Val Bettin Movies
- 1994
- G
Return of Jafar is a spin-off from the television Aladdin cartoon series, which was a spin-off of the hit Disney animated movie. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- John Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried, (more)
The first Disney animated feature to make extensive use of computer technology, The Great Mouse Detective was based on the children's novel Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus. The titular hero is Basil, a Holmes-like rodent (complete with deerstalker) who solves crimes in the company of his friend and chronicler Dr. Dawson. Basil and Dawson are retained by the daughter of a mouse toymaker who has been kidnapped by the diabolical Ratigan. The villain hopes to force the toymaker to construct a fake version of the queen who will grant power to the bad guy--or at least, for that part of the world behind the walls of London. Though nearly eliminated by Ratigan, Basil and Dawson trap the villain in the fast-moving mechanisms of Big Ben. By relying on computer animation, Disney was able to keep the budget of Great Mouse Detective down to a manageable size, thus earning back the losses incurred by the studio's previous cartoon feature, The Black Cauldron. Among the talented voice actors utilized in The Great Mouse Detective is Vincent Price, who plays guess what part? (Hint: he ain't Basil). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Val Bettin, Eve Brenner, (more)
- 1985
A trio of rich ex-cops begin to investigate a murder involving baseball and gangsters. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Wass, Markie Post, (more)
- 1983
- R
Sam Cooper (Steve Gutenberg) is an attaché in the U.S. State Department when, on the day before his wedding, a dying scientist hands him a formula that induces invisibility, and Sam finds himself fleeing with the maid of honor to escape both Russian and U.S. agents. Hotly pursued by everyone, Sam has to use the formula on himself, inviting a series of minor disasters. The very decision to make a movie about an invisible man in 3-D should have warned of trouble ahead. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Guttenberg, Jeffrey Tambor, (more)
Christopher Reeve got away from Superman and related costume roles in this dramatic fantasy film, adapted from Richard Matheson's 1960s vintage novel Bid Time Return. A young playwright, Richard Collier (Reeve), is approached by an elderly woman on the occasion of his first triumph in 1972 -- all she says to him is "Come back to me" and leaves him with a watch that contains a picture of a ravishing young woman. Eight years later, he visits the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and comes upon a photograph of the same woman, whom he discovers was an actress who made an appearance at the hotel in 1912. He becomes obsessed with the image and what the woman -- who died the night she approached him in 1972 -- meant by what she said. In a manner somewhat reminiscent of the film Laura, he falls in love with her and her image as he learns more about her life and career. Then he comes upon the suggestion of a professor at his former college that time travel may, in fact, be possible, using an extreme form of self-hypnosis to free the person from the place they occupy in the time-stream. Collier's feelings for the woman are so strong that he succeeds, bringing himself back to the hotel in 1912 on the eve of her triumph. He meets the actress, Elise McKenna (Jane Seymour), and the two fall in love despite the machinations of her obsessive, autocratic manager (Christopher Plummer), who feels threatened by Collier's presence. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, (more)
