Twilight Zone: The Movie
1983 film by Steven Spielberg, John Landis, George Miller, Joe Dante
Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 film that contains four horror/sci-fi segments directed by four famous directors which are their own versions of classic stories from Rod Serling's landmark television series.
- Directed by John Landis (prologue and "Time Out" segment), Steven Spielberg ("Kick the Can" segment), Joe Dante ("It's a Good Life" segment), and George Miller ("Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" segment). Written by John Landis (prologue and segment 1), George Clayton Johnson (original screenplay 'Kick the Can', segment 2), Richard Matheson and Melissa Mathison (segment 2), Jerome Bixby (story 'It's a Good Life', segment 3), Richard Matheson (segment 3), Richard Matheson (short story 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet' and screenplay, segment 4).
You're traveling through another dimension. A dimension, not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!
Narrator
edit- You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into... the Twilight Zone.
- [Opening Narration for Segment 1] You're about to meet an angry man. Mr. William Connor, who carries on his shoulder a chip the size of the national debt. This is a sour man, a lonely man, who's tired of waiting for the breaks that come to others, but never to him. Mr. William Connor, whose own blind hatred is about to catapult him into the darkest corner of the Twilight Zone.
- [Opening Narration for Segment 2] It is sometimes said that where there is no hope, there is no life. Case in point: the residents of Sunnyvale Rest Home, where hope is just a memory. But hope just checked into Sunnyvale, disguised as an elderly optimist, who carries his magic in a shiny tin can.
- [Opening Narration for Segment 3] Portrait of a woman in transit. Helen Foley, age 27. Occupation: schoolteacher. Up until now, the pattern of her life has been one of unrelenting sameness, waiting for something different to happen. Helen Foley doesn't know it yet, but her waiting has just ended.
- [Opening Narration for Segment 4] What you're looking at could be the end of a particularly terrifying nightmare. It isn't. It's the beginning. Introducing Mr. John Valentine, air traveler. His destination: the Twilight Zone.
Rod Serling
edit- There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space, and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.
Car Passenger
edit- Hey... you wanna see something really scary?
Mr. Bloom
edit- The day we stop playing is the day we start getting old.
- I found out - a long, long time ago - that I wanted to be my own true age...while keeping a young mind.
- (Seeing Conroy play "Kick the Can" solo, Bloom breaks the Fourth Wall) ...He'll get it.
Tim
edit- [dripping sarcasm, as he admonishes his friend for bullying Anthony] ...Oh, that was good. That was real good.
Anthony
edit- [after transporting his sister Ethel into a cartoon world where she is eaten by a cartoon dragon] Th-th-th-that's all, Ethel!
Dialogue
edit- German Officer 1: [in German to Bill Connor] Bist Du Engländer? Was machst du hier? ("Are you English? What are you doing here?")
- German Officer 2: Sie sind Amerikaner? Warum bist du hier? ("You are an American? Why are you here?")
- German Officer 1: Was machst du hier? Was machst du hier! ("What are you doing here? What are you doing here!")
- Mrs. Dempsey: Mrs. Cox would never allow us. It's against the rules.
- Mr. Bloom: Rules? Did rules ever stop a child from playing?
- Helen Foley: Anthony, where are we?
- Anthony: Nowhere.
- Helen Foley: And the others?
- Anthony: I sent them where they wanted to go. Away from me. It's not fair! You're supposed to be happy when your wishes come true!
- Helen Foley: Anthony, take us back. Can you take us back?
- Anthony: So you can leave too?
- Helen Foley: And go where, Anthony? I've seen what you can do. I know you have a power... a gift that makes you special. You better be careful. For one day it may become too big for you to control. Now maybe. Just maybe. Together we can master it and learn from it. Use it in ways you never thought of before. I'd like to be your teacher, Anthony. And your student.
- Anthony: You'd stay with me?
- Helen Foley: Yes.
- Anthony: Always?
- Helen Foley: Always.
- John Valentine: [just saw the weird creature on the wing of the plane] There's a man on the wing of this plane!
- [Everyone looks out the windows on his side, but the creature has disappeared]
- John Valentine: There was somebody out there. You gotta believe me!
- Old Woman: I saw him. Green and slimy.
- Old Man: Leave the poor man alone.
- Old Woman: I'm only trying to help. You've got to humor them.
- John Valentine: It was lightning. At first I thought it was animal. Some kind of bird or something. But it was a man! There were flames coming out of the engine, and a flash of smoke. Maybe it was a technician who was caught on the side of the plane when it took off. How could he survive out there? The air's so thin, the blast of the wind. It's so cold. [begins to think it was only his imagination and feels embarrassed] It's impossible, isn't it? Oh my god, I feel so stupid! [takes sedatives to sleep. Then laughs nervously] Can you imagine? A naked man crawling along the wing of an airplane at 35,000 feet?
- Co-Pilot: Mr. Valentine, what do you think's wrong with this aircraft?
- John Valentine: [tries to think of something else, since no one will believe him about the creature] There's an engine out.
- Co-Pilot: Which one?
- John Valentine: The one on the outside. Outboard No. 1. It's out, isn't it?
- Co-Pilot: What makes you think that?
- John Valentine: Never mind about that. It's true, isn't it?
- Co-Pilot: Nine minutes ago, Outboard No. 1 was struck by lightning, there was a flame out, we lost it.
- John Valentine: Lightning?
- Co-Pilot: Lightning. Mr. Valentine, this aircraft has four engines. The possibility of us losing one, remaining three, is remote in the extremes.
- John Valentine: You sure it was just lightning?
- Co-Pilot: Absolutely. Listen, we're gonna be landing in about twenty minutes. There is the highest probability that we will survive this flight.
- John Valentine: [laughs in fear and disbelief] Okay.
- Ambulance Driver: So, you had a pretty big scare up there, huh?
- John Valentine: [chuckles embarrassingly] Oh, yeah!
- Ambulance Driver: [smiles] You wanna see something really scary?
Cast
edit- Burgess Meredith - Narrator
- Rod Serling - Narrator
Prologue
edit- Dan Aykroyd - Car Passenger
- Albert Brooks - Car Driver
Time Out (Segment 1)
edit- Vic Morrow - Bill Connor
- Doug McGrath - Larry
- Charles Hallahan - Ray
Kick the Can (Segment 2)
edit- Scatman Crothers - Mr. Bloom
- Bill Quinn - Leo Conroy
- Martin Garner - Mr. Weinstein
- Selma Diamond - Mrs. Weinstein
- Helen Shaw - Mrs. Dempsey
- Murray Matheson - Mr. Agee
- Peter Brocco - Mr. Mute
- Priscilla Pointer - Miss Cox
It's a Good Life (Segment 3)
edit- Kathleen Quinlan - Helen Foley
- Jeremy Licht - Anthony
- Kevin McCarthy - Uncle Walt
- Patricia Barry - Mother
- William Schallert - Father
- Nancy Cartwright - Ethel
- Dick Miller - Walter Paisley
- Cherie Currie - Sara
- Bill Mumy - Tim
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (Segment 4)
edit- John Lithgow - John Valentine
- Abbe Lane - Sr. Stewardess
- Donna Dixon - Jr. Stewardess
- John Dennis Johnston - Co-Pilot
- Larry Cedar - Gremlin