Jackson Bostwick Movies
- 1985
- PG
Secrets of the Phantom Caverns is a goofy fantasy filmed on the cheap by the ever-canny Don Sharp. The story involves a team of anthropologists and military men who busy themselves exploring a serpentine system of subterranean caves. They discover of lost race of Albinos, which wreaks havoc upon the surface dwelling humans. The British actor Robert Powell and Timothy Bottoms star. According to some sources, Sharp and co. approached the production with extreme carelessness; thanks to an unfortunate accident, a large percentage of the cast and crew were almost fatally poisoned by carbon monoxide in the caves where the movie was filmed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Powell, Timothy Bottoms, (more)
In this sci-fi comedy, a high school hood, Michael Harlan, procrastinates on his science project until the day before it is due. Hastily seeking to rectify his predicament, the youth begins scouring an abandoned military dump and runs across a strange looking machine with a large crystal orb. He has no idea that it belonged to a shot down alien space craft and that it contains not only the power to generate time warps, it can also destroy the world. If he did, he might not have turned it on. Unfortunately, he does activate it and sends his entire class back in time. The special effects are especially notable, as the kids roam Earth from the dawn of time, to the future. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Stockwell, Fisher Stevens, (more)
One of the earliest feature films to reflect the video-game craze of the 1980s, Disney's Tron stars Jeff Bridges as computer programmer Kevin Flynn, who becomes part of the very game that he's programming. Flynn's principal antagonist is his glory-grabbing boss, Ed Dillinger (David Warner), who likewise metamorphoses into a video-game character. The title character, a computer-generated superhero, is played by Bruce Boxleitner. Though antiquated by 1990s standards, Tron represented the last word in special effects back in 1982. Surprisingly, despite its long-range influence on the movie industry, the film was a box-office disappointment when first released. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, (more)
- 1980
- R
As in several other films with this same theme, six young men and women head out for a hike in the woods, unaware that a crazed killer is on the loose looking for victims. About 30 years earlier, a group of gypsies were burnt to death in a forest fire, except for one small boy. Now the boy, all grown up and physically disfigured by the fire, is out to vent his rage on anyone who enters the forest. With a weak script, no characterizations, and lots of padding featuring wildlife (the animal kind) in the forest, this film might only be noted for the fact that it was one of the last movies in which Jackie Coogan appears. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Debbie Thureson, Steve Bond, (more)
- 1978
Escape from a prison on a satellite orbiting the Earth is the goal of prisoners led by Bostwick and Smith. ~ Rovi
In this Disney film, Hank Cooper (Ed Asner) the owner of a losing professional football team, recruits Gus, a Yugoslavian soccer player, to his team. Even though Gus is a mule, he figures the animal can be taught to make field-goal kicks. Despite the outrage of his team, and sabotage efforts by Crankcase, Spinner and Gwymm (Tim Conway, Tom Bosley and Harold Gould), Gus the Mule kicks his team all the way to a championship. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ed Asner, Don Knotts, (more)
- 1973
- PG
In this violent and blood-soaked horror outing, the kindly host of a popular kiddie show has a secret life as the psycho avenger of children's rights who murders the parents who abuse them. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1971
- PG
This Dick Ross melodrama stars Anne Baxter as an alcoholic socialite who beats her addiction by finding strength through religion. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
