Flight of Navigator Review (no video)
May 12, 2008
Written by:
Mark H. Baker writer
Michael Burton writer
Matt MacManus writer
A young boy chases his dog into the woods, falls in a ravine. He loses consciousness for a few seconds. When we comes to and runs back to his home, he finds that his parents are not there. He is 8 years in the future. He is still 12, but his family and the world are 8 year in the future (1986). How did he get 8 years into the future? And can he return?
This is one of my favorite movies of the 80’s. It plays on the fantasies of a 12 year old boy having control of a highly advanced space craft. The boy is Joey Cramer. Cramer played in a few other 80s movies. Flight of the Navigator has a group of very familiar faces: Cliff De Young, Veronica Cartwright, Howard Hesse, and Sarah Jessica Parker. Paul Rueben actually did a voice over in the film. One thing I noticed is that of the 40 or so credited actors only about 6 have still active and doing movies and TV regularly, so only 15%. I wonder if this means there is only about a 15% chance of the serious actors making it.
Aside from the story, Alan Silvestri’s music to Flight of the Navigator is my favorite thing about the movie. Looking through is extensive body of work, I can see hes done a lot of my favorite movie music: Polar Express, Forest Gump, The Bodyguard, Back to the Future II, Predator, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Abyss and many others (he’s done over 100 movies).
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006293/
Popularity: 5% [?]
80s Movie Review: Flight of the Navigator
May 5, 2008
Written by:
Mark H. Baker writer
Michael Burton writer
Matt MacManus writer
A young boy chases his dog into the woods, falls in a ravine. He loses consciousness for a few seconds. When we comes to and runs back to his home, he finds that his parents are not there. He is 8 years in the future. He is still 12, but his family and the world are 8 year in the future (1986). How did he get 8 years into the future? And can he return?
This is one of my favorite movies of the 80’s. It plays on the fantasies of a 12 year old boy having control of a highly advanced space craft. The boy is Joey Cramer. Cramer played in a few other 80s movies. Flight of the Navigator has a group of very familiar faces: Cliff De Young, Veronica Cartwright, Howard Hesse, and Sarah Jessica Parker. Paul Rueben actually did a voice over in the film. One thing I noticed is that of the 40 or so credited actors only about 6 have still active and doing movies and TV regularly, so only 15%. I wonder if this means there is only about a 15% chance of the serious actors making it.
Aside from the story, Alan Silvestri’s music to Flight of the Navigator is my favorite thing about the movie. Looking through is extensive body of work, I can see hes done a lot of my favorite movie music: Polar Express, Forest Gump, The Bodyguard, Back to the Future II, Predator, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Abyss and many others (he’s done over 100 movies).
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006293/
Some of Alan Silvestri’s Music:
Popularity: 6% [?]
Ghostbuster2: 80s Rewind Review
April 19, 2008
Well I guess we’re gonna have to take control!
Bobby Brown’s GhostBusters song stands out to me more than anything else when I recall GhostBusters 2. Not Viggo, or the river of Slime, or Sigourney Weaver and not even the Statue of Liberty Walking through New York City.. Bobby Brown’s song. And the video looks cool too, although it looks more like an ad for New York City tourism.
I have to say it: Ghostbusters 2 is just not as good as part 1. There.. I said it. I do recall that it had way more hype and anticipation than Ghostbusters 1. For one thing, there were no Terror Dogs. After seeing Dan Akroyd (the writer of Ghostbusters) speak on the DVD its easy to see he is the mad genius behind the whole thing. Harold Ramis (co-writer) mentions in the commentary on part 1 that Dan had originally wanted it to be about a future in which “ghost busting” is like a bug exterminator type job, blue collar and common place. Its easy to see that Dan was very much held back in his creativity.
Speaking of commentary, you won’t see that or any other extras on the GhostBusters 2 DVD, which, for me, makes it unbuyable. Correction, it has something on there about the GhostBuster’s cartoon but thats about it (unless you count scene selection).
I always thought the Statue of Liberty bit was corny (unlike the Stay PUft Marshmallow Man in part 1, which was somehow brilliant). The bad guy was kind of cool, but then he’s defeated by “NYC happiness” as soon as he’s about to put his foot in New York City’s collective ass (let me just say - New York City happiness is like saying “holy war” or “compassionate conservative” - a meaning contradiction. The cast was great (you can’t go wrong with Bill Murray & Rick Moranis) but the plot seemed too commercialized for me.
Another thing that really sucked to me was the GhostBusters II Run DMC rap. It is embarrassingly weak especially considering that I idolized these guys after Tougher than Leather.
Whatever is said about GB2, the GhostBusters franchise still captures the imaginations of people all over the world:
Return of the GhosterBusters
GhostBusters 3: Ghostbusters in Hell
GhostBusters Exteme
Popularity: 8% [?]
“Red Dawn” (August, 1984)
April 8, 2008
I was only slightly older than my 10 year-old 5th grade son when Red Dawn hit the theaters. It was a “big kids” movie, the first to be released in theaters with a PG-13 rating in fact. I remember the movie poster being so cool with the parachutes coming down over a sleepy Anytown, USA. A young kid with a wild imagination I had day dreamed it up happening at my school and me and my friends taking up arms and beating back the Russians and “the Spanish dudes” (I don’t think I knew what a Cuban was back then). Anyway, I thought the movie was badass and full of some very cool scenes. I couldn’t wait to see the scene with the kids rising from their hiding places in the grass and wasting a bunch of pursuing Russian soldiers. That’s still one of the best parts in the movie to me. That and the dad hollering, “Avenge me!” from behind the cyclone fence at the war camp.
So I watched the movie again the other day and got flooded with a ton of memories. It’s still a great movie in the “popcorn movie” sense, but the huge leaps of logic and screenplay guffaws will ask that you check your 80’s basic world military pecking order arrangement and good common sense at the door before taking a seat. The day firkin’ Cuba catches the USA with its collective pants down and proceeds to invade us and march clear up to Illinois ravaging and pillaging all the way , monkeys will promptly fly from my arse.
So go ahead and rent it, you’ll enjoy it at least as much as a re-showing of “American Ninja” or “The Toxic Avenger”.
Popularity: 8% [?]
“Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” (June, 1981)
March 28, 2008
It was the summer between the 2nd and 3rd grade when this movie was released. I had caught the trailers on TV and recall the excitement and animated descriptions by the older kids who had been lucky enough to see it in theaters. However, my parents weren’t ballers and it was rated PG so my lil ass wasn’t gonna see it with them no way. Sigh. So without actually seeing the movie I had to settle for playing Indiana Jones from mostly imagination. With a cap gun and an old fishing hat playing as the brown fedora’s stunt double, I was almost set. Of course everyone had to make themselves a fake whip back then too. We used sticks and miscellaneous string, speaker wire, or even yarn (had to tie a small pebble at the end to give it some weight). Heck, if you were really lucky, you had access to an authentic leather one. By show of hands, how many of you including me popped they self in the face at least once? Huh? Just me, eh? Well damn. Guess I’m the only uncoordinated “ghetto geek” in the room.
Anyway… I wouldn’t see Indy in action myself until much later on like on Beta or VHS, I don’t recall exactly. But wow, IT was the shit! There was Han freaking Solo knockin suckas out left and right and crackin that whip like a gangsta! I was mesmerized.
Of course the Temple of Doom Diddy would come out 3 years later and be even better!
So what do I think now? Watching it as an adult ghetto geek on the wrong side of 35? In a word, it’s classic. Dude is still bustin heads like I remembered. And doin it with his bare hands at that! With green screen CG, wire-fu, and an over dependence on firearms and blades that’s rampant in today’s silver screen fare, watchin this cat just chunk ‘em like that was refreshing. Like snackin on something you ain’t had in a minute (shout out to Honeybuns, Slapstix, and watermelon flavored Now & Laters). I admit, yeah, he may have pulled his pistol and capped a few cats here and there, but only when throwin’ hands wasn’t an option. Was it all good? Nah. A few technical flaws, some forced logic leaps of faith (the German sub scene comes to mind), and slight pacing issues were noticeable to my adult eyes. But all in all, not enough to mar this piece. Before I forget special recognition to the costume crew and Lucas for making/allowing Indy to look so grimy and dirty. It totally sells the character. Folks, I definitely endorse re-watching it again. I introduced my 10 year old to it last night and he thought it was pretty cool. Though he did ask me why he (Jones) didn’t just shoot everyone instead of taking the arse kickings he was getting in a few of the fights.
“Son,” I say,”they just don’t make ‘em like they used to no more.”
Popularity: 9% [?]
Top 9 Cool Kids (Groups & Duo’s) from the 80s
December 22, 2007
Corey Haim & Corey Feldman
The Corey’s were perhaps the coolest kids of the 80’s. With movies like Dream a Little Dream, License to Drive, and the Lost Boys how can you NOT be cool. Their string of successful movies in the 80’s put them on the top of the list. These movies are not only a success, they are classics. Feldman even hung out with Micheal Jackson. This was an instant coolness factor in the 80s.
Alex P. Keaton (Micheal J. Fox)
Alex P. Keaton was a young business minded conservative (baby neo-con). He was always trying to find a new angle to make money and slip in a political view or two.
While this doesn’t sound like a cool character, Micheal J. Fox made it work. He was a bit of a scheming master mind like Ferris Bueller. The Alex P. Keaton character went on to become a Congressman… Republican of course.
Ricky Shroder (Silver Spoons) & Alberto Ribeiro
Ricky Shroder had the looks & Alfonso Ribeiro had the moves. As 80’s kids we wanted to be both of them. We wanted to be rich like Ricky Statton and be able to break dance like Alfonso Spears. Aside from the “lap of luxury” house, I remember all of Ricky’s cool toys.
Molly Ringwald
Breakfast Club, Breakfast Club, Breakfast club. Sure she was hot (IS HOT) in everything she has been in but Molly is eclipsed by the Breakfast Club. Its a cult classic. It will never die. It will be here after you me and Molly are gone. In the 80’s Molly usually played the cute and/or popular teen trying to over come basic teenage problems.
Mike Seaver (Kirk Cameron)
Kirk Cameron used to symbolize the coolest of the cool. Now he symbolizes Evangelical Christian fundamentalism. In the 80’s Kirk Cameron was Mike Seaver a handsome, sly teen who always had very good looking girls after him.
Tony Hawk
Tony Hawk was born ’68 which means he was a teen in the 80’s. Even back then he was a house hold name.
Menudo
People seem to have forgotten how cool these kids were. I guess some 90’s one hit wonder named “Ricky Martin” used to be in Menudo, but his temporary success pales in comparison to the fame these kids had (sarcasm). I recall the little train dance they used to do that drove the girls crazy. I used to think it was cool but now it looks slightly disturbing.
New Edition
They were the closest thing to the Jackson 5 that the 80’s could produce. Instead of Micheal Jackson they had Bobby Brown. It was Ralph Tresvant, Bobby Brown, and Ricky Bell and rappers Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe — “Coolness Confirmed”. They also started the wave of modern boy bands… The Terminator might have to travel back and take them out for that.
Ferris Bueller
What kid wouldn’t want to hack into the schools computers and change their grades, skip school and sing in a parade.
Honorable mention:
Joey Lawerence
Debbie Gibson
Ernie Reyes Jr.
Things the cool 80’s kids do:
Push your sleeves up, break dance, meet Micheal Jackson, imitate Micheal Jackson, star in a classic movie, star in a hit 80’s TV show, be a successful 80’s music group, be attractive, wear your collar flipped up, where a cool hat.
Popularity: 39% [?]
Flux Capacitor
December 7, 2007
I want one of these for my Toyota Corolla..
Popularity: 5% [?]
80’s Homemade montage
December 4, 2007
Popularity: 5% [?]
Be your inner Jedi with the starwars lightsabre battles game.
January 2, 2006
This thing rocks; I just saw it for the first time. Pretty decent
little light sabre game you play on tv with a dedicated console. Not
just for kids, this is the thing people will start doing at 4:25.
Popularity: 27% [?]
Knight Rider movie is a GO!
January 2, 2006
Will you go see it? Apparently the problem was with Hasselhof and crew
at odds with the studio about KITT talking. Now it's just a matter of
time.
Popularity: 37% [?]
