Robert Singer Movies

A feature-length pilot film for a proposed NBC series, War Stories is set in a battle-torn Middle Eastern country that is obviously Uzbekistan (but not identified as such). Cynical, hard-as-nails American war correspondent Ben Dansmore (Jeff Goldblum) balks at being assigned a new photographer/partner so soon after the newcomer's predecessor (who happened to be Ben's best friend) was literally blown to bits while covering a hot story. "There's no such thing as truth; that's why they call them stories." That is Ben's philosophy, one that he hopes to impart to idealistic young Nora Stone (Lake Bell). But Nora, whose sister died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, refuses to be as cold and dispassionate as Ben. It takes a series of near-death experiences dodging bullets and fanatical rebels for Ben and Nora to find the common ground so necessary to their future teamwork. War Stories premiered January 29, 2003, on the eve of what seemed certain to be the United States' ultimate showdown with Iraq. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fifth film version of the classic 19th century children's tale by Ouida (aka Marie-Louise de la Ramée), A Dog of Flanders tells the story of young Nello (Jesse James), a boy growing up with his grandfather Jehan (Jack Warden) after the death of his parents. Although Jehan has little in the way of material wealth, he loves his grandson and tries to encourage him in his pursuits; Nello also has the support of his best friend Aloise (Madyline Sweeten) and the love of his faithful dog, Patrasche. Following in the footsteps of his late mother, Nello has an interest in art and has taken up drawing. His work catches the eye of Michel La Grande (Jon Voight), a famous artist who lives in town and offers Nello encouragement. However, as he grows older, the friendship between Nello (now played by Jeremy James Kissner) and Aloise (now played by Farren Monet) is jeopardized because her family feels that a lower-class boy like Nello is not a fit companion for a respectable girl like their daughter. Hoping to earn money and advance his career as an artist, Nello enters a competition for painters on the advice and coaching of La Grande. However, the prize goes to a less skilled but more socially prominent art student. Discouraged, Nello and Patrasche leave home for a journey that will teach them and those around them an important lesson about friendship. A Dog of Flanders represents a change of pace for director Kevin Brodie, whose previous credits include the college comedy Delta Pi and the thriller Treacherous. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Debuting September 13, 1993, the ABC adventure-fantasy series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman brought a 1990s spin and sensibility to the classic Superman legend as set down in comic-book form by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster way back in 1938. Superficially, the premise is basically the same, with Dean Cain starring as Superman, "strange visitor from another planet with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men," who in his human guise as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, worked for the "Daily Planet," the leading newspaper in Metropolis. Kent's co-workers included hard-driving female reporter Lois Lane (Teri Hatcher), who (in the early episodes at least) regarded country-boy Clark as a nuisance, reserving her affections for her frequent rescuer Superman, totally unaware that the two men were one and the same; blustery editor Perry White (Lane Smith); and callow cub reporter-photographer Jimmy Olsen (played first by Michael Landes, then by Justin Whalin). Occasionally, Clark made return visits to Smallville, where he had grown up after the spaceship carrying him from the doomed planet Krypton crashed near the farm of his adoptive parents, Martha and Jonathan Kent (K Callan, Eddie Jones). Also seen was Superman's great nemesis, the fabulously wealthy master villain Lex Luthor (John Shea).

But while all the "original" elements were present, there were a number of significant deviations from the Superman canon. For one thing, unlike his comic-book counterpart, Clark Kent had come to Metropolis knowing virtually nothing of his previous life on Krypton, nor was he in full possession of the facts behind his super-strength and his other unearthly skills. Additionally, it took several episodes before he became aware of the deleterious and potentially deadly effects that Kryptonite (a metal derived from his home planet) could have on his powers and himself. As for Lois, rather than persisting in her first impression of Clark Kent as a nerdy nobody, she gradually fell in love with him -- for himself, and not for his Superman-ly alter ego (even though she had managed to figure out his true identity on her own by the end of the series' third season). In fact, Lois and Clark eventually became man and wife -- though it took them forever to get to the altar, thanks to a wide variety of dangerous roadblocks. Also, Lex Luthor had not become a bad guy to avenge an accident caused by the young Clark Kent which rendered him bald (the "motivation" imposed on Luthor in the original comic books); Lex revelled in villainy for its own sake, all the while maintaining a veneer of respectability that no one (except for Superman) was able to see through. While Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman tended to be irreverent and tongue-in-cheek in its approach (for example, the choleric Perry White was revealed to be an inveterate Elvis Presley fan!), it never stooped to deriding its source material, and thus is more treasured by comic-book aficionados than the campy 1960s version of Batman. The series ended its successful ABC run on June 14, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This TV pilot film stars Carl Weathers as Harry Braker, an ex-Marine who is his city's only African American police lieutenant. Tough but tender, Braker bends the rules to help the helpless. Braker's team of co-workers is the usual cop-show manifest: The gonzo (Randall "Tex" Cobb), the green newcomer (Joseph Bottoms) and the drop-dead gorgeous babe (Ann Schedeen). Their assignment this time out is to find the killer of a prominent producer and director, both of whom were engaged in the manufacture of porno films. Braker was telecast back to back on April 28, 1985 with another busted pilot, Brothers in Law. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The story which began with the mini-series V comes to a stunning conclusion in this made-for-TV sci-fi adventure. A race of reptilian creatures from another planet arrive on Earth, disguised as humanoids and claiming to come in peace in a search for needed water and food. However, their true motives soon become evident when they take control of the world and begin eating humans for sustenance. A ragtag army of Earthlings form an underground resistance army, leading to a final apocalyptic showdown between the humans and their new rulers. V: The Final Battle reunites most of the original cast of V, including Marc Singer, Robert Englund, Jane Badler, Andrew Pine, and Faye Grant. Followed by a short-lived weekly series. ~ Mark Deming, 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

In this run-of-the-mill romantic drama, the title Independence Day refers to the usual Fourth of July fireworks festival in the U.S. but also to the dilemma of Mary Ann Taylor (Kathleen Quinlan) who lives in a small town but has a big ambition to go to the city and study photography for a profession -- should she go, or should she stay in her hometown with the man she loves? Focus on Mary Ann's dilemma slips to other characters -- her boyfriend's suicidal sister (Dianne Wiest) who is abused by her husband, the abusive husband's equally nasty father, and Mary Ann's boyfriend himself who is preparing his Camaro for the annual Fourth of July race. With the story moving from here to there, hampered by some extraordinary leaps of imagination, the narrative is thinned considerably by the time the Fourth is at hand. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This groundbreaking, darkly-comic horror film from director Joe Dante changed the look and feel of werewolf movies in ways light-years distant from Universal's horror classic The Wolf Man. The story begins with television reporter/anchor Karen White (Dee Wallace) taking part in a dangerous police operation intended to trap psychopath Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). When confronted by Eddie face-to-face, she witnesses something horrifying enough to trigger selective amnesia. Plagued by a series of violent nightmares, Karen decides to admit herself to a posh recovery resort known only as "The Colony," run by her eccentric New Age therapist Dr. Wagner (Patrick MacNee), and brings along her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) for support. The night after they arrive, Karen and Bill are unnerved by eerie howling in the woods. Back in the city, Karen's coworkers Chris (Dennis Dugan) and Terry (Belinda Balaski) have been investigating Eddie's background after discovering that his body has disappeared from the morgue. Sifting through Eddie's possessions, they find a strange collection of artwork depicting wolf-like creatures, and decide to consult with Walter Paisley (Dick Miller, of course), the owner of an occult bookshop, on werewolf lore. Though he claims not to believe in the stuff he's selling, Paisley nevertheless convinces Chris to purchase a handful of silver bullets... just in case. Back at the colony, Dr. Wagner has organized a hunting party after hearing Karen's account of the nocturnal howling, but the men find nothing but a rabbit, which Bill is told to bring to the cabin of the sultry Marsha (Elisabeth Brooks) to prepare for dinner. After resisting Marsha's less-than-subtle sexual overtures, Bill is attacked by a wolf while returning to his cabin. The following moonlit night, the sleepless Bill wanders outside to find Marsha waiting and the two make love by the campfire, their bodies undergoing a frightening transformation. Just as Karen is beginning to suspect that her husband is hiding a secret far more threatening than marital infidelity, Chris and Terry have come to realize -- too late, in Terry's case -- that Eddie Quist is not only still alive, but not quite human... and he knows he's being followed. Chris arrives at the colony too late to save Terry, but manages to find Karen just as the colony's residents -- all of whom are werewolves, including Dr. Wagner -- are assembling to decide her fate. Dante fills his film with heartfelt homages to The Wolf Man and other classic horror movies, as well as a few clever visual puns and in-jokes from his tenure with Roger Corman, but never strays from the path to genuine horror, particularly when Rob Bottin's chilling monsters are onscreen. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

A wiseacre, world-wise gumshoe teams up with a greenhorn policewoman and begin investigating the murder of his partner in this crime drama that was a pilot for a TV series. Their search leads them into the darkest corners of the city's thriving porno industry. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this sequel to Melvin Purvis, G-Man, Dale Robertson returns as the crime fighter, who must battle such notorious gangsters as Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Beaver (Jerry Mathers) is insulted that he has not been invited to a party that Wally (Tony Dow) is throwing for his friends. But instead of getting mad, he decides to get even. Visiting the local magic shop, Beaver purchases a variety of annoying practical jokes, guaranteed to make the party an event that no one will forget -- or want to remember. Perhaps it goes without saying that once Beav has all his booby-traps in place, Wally ends up inviting him after all! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide