Ed Gale Movies

Directed by Robert Zemeckis and based on children's author Chris Van Allsburg's modern holiday classic of the same name, The Polar Express revolves around Billy (Hayden McFarland), who longs to believe in Santa Claus but finds it quite difficult to do so, what with his family's dogged insistence that all of it, from the North Pole, to the elves, to the man himself, is all just a myth. This all changes, however, on Christmas Eve, when a mysterious train visits Billy in the middle of the night, promising to take him and a group of other lucky children to the North Pole for a visit with Santa. The train's conductor (Tom Hanks) along with the other passengers help turn Billy's crisis in faith into a journey of self-discovery. A long-time fan of Van Allsburg's book, Hanks also helped produce the film. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

The pride of Frostbite Falls and Whatsamatta U's most famous alumni find their way onto the big screen (and the real world) in this comedy inspired by the popular cartoon series. Years after their TV show is cancelled, Rocky the Flying Squirrel (voice of June Foray) and Bullwinkle J. Moose (voice of Keith Scott) are barely getting by on residual checks; they're wondering what to do next when Fearless Leader (Robert De Niro), the evil genius of Pottsylvania, transforms himself from a cartoon into a living, breathing, nasty human being, thanks to the assistance of television executive Minnie Mogul (Janeane Garofalo). With the help of his newly flesh-and-blood henchmen Boris Badenov (Jason Alexander) and Natasha Fatale (Rene Russo), Fearless Leader plots to take over the world by using television to zombify people and then persuading the masses to elect him president. Can the daring flying squirrel and the well-meaning but not especially bright moose stop them? Unlike the TV show, which made a virtue of its unsophisticated animation, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle employs a technically sophisticated blend of computer-generated animated characters (Rocky and Bullwinkle) and live actors (Fearless Leader, Boris, and Natasha). Human beings making guest appearances include Randy Quaid, John Goodman, and Jonathan Winters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Widower Jake Barnes (Dirk Benedict) moves with his daughter and son to a fishing village in Alaska, and earns his keep as a bush pilot by ferrying supplies to remote locations throughout the state. While the daughter loves her new home, the son cannot stand it, and is impatiently waiting until he is grown up enough to move away. However, they join forces to look for their father when they learn that he has gone down in an airplane accident. The official search party is called off and Jake is assumed dead, but the children will have none of it, and go off on their own into the Alaskan wilderness. Along the way, they thwart a big-game poacher (Charlton Heston) and his sidekick, and learn about survival in the wilderness. A highlight of the film is its fine footage of wild Alaska. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, and the other characters made famous in the Our Gang shorts of the 1920s and 1930s are brought back to life in this nostalgic children's comedy. Although the setting is the present day, the characters remain much the same, down to their old-fashioned clothing and their membership in the "He-man Womun Haters Club." When Alfalfa (Bug Hall) starts to question his devotion to the club's principles after falling for the beautiful nine-year old Darla (Brittany Ashton Holmes), the rest of the gang sets out to keep them apart. An attempt to win the grand prize in a go-cart race also comes into play, providing opportunities for physical comedy, while Darla's and Alfalfa's story trades on the humor of innocent puppy love. Most critics found the film less a tribute to the original series of shorts than a blatant attempt to capitalize on the familiar name, though younger audiences may be entertained by the simple gags and child-like attitude. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

An ancient evil escapes its captivity in a Mayan temple in Mexico, kills the archaeologists who unearth it, and heads straight for a toy factory, which is eventually taken over by a new American owner (Sam Bottoms) and refurbished. When the owner's daughter (Candy Houston) discovers one of the previous owner's doll creations and brings it home, she soon develops a strangely intense attachment to her new toy. The family's superstitious housekeeper begins to suspect demonic work afoot... and is promptly dispatched by the doll. Another archaeologist (Rip Torn) attempts to further his predecessor's research into the demon's origins and finds that the evil force was conjured centuries ago by a black-magic cult, whose members aspired to breed a hybrid of man and demon. The little girl's parents refuse to accept this theory... until they come face-to-face with an army of the malevolent dolls, all of which are under the man-beast's control. A decent but obvious riff on Child's Play, this also makes a few chilling nods to Trilogy of Terror's rampaging Zuni doll segment, and the dollies are suitably spooky. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Just after the evil Emperor Spengo (Jon Lovitz) imprisons King Raff (Eric Idle), he spots a California housewife (Teri Garr) through his telescope. He decides to beam her up along with her husband (Jeffrey Jones), but isn't prepared to deal with the results when both become interplanetary freedom fighters. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey find the two obtuse pals battling The Grim Reaper, God, robots, great philosophical questions, and girls -- although not necessarily in that order. In this loose parody of the Terminator movies, directed by Peter Hewitt, the ultimate has happened -- at Bill and Ted University of the future, for many years now the people of the world have been "excellent to each other." But fed-up with Bill and Ted's peaceful world and even more fed up with heavy metal, the evil De Nomolos (Joss Ackland) decides to do something about it. De Nomolos creates a cyborg Bill and Ted, who travel back in time to kill the original Bill and Ted, win the Battle of the Bands and pave the way for the hellish reign of De Nomolos. In the past of 1990, Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are immediately dispatched by the time-traveling cyborgs. And while the cyborgs Bill and Ted make time with the real Bill and Ted's girls (Sarah Trigger and Annette Azcuy) and prepare to take the real Bill and Ted's place in the Battle of the Bands, Bill and Ted are forced to deal with Hell ("Just like an Iron Maiden album cover"), the Grim Reaper (William Sadler), and God himself. When Bill and Ted are asked the secret of the universe, they get it right and as a reward a pair of Martians construct a set of "good" Bill and Ted robots to go head-to-head with the "bad" Bill and Ted robots at the Battle of the Bands. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This sentimentalized biography of Oz creator L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) stars John Ritter in the title role. Richard Matheson's teleplay accurately depicts Baum as a business failure with the singular gift of being able to communicate with children. In keeping with Matheson's grounding in fantasy and the supernatural, Baum's characters occasionally come to life to palaver with the author and bring him inspiration. Annette O'Toole co-stars as Mrs. Baum, while Charles Haid is seen in the dual role of "Badham" and the Cowardly Lion. Also on hand as a Munchkin is Jerry Maren, who played one of the Lollipop Guild in the 1939 Hollywood adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. Made for television, Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story debuted December 10, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A space bum helps rescue a princess from an evil overlord with the help of a benevolent elder in this Star Wars send-up written and directed by Mel Brooks. Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his half-man, half-dog co-pilot, Barf the Mawg (John Candy), are content to scour the galaxy living the easy life. But they reluctantly come to the rescue when Druish Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) is threatened by the evil Lord Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis), who wants to steal all of the air from her planet, Druidia. Trapped on a harsh desert world with Vespa and her robot chaperone, Dot Matrix (voice of Joan Rivers), Lone Starr and Barf are helpless to prevent Helmet from kidnapping the girl. But assistance arrives in the form of Yogurt (Brooks), a wizard who turns Lone Starr on to a mysterious power known as The Schwartz. Catching up with Helmet just as he's transforming his spaceship into a giant vacuum cleaner in orbit around Druidia, the reluctant heroes stage a dramatic showdown. Although it borrows most of its plot from the Star Wars series, Spaceballs also pokes fun at Star Trek, Snow White, and Planet of the Apes -- as well as the entire videocassette and movie marketing industries. The large supporting cast includes Dick Van Patten, Jim J. Bullock, and the voice of Dom DeLuise. John Hurt makes a cameo in a parody of the exploding chest scene he played in Alien. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide