Gary Graham
- 1997
Per its title, this Fox network TV movie is one of several followups to the shortlived science fiction series AlienNation, which ran on Fox from 1989 to 1991 and was based on the 1988 theatrical feature of the same name. The original series was set in a futuristic Los Angeles wherein human earthlings coexisted more or less peacefully with the Newcomers, a race of aliens from the planet Tencton who had settled in LA after escaping a slave-transport ship, and who, despite the prejudices harbored by the "Purists" and other such xenophobes, had assimilated to the point of were holding down traditionally "human" jobs and living in the 'burbs with their families. Repeating their series roles are Gray Graham as LAPD detective Matthew Sikes and Eric Pierpoint as his Newcomer partner, Detective George Francisco (George is the one with the huge bald cranium and the vestigal ears). The story gets under way when a group of "kamikaze" Newcomers invades Los Angeles, apparently with homicidal intentions towards the humans--but only because they've been brainwashed by a higher power. Tied in with this alien influx is the Udara, the radicalized Newcomer guerillas who had fomented the rebellion on the Tectonese slave ship, and who remain dedicated in their mission to kill off all "Overseers"--including those of the human variety. Much to George's surprise, his own wife Susan (Michele Scarabelli) is part of the Udara movement, resulting in a major conflict of interest. One of the fim's many subplots involves the efforts by George and Susan's son Buck (Sean Six) to follow in dad's footsteps and join the police force; elsewhere, a few unresolved plot strands from the earlier series and its previous TV-movie sequels are tied up. AlienNation: The Udara Legacy originally aired July 29, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Pragmatic businesswoman Gail Metzger (Joanna Kerns) has never seen eye to eye with her eccentric sister Renee (Debrah Farentino), a bad situation made worse when the two women butt heads over a real estate deal. Later on, Renee turns up dead, an apparent suicide. But as more "facts" come to surface, the police change their minds about Renee's demise--and Gail is suspected of murder. In her efforts to find out what really happened, Gail is enveloped in a frightening atmosphere of suspense and mysticism. Adapted fromBarbara L. Parker's novel Suspicion of Innocence, the made-for-TV Sisters and Other Strangers made its initial CBS network appearance on May 6, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanna Kerns, Debrah Farentino, (more)
- 1996
This made-for-TV suspense drama gets under way as a medical emergency aircraft en route to Denver crashes in the snowy Rockies. Fortunately, the pilot, the two paramedics, the two-year-old patient and her father all manage to survive the crash. Unfortunately, the little girl's already critical condition is rapidly worsening, her father is growing more hysterical by the minute, the pilot is seriously injured, and the paramedics are not quite sure that they are emotionally equipped for the crisis--especially since the likelihood of the rescue helicopters arriving on time seems slim to none. Inasmuch as the story is narrated by one of the doctors, the viewer knows that someone will pull through the ordeal...but who, and how many? Originally telecast by ABC, Angel Flight Down was first seen on April 29, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
This made-for-TV movie, inspired by the 1989 film Alien Nation (as well as the subsequent TV series adapted from it), follows the adventures of an unlikely pair of police detectives -- earthling Matt Sikes (Gary Graham) and assimilated alien "newcomer" George Francisco (Eric Pierpoint). When Sikes and Francisco are assigned to investigate the death of a "newcomer," Sikes is given a glimpse of the ugly side of the aliens' caste system, as Francisco turns up his nose at chasing the killer of an "Eeno" -- an alien trained to do the most menial labor aboard the cruisers used to transport alien slaves. Alien Nation: The Enemy Within also features Terri Treas, Michele Scarabelli, and Joe Lando. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, (more)
The tragic story of the Ruby Ridge "massacre" has been so thoroughly covered and disseminated by the mainstream press that to add anything here would be pointless. Suffice to say that the two-part TV movie The Siege at Ruby Ridge uses the facts at hand to show how the tragedy occurred, and how but for a multitude of blunders and miscommunications on both sides, it could all have been avoided. Randy Quaid stars as white separatist Randy Weaver, who for ten terrible days in 1992 barricaded himself, his family, and a number of zealous followers in a tiny refuge on a remote Idaho mountaintop, while 200 government agents surrounded Weaver's headquarters with orders to arrest Weaver's group alive -- if possible. The catalyst for the crisis is of course Randy Weaver himself, though his wife Vicki (Laura Dern) is shown to be just as rigid, stubborn, and foolhardy as her husband -- maybe even more so. Ultimately, blood is shed and lives are lost, the result of such gross ineptitude that the ramifications of the tragedy would reverberate for decades to come. Featured in the cast is Laura Dern's real-life mother, Diane Ladd, and, in the small role of the Weaver's daughter, a very young Kirsten Dunst. The Siege at Ruby Ridge first aired over CBS on May 19 and 21, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randy Quaid, Laura Dern, (more)
- 1996
In this TV movie spun off from the popular sci-fi series Alien Nation, the year 2000 is approaching and Earth-born detective Matthew Sykes (Gary Graham) and his space-alien partner George Francisco (Eric Pierpont) are on the trail of a "newcomer" who has started a bizarre religious cult. Preying on pre-millennial anxieties, the cult leader claims to offer a fast track to bliss, but Sykes and Francisco fear the cult's virtual reality scheme could prove deadly. Francisco is especially worried when he discovers his son Buck (Sean Six) has fallen prey to the cult's teachings. Like the TV series, Alien Nation: Millennium was adapted from the characters created in the 1988 feature film of the same name. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, (more)
- 1995
The Alien Nation series continues with this made-for-television science-fiction thriller. In keeping with the original premise, the film is set in the near future on a planet Earth that is integrated with aliens. Alien detective Francisco and his human partner Sikes return, this time to investigate a mysterious child and her keeper. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Plagued throughout his life by fuzzy, disturbing memories, Coloradoan William Coit Jr. (Neil Patrick Harris) realizes that these memories may put a crimp in the happiness of his recent marriage. In his efforts to get at the root of his anxieties, Coit ruminates over his unhappy, unstable childhood -- and his much-married mother Jill (Bonnie Bartlett), who, in addition to her other peccadillos, has cheated her children out of their late father's inheritance. Can it be possible that the wanton Jill actually murdered William's father? And if so, what horrors are in store for Jill's brand-new husband (number ten!) if William does not take immediate action? Based on a true story, Legacy of Sin: The William Coit Story first aired October 3, 1995, on the Fox network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neil Patrick Harris, Bonnie Bedelia, (more)
- 1994
This made-for-TV sci-fi outing is a sequel to the television series version of a popular feature film about a futuristic Southern California in which aliens, called Newcomers, co-exist with humans. This episode of the saga focuses on 250,000 aliens who came to earth to escape slavery. Their peaceful existence is disrupted when their masters send Aponso earthward to recapture them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, (more)
- 1993
- R
Based on horror author H.P. Lovecraft's writings, Necronomicon: Book of the Dead includes three short stories devoted to the deadly and mysterious "Necronomicon." When Lovecraft (played by Jeffrey Combs) manages to smuggle the legendary book out of a heavily guarded library, he quickly finds himself immersed in its passages, and three short stories take form as he sets off to record the information. In the first, Bruce Payne plays a disgruntled man whose inheritance of an old motel turns out to be more than he bargained for, as there are a nasty group of demons populating its basement. The second story follows a young reporter in search of a doctor who allegedly found the path to immortality, though, like the unwitting motel owner, he wouldn't realize how far in over his head he was until it became too late. The last story features Signy Coleman as a tough-as-nails police officer who descends into a strange set of catacombs in order to find her missing partner -- little does she know that an infamous serial killer is already living inside its subterranean depths. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Combs, Tony Azito, (more)
Actor Jack Nicholson, writer Carole Eastman, and director Bob Rafelson re-team 22 years after their classic Five Easy Pieces, for this romantic comedy. Nicholson plays Harry Bliss, a small potatoes security expert unhappily married to a Japanese woman (he sarcastically calls her Iwo Jima during therapy sessions). Harry's life is coming apart at the seams -- not only is his marriage on the rocks, but the IRS and assorted creditors are nipping at his heels. Then opera singer Joan Spruance (Ellen Barkin) contacts him. It seems she wants Harry's help in obtaining an attack dog for her apartment, since an unknown person has been burglarizing her home and attacking her with an ax. Needless to say, Harry and Joan fall in love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Ellen Barkin, (more)
- 1992
After being released from an institution, a manic-depressive attempts to get custody of her 5 children and struggles with the opposition of her oldest daughter and the foster parents. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Jessica Parker, Sally Struthers, (more)
- 1992
Made for television, Danger Island has also been released as The Presence. Things get going when a private plane crashes on tropical island. We soon learn we aren't in for Gilligan's Island Redux as an unseen presence wreaks havoc. Some of the castaways disappear, while others develop bizarre deformities. It's all due to a biological experiment which went horribly wrong nearly two decades earlier. Model Kathy Ireland costars with June Lockhart and Richard Beymer: where else but on American network television? Danger Island debuted September 20, 1992, its print ads emphasizing a bikini-clad Ireland rather than horrific elements. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Beymer, Kathy Ireland, (more)
- 1989
- R
During the final days of the Second World War, the lone occupants of an otherwise deserted island--an American marine and his Japanese counterpart--battle for supremacy. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Graham, Maria Holvoe, (more)
Sometime far into the future international powers settle their differences in gigantic arenas where each nation sponsors an incredible robot gladiator. These gladiators duke it out to determine the distribution of world territories. This might be best appreciated by pre-teen video warfare fans. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson, (more)
- 1987
The second television film to capitalize on the classic original, The Deadly Mission concerns another team of convicts, this time assigned to rescue Nazi scientists working on a chemical-weapons project. Telly Savalas plays a different role than he did in the original (unlike Ernest Borgnine). ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Giovanni (Gary Graham) is an addled motorcyclist who is on the run from his brothers-in-law after killing his wife's father. Besides being upset about the murder of their dad, they are rather ticked off that he's been making love to his wife's sister (and theirs) on the side. All in all, his life-expectancy is nil, so perhaps it's just as well that he thinks he's God. Along the way, he picks up Julie (Sylvia Kristel), a hitchhiker on her way to her waitress job. Rather than deliver her to work, he has an affair with her, they talk a lot, and then the two of them pick up another couple for sexual variety. By the end of the film, what with one thing and another, Julie is convinced that Giovanni died in an accident, but he shows up anyway, wearing a surprising costume. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Kristel, Gary Graham, (more)
- 1985
In yet another futile effort by the higher-ups to keep Hunter (Fred Dryer) and McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) out of mischief, the two detectives are ordered to act as technical advisors for a TV cop show. Alas, mischief seems to follow our hero and heroine wherever they go--and sure enough, the star of the show turns up murdered, his face horribly disfigured. What begins as a standard murder mystery morphs into a delicious slice of Grand Guignol that could easily have been titled "The Phantom of the Soap Opera." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
The Atlanta Child Murders is a five-hour, two-part dramatization of one of the most tragic and controversial homicide cases of the past twenty years. From 1979 through 1982, some 28 African-American children and young adults disappeared from Atlanta--some without a trace, but others to later turn up as murder victims. Part One (which debuted February 10, 1985) details the beginning of the manhunt conducted by the Atlanta Chief of Police (James Earl Jones). Screenwriter Abby Mann uses the actual events as a springboard for his thesis that the case and its outcome revealed many uncomfortable truths about the still-fragile state of race relations in the New South. Both parts of The Atlanta Child Murders were later combined into one 245-minute "feature film."
The second part of the five-hour TV docudrama The Atlanta Child Murders originally aired February 12, 1985. After 28 African-American children and young adults have either disappeared or been murdered, the Atlanta police finally have a suspect in custody: Small-time show business entrepreneur Wayne Williams (Calvin Levels). Scriptwriter Abby Mann utilizes actual court transcripts of Williams' trial, which results in a conviction on one count of murder. This decision in essence leaves the cases of the other 27 victims unresolved--and in so doing, Mann opens the door to speculations that Williams, a black man, was a "convenient" suspect, who might possibly have been railroaded in the authorities' haste to find a solution to the sordid case. Whatever Mr. Mann may have felt concerning Williams' guilt or innocence, the fact remains that the murders and disappearances stopped cold once Williams was in custody (as of this writing, Williams persists in his efforts to reopen the case, claiming that he was framed by the white power structure). Morgan Freeman served as narrator for both installments of The Atlanta Child Murders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The second part of the five-hour TV docudrama The Atlanta Child Murders originally aired February 12, 1985. After 28 African-American children and young adults have either disappeared or been murdered, the Atlanta police finally have a suspect in custody: Small-time show business entrepreneur Wayne Williams (Calvin Levels). Scriptwriter Abby Mann utilizes actual court transcripts of Williams' trial, which results in a conviction on one count of murder. This decision in essence leaves the cases of the other 27 victims unresolved--and in so doing, Mann opens the door to speculations that Williams, a black man, was a "convenient" suspect, who might possibly have been railroaded in the authorities' haste to find a solution to the sordid case. Whatever Mr. Mann may have felt concerning Williams' guilt or innocence, the fact remains that the murders and disappearances stopped cold once Williams was in custody (as of this writing, Williams persists in his efforts to reopen the case, claiming that he was framed by the white power structure). Morgan Freeman served as narrator for both installments of The Atlanta Child Murders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Having been conned into keeping the Blue Moon Detective Agency alive, Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) reluctantly agrees to team up with arrogant private eye David Addison (Bruce Willis) to solve their first "official" case. A man (Pat Corley) has come to the agency in hopes of locating his long-lost son Michael (Gary Graham). Following the trail of clues, the detectives discover that Michael is a professional contract killer--but they haven't the heart to tell Michael's father. What they don't realize is that dear old dad is likewise a professional hit man, and that father and son have been assigned to knock each other off! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
High school athlete Tom Cruise would do anything to escape the dull provincialism of his home town. Cruise's bullying coach Craig T. Nelson cajoles Cruise into seeking an athletic scholarship to a major university. Inevitably, the boy begins to question his goals in life, and soon his soul is the object of a tug of war between Nelson and Cruise's girlfriend Lea Thompson. The first directorial effort for cinematographer Michael Chapman, All the Right Moves was photographed by Jan DeBont, who'd later direct such box-office bonanzas as Speed and Twister. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Craig T. Nelson, (more)
