Charles Lampkin Movies

This inventive low-budget action-fantasy from producer Charles Band was released briefly as Swordkill before undergoing a title change for home video. Basically a samurai variant on Iceman, the story involves the discovery of 400-year-old Japanese warrior Yoshimita (Hiroshi Fujioka) encased in glacial ice in the hills of Motosuka, Japan. Revived at a high-tech cryogenics facility in Los Angeles by scientist Dr. Chris Welles (Janet Julian), Yoshimita is forced to acclimate himself to the modern age, but his samurai code of honor compels him to continue the quest for his long-lost bride that he began in his own time. The standard fish-out-of-water premise is helped along considerably by the appealing Fujioka, who exhibits an appropriately stoic demeanor amid a blur of computerized, MTV-styled culture shock, and some well-handled action sequences. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Cocoon is a warm-hearted science-fiction fable that avoids becoming overly corny thanks to the performances of its mostly senior cast. Wilford Brimley, Don Ameche, and Hume Cronyn are three old-timers who sneak out of their retirement home a few days a week to swim in the large pool on an abandoned estate next door. When the threesome begins to feel curiously younger, they discover strange pods on the floor of the pool. These pods are alien cocoons, which are being pulled from the ocean by a team of extra-terrestrials in human form led by Walter (Brian Dennehy), who has hired a local charter operator (Steve Guttenberg) to assist him. Walter explains to the seniors that energy from the cocoons is restoring youth and vigor to the older men every time they go for a dip. The aliens agree to let the men continue to swim in secret, but of course they can't keep their discovery to themselves. Soon the pool is swarming with retirees, with the notable exception of Bernie (Jack Gilford), who has no interest in prolonging life any longer than necessary. The aliens ultimately prepare to return home and offer the retirees eternal life if they leave Earth behind as well. Director Ron Howard treats his old-timers with care and dignity, and they respond with deeply sympathetic performances (Ameche won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar); the film's science-fiction trappings ably sustain the story's all-too-human ruminations on youth, aging, life, and death. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

In this funny Japanese adventure, the great 16th-century samurai warrior Yoshimitsa ends up frozen in a glacial crevasse while looking for the villains who abducted his wife. Four hundred years later his remains are discovered by skiers and sent to LA to be studied. Miraculously, the warrior awakens after he thaws out. He soon escapes into the wild strange world of California during the 1980s and resumes his search. He is pursued by an evil, self-serving researcher and assisted by a nice young woman. Mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Having gone to his Heavenly reward in 1948, lawyer Arthur Morton is "reborn" in 1987 as Jonathan Smith (Michael Landon), a probationary angel who in order to earn his wings must return to Earth and offer help and support to unfortunate mortals. In this debut episode of Highway to Heaven, Jonathan is assigned to Havencrest, a retirement home that is facing demolition. Adopting the earthly guise of a handyman, our hero sets about to improve the quality of life of Havencrest's surly and sullen residents. Originally telecast as a two-hour TV movie, the opening episode of Highway to Heaven has since been divided into two one-hour installments for syndication. ~ All Movie Guide

An airliner crashes into the icy waters of Santa Monica Bay, killing several passengers. Investigating, Quincy (Jack Klugman) comes to the conclusion that many of the victims died needlessly, due to an insufficient supply of inflatable lifeboats. Thus begins another crusade for the feisty medical examiner, as he lobbies for stronger safety measures during over-the-water airline flights--and as usual, he meets with stiff opposition from the insensitive powers-that-be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The election of Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court rendered the premise of First Monday in October anachronistic before the picture was even released; ignoring this, however, the film is supremely entertaining (no pun intended). Jill Clayburgh stars as Ruth Loomis, the first lady justice ever appointed to the Court. She's a conservative, while her principal foe on the bench, Dan Snow (Walter Matthau), is an old-line liberal. The film glides along on a predictable Tracy-Hepburn course until Snow comes to Loomis' defense when her late industrialist husband is accused of improprieties which might compromise Loomis' effectiveness. First Monday in October was adapted by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee from their own Broadway play, which starred Henry Fonda. Actress Martha Scott co-produced the film, while several other Hollywood veterans, including Herb Vigran and Ann Doran, dot the supporting case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

First aired March 13, 1977, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years was the brilliant follow-up to the equally praiseworthy 1976 TV movie Eleanor and Franklin: The Early Years. The film is framed in a flashback experienced by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Jane Alexander) while accompanying the casket carrying the body of her husband Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Edward Herrmann) to its final resting place in Hyde Park. Elected in 1933, FDR endeavors to pull the country out of the Depression with the New Deal during his first term, while Eleanor emerges as a formidable public figure in her own right during the second term, tirelessly working on behalf of social change and reforms. Ever under the baleful eye of his mother Sara (Rosemary Murphy), Roosevelt tries to maintain family equilibrium in the White House as he seeks an unprecedented third term. Sara dies in December of 1941, two days before Roosevelt, in his "Day of Infamy" speech, declares war on Japan. Despite health problems, FDR successfully pursues a fourth term in 1944; he dies in office in April of 1945, a scant few months before the end of World War II. Despite her long-standing displeasure over her husband's long-ago affair with artist Lucy Mercer (Linda Kelsey), a stiff-lipped Eleanor puts on a brave front when Roosevelt dies in the company of Deakins at a health spa in Georgia. Based on Joseph P. Lash's Pulitzer prize-winning biography, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years earned Emmies for "Outstanding Special" and for director Daniel Petrie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A botched robbery provides the basis of this romantic comedy. The caper was performed by three unemployed Vietnam vets desperate for cash. Unfortunately, two of them are captured during the getaway. The third vet continues to flee and stuffs the loot in a convenient mailbox. A dishonest barkeeper and a crazed artist witness this and try to get the money for themselves. The barman needs it to pay back some Mafiosi. The artists find herself attracted to the veteran and so decides to help him get it back from the bartender. The two succeed and then board an ocean liner, where they bump into the president of the bank the veteran robbed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

New police recruit Ernie Sampson (Warren Munson) is afraid to reveal the fact that he stutters when under pressure. In his efforts to hide his impediment, Ernie fails to warn Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) that they're about to be ambushed by an armed robber. After this near-fatal incident, Ernie's training officer is all for washing the young man out of the program--but surprisingly, Jim and Pete are convinced that the rookie deserves a second chance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a patient (Harry Townes) accuses them of stealing his money, Roy (Kevin Tighe) and John (Randolph Mantooth) play detective to trap the real thief. Other more pressing emergencies involve a daring rescue from a plane about to explode, and a car crash that results both in blindness and a premature birth. Former Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In regular Jo Ann Worley) has a riotous cameo role as a neurotic woman who believes in "scream therapy". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After a decade's absense, an affable gent named Hamilton (Ed Nelson) returns to his home town. The locals welcome him effusively, never suspecting that Hamilton is a professional thief--and that he is currently being sought after by the FBI. Inevitably, Hamilton's past catches up to him in a particularly violent fashion. Featured in the cast is Susan Oliver, best remembered as the "Green Girl" in the closing credits of Star Trek, and ubiqutious cartoon voiceover artist Michael Bell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rod Serling, a master of speculative scriptwriting, penned the screenplay of The Man. Set a few days into the future, the story contrives to kill off the President, the vice president, and virtually everyone in line of succession in a bizarre accident. This turn of events elevates African-American senator James Earl Jones directly into the Oval Office. Based on a novel by Irving Wallace, The Man was originally intended as TV movie, but released theatrically because most sponsors were afraid of its supposed controversial content. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide