Siskel & Ebert - The Thing, The Atomic Café, The Weavers: Wasn’t That a Time!, Megaforce, E.T.
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- Опубликовано: 13 май 2021
- In this episode, Siskel and Ebert review: The Thing, The Atomic Café, The Weavers: Wasn’t That a Time!, Megaforce and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Seeing these old Siskel and Ebert episodes sure does bring back some warm, happy memories.
Back then in 1982, normally I went to the movies once a week with my then best friend. We were both a couple of fanatics about the movies and went to the movies together once a week from the 1970s-1980s (and yes, we religiously watched Siskel and Ebert every week on his living room tv).
But there were a handful of times when I went to see a movie on my own. ET was one of them.
In the case of The Thing, I saw that on my 13th birthday thanks to my Uncle. A couple days before my 13th birthday my Uncle called up and asked what I wanted for my 13th birthday. I told him I wanted to see 2 movies: The Thing and Poltergeist. On the day of my birthday, he picked me up and took me to see The Thing at a movie theater in his neighborhood in the upper east side of Manhattan. He just couldn't stand the gory special effects, so about half way through the movie, he walked out and waited for me in the lobby for the movie to end.
Then he took me to a different theater also in his neighborhood (back then every neighborhood had several movie theaters within walking distance of your place) to see Poltergeist. Fearing any gory effects that movie might also have, instead of going inside with me, he bought a ticket for me and then went to his apartment, coming back for me when the movie ended to take me back home
Ebert was usually correct in his reviews....but he missed the boat on The Thing. It was very good.
He was completely right. That's definitely the most disgusting movie I've ever seen. Couldn't stand more than 10 minutes of it.
He was extremely way off. It's also amazing but after seeing so many of their reviews one would automatically assume that Siskel would dislike The Thing tremendously and Ebert would rave about it.
Correct according to whom?
Are you kurt Russell?!? The thing has good effects but the script is poor
Roger always had trouble getting into genre movies that were very good in their own way
The Thing is a classic!
Exactly!! Roger really missed the boat on this one. Great movie
I much preferred the original, The Thing From Another World.
@THE NEW HOUSE yeah, disagree, if so, why does it continues to grow in popularity? Lol
@THE NEW HOUSE It's effect scenes are pretty great and imaginative but the movie is pretty boring like most of Carpenter's stuff... Other than the effects and a few tense scenes like the blood testing bit ... it is a bit overrated. I watched it recently and was kind of bored. Doesn't compare to great movies he did like Big Trouble in Little China or Starman. .... Halloween has got to be his most overrated movie though ... I get what it did for the horror genre and how influential it is .. BUT MAN that movie is dull as dirt. Something like The Thing and Christine are much better movies in my view.
@@Fiveash-Art what did you think of they live? I think that's one of carpenter's best.
The comments seem to be forgetting - EVERYONE missed the mark on reviewing The Thing, critics didn't really come around on it until a while after it was on tape.
That was usually the case with John Carpenter films. Over and over again.
It's true, it was a box office bomb and a critical disappointment. And so was "Blade Runner". A lot of films that ended up being re-assessed as classics later on were initially dismissed, in the 80's. I think, partially, it was because SO many GREAT films were being released at the time (especially in 1982) that a lot of what was being done was simply being taken for granted at the time.
I saw this movie in Westwood, CA. Actor Ron Howard and his wife were standing behind us in line.
actor?
@@adamgrimsley2900 He was an actor at the time. He may have directed episodes of Happy Days.
@@Piwork69 long time ago
@@Piwork69 He had directed Grand Theft Auto by then, in '77. His second movie, Night Shift, came out a month after The Thing.
So he went to see The Thing probably to see what his competition was going to be (although Night "PutthemayoINthecanoftuna!" Shift was a comedy).
Weird. Usually Gene is the one who hates horror movies.
And Siskel & Ebert were very lucky they were on PBS. Networks, especially back in 1982, would've censored all the gore clips.
Interesting they are reviewing the well known classics "The Weavers" and "Atomic Cafe" when "Bladerunner" came out the same week as "The Thing".
If the director of Megaforce explicitly told his actors to be lazy and disinterested in the delivery of their lines he utterly succeeded. The Atomic Cafe is a great documentary in that it cobbled together so many details in film that it’s a sort of goldmine.
The only time I agreed with Quentin Tarantino and disagreed with Roger Ebert at the same time.
The Thing is great.
I disagree with QT so much these days. I wish he would shut up and just direct movies.
I'm here for the Weavers. Ebert is bang on.
Both Gene and Roger gave the film 4 star reviews when it was first released...Roger put it on his 10 best list of '82...
The characters in 'The Thing' are great.
Yeah, I have no idea what Gene was talking about about them being indistinguishable. The characters were extremely well drawn, and it's one of the reasons why the film has held up. If it was just about the effects, it would have disappeared into the ether.
Personally, I enjoyed learning from the 1982 documentary of "The Atomic Cafe" and I even have the Blu-ray version with special features on it as well. I am also sure that I used to have the DVD version of the film from years past and it was BEFORE the 4K restoration in 2018, I think, and I was pretty impressed with the way it turned out as a result.
Roger, why no at The Thing 😢😢 Its a horror masterpiece!!
Thanks 4 turning me on to the weavers and the thing one of the baddest movies ever made
With all the monster movies that have crappy creature effects, you'd think that a movie with the most superb such effects -- especially when they can STILL freak you the fuck out 40-some years later -- would have earned Ebert's begrudging respect, if for no other reason than this shows the craft of filmmaking at its finest. If the creature had been an obvious cardboard cutout with googly eyes, it would have been laughable -- as so many such low-budget monsters from the '50s and '60s were. But the Thing created by Rob Bottin's brilliance is believable -- you see every fucking CENT they spent on it up on the big screen. Despite being grosses out by it, Ebert ought to have at least evinced a grudging admiration for the movie magic that got those images on the screen. It's like the contrast between the spaceship effects in Kubrick's "2001" compared with the rockets-with-sparklers in an old Flash Gordon serial. Couldn't Ebert, at the very least, have acknowledged Bottin's genius, even though he personally finds it disgusting? It's dismissive reviews like this that made me despise TV movie critics half the time, no matter how reasonable they could be regarding other movies I agreed on them with.
Once again Ebert is totally off track. The Thing is a great movie.
Exactly...meanwhile he's going ga-ga over that other alien creature, E.T., a movie that I STILL have not been able to watch all the way through 40 years later. So maudlin...
Went to the movies with a bunch of cousins one night in 1982. I was the second youngest cousin in the group. My one younger cousin was too young for Blade Runner. I had to go see Mega Force with him so he wouldn't be alone. I missed my opportunity to see Blade Runner on the big screen. All the older cousins including my brother and sister saw Blade Runner that night. I'm Still mad at my cousin for being younger than me. Grrrrrrr....
There was the 1992 and 2007 releases of blade runner
@@knownpleasures Bladerunner 1982 originally
Love Roger Ebert but disappointed by his revulsion towards the awesome creature effects in The Thing, one of the best sci-fi films of the era. Even respected critics can have blind spots, and I would bet that if he had to revisit the film and his review 20 years later, he would have been more positive.
Wow the thing reviewed
The Thing is awesome!! I’m surprised they had such a hard time with it.
"Repellent special effects"!
Man, those words ages like fine milk.
Thing is the modern benchmark for practical effects, and is often cited as the #1 horror movie of all time. Used to be The Exorcist, but ppl aren't as scared of the Devil anymore.
Exorcist is a better horror comedy than Rocky Horror
Devil and possession themed horror is still quite popular though.
The Thing was incredible!! John Carpenter's best, imo. The allegory with AIDS escaped me as a kid, obviously...but so, so clever
🤔
I think the blood test part is loosely inspired by AIDS epidemic at the time, but the core allegory of paranoia about the "alien among us" is still borrowed largely from The Thing From Another World 1951, which, although based on a novella from the 30s, was largely symbolic about Soviet threat of infiltration and McCarthyism. John Carpenter's films are always heavy on the political allegories, and knowing his political leanings, McCarthyism must be front and center amongst his concerns when he made this. Remember also that the west was still very steeped in the cold war mentality in the late 70s despite the anti-war movements.
AIDS hadn’t really hit the public zeitgeist by the time The Thing was released. I remember seeing a few news reports about this strange disease in Haiti in 1983, but it wasn’t the scare that hit in 84.
Big Trouble in Little China and Starman both beat the pants off The Thing .... Other than the effects it kind of plods along. It's a pretty good, imaginative monster movie for the day .. but I don't think it holds up as well as the fans think. It's overrated ... I was kind of bored last time I watched it.
'Atomic Cafe.' The yt video ( from July 2022 ) ''How To Survive Nuclear War in NYC,'' by The Jimmy Dore Show. Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid, says...the Owner$ of the World !
Holy cow, Ebert pissed all over, what are good movies in my opinion, Cannonball Run, The Thing.
The Thing is perfection.
Based on a novella titled Who Goes There?
I love Roger don't get me wrong; l but how else does he think machine guns on motorcycles should be mounted?
On handle bars you can atleast articulate easier yout target....
Ebert on The Thing was right about one aspect... most people who went to see it in 1982 went for the creature. But its nihilistic tone turned off movie audiences that were in an era of optimism. But in the long run, Siskel proved correct over time. History has proved Carpenter's movie has stood the test of time because viewers became aware that the gross f/x simply supported a strongly told story of growing mistrust for our fellow man.
The Thing broke new ground for squick. Now, of course, it's only among the most gruesome films ever made, not at the top of the list. Time has proven Roger wrong about it, but I do think he was right about the characters being flat. I didn't care much about any of them. I liked it for the grue.
Ebert ffs!
Today if you gave a film the title "The Thing' everybody would think it's a Marvel spinoff.
Time has proven Ebert SO wrong about The Thing. It's now widely regarded as one of the best horror films of all time.
Roger Ebert tells Gene his review of The Thing is irrelevant because people who go to see that movie aren't looking for meaning. He says this mere minutes after complaining the Megaforce is nothing but mindless action. As usual, while I may agree more with Roger, I find Gene's reviews far more informative. Roger was all about whether he enjoyed the movie (for whatever reason); Gene was more about whether the movie could be appreciated beyond the basic entertainment level. That's more helpful, because maybe I would enjoy the film for reasons other than Roger did.
Seemingly more rare L by Roger here on the Thing
i guess it really goes to show the generational differences, because i a lot of their reviews they will go on about hos disgusted they were by some gory thing. this is the time period i was a child and tween and then a teen, and ive never been a gore fan but when these films were constantly on cable i would watch them and just shrug it off it never bothered me, i guess its true that we get desensitized?
"The Thing" is considered a classic and everyone loves it, thats surely an exaggeration not everyone loves it but its pretty universally liked by guys on my generation. i like it but not as much as most of my friends and many other people do.
ive already had enough of "The Atomic Cafe" just from that annoying repetitive clip. its the main reason i clicked on this episode because i didnt recognize it and thought from the name it might be something cool and interesting, but man that is annoying. it seems to be aimed at my parents generation any way, the ones that had to go through all of that.
dont really agree with The Weavers politics but great band in their time.
Hearing that "duck and cover" song from THE ATOMIC CAFE made me want to duck and cover...my ears. Because that was a terrible piece of music.
Hal Needham may have been an ace stuntman and Burt Reynolds best friend, but he was an awful director. Only two of his films were really any good. The first Smokey & The Bandit and the underrated Hooper are the only times his films showed any promise. Even Burt stopped working with him after the terrible Cannonball Run 2! You would think he'd have learned his lesson with Stroker Ace, but no! As a kid, if I saw Hal Needham directed the movie I was about to watch, I knew I was in trouble.
Also, S&E were completely off base with their review of The Thing. It is the 4th best JC film. It falls between Big Trouble in Little China and Assault on Precinct 13. Halloween and Escape From NY are first and second. Carpenter is one of my favorite directors. Sadly, after he stopped working with Dean Cundy as his DP, his films have been disappointing!
Hooper sucked
The only film I ever saw of Hal Needham was SatB. That was a'plenty.
Actually, Burt and Hal worked together after CBR 2.
I'm sorry, but they missed the mark on The Thing. It's a brilliant film.
Contrary to the way this show is remembered, I'm in Siskel's corner far more often than Ebert.
nobody liked The Thing when it first came out, people are forgetting
SISKEL GETS A LOT OF FACTUAL THINGS WRONG. THE ORIGINAL THING WAS RELEASED IN 1951.
Megaforce looks atrocious. Was shocked Gene liked The Thing and not Roger.
Ebert hands down wrong on the Thing.
I’m deeply embarrassed that I ever took these guys seriously, even though I was a child at the time.
The wrongest Ebert has ever been.
I liked the old Thing better actually. The Thing remake is just special effects with very unsympathetic, moronic characters. Even without the dangerous alien I really wouldn't want to be stuck in a building in the middle of nowhere's with a bunch of nothing but guys for a year! The Kurt Russell character-in handling a dangerous monster in the ice-well sadly he proves he's no Luke Skywalker! The film's big problem is that it works by having what's known as 'the idiot plot' being that the film only moves because all the characters are idiots!
I absolutely HATED E.T.!!!!!! So pedestrian and stupid in every single way! I never understood it's success - just stupid people, I suppose? Interesting though that his version of West Side Story (2021) is my all-time favorite movie musical and by far for me anyway the best film of 2021!
You drool
Rifftrax had a field day with MEGAFORCE. Sadly, they were way off with their take on THE THING.