessary to launch the last MX missile. [Sound like real fun guys.]
Very tentative stuff
"The Navigator"
directed by John Avildsen ("The Karate Kid"), about a 15-year-old
Rip Van Winkle who tries to pilot a flying saucer back in time. (Disney)
"Poltergeist II"
Starring JoBeth Williams with special effects by Richard Edlund
("2010"). (MGM/UA)
"Star Trek IV" (Paramount)
"Silver Bullet" From a Stephen King story. (Paramount)
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher
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