David Warner Movies
Manchester native David Warner supported himself as a book salesman while studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Warner made his stage bow at the Royal Court Theater in 1962, the same year that he first appeared on television. In 1965, Warner became the youngest-ever member of the Royal Shakespeare Company to tackle the role of Hamlet. In films from 1963 (he played Master Blifil in Tom Jones), Warner achieved international fame for his star turn as the certifiably insane protagonist of Morgan! (1966). His appearance as the village idiot in Straw Dogs (1971) went uncredited due to an injury that rendered him uninsurable on the set; but this was the only time that Warner's contribution to a film would ever go unofficially unheralded. Seldom settling for a normal, sedate characterization, Warner has been seen as Jack the Ripper in Time After Time (1981), the Evil Genius in Time Bandits (1983), Dr. Alfred Necessiter (who had some interior decorator!) in The Man With Two Brains (1984), and genially eccentric Professor Jordan Perry (a good guy, for a change) in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (1992). He has also played two different roles in two consecutive Star Trek films. On television, David Warner has played Heydrich in Holocaust (1978), Pomponius Falco (a performance that won him an Emmy) in Masada (1981), and Bob Cratchit (what-not Scrooge?) in the 1984 adaptation of A Christmas Carol. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Melissa Gilbert stars in the title role of this made-for-television adaption of the novel by Danielle Steel. Gilbert stars as Zoya, an Russian orphan who flees her homeland and falls in love with an American Army soldier stationed in Paris. The two settle in New York, start a family and all seems well, but the dramatic twists and turns for Zoya have only just begun. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Boxleitner, (more)
- 1995
- R
In this thriller, a handsome young scientist thinks he has the opportunity of a lifetime when an elderly experimenter offers to fund and provide a lab for his thought-transference experiments. The younger scientist is working with the memories of dead serial killers. The elder wants to swap intelligence with him. During the transference something goes wrong and the young scientist ends up with the personality of a serial killer, something his unsuspecting girlfriend fails to notice until it is almost too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pamela Anderson, Brian Krause, (more)
- 1995
- PG
This third entry in the Beastmaster series has Dar (Marc Singer) teaming up with Seth (Tony Todd) to rescue his brother. It seems that the boy was captured by the evil Lord Agarn, who keeps youthful by sacrificing young prisoners. Along the way they meet a beautiful witch who promises to help them and a blonde warrior who goes along with them. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marc Singer, Tony Todd, (more)
Hired to help locate a missing author, an insurance investigator discovers to his terror that the nightmarish events depicted in the writer's best-selling horror novels are coming true. Wishing to be both a horror film and a parody of the genre, John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness combines supernatural thrills with winking references. For instance, the vanished author, Sutter Cane (Jürgen Prochnow), is modeled on writers like Stephen King and Howard Phillips Lovecraft, from his great popularity to his obsession with small-town New England. Indeed, it is to one such hamlet that investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) and Cane's female editor (Julie Carmen) travel, discovering a town filled with terrifying scenes right out of Cane's books, from random axe murders to far worse. Have Cane's fans gone psychotic and begun imitating his writings, or are Cane's stories of an otherworldly evil invading the earth actually true? In the Mouth of Madness's mix of self-referential satire and real frights anticipates the later Scream (1996). ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Neill, Julie Carmen, (more)
- 1994
A maid working for a wealthy family is shocked when her son, who had disappeared years before, suddenly shows up at the home of the family she works for. He moves into her employer's house, where he proceeds to have an affair with the wife. Unbeknownst to him, though, the wife is having an affair with a detective, and they both plot to kill her husband and blame the son. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1994
David Warner guest-stars as Aldous Gajic, a futuristic "King Arthur" who has spent all his life searching for the Holy Grail. His arrival on B5 coincides with a plot hatched by Downbelow hoodlum Deuce (William Sanderson) to gain control of other people's minds. And what has all this to do with the erratic behavior of Ambassador Kosh? Written by Christy Marx, "Grail" first aired July 6, 1994, after nearly six weeks' worth of rerun episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael O'Hare, Claudia Christian, (more)
- 1994
As season three of The Larry Sanders Show begins, it appears as if Larry (Garry Shandling) has followed through on his promise to quit the show and move to Montana. Just as Larry has taken up life in a cabin by the river and begins settling into life as a miserable recluse, Artie (Rip Torn) appears at his doorstep to inform the former host that the network is suing Larry for breach of contract. Secretly eager to jump back into show business, Larry secretly hires back the entire staff against Artie's pleas to take things slowly. Though the network owner insists that he doesn't want Larry back on the air, an impromptu lie by Artie buys Larry a second chance. Guest stars include David Warner, Shashawnee Hall, Robin Williams, and Bernadette Peters. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
In this romantic fantasy, Liechtenhaus is one of those seldom-heard-of tiny European principalities. It is being ruled by Prince Max (David Warner), but the little country is nearly bankrupt. In fact, if he can't get an infusion of cash quickly, he may have to sell the royal palace to American developers as a casino complex. Fortunately, he's got a very pretty daughter, and the dowry he will get from marrying her off to the unappealing (but wealthy) heir to a similar nearby principality will more than get his tiny country in the clear. Unfortunately for him, his daughter, princess Sofia (Barbara Snellenburg), is adamant about refusing this arranged marriage, and prefers romance with a handsome but penniless windsurfing instructor (Raoul Bova) to saving her country. Nefarious schemes come forth and multiply, and when the princess is kidnapped, something must be done. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raoul Bova, David Warner, (more)
- 1993
Horror virtuoso John Carpenter hosts this goofy horror anthology, originally produced for Showtime as a gory stepchild of HBO's Tales from the Crypt series. Playing an emaciated, eye-rolling "coroner," John introduces the audience to a triptych of creepy vignettes in the EC horror-comics mode while paddling about in the guts of assorted cadavers and cracking jokes more gag-inducing than anything oozing on the slab. Two of the stories are directed by Carpenter himself: "The Gas Station" is a retread (pun intended) of Halloween-style scare tactics as a pretty gas-station attendant watches various oddballs pass by her window after hearing that an escaped killer is on the loose; "Hair" is a morbid, hilarious look at man's obsession with his own virility in which Stacy Keach turns to a bizarre hair-growth clinic (run by David Warner & Debbie Harry) which promises instant results, but at a horrific price. The third segment, directed by Tobe Hooper, involves a baseball player (Mark Hamill) who receives an eye transplant after a car accident and soon begins having optical flashbacks revealing (you guessed it) the identity and tendencies of the eye's former owner -- a serial killer. The second segment is by far the most entertaining, featuring a wonderfully neurotic performance by Keach, but the first and last chapters are too derivative to offer much for the discriminating horror buff, although the same fans will enjoy several cute cameos from other genre directors, including Wes Craven, Sam Raimi and Roger Corman. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1993
- PG
David Warner and Olivia Hussey, both of whom look great in period garb, head the cast of Quest of the Delta Knights. A long time ago in a land far, far, away, a wicked queen and king rule with an iron hand. Only a dedicated group of swashbucklers known as the Delta Knights can rescue the peasantry from the evil monarches. The knights must rely upon a secret storehouse, containing advanced technology from the lost city of Atlantis. For those who like to see ancient legends mixed and matched, Quest of the Delta Knights is a good bet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Warner, Olivia Hussey, (more)
- 1993
Filmed in the Zimbabwe jungles at the same time as its precursor, the 1992 version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic adventure fantasy The Lost World, this sequel is set a few years after the six explorers journeyed into the Belgian Congo and discovered the isolated plateau where dinosaurs still thrive. The explorers have regrouped because a greedy oil developer is threatening to destroy the fragile ecosystem that supports the great beasts. Before they can effectively stop the rapacious oil company, they must first contend with the personality differences that again threaten to fracture the group's unity. When the oilmen steal a baby stegosaurus, the expedition becomes more urgent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Rhys-Davies, David Warner, (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)
- 1993
The travails of the long morning commute provide the basis of this comedy drama. Every day Driver and Passenger spend an hour each day together driving to and from their respective jobs at IBM and Apple. For Passenger, the drive is pure hell as he must listen to the incessant, ceaseless prattling of Driver, who when not rambling on and on with theories and half-baked opinions atop his figurative soap box, is denigrating he and Passenger's lots in life. When Passenger speaks, it is about his own break-up with the seen-on-screen-but-never-heard Girl. As time passes, Passenger suggests they chronicle their commuting musings on film, and thus the prior action is actually seen to be part of the result. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Warner, Steve Antin, (more)
- 1993
The tenth season of Murder, She Wrote begins as Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) travels to Hong Kong, where she attends a banquet honoring a high-profile American businessman. With Jessica in attendance, a murder is a foregone conclusion--and sure enough, the businessman is poisoned to death. Coul this be tied in with the dead man's efforts to merge with the head of a controversial Chinese manufacturing firm? The answer may be within a hundred-year-old egg that Jessica holds in her well-manicured hand. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Larry (Garry Shandling) finds that a change of pace may be in order in this episode of HBO's Emmy award-winning satire of late-night talk shows. When a new owner acquires the station and begins meddling with the format of The Larry Sanders Show, Larry seriously considers either moving the show to the East Coast or quitting the business entirely and moving to Montana. Guest stars in this final episode of the second sesaon include David Warner, Bob Odenkirk, Robin Quivers, Fred Pinkard, Howard Stern, and Chris Farley. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Just after the turn of the 21st century in L.A., Harry (Belushi) works for a television station that uses a revolutionary technology, virtual reality projected for at-home viewers with 3-D holographic programs. A sinister group known as the Fathers, headed by Senator Kreutzer (Loggia), has a scheme to use it for mind-control. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1993
The murder of a cosmetics company tycoon leads lawyer Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) into a strange case involving a new anti-aging concoction. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
- R
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She lives. Deep in the bowels of the underworld Alyda the half-human demon waits to return to the earthy plane. This horror sequel chronicles her blood-soaked ascent. It all begins at Miskatonic University where several gruesome murders have occurred. Two college students, Randolph Carter and Eliot Damon Howard witnessed some of Alyda's handiwork in nearby Winthrop mansion where their friends, who went up there for a little illicit fun, were mysteriously slaughtered. The fleeing duo encounter the cops and paramedics. Though they claim some otherworldly monster is responsible, Sheriff Hatch pooh-poohs them, claiming an animal did the damage. Howard goes to the hospital and while there has a vision. He sees the original owner of the mansion who lived in the 1600s. The owner had been a warlock and it was he who awakened Alyda. As Winthrop fades, he warns Howard that he must stop her. Unfortunately, after his release, Howard has trouble finding people to believe him until he and Carter hook up with professor Harley Warren who uses a combination of ancient rituals and modern technology to take care of Alyda once and for all, but not before more blood is spilled and much horror ensues. Both this and its prequel were based on tales byH.P. Lovecraft. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Kinsey Stephenson, John Rhys-Davies, (more)
- 1992
A physician--an amateur sleuth--decides to investigate the suicide of a former student of his and begins to suspect that it was murder. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1992
First telecast December 26, 1992, this second part of the previous week's episode begins with a recap of part one, filling in the viewer as to why Picard has resigned his command and left the Enterprise in the hands of the callous and stubborn Captain Edward Jellico (Ronny Cox). While infiltrating a Cardassian outpost, Picard is captured and subjected to unspeakable tortures by sadistic interrogator Gul Madred (David Warner). Meanwhile, Jellico, having succeeded in alienating the rest of the Enterprise crew, grimly embarks upon a first strike against the Cardassians, which could very well result in a total and devastating war. As if to make the worst of a bad situation, Jellico steadfastly refuses to attempt a rescue of Picard, who may not be able to get out of this crisis in one piece. Written by Frank Abatemarco, part two of "Chain of Command" was directed by Les Landau, taking over from part one's Robert Scheerer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
In this mystical comedy, Felicien has traveled to Portugal from France soon after the end of the First World War. It seems that his recently deceased father had invested a lot of money in a factory located in a remote village, and he has come to evaluate that investment. He gets some clues to the real situation in the town when the man driving his coach refuses to go any further and leaves him on a section of road which is practically paved with abandoned crutches. After a short trek, he meets up with the local dignitary who is to show him around, and he meets a priest and an artist. The priest gives a further clue to the events taking place in the village when he indicates that he's completely exasperated with the endless miracles that seem to be taking place. From that point onward, amazing coincidences, visions and miracles take place in great numbers. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hurt, Didier Bourdon, (more)
- 1992
Just in time for the 1992 Christmas season, Next Generation offered the first installment of this two part episode. The story gets under way during a breakdown in the hostile relationship between the Federation and the Cardassians. In order to participate in a dangerous commando raid on a Cardassian stronghold, Picard resigns his command, leaving the Enterprise in the hands of autocratic, no-nonsense Captain Edward Jellico (Ronny Cox). During his mission, Picard is captured and threatened with torture, while back on the Enterprise, Jellico's callous behavior not only angers the crew but threatens to spark an all-out war. Originally telecast December 19, 1992, part one of "Chain of Command" was scripted by Ronald D. Moore from a story by Frank Abatemarco. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Arthur Conan Doyle's novel serves as the source material for this tale of rival scientists (John Rhys-Davies and David Warner) who find living, breathing dinosaurs in Africa in 1912. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Rhys-Davies, David Warner, (more)
- 1991
- R
This clever and well-crafted production (produced for Home Box Office) goes the distance with its innovative concept, which is equal parts Raymond Chandler and H.P. Lovecraft. Taking place in 1948 Hollywood -- in an alternate reality where magic spells, curses and demons are commonly used and accepted -- the story revolves around hard-boiled gumshoe Harry P. Lovecraft (Fred Ward, looking nothing like his character's namesake and everything like Mike Hammer), the only detective in the business who relies on brains and instinct instead of gazing into a crystal ball or casting runes. This pure perspective is sought out by wealthy eccentric Amos Hackshaw (David Warner), who is trying to retrieve the legendary "Necronomicon" (a key component in the works of the real H.P. Lovecraft). The book is reputed to have the power to release the "Elder Gods" from their cosmic confines and return them to Earth, whereupon Hackshaw believes they will appoint him ruler of all mankind. The chief rival for possession of the book is a seedy gangster (Raymond O'Connor) whose favorite nightclub singer (Julianne Moore) takes a shine to Harry. Followed by a sequel, Witch Hunt, which applies a more sublime (if unnecessary) re-interpretation of the material, and features Dennis Hopper in the Lovecraft Role. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Ward, David Warner, (more)
