Friday Flashback: The Twilight Zone

Rod Serling had been gone a few years when four directors hit on the idea of bringing one of the most beloved anthology series to the big screen, including a remake of two classic episodes. The Twilight Zone featured John Lithgow in the airplane story made famous in the original series by William Shatner (and hilariously referenced by Shatner and Lithgow in 3rd Rock from the Sun) and Kahtleen Quinlan in that episode with Bill Mumy in the original. (And Mumy is still the scariest little kid I’ve seen on television in his pre-Will Robinson days.)

But Twilight Zone: The Movie is famous for something director John Landis would rather you forget: Actor Vic Morrow on-set death from a pyrotechnic accident. Were it not for the fatal shot in that segment, Landis’s story would be best remembered for Morrow being chased through the jungles of Vietnam by soldiers who lament that they killed Niedermeyer. Yes, we now know what happened to the militaristic prick from Animal House.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYiMxjfiZ60

1 thought on “Friday Flashback: The Twilight Zone”

  1. I think I read/heard (long ago) that the Morrow subplot was to end differently. He was to have a Hollywood-esque epiphany, and barely escape after deciding to do something decent and heroic for a person of color. So the movie ended up doubly depressing.

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