David Gilbert
- 1991
The lauded Godfather films, about the Corleone family and the complicated workings of their Mob-related business and private lives, are among the most-watched movies in history. Created by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, the first two films were made in the 1970s and the third almost 20 years later. This documentary looks back at the making of all three films, presenting memorable scenes from each movie, behind-the scenes footage, screen tests, interviews with stars (including Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando, Andy Garcia, James Caan, Talia Shire, and others), and director Coppola's reminiscences about the filmmaking process at the time. ~ Alice Duncan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Gilbert
- 1988
The inmates of an insane asylum and Indian bureaucrats react to the sweeping political changes of 1947 when over a million people died in the conflict that led to the establishment of Pakistan. Actors often play dual roles as they portray bureaucrats and the hopelessly insane. Little insight of the historical causes for the partition is given in the feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roshan Seth, Zohra Segal, (more)
- 1986
- R
This confusing horror movie tells the terrible tale of three lovely adolescent girls whose dates are zombified by a crazed scientist and his equally looney assistant. Things get really messy when the new zombies attack the scientist's own daughter. Fortunately, she is smart and manages to stop them with her super computer. The film features violence and gratuitous nudity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Debbie Laster, Debra Hunter, (more)
Jon Chardiet plays a Puerto Rican youth who targets subway walls for his graffiti renderings. For a while, it looks as though Chardiet's problems will carry the plotline, but before long the film's true raison d'etre comes to the surface. Rap-music deejay Guy Davis, in tandem with such like-minded individuals as music student Rae Dawn Chong, endeavor to stage a huge breakdancing presentation, featuring several musical artistes of the period. Harry Belafonte served as coproducer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rae Dawn Chong, Guy Davis, (more)
- 1984
In this action thriller, a CIA agent and his team of four trained ninja commandos accept the risky business of going undercover to Russia and breaking into a Soviet prison in order to bring back a scientist who invented a new energy source. The KGB and Soviet army are out to stop them at all costs, and after the agent and his men are on the way, the bloody battles with weapons ranging from machine guns to dart guns begin at once, and never stop. The real stars of this actioner are the fighting acrobatics, flying bullets, multiple killings, sudden stabbings, silent garrottings, and messy hackings that dispense both with the enemies and with any need to act. So if the plot and acting are a little thin and anemic, the action is still dense enough to cover that up. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- PG
- AddClose Encounters of the Third Kindto QueueAddClose Encounters of the Third Kindto top of Queue
Steven Spielberg followed Jaws (1975), his first major box-office success, with this epic science fiction adventure about a disparate group of people who attempt to contact alien intelligence. Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is an electrical lineman who, while sent out on emergency repairs, witnesses an unidentified flying object, and even has a "sunburn" from its bright lights to prove it. Neary's wife and children are at first skeptical, then concerned, and eventually fearful, as Roy refuses to accept a "logical" explanation for what he saw and is prepared to give up his job, his home, and his family to pursue the "truth" about UFOs. Neary's obsession eventually puts him in contact with others who've had close encounters with alien spacecraft, including Jillian (Melinda Dillon), a single mother whose son disappeared during her UFO experience, and Claude Lacombe (celebrated French filmmaker François Truffaut), a French researcher who believes that we can use a musical language to communicate with alien visitors. Lacombe's theory is put to the test when a band of government researchers and underground UFO enthusiasts (including Neary) join for an exchange with alien visitors near Devil's Tower, Wyoming. In 1980, a "Special Edition" was released. While its primary selling point was the addition of scenes inside the alien spaceship, Spielberg claimed that he also cleaned up some choppy editing in the second act. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, (more)
