Blast From The Past

Released By:

New Line Home Video, Distributed by Warner Home Video

Features:

1999; 112 Min; Rated PG-13; Dolby Digital 5.1 English; Dolby Surround English; Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35)

Extras:

Production Notes; Cast and Filmmakers' Biographies;  Theatrical Trailer; DVD-Rom Features: "Script to Screen" Screenplay Access; "Bomb Shelter" Games; Print Out Swing Dance Steps; Find A Long Lost Friend and E-mail a Postcard to Them? 

Review:

Every once in a while, an actor, or actress, comes along that has so much personality, the viewing public falls instantly in love with them. Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone are two such actors. Fraser came to prominence in George Of The Jungle, while Silverstone is synonymous with Clueless. While both actors have tried to stretch themselves in action, dramas and other genres, they will most likely be remembered for their comedic performances. New Line has fortunately paired these two together in Blast From the Past.

Brendan Fraser plays Adam, a thirty five years old, who has been living in a bomb shelter since the Cuban missile crisis. His father, a brilliant, but paranoid, scientist is played by Christoper Walken. His mom, is portrayed by Sissy Spacek. She is the traditional loyal wife from the time period, with a hidden alcoholism problem.

When a plane crashes into their LA suburban home, Walken assumes Cuba has begun to attack. He rushes his wife into his elaborate home away from home, the bomb shelter. There is a time lock that seals for thirty five years. Walken has stocked this underground utopia with every thing needed for survival: food, wood, clothing, money and other collectables. Adam is born in the shelter, and is taught all the traditional values that his parents were raised on. Meanwhile, above them in the real world, society continues to change, oblivious to the good doctor and family.

When the time lock finally opens in 1999, most of the shelter's resources have dwindled down to nothing. It's time for the family to re-supply themselves. Walken goes up to the real world, and is stunned by the "mutants" that are inhabiting the Earth. He is so shocked, that he suffers a heart attack when he returns home. It's is up for Adam to save the day. He is sent out into the world with stocks, cash and baseball cards in order to purchase goods. His father also advises him to find a wife and bring her back to the shelter to settle down.

The first place Adam stops, is a card shop, to sell off his baseball cards. The owner tries to scam Adam out of his cards for less than their value. Eve an assistant at the store, see this, and sympathizing with the oafish Adam, takes him out of the store, to find a more reputable dealer. She is fired in the process. Adam asks her to help him find everything he needs, and the romantic comedy really begins to take off.

Blast From the Past is a great little comedy, where the society of the late fifty early sixties, is thrown into the nineties. Hugh Wilson has found the perfect balance for the comedic tempo of this film. While it's hilarious, it isn't slapstick, which is where many directors could have chosen to take this film. I don't completely understand while this film failed at the box office, relatively speaking. More than likely, it's because the core audience this film was aimed for wasn't even born until after Return of the Jedi was released. I've noticed that at my rental store, more of our older customer, 25 or older, seem to appreciate this film.

The films print looks outstanding, standard form New Line. The color are vibrant, and for once, the down conversion didn't look too bad to me. As for the audio, this is not True Lies. This is a character driven story, not an special effects bonanza. The music is well mixed throughout, and there are limited uses of 5.1 surrounds, but it's great for such a subtle film as this.

The supplement were decent. Actually they weren't many on the actual disc. Just the trailer, a "love meter" game and the traditional cast and crew biographies. Unfortunately most of the supplement was encoded on the DVD-Rom portion, so I never even bothered to play with them. I am a PC user, and I find it incredibly inconvenient to have to go to another room, and use my computer to access all of a discs features. I'm really beginning to hate DVD-Rom content. It was cool on my first discs, like Blade, but now it a pain in the (insert word).

Blast for the Past is sappy, but fun. The film ranks a 7.

While the disc looked and sounded great, there wasn't very much supplement, so the overall presentation earns a 6.5. Negative 1 bonus biscuit for DVD-Rom content.

Dan Linzmeier, FIT Productions
Fitprod@aol.com
Home
Reviews
Copyright 1999-2000, FIT Productions