Michael Bell Movies
Kelly LeBrock, William Katt, John Heard, and Beverly D'Angelo star in this comedy about four lifelong gamers - and the obsessive intruder - who attempt to make the most of their dreary lives by breaking the world record of gaming by playing "Demons, Nymphs, and Dragons" for over 74,558 hours. Their jobs may make them miserable, and their families may not understand, but perhaps if these fantasy-loving misfits can make the sacrifices needed to accomplish their shared goal, they'll all go down in the history books as the most dedicated dorks ever to slay an army of Orks. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Sherwood, Kevin Kirkpatrick, (more)
- 1988
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Hunter (Fred Dryer) has finally caught up with Rose Fain (Claire Nono), the widow of his wartime buddy Randall Fain. Though Fain has reportedly committed suicide, Hunter is convinced that he was murdered by another member of their top-secret Vietnam marine unit--and the reason for the killing has something to do with a fortune in emeralds which Fain was supposed to have stolen. Hunter hopes that Rose will turn over the necessary information to catch the killer and clear Fain's name...provided she lives long enough to do so. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
In the first episode of a two-part story, Hunter (Fred Dryer) suspects that his Vietnam war buddy Randall Fain (introduced in the previous season's episode "Jade Woman") did not commit suicide as has been reported. Despite Fain's guilt over a tragic wartime blunder which had nearly wiped out his unit, Hunt is certain that the man was murdered, and that the motive was a fortune in stolen emeralds. The key to solving the case may be in the hands of Fain's Oriental mail-order bride Rose--who since returning to prostitution has completely dropped out of sight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
The fourth and final season of the original Transformers cartoon series is actually a three-part miniseries titled "The Rebirth." The age-old war between the two rival Transformer factions, the Autobots and the Decepticons, takes the combatants to Nebulos, a planet controlled by evil telepaths. In the course of events, the lines of battle are blurred when, thanks to those aforementioned telepaths, several Decepticons, disguised as good-guy Autobots, infiltrate the other side. As the climax approaches, the fate of everyone concerned rests in the hands of the Autobots' human ally Spike -- with a bit of assistance from the revivified Optimus Prime, head of the Autobots, who has merged his intelligence and resources with the "super computer" Vector Sigma. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, (more)
Season three of the cartoon series The Transformers opens with an elaborate five-part story (eminently suited to be "transformed" into a single two-hour TV movie), "The Five Faces of Darkness," set largely on Cybertron, home planet of the warring Autobots and Decepticons. This plotline serves to introduce a new human ally for the good-guy Autobots, Marrisa Fairborne of the Earth Defense Command. In other developments this season, the Autobots' earthling chum Spike, long married to a girl named Carly, inadvertently involves his son Daniel in the neverending Autobot-Cybertron conflict; the ghost of Decepticon Starstream goes on a relentless search for a new host body; and several new groups of characters are brought into the action, the better to sell more toys for the Hasbro company: among these are the Technobots, the Junkions, and the Quintessons. The season ends with a two-parter wherein Autobot mentor Optimus Prime, long presumed dead, makes a spectacular return in an all-out final(?) assault against the despicable Decepticons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, (more)
The robotic cartoon adventure series The Transformers begins its second season with the episode "Autobot Spike," in which one of the human allies of the Autobots in their ongoing battle against the Decepticons literally loses his mind to a super-Transformer. "Autobot Spike" is one of the few single-episode storylines to be found this season. Many of the other scenarios take up two episodes or more, notably "Dinobot Island," wherein the discovery of a remote island populated by prehistoric beasts leads to a serious schism in the time-space continuum; "Megatron's Master Plan," in which the leader of the evil Decepticons does his best to turn public opinion against the Autobots; and "Desertion of the Dinobots," which finds the title characters rebelling against their enslavement by the robots and trying to claim the Autobots' home planet as their own. The best of The Transformers' two-parters during the series' second season is "The Key to Vector Sigma," a story built around a computer from the planet Alpatrian with which the Decepticons intend to bestow artificial intelligence upon their newly created flunkies, the Stunticons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, (more)
Season one of the "cartoon commercial" The Transformers begins with the three-part "More Than Meets the Eye," which explains how the two warring Transformers armies from the planet Cybertron, Optimus Prime's good-guy Autobots and Megatron's bad-guy Decepticons, were placed in suspended animation when they attempted to expand their battle to prehistoric Earth. "Thawing out" in 2005 A.D., the combatants resume their war as if nothing had happened, with the Autobots gaining a bit of an advantage by winning two human earthlings, Spike and Sparkplug, over to their side. A later episode, "Roll for It," introduces another major human ally of the Autobots, computer whiz Chip Chase. Subsequent season-one highlights include the three-part story, "The Ultimate Doom," wherein Megatron enlists the aid of a mad (Do you hear? Mad!) human scientist in attempting to bring Cybertron into Earth's orbit. And "A Plague of Insecticons" introduces a brand-new threat to Autobots and Decepticons alike -- not to mention a fresh new line of Hasbro-licensed Transformer toys! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, (more)
- 1977
Police officer Brady (Peter Brown) hopes to persuade his call-girl sweetheart Carol Revson (Lee Purcell) to give up her profession and go straight. Meanwhile, Carol's former pimp, feeling that his business in jeopardy, orders the murders of both Brady and Carol. In order to save her boyfriend and solve the murder of another prostitute, Carol pretends to return to her "trade"--a courageous but deadly move. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Attending a group therapy session, Jim (James Garner) and Angel (Stuart Margolin) make the acquaintance of former mental patient Mary Jo Flynn (Joanne Nail). Insisting that her life is in danger because she has met a government spy who was being held against his will in a psychiatric hospital, Mary Jo has trouble convincing Jim of her plight--until he, too, finds himself up to his neck in peril. It all has something to do with a Chilean military coup, and a crisis of loyalty within a mob family...and this being The Rockford Files, the estimable Angel (Stuart Margolin) is mixed up in the intrigue! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
In the opening episode of The Rockford Files' third season, private eye Jim Rockford (James Garner) can't get the police to believe that his stewardess friend Lori Jenivan (Sharon Gless) is being pursued by a killer. But the fact is that Lori has been vulnerable to attack ever since she made an offhand comment to "frequent flyer" Timpson Farrell (John McMartin), a widely respected rare coin collector. Unfortunately, the girl was the proverbial Wrong Person in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time--and she has tumbled to the fact that Mr. Farrell moonlights as a professional hit man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
The convicts in a maximum-security prison have developed a diabolically clever method to smuggle drugs in and out of the institution, using as their "mules" the prisoners' wives who show up on visiting day. When one of the convicts resists getting involved in the drug traffic, his wife on the "outside" is murdered in a laundromat. Hoping to rout the smugglers and prevent further murders, Stone (Karl Malden) and Keller (Michael Douglas) focus their investigation on convict's wife Rita King (Stefanie Powers)--who defiantly refuses to cooperate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
A robbery committed by three men goes horribly awry: one thief is killed, the second escapes, and the third, a lifelong loser named Hardway (Paul Burke), is arrested. While languishing behind bars, Hardway learns that his daughter has been kidnapped--and that the only way he can ransom her is to reveal the whereabouts of the stolen money. Ironside (Raymond Burr) enters the scene in hopes of saving the girl, retrieving the money, capturing the villain--and, just possibly, redeeming the hapless Hardway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
While performing with a street-theater troupe, Ironside's goddaughter Peggy Lynch (Kathleen Quinlan) witnesses a murder. Rather than summon the police, Peggy allows her boyfriend Jamie (Ron Thompson) to talk her into running away. Ironside (Raymond Burr) scours the city in search of the girl, not knowing that the real reason for her flight is because her boyfriend is a wanted car thief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
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
- 1972
Ironside (Raymond Burr) and Ed (Don Galloway) head to London (courtesy of the Universal back lot), there to attend an international police convention. No sooner has he arrived than Ed witnesses the assassination of the British police official--and is subsequently targeted for death himself. To solve the murder and keep his assistant from harm, Ironside works side by side with his old friend and colleague, Superintendant Faber (Lloyd Bochner)...but gradually grows suspicious of Faber's mercurial and oftimes obstructive behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
This episode reunites Ironside star Raymond Burr with his former Perry Mason costar Barbara Hale. Chief Ironside (Burr) comes to the aid of Marsha Connell (Hale) when she is implicated in the murder of a member of an improvisational comedy group. The killing takes place during a stage performance, so naturally all the actors--and everyone in the theater, for that matter--fall under suspicion. The episode's highlight is the bravura performance of Roddy McDowell as a washed-up child actor attempting a comeback as an improv comic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
The only witness to a woman's murder is the victim's son, 13-year-old Jerry Jessup (Mitch Vogel). Unfortunately, Jerry refuses to cooperate with the investigation spearheaded by Ironside (Raymond Burr), holding the Chief responsible for the arrest of his bank-robber father Marty (William Shatner). Ironside's only hope of finding the woman's murderer is to arrange for Marty Jessup to get a temporary pass from prison--and then hope against hope that Jessup won't use the opportunity to escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
After several police drug busts go bad thanks to premature tip-offs, suspicion falls upon Ironside (Raymond Burr) who has been identified as a Syndicate informer by a captured dope pusher. A bad situation gets worse when Sgt. Ed Brown (Don Galloway) ordered to launch an investigation targetting Ironside. Though the rest of the Chief's team--especially Eve (Barbara Anderson)--are upset by this turn of events, Ironside himself remains surprisingly cool, calm and collected...almost as if he knows something that no one else does. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
