Gary Faga Movies
- 1984
- PG
- Add Star Trek III: The Search for Spock to QueueAdd Star Trek III: The Search for Spock to top of Queue
When last we left the crew of the star ship Enterprise, they were heading home following a skirmish with the despotic Khan. The unpleasant incident had cost the life of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy)--or so it seemed. Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) is informed by Spock's father Sarek (Mark Lenard) that his son is being kept alive in the thoughts of one of the crew members. It now becomes necessary to search for Spock's body, so that flesh and soul can be rejoined on Vulcan. It turns out that Spock's spirit is residing within the mind of the Vulcan's longtime shipmate, "Bones" McCoy (DeForrest Kelley). Finding the body is another matter, since the Enterprise has been consigned to the trash heap and thus is out of Kirk's jurisdiction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, (more)
- 1983
Lensed on videotape, Emergency Room was the first presentation of the syndicated Commworld Prime Time Showcase. Sarah Purcell and LeVar Burton star in this hospital melodrama. Purcell plays the doctor in charge of the E.R., dealing not only with an onrush of patients but also with hospital red tape and an on-again, off-again romance with a fellow physician (Gary Frank). The guest cast includes Penny Peyser, Paul Stewart, Julie Sommars, Gary Lockwood and Conchata Ferrell. Most markets first saw Emergency Room in mid-July 1983. The film was barter-sponsored to local stations by Procter and Gamble, as was the second and last Commworld Prime Time Showcase effort, Desperate Intruder (see separate entry). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
With the Jerry Zucker-Jim Abrahams-David Zucker team absent, this sequel to the cash-cow 1980 spoof Airplane once again finds garrulous man-with-a-past Ted Striker (Robert Hays) compelled to take over the controls of crippled aircraft, all the while trying to patch up his relationship with stewardess Elaine (Julie Hagerty). This time, the first passenger space shuttle is launched into orbit -- and takes off for the moon - but the on-board computer malfunctions and sends the craft hurtling toward the sun, threatening the lives of everyone on board. Lloyd Bridges and Peter Graves return from the first Airplane, while William Shatner, Chad Everett, Sonny Bono, Raymond Burr and Chuck Conners join the cast, as they too lampoon their established images. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, (more)
- 1980
Vincent Sherman, who back in Hollywood's heyday directed Humphrey Bogart in The Return of Dr. X and All Through the Night, helmed the TV biopic Bogie. Unfortunately, Sherman was unable to overcome a cliched, bowdlerized screenplay, nor could he cover up the fact that star Kevin O'Connor had none of Humphrey Bogart's movie-star charisma. The film sketchily covers Bogart's life between 1899 and 1944, then zeroes in on the romance between Bogie and his To Have and Have Not leading lady Lauren Bacall, phlegmatically portrayed by Kathryn Harrold (the real Bacall reportedly refuses to see this film). Ann Wedgeworth makes a meal of her portrayal of Bogart's third wife Mayo "Sluggsy" Methot, while Bogie's close pals Patrick O'Moore and "Prince" Michael Romanoff are played, respectively, by Donald May and Alfred Ryder. Other Bogart intimates impersonated in this film include Peter Lorre (played by Herb Braham), Jack Warner (Richard Dysart), Leslie Howard (Stephen Keep), Howard Hawks (Ross Elliot), and wife #2 Mary Phillips (Carol Vogel). The script was by Daniel Tadarash, who wrote the 1949 Bogart film Knock on Any Door; it was based on Joe Hyams' affectionate (and far superior) biography of the star. Bogie was first telecast March 4, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When plans to launch a second Star Trek television series in the late 1970s were scrapped by Paramount Pictures, the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry, instead transformed the aborted program's 2-hour pilot into this big budget theatrical feature. Five years after the legendary voyages of the starship Enterprise, James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is an unhappy, desk-bound admiral at Starfleet headquarters. Kirk goes aboard his old vessel to observe its re-launch under new captain Will Decker (Stephen Collins). Soon, however, an escalating crisis causes Kirk to take command of his old ship. A mysterious, planet-sized energy force of enormous power is headed for Earth. Reunited with Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and the rest of his former colleagues, Kirk takes the Enterprise inside the massive energy cloud and discovers that it is the long-lost NASA space probe Voyager. Now a sentient being after accumulating centuries of knowledge in its deep space travels, the alien, which calls itself V'ger, has come home seeking its creator. Although not a critical home run, box office receipts for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) were strong enough to inspire a revamped television series and a long-running line of theatrical sequels. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, (more)
