Kenneth Johnson Movies
The religious drama Pastor Jones: Samuel and Delia concerns a pastor who finds himself losing faith as he struggles with earthly temptations. Soon his life takes a turn for the worse, but redemption can be found in the most unexpected places. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude LaMarre, Roderick L. McCarthy, (more)
This remake of the classic 1975 science fiction film follows the same basic story line but focuses far more on the sports action of the fictional game at its center. Chris Klein stars as all-American athlete Jonathan Cross, the most popular player of "Rollerball," a violent 21st century sport mixing elements of basketball, hockey, roller derby, and extreme sports, along with the development of live wagering that tracks each game's action. Along with his friends and teammates Marcus (L.L. Cool J) and Aurora (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), Jonathan is living the life of a media celebrity and millionaire, enjoying the adoration of fans and all of the perks that his fame brings. When the creator of Rollerball, Alexi Petrovich (Jean Reno), realizes that the sport's ratings spike during the on-court accidents that are de rigueur for the game, he schemes to create the bloody incidents that are popular with viewers but put the athletes in mortal jeopardy. Soon, Jonathan and his friends find themselves pawns in a vast corporate conspiracy in which their lives are far less important than profits. Rollerball (2002) also stars pop singer Pink in her acting debut. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Klein, Jean Reno, (more)
Actress Anjelica Huston directed and stars in this drama based on Brendan O'Carroll's novel The Mammy. Set in Dublin in 1967, Agnes Browne (Anjelica Huston) is the mother of seven children, barely making ends meet when her husband dies, leaving her to figure out not only how to support the family, but also how to pay for a funeral. To cover the burial expenses, Agnes resorts to borrowing money from a loan shark (Ray Winstone) who isn't interested in special deals for widows or orphans. Agnes learns to scrape up a living selling fruit and vegetables, and makes sure her children get the best education possible, but self-sacrificing Agnes would like one small luxury for herself: Tom Jones will be playing a concert in town soon, and she'd like nothing more than to hear the man sing "It's Not Unusual" live and in person. A French baker with eyes for Agnes (Arno Chevrier) joins forces with her children to see that she gets her wish. Agnes Browne boasts an accurate portrayal of Ireland in the late 1960s, thanks in part to the fact that Huston spent a great deal of time there as a child; the film was shown as part of the Directors Fortnight series at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anjelica Huston, Marion O'Dwyer, (more)
- 1999
Produced for the Disney Channel cable service, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century was based on the children's book by Marilyn Salder and Roger Bollen. Kristen Storms heads the cast as Zenon Car, a trouble-prone 13-year-old girl, who, in the year 2049 A.D., lives on a space station with the rest of her family. When she runs afoul of Parker Windom, the owner of the station, Zenon is determined to be "incorrigible," and as punishment is exiled to the worst place imaginable: the planet earth. After several painful weeks of adjustment to her new surroundings, Zenon enlists the aid of his earthbound pals to return to her "real" home with evidence that the "respectable" Mr. Windom is up to no good. Originally telecast on January 23, 1999, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century was intended as the pilot for a weekly TV series -- and though this series never came to pass, the film was deemed worthy of a sequel the following year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirsten Storms, Raven Symone, (more)
- 1997
- PG13
Low-rent, poorly-lit superhero action is the order of the day in this film from television director Kenneth Johnson -- who makes several references to his series Alien Nation throughout the course of the movie. NBA basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal stars as John Henry Irons, a weapons designer and metallurgical genius who is developing a new sonic weapon for the military with the help of Sparks (Annabeth Gish), a computer whiz. When an accident caused by unscrupulous superior Nathaniel Burke (Judd Nelson) leaves Sparks paralyzed, Irons quits his job in disgust. It turns out later that Burke has begun mass-producing the weapon and selling it to terrorists and L.A. street gangs, so Irons and Sparks team up with Uncle Joe (Richard Roundtree), a junkyard artist, to create a suit of armor and a gadget-packed sledgehammer. Irons dons the suit and becomes known as the superhero Steel, who kicks criminal posterior all over the city with his impenetrable get-up and high-tech gizmos. Before long, Burke's comeuppance is in the offing. Although specific references to it were excised between the source material and script, the original DC Comics version of Steel was a spin-off of the Superman comics series. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shaquille O'Neal, Annabeth Gish, (more)
- 1997
Per its title, this Fox network TV movie is one of several followups to the shortlived science fiction series AlienNation, which ran on Fox from 1989 to 1991 and was based on the 1988 theatrical feature of the same name. The original series was set in a futuristic Los Angeles wherein human earthlings coexisted more or less peacefully with the Newcomers, a race of aliens from the planet Tencton who had settled in LA after escaping a slave-transport ship, and who, despite the prejudices harbored by the "Purists" and other such xenophobes, had assimilated to the point of were holding down traditionally "human" jobs and living in the 'burbs with their families. Repeating their series roles are Gray Graham as LAPD detective Matthew Sikes and Eric Pierpoint as his Newcomer partner, Detective George Francisco (George is the one with the huge bald cranium and the vestigal ears). The story gets under way when a group of "kamikaze" Newcomers invades Los Angeles, apparently with homicidal intentions towards the humans--but only because they've been brainwashed by a higher power. Tied in with this alien influx is the Udara, the radicalized Newcomer guerillas who had fomented the rebellion on the Tectonese slave ship, and who remain dedicated in their mission to kill off all "Overseers"--including those of the human variety. Much to George's surprise, his own wife Susan (Michele Scarabelli) is part of the Udara movement, resulting in a major conflict of interest. One of the fim's many subplots involves the efforts by George and Susan's son Buck (Sean Six) to follow in dad's footsteps and join the police force; elsewhere, a few unresolved plot strands from the earlier series and its previous TV-movie sequels are tied up. AlienNation: The Udara Legacy originally aired July 29, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
In this TV movie spun off from the popular sci-fi series Alien Nation, the year 2000 is approaching and Earth-born detective Matthew Sykes (Gary Graham) and his space-alien partner George Francisco (Eric Pierpont) are on the trail of a "newcomer" who has started a bizarre religious cult. Preying on pre-millennial anxieties, the cult leader claims to offer a fast track to bliss, but Sykes and Francisco fear the cult's virtual reality scheme could prove deadly. Francisco is especially worried when he discovers his son Buck (Sean Six) has fallen prey to the cult's teachings. Like the TV series, Alien Nation: Millennium was adapted from the characters created in the 1988 feature film of the same name. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, (more)
- 1996
This made-for-TV movie, inspired by the 1989 film Alien Nation (as well as the subsequent TV series adapted from it), follows the adventures of an unlikely pair of police detectives -- earthling Matt Sikes (Gary Graham) and assimilated alien "newcomer" George Francisco (Eric Pierpoint). When Sikes and Francisco are assigned to investigate the death of a "newcomer," Sikes is given a glimpse of the ugly side of the aliens' caste system, as Francisco turns up his nose at chasing the killer of an "Eeno" -- an alien trained to do the most menial labor aboard the cruisers used to transport alien slaves. Alien Nation: The Enemy Within also features Terri Treas, Michele Scarabelli, and Joe Lando. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, (more)
- 1995
The Alien Nation series continues with this made-for-television science-fiction thriller. In keeping with the original premise, the film is set in the near future on a planet Earth that is integrated with aliens. Alien detective Francisco and his human partner Sikes return, this time to investigate a mysterious child and her keeper. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1994
This made-for-TV sci-fi outing is a sequel to the television series version of a popular feature film about a futuristic Southern California in which aliens, called Newcomers, co-exist with humans. This episode of the saga focuses on 250,000 aliens who came to earth to escape slavery. Their peaceful existence is disrupted when their masters send Aponso earthward to recapture them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, (more)
- 1989
After they're framed for murder, a young couple must outrun the police--and a one-eyed hit man--in order to find the real killers. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Fisher Stevens reprises his role of Ben Jahrvi, the co-inventor of the cute robot Number Five, in this sequel to Short Circuit. Since the last film, Ben has moved to the city, where he lives in a truck and sells toy Number Fives as a street vendor. Ben plies his trade until one day luck strikes in the form of Sandy (Cynthia Gibb), a toy buyer in dire straits who offers Ben $50,000 if he can quickly churn out a thousand toy robots. Offering to help the naive Ben is street con man Fred (Michael McKean), who becomes Ben's partner and finances the burgeoning enterprise through a loan shark. Ben and Fred begin to manufacture the toys in a warehouse; unfortunately, they soon find the building also houses the entrance of a tunnel dug by thieves, preparing to rob the bank across the street. With things appearing their bleakest, a crate arrives from Montana. Inside is the new and improved Number Five, who now insists on being called Johnny Five. Johnny Five has even learned to talk in a litany of phrases gleaned from television shows, and now helps Ben get started in the toy business. In the process, Ben and Johnny Five contend with the temptations and corrupt business practices of a big city environment. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fisher Stevens, Michael McKean, (more)
- 1987
The Liberators, an ambitious 1987 entry in ABC's Disney Sunday Movie anthology series, was founded on fact. The film begins on a Kentucky plantation in the years before the Civil War. Robert Carradine, nephew of the plantation owner, has grown up with slave Larry B. Scott. Forced by the social structure of the era into a master/slave relationship, Carradine and Scott choose instead to head northward. Befriending a Quaker abolitionist (James Mainprize), the two friends become involved with the Underground Railroad, helping thousands of slaves escape to freedom. A romantic entanglement involving Scott and a lovely slave girl nearly costs the boys their own freedom as The Liberators races towards its climax. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In this adventure a professor of anthropology and a reporter join forces to look into a strange occurrence with supernatural implications. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this sprawling television miniseries, originally aired in May 1983 on NBC, a race of seemingly human-like aliens arrive en masse on Earth. These "Visitors" promise cooperation and friendship -- then launch a clandestine takeover of the planet by accusing the entire scientific and medical community of conspiring to destroy them, then finally "benevolently" seizing power. Inspired by Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here, a 1935 account of a fictional fascist takeover of America, V uses a huge ensemble cast and an elliptical method of storytelling to trace the contact between humans and the Visitors, from the arrival of 50 giant flying saucers in low Earth orbit to the first major victory of the underground resistance that opposes the aliens. Major characters include Mike Donovan (Marc Singer), a television cameraman who leverages his experience filming in various war-torn locales to help expose the Visitors' true nature; news anchor Kristine Walsh (Jenny Sullivan), his sometime girlfriend, who allows her ambitions to cloud her journalistic judgment and becomes a pawn of the alien invasion; Juliet Parrish (Faye Grant), a young biochemist who finds herself thrust into the role of resistance leader; Abraham Bernstein (Leonardo Cimino), the patriarch of a Jewish family divided between the lessons of the Holocaust and the need to survive; Elias Taylor (Michael Wright), a petty thief who joins the resistance after the Visitors kill his doctor brother, Ben (Richard Lawson); and Robin Maxwell (Blair Tefkin), the surly eldest daughter of a scientist (Michael Durrell) who finds his family the target of harassment and intimidation. The Visitors, who assume common human first names as their monikers, include supreme leader John (Richard Herd); sultry science and security officer Diana (Jane Badler); hunky Brian (Peter Nelson); and gentle Willie (Robert Englund). V was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, who initially envisioned the project as a less fanciful story of fascist aggression; when his pitch to NBC seemed to be faltering, Johnson allegedly added the alien angle extemporaneously, securing himself a green light and NBC a sweeps-week hit. The success of V spawned a second miniseries, V: The Final Battle, and a weekly TV series that lasted 19 episodes from 1984 to 1985. Johnson ended his association with the world of V halfway through production on the second miniseries, but his work on the Alien Nation TV spin-off years later would resurrect many of the themes of V. Actor Singer was already known to sci-fi fans as star of The Beastmaster, while Englund would go on to portray Freddy Krueger in countless Nightmare on Elm Street films. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Grant
- 1981
The final made-for-TV movie of the calendar year 1981 (it was originally telecast on December 30), Senior Trip combines music, comedy and pathos to tell the story of a group of graduates from a staid Ohio high school. Though tightly chaperoned on their titular trip to New York City, the kids intend to cut loose and go crazy, or at least to pursue their hearts' desires (in fact, the only two students who actually want to do some sightseeing before returning home are treated like social pariahs). Among the principal characters are would-be business tyro, Roger (Scott Baio); wannabe singer, David (Randy Brooks); aspiring actress, Judy (Liz Callaway); budding artist, Jon (Jeffrey Marcus); and self-styled Lothario, Fred (James Carroll). It takes a few run-ins with the seamier denizens of the Big Apple to convince the teens that maybe the old high school wasn't so bad. Part of the film is an extended plug for the then-current Broadway smash, Sugar Babies, with Mickey Rooney showing up as himself in one of the sequences. Buried among the minor players are two promising young actors named Jason Alexander and Robert Townsend. Senior Trip was a CBS presentation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
In this horror movie, taken from the Cliff-Hangers TV series, college students learn about their professor's dark secret. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
The Incredible Hulk, the live-action TV series based on the popular Marvel Comics character, was preceded by a 2-hour TV-movie pilot. Bill Bixby stars as Dr. David Banner (Bruce Banner in the original comic books), a scientist whose experimentation with gamma rays has a most dramatic effect. Whenever his anger is aroused, Dr. Banner turns into a huge, green, rampaging monstrosity called the Hulk (played by bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno). Unjustly accused of being a criminal in his "Hulk" guise, Dr. Banner is forced to take it on the lam. In Fugitive fashion, the subsequent series found Dr. Banner and his alter-ego Hulk helping people in distress. Written, produced and directed by Kenneth Johnson, the Incredible Hulk pilot was first broadcast November 4, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, (more)
- 1977
In this fantasy, based on the popular comic book hero, mild-mannered scientist David Banner is dismayed to discover that his new boss has been drugging her crippled stepdaughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Arrogant rookie cop George Barrett (John Elerick) has trouble following orders during his probation period--and Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord), Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Ed Wells (Gary Crosby) bear the brunt of his insubordination. Messing up a variety of cases and forever jumping to the wrong conclusions on the job, Barrett proves to be danger to himself and his coworkers. Things come to a head when Barrett panics during a confrontation with a bombing suspect. This episode is highlighted by a slyly misleading opening sequence (Don't worry, our heroes aren't really dead). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Not really a movie, An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe is a videotaped 90-minute TV special starring Vincent Price. Appearing solo, Price recites several vintage Poe tales, including The Black Cat, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Cask of Amontillado. Price is dressed in period costume and performs before 19th century sets, but the stories are staged as "reader's theatre," with only an occasional visual representation. The best of the batch is Cask of Amontillado, which Price relates with giggling glee rather than with the haunted, tormented interpretation utilized by most actors. An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe was a Halloween fixture of local TV stations during the mid-1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
