John Erwin Movies

Things have barely settled from the excitement and resolve of the original Back to the Future, when in pops that crazy inventor Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) with news that in order to prevent a series of events that could ruin the McFly name for posterity, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox ) and his girlfriend are whisked into the future to the year 2015, where Marty must tangle with a teen rogue named Griff, who's obviously the descendant of Biff, the first Future film's bully. Marty foils Griff and his group when he jumps on an air-foil skateboard that flies him through town at rakish speeds with the loser bullies beaten again. Marty gets a money-making brainstorm before hopping in the time-traveling DeLorean, and he purchases a sports almanac. He figures that back in 1985 he'll be able to place sure-fire bets using the published sports scores of the games that are yet to happen. Unfortunately for Marty, Dr. Brown disapproves of his betting scheme -- he feels too much messing with time is very dangerous -- and he tosses the almanac. A hidden Biff overhears the discussion about the almanac, sees it get tossed out, and grabs it. Thus begins a time-traveling swirl to make the head spin. Biff swipes the DeLorean, heads back to 1955, and with the help of the unerring almanac, bets his way to power. The now-altered "Biff world" has turned into a nightmarish scene with Biff the mogul, residing in a Vegas-styled pleasure palace and running everything. It's all our hero Marty can do to pull the pieces together this time, as he must jump between three generations of intertwined time travel. The end of Back to the Future, Part 2 introduces its sequel as the zany professor has already time-dashed away to the Wild West of the late 1800s and invites Marty into a new adventure. ~ All Movie Guide

This sword-and-sorcery animated feature basically stars two "toys" -- She-Ra (voice of Melanie Britt) and He-Man (voice of John Erwin). Princess Adora has a special destiny -- to manifest as She-Ra and save Etheria from the really nasty Horde -- but she is not aware of her power-to-be. When Prince Adam (who is really He-Man) goes to Etheria to find the future She-Ra, his job is cut out for him -- or at least drawn out in standard animation but with added visual tricks that entertain the eye. He and She-Ra wreak havoc on the nasties, so violence is not absent -- just concentrated on the enemies. This feature was quickly followed by She-Ra: Princess of Power in 1986. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Season One of the daily, half-hour animated series (and extended toy commercial!) He-Man and the Masters of the Universe jumps in and starts swimming when, wasting no time, the evil Skeletor steals a cosmic comet in order to break into Castle Grayskull and accumulated the wisdom and power of the Council of Elders that will enable him to take control of the planet Eternia. Fortunately, the planet's half-human regent Prince Adam prevents this coup by transforming himself into the muscular superhero He-Man. Within a few minutes, virtually all the important characters, and the central situation, are set up without the necessity of a windy backstory. 65 episodes are featured this season, virtual each one a self-contained story, each adhering to a basic formula: Skeletor wants power; He-Man won't let him have it; Skeletor relies upon allies and inventions which prove unreliable; He-Man can always depend on his loyal comrades Orko, Man-at-Arms et. al. Along the way, we find out that Adam/He-Man has an obnoxious, snooty cousin, who of course learns the error of his ways; but we still haven't learned (and indeed won't learn for the next two years) of He-Man's more significant relative: his twin sister Adora, aka She-Ra, ruler of the "parallel" planet Etheria. Highlights include an "origins" episode, in which Adam explains how he converted the morphing robot Man-E-Faces from evil to good; and the two-parter "The House of Shokoti", in which He-Man is dispatched to the Sands of Time by the mysterious Sorceress to solve the mystery of a pyramid that has suddenly materialized, and just as suddenly vanished (shades of 2001: A Space Odyssey, perhaps?) Jump in and start swimming with Skeletor stealing a cosmic comet in order to break into castle Grayskull. All the characters quickly set up without the necessity of a backstory. Each episode self-contained. Skeletor tends to rely on allies and inventions which invariably backfire.Along the way, we find out that Adam has an obnoxious cousin, the snooty Prince Jeremy, but he learns his lesson along with the rest of the audience. Haven't yet met She-Ra. One of the few "origin" episodes, Adam tells how he converted Man-E-Faces from evil to good. In the last episode of the season, "The Heart of a Giant", the spotlight is on He-Man's comical sidekick Orko, who has been forced to perform his rather seedy magic tricks in a sinister travelling circus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This animated TV special was cobbled together with scenes from the Saturday-morning The Archie Show and the 1969 special Archie and His New Friends. Once again, those lovable comic-book teenagers Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Reggie are in the middle of a highly competitive student election at Riverdale High School. Songs include the bubble-gum classic "Sugar, Sugar", as well as "You've Got to Have an Image", "Jingle Jangle", and "Who's My Baby?" The program originally aired March 22, 1970, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This action film set just after the Civil War tends to stay on the surface of the story instead of diving deeper into character motivation. A group of Union Army soldiers is charged with protecting a box of gold and getting it to its rightful place within the government coffers. As might be expected, their biggest enemies are former Confederate soldiers who have their own ideas about what to do with the gold. Battles and skirmishes succeed each other as the fight for the gold begins, and even some of the Union men start to wonder if the gold would not be better off in their own hands. Dissension splits the ranks as the drama heads towards its conclusion. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide