Brian Thompson Movies

A walk by the seashore takes a girl on the first step of an amazing journey in this family-friendly drama. When her father loses his job and money gets tight, 14-year-old Julie Kimbell (Suzanne Marie Doyon) leaves her California home and moves with her family to Manzanita, a small town on the coast of Oregon. Julie, her parents, Robert (Brian McNamara) and Kathryn (Julia Campbell), and her bother, Jimmy (Brian Thompson), settle in with her grandpa Kimbell (Max Gail), who knows more than a little about local legends and history. When Julie has an unexpected encounter with an elk while taking a walk on the beach, she discovers an ancient gold coin. After telling her grandpa and his friend Standing Elk (Floyd Red Crow Westerman) about her experience, they tell Julie about the fabled Tillamook Treasure, a fortune in gold supposedly hidden in Manzanita in the 16th century by Spanish sailors who used nefarious means to protect their treasure from the natives. As Julie learns more of the lore of Manzanita's Native American tribes, she begins experiencing some of the magic of their people, and sees the friendly elk as a spirit link to the fabled events of four centuries before. The Tillamook Treasure took the prize as the Best Family Feature at the 2006 Newport Beach Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the concluding half of Charmed's fifth-season finale (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), the Charmed Ones must adjust to their newfound powers as Greek Goddesses without becoming seduced by those powers. As an added burden, the girls are obliged to vanquish the Titans, who have killed all existing Whitelighter Elders. As the story rushes to its cliffhanger climax, surviving Whitelighter Leo (Brian Krause) is given a choice: should he become the head elder, or remain with his wife, Piper (Holly Marie Combs), and his baby, Wyatt? Among other things, this episode marks the emergence of a new major Charmed character: mercurial Whitelighter Chris Perry, played by Drew Fuller. ~ All Movie Guide

This 2000 production recounts a famous tale from Greek mythology: the quest for the Golden Fleece. The film begins when the evil Pelias (Dennis Hopper) usurps the throne of his half-brother, Aeson, king of the Greek city of Iolcus, after murdering Aeson and marrying his wife, Polymele (Diana Kent). Aeson's child, Jason (Mickey Churchill), escapes but returns years later as a young man (Jason London) to see his mother, Polymele, and claim his royal patrimony. Pelias then threatens to kill Polymele unless Jason brings him the Golden Fleece. Made of the skull, horns, and gilded wool of a winged ram, the fleece affords protection and prosperity to the kingdom that possesses it. It hangs from a tree on sacred ground in the Black Sea port of Colchis, where an unsleeping dragon protects it. After Jason agrees to undertake a perilous ocean voyage to retrieve it, he assembles a crew that includes the mighty Hercules (Brian Thompson) and the musician Orpheus (Adrian Lester). On the long ocean voyage aboard his ship, the Argo, Jason overcomes many perils -- passing through clashing rocks and fighting deadly Harpies -- while the gods Zeus and Hera observe from the heavens and occasionally meddle in Jason's exploits. At Colchis, the King Aertes (Frank Langella) forbids Jason to carry off the fleece, for it has long protected and sustained his realm. But he relents upon learning that the gods favor the youth. However, Jason must first prove himself by yoking a fire-breathing bull. With the help of the king's daughter, Medea (Jolene Blalock), a sorceress smitten with love for him, Jason succeeds, survives further tests, kills the dragon, and returns with the fleece -- and Medea. But in Iolcus, Pelias gains control of the fleece, then sends 200 soldiers to kill Jason and his crew. Thus, Jason faces still another trial. His fate and the fates of Media, Pelias, and all of Iolcus depend on how he responds. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) makes a startling discovery after making love with Angel (David Boreanaz) for the first time -- the act of love has destroyed his human soul and turned him into the evil Angelus, a demon with the face of an angel. Angelus is now on the prowl for a human sacrifice, and he has Buffy in mind as his first kill; Buffy must do battle with him, while also fending off the all-powerful demon "The Judge" (Brian Thompson), unleashed by Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau), who can now kill his victims simply by looking at them. While Buffy's romantic problems are rather severe, her close friend Willow (Alyson Hannigan) isn't doing too well either when she learns that Xander (Nicholas Brendon) has gotten involved with Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter). "Innocence" was the second half of a two-part episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which began with "Surprise." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ostensibly picking up where the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer left off, episode one finds the vampire-stiffing Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), recently moved from Los Angeles to the ironically named suburb of Sunnydale, CA. During her first day at Sunnydale High School, Buffy meets a group of people who will define the course of her new life. Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), a popular girl at school, proffers her friendship by testing Buffy's "coolness factor." "James Spader?" Cordelia inquires. "He needs to call me," replies Buffy, without missing a beat. But Cordelia is soon dismayed when Buffy begins hanging out with the shy computer nerd Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), her friend Xander Harris ( Nicholas Brendon), and his buddy Jesse (Eric Balfour). Also among her new acquaintances is the school librarian, the very British Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), who just happens to be Buffy's Watcher, a sort of guidance counselor for vampire slayers. Giles informs Buffy that the earth is much older than commonly accepted and was once populated by demons and vampires; only vestiges of the great evil still exist. Through Giles, we also learn that after every slayer dies, another is born to take her place, and 17-year-old Buffy is the Chosen One. That night, Buffy meets the enigmatic and mysterious Angel (David Boreanaz), who warns her that Sunnydale is located on the Hellmouth -- a kind of mecca for demons and vampires of all sorts -- and the accompanying "Harvest," when vampires will attempt to take over the earth, is soon approaching. Buffy is resistant to donning her mantle as the Slayer, unaware that in catacombs beneath Sunnydale, the Master (Mark Metcalf) -- a very old and powerful vampire, trapped for 60 years underground -- is now being awakened by his minion Luke (Brian Thompson) to be set free by the Harvest. Originally aired on March 10, 1996, "Welcome to the Hellmouth" is part one of the show's two-part pilot episode. ~ All Movie Guide

In the second episode of the series, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and friends Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), and Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) band together to stop a group of vampires from fulfilling an ancient prophecy called "The Harvest." The Harvest will allow Luke (Brian Thompson), a vampire supernaturally connected to The Master (Mark Metcalf) -- a very old, powerful, and angry vampire -- to feed on humans and thereby give him strength. The Master, viewers learn, was imprisoned in catacombs underneath Sunnydale 60 years earlier by an earthquake while attempting to open the Hellmouth, and is trapped underground until The Harvest is complete. When Luke sends some vampires out for food, they subsequently capture Xander's buddy Jesse and use him as bait to lure Buffy into a trap. Buffy, who now understands her destiny to be the Slayer, dutifully chases after Jesse. Buffy and Xander find Jesse in the catacombs only to realize that he has already been turned into a vampire. Meanwhile, Luke and his vampires are attacking all the club-going teens at The Bronze to fulfill The Harvest prophecy. Buffy and her cohorts come to the rescue just in time to stop them, during which Xander accidentally kills Jesse. Most of the vampires (including Luke) are killed, but Darla (Julie Benz), a vampire who figures heavily in future episodes, gets away. Originally aired on March 10, 1996, "The Harvest" is the second half of the two-part pilot episode. ~ All Movie Guide

Despite his spotty previous record, Quark is recruited by Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn) for the next session of Gamma Quadrant Negotiations. This occurs just after Quark has himself recruited a new partner. Little does he realize that his male cohort is actually a disguised female Ferengi outlaw named Pel (Helene Udy). He also doesn't suspect that Pel has fallen in love with him, a fact that could prove ruinous for them both. Scripted by Ira Steven Behr from a story by Hilary J. Bader, "Rules of Acquistion" originally aired November 6, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter Davison stars as bespectacled, aristocratic private detective Albert Campion in this two-part adaptation of Margery Allingham's novel Flowers for the Judge. Campion finds it curous that no one seems terribly concerned when the director of London's prestigious House of Barnabas publishing firm suddenly vanishes. An investigation is conducted the vault in the director's office, yielding a rare old manuscript--and also the missing man's corpse. With a plethora of suspects and a paucity of clues, Campion may not be able to solve this case, which by his own admission has "more holes than a string bag." In America, "lowers for the Judge" was telecast December 27, 1990, and January 3, 1991 as part of the PBS anthology Mystery! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cmdr. Riker is chosen as the first Federation officer to participate in an exchange program with the Klingons. He is assigned to take charge of the Klingon vessel Pagh, fully intending to take whatever comes with the territory, including a meal of serpent worms and a strange bacteria which seems to have infested the ship. Disaster looms when Riker's new superior, Klingon Captain Kargon, assumes that the bacteria is the handiwork of the Federation and orders Riker to attack and destroy the Enterprise. Originally telecast February 11, 1989, "A Matter of Honor" was written by Burton Armus, Wanda M. Haight, and Gregory Amos. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this vaguely allegorical science fiction-crime film, a Los Angeles cop tries to solve the murder of his best friend with the help of his new partner -- a member of a star-faring alien race. In the near-future world of Alien Nation, the "Newcomers" are a race of formerly enslaved humanoids seeking refuge and integration into Earth society. These unusual immigrants face anger and resentment from some humans, including Matthew Sykes (James Caan), a cop whose partner, Tug (Roger Aaron Brown), was killed in a shoot-out with several Newcomers. In order to get some insight into Newcomer society and track down the "slags" who killed Tug, Sykes volunteers to take on a new partner,Sam "George" Francisco (Mandy Patinkin), the first alien ever promoted to the rank of detective. As Sykes tries to overcome his bigotry against George and his kind, who eat raw beaver and get drunk on spoiled milk, the friendly, helpful George soon learns the identity of Tug's killer: William Harcort (Terrence Stamp), a pillar of Newcomer society who is secretly manufacturing the same powerful narcotic that was used to enslave his race. It's up to Sykes and George to stop Harcort before he turns his fellow Newcomers into drooling addicts and pulls the skeletons out of his race's closet for all of humankind to see. Omen 3 director Graham Baker made his screenwriting debut with Alien Nation, as did co-writer Rockne S. O'Bannon. Kenneth Johnson, creator of the miniseries V, would adapt Alien Nation into a weekly television show in 1989 and several made-for-TV movies in the mid-'90s. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

In the concluding half of Moonlighting's pilot episode (originally telecast as a single 97-minute TV movie), impoverished former fashion model Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) has been talked out of liquidating her sole asset, the Blue Moon Detective Agency, by flippant private eye David Addison (Bruce Willis). She has also been plunged into a baffling mystery involving a dead man and a broken watch. As reluctant partners Maddie and David face numerous perils together, a relationship of sorts develops--namely, they can't survive without each other, and they can't live with each other! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Convicted murderer Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald had hoped that, by telling his side of the story to investigative journalist Joe McGinniss, the authorities would be persuaded of MacDonald's innocence. Instead, McGinniss ended up unswerving in his belief of MacDonald's guilt, and the result was the devastating best-seller Fatal Vision. In this two-part TV adaptation of McGinniss' book, Gary Cole plays MacDonald, a former Green Beret officer, while Frank Dent essays the role of McGinniss. MacDonald's wife and two children are brutally murdered in their Fort Bragg, North Carolina home on February 17, 1970. The prime suspect, MacDonald insists that the killings were committed by a gang of stoned-out hippies, a story that at first is accepted in toto by the doctor's father-in-law Freddy Kassab (Karl Malden). But after MacDonald is officially exonerated, Kassab notices several holes in his son-in-law's story, and becomes convinced that MacDonald was in fact the murderer. Through Kassab's persistence, as well as the uncovering of new forensic evidence, MacDonald is ultimately convicted for all three murders in 1979. Since the TV premiere of Fatal Vision on November 18 and 19, 1984, there has been a growing movement by MacDonald's sympathizers to discredit McGinniss' book and to retry the case--a movement that has been hampered time and again by MacDonald's own erratic behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this action thriller, a mercenary uses every trick he knows to save his lover from the clutches of a South American dictator. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide