Burt Lancaster

This adaptation of Gaston Leroux's indefatigable "grand guignol" piece The Phantom of the Opera stars British actor Charles Dance as Erik the Phantom. This adaptation by playwright Arthur Kopit soft-pedals the horrific elements of the story to concentrate on the love the tragic Erik bears toward innocent chorus singer Teri Polo. The film boasts a stronger supporting cast than was usual for a TV movie, including Burt Lancaster (as the masked phantom's father), Ian Richardson and Jean-Pierre Cassel. The 1990 Phantom of the Opera reunited director Tony Richardson and composer John Addison, who'd both won Oscar for Tom Jones. Filmed on location in France, Phantom was originally telecast in two two-hour installments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Pope John Paul II, this reverent tale focuses on a pair of married Polish couples whose children meet decades later in North America. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

"If you build it, he will come." That's the ethereal message that inspires Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) to construct a baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield. At first, "he" seems to be the ghost of disgraced ballplayer Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta), who materializes on the ballfield and plays a few games with the awestruck Ray. But as the weeks go by, Ray receives several other messages from a disembodied voice, one of which is "Ease his pain." He realizes that his ballfield has been divinely ordained to give a second chance to people who have sacrificed certain valuable aspects of their lives. One of these folks is Salingeresque writer Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), whom Ray kidnaps and takes to a ball game and then to his farm. Another is Doc Graham (Burt Lancaster), a beloved general practitioner who gave up a burgeoning baseball career in favor of medicine. The final "second-chancer" turns out to be much closer to Ray. That "magical" field in Dyersville, Iowa still draws thousands of baseball-happy tourists each year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On the occasion of wealthy patriarch Burt Lancaster's 77th birthday, his Long Island home is invaded by well-meaning family members. Lancaster is bored by the well-meaning interference of his grown children, but he thrives on the company of his grandchildren, especially 5-year-old Macaulay Culkin (in a terrific pre-star performance). To the kids, Lancaster reveals what he really wants as a birthday present: an old-fashioned Viking funeral! From this point on, the ending of Rocket Gibraltar is a "done deal", but getting there is all the fun. A superb, hand-picked cast--including Suzy Amis, Sinead Cusack, John Glover, Bill Pullman and Kevin Spacey -does full justice to Amos Poe's whimsical, often deeply touching script. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On Wings of Eagles was adapted for television from the best-selling book by Ken Follett. Inspired by fact, the story involves the daring rescue of two American business executives, held captive in Tehran during the US Embassy takeover of 1979. Retired Special Forces colonel Arthur D. "Bull" Simons (Burt Lancaster) agrees to help the executives' employer in a bold effort to rescue the two men right from under the noses of the Ayatollah and the angry mobs surrounding the embassy. Oh, haven't we told you the name of the employer? It was none other than H. Ross Perot, here played by Richard Crenna. Originally telecast in two parts, On Wings of Eagles premiered on May 18 and 19, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas team up one last time in Tough Guys. Harry Doyle (Lancaster) and Archie Lang (Douglas) are two old-time train robbers, who held up a train in 1956 and have been incarcerated for thirty years. After serving their time, they are released from jail and have to adjust to a new life of freedom, now as old men. Harry and Archie realize that they still have the pizzazz when, picking up their prison checks at a bank, they foil a robbery attempt. Archie, who spent his prison time pumping himself up, easily picks up a 20-year-old aerobics instructor named Skye (Darlanne Fluegel). Harry, on the other hand, has to waste away his days in a nursing home. They both have festering resentments --Archie for having to endure a humiliating job as a busboy; Harry for having to endure patronizing attitudes toward senior citizens. The two old pals finally go back to what they know best. After successfully robbing an armored car, they decide to rob the same train that they robbed thirty years ago. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In a weakly-limned story that starts off on one foot and then quickly jumps to another, Margot Kidder plays Margo, a stripper out looking for her long-lost father (Burt Lancaster) in a remote area of Mexico. After she arrives, Eugene (Ted Danson), an American settled in Mexico for the duration, offers her some help in her mission. Although Margo and her father eventually find each other, their reunion fades into the distance as Eugene and Margo chase after some stolen money. Along the way, Margo is propositioned by wealthy Norman Kane (Joseph Hacker) to perform for one of his pool parties -- further stripping the plot of credibility. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Bill Forsyth's whimsical tale of sweet-natured corporate rapacity features standout performances by Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert. Lancaster plays Texas billionaire Felix Happer, who would rather gaze at the stars than worry about his multi-national oil company. Happer dispatches Mac MacIntyre (Peter Riegert) and Danny Oldsen (Peter Capaldi) to the small Scottish fishing village of Ferness to negotiate buying the entire town so Happer can drill for oil in the North Sea. Much to Mac's surprise, the entire town is happy to sell itself for big money, and the local innkeeper, Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson) -- who is also the town's accountant and mayor -- works with Mac on the negotiations. But a wrinkle appears in the deal when Ben Knox (Fulton Mackay), an old man who lives in a shack on the beach which has been owned by his family for centuries, refuses to sell. His reasons? "Who'd look after the beach then? It would go to pieces in a short manner of time." The deal stalls so seriously that Happer travels to Ferness to oversee negotiations as Mac and Danny are seduced by the charm of the Scottish town. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

John Carpenter's The Thing is both a remake of Howard Hawks' 1951 film of the same name and a re-adaptation of the John W. Campbell Jr. story "Who Goes There?" on which it was based. Carpenter's film is more faithful to Campbell's story than Hawks' version and also substantially more reliant on special effects, provided in abundance by a team of over 40 technicians, including veteran creature-effects artists Rob Bottin and Stan Winston. The film opens enigmatically with a Siberian Husky running through the Antarctic tundra, chased by two men in a helicopter firing at it from above. Even after the dog finds shelter at an American research outpost, the men in the helicopter (Norwegians from an outpost nearby) land and keep shooting. One of the Norwegians drops a grenade and blows himself and the helicopter to pieces; the other is shot dead in the snow by Garry (Donald Moffat), the American outpost captain. American helicopter pilot MacReady (Kurt Russell, fresh from Carpenter's Escape From New York) and camp doctor Copper (Richard Dysart) fly off to find the Norwegian base and discover some pretty strange goings-on. The base is in ruins, and the only occupants are a man frozen to a chair (having cut his own throat) and the burned remains of what could be one man or several men. In a side room, Copper and MacReady find a coffin-like block of ice from which something has been recently cut. That night at the American base, the Husky changes into the Thing, and the Americans learn first-hand that the creature has the ability to mutate into anything it kills. For the rest of the film the men fight a losing (and very gory) battle against it, never knowing if one of their own dwindling number is the Thing in disguise. Though resurrected as a cult favorite, The Thing failed at the box office during its initial run, possibly because of its release just two weeks after Steven Spielberg's warmly received E.T.The Extra-Terrestrial. Along with Ridley Scott's futuristic Alien, The Thing helped stimulate a new wave of sci-fi horror films in which action and special effects wizardry were often seen as ends in themselves. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide

This offbeat and atmospheric western is set in 1893, as a gang led by longtime outlaws Bill Doolin (Burt Lancaster) and Bill Dalton (Scott Glenn) is on the verge of falling apart due to time and fatigue. A pair of teenage girls who long to be part of the outlaw mythos of the west meet up with Dalton and Doolin: Jenny (Diane Lane) and Annie (Amanda Plummer). The girls brings an unexpected second wind to the gang, as they help them plot a new series of robberies and escapes, but this burst of new activity also attracts the attention of law officer Tilghman (Rod Steiger), who is determined to put them behind bars. While Cattle Annie and Little Britches was a box office flop thanks to poor handling by the distribution company that released it, it's developed a strong reputation among film buffs and western fans; it also featured Plummer's first screen appearance. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Burt Lancaster stars as Lou, an aging mob flunkey, barely making a living in Atlantic City. Susan Sarandon plays Sally, a casino croupier whose husband Dave (Robert Joy) steals a large supply of drugs from the mob. When he is killed, the narcotics pass to the unwilling Sally. Lou, in the midst of longtime affair with middle-aged gangster's widow Grace (Kate Reid), falls for the much younger Sally, becoming her savior by killing the mob thugs sent to shut her up. The killings serve a therapeutic value for Lou, proving that he hasn't lost his old panache. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide