chuckc
Joined Jan 2000
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Reviews17
chuckc's rating
No live-action movie has ever captured the anarchic feel of the rubbery Max Fleischer cartoons of the 1930s better than "Forbidden Zone." It's an LSD-fueled Betty Boop picture mixed with "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Inferno," all filtered through David Lynch's kaleidoscope (or run through R. Crumb's Cuisinart).
The story, such as it is, deals with the adventures of Frenchy Hercules, who lives over a doorway to the "Sixth Dimension," which is ruled by King Fausto (Herve Villechaize) and Queen Doris (Susan Tyrrell) with sadomasochistic glee. The whole flick really fits the Betty Boop formula perfectly--a shapely heroine (who loves to rumba) falls from her own bizarre "reality" into an even stranger one. Much mayhem and cool swing music ensue, as Frenchy's brother and grandfather (playing the roles of Bimbo and Koko the Clown from the old Fleischer cartoons) try to rescue the unfortunate girl.
This strange mix of animation and live action really has to be seen to be believed--all very low budget and very imaginative (a quality sorely lacking in movies lately). Fans of Oingo Boingo won't want to miss this one (especially group leader Danny Elfman's Cab Calloway-like turn as Satan in the flick's best scene). There are racial and ethnic stereotypes galore, but since this movie seems to exist in an entirely different universe, it doesn't come across as offensive.
Not for everyone--but a "can't miss" for some. Worth seeing just for the musical numbers alone.
The story, such as it is, deals with the adventures of Frenchy Hercules, who lives over a doorway to the "Sixth Dimension," which is ruled by King Fausto (Herve Villechaize) and Queen Doris (Susan Tyrrell) with sadomasochistic glee. The whole flick really fits the Betty Boop formula perfectly--a shapely heroine (who loves to rumba) falls from her own bizarre "reality" into an even stranger one. Much mayhem and cool swing music ensue, as Frenchy's brother and grandfather (playing the roles of Bimbo and Koko the Clown from the old Fleischer cartoons) try to rescue the unfortunate girl.
This strange mix of animation and live action really has to be seen to be believed--all very low budget and very imaginative (a quality sorely lacking in movies lately). Fans of Oingo Boingo won't want to miss this one (especially group leader Danny Elfman's Cab Calloway-like turn as Satan in the flick's best scene). There are racial and ethnic stereotypes galore, but since this movie seems to exist in an entirely different universe, it doesn't come across as offensive.
Not for everyone--but a "can't miss" for some. Worth seeing just for the musical numbers alone.
"Sahara" so strained my credulity that I feared it would snap and give me whiplash. The strain started with the name of the hero: Dirk Pitt. Now there's a manly name. I found myself coming up with even more outrageous names, ala "Mystery Science Theater." How about "Rock Hardin"? "Harry McChest"? "Punch Meatslab"? "Buck Bronzeback"? "Dick Steele" was already taken.
The plot is basically part Steve Sommers's "The Mummy," mixed with a touch of Indiana Jones and a pinch of James Bond. Dirk and his sidekick Al (why not a better sidekick name, like "Buzz" or "Fuzzy"?) are on a quest to find a lost Confederate ironclad battleship, which managed to make its way across the Atlantic and up an African river, only to be buried in the treacherous sands of the Sahara. Never mind that you don't have to be a ship designer to know that such a vessel would have less chance of making it across the Atlantic than a rubber ducky. Never mind that this fact is pointed out to Dirk more than once by other characters. You're just supposed to go with it.
Such movies need to have a sense of giddy fun about them, like Sommers's "Mummy." Much of the fun is stripped out with a parallel quest involving Penelope Cruz as a World Health Organization doctor trying to track down the source of a contagion that's spreading from the country of Mali and into Nigeria. I don't know about you, but juxtaposing the story of two treasure-hunting frat boys with that of a doctor trying to stop the spread of a contagion that threatens the lives of thousands of people kind of bled some of the fun away for me.
There's also a warlord so mean that he, well, "put the 'war' back in 'warlord.'" (I wonder where the war went?) He's hell bent on covering up the contagion, taking bribes from a big corporation that's using his country as a toxic waste dump (the source of the contagion, which is conveniently located near the buried battleship), and fighting a group of ragtag warlord wannabes. Oh, and this contagion, if it reaches the ocean, will cause a worldwide environmental disaster. With me so far?
Dirk and Al cheerfully wisecrack their way across Mali as they blow up their boss's speedboat, bounce along on camels, dodge bullets, save the doc, and wreak havoc at a high-tech installation that would be right at home in a James Bond flick. Clues drop in their laps like manna from heaven. My favorite is a cave painting that tells them everything they need to know. With hints like these, the Three Stooges could find this battleship. (In fact, this would've been a great vehicle for Moe, Larry, and Curly.)
The plot is basically part Steve Sommers's "The Mummy," mixed with a touch of Indiana Jones and a pinch of James Bond. Dirk and his sidekick Al (why not a better sidekick name, like "Buzz" or "Fuzzy"?) are on a quest to find a lost Confederate ironclad battleship, which managed to make its way across the Atlantic and up an African river, only to be buried in the treacherous sands of the Sahara. Never mind that you don't have to be a ship designer to know that such a vessel would have less chance of making it across the Atlantic than a rubber ducky. Never mind that this fact is pointed out to Dirk more than once by other characters. You're just supposed to go with it.
Such movies need to have a sense of giddy fun about them, like Sommers's "Mummy." Much of the fun is stripped out with a parallel quest involving Penelope Cruz as a World Health Organization doctor trying to track down the source of a contagion that's spreading from the country of Mali and into Nigeria. I don't know about you, but juxtaposing the story of two treasure-hunting frat boys with that of a doctor trying to stop the spread of a contagion that threatens the lives of thousands of people kind of bled some of the fun away for me.
There's also a warlord so mean that he, well, "put the 'war' back in 'warlord.'" (I wonder where the war went?) He's hell bent on covering up the contagion, taking bribes from a big corporation that's using his country as a toxic waste dump (the source of the contagion, which is conveniently located near the buried battleship), and fighting a group of ragtag warlord wannabes. Oh, and this contagion, if it reaches the ocean, will cause a worldwide environmental disaster. With me so far?
Dirk and Al cheerfully wisecrack their way across Mali as they blow up their boss's speedboat, bounce along on camels, dodge bullets, save the doc, and wreak havoc at a high-tech installation that would be right at home in a James Bond flick. Clues drop in their laps like manna from heaven. My favorite is a cave painting that tells them everything they need to know. With hints like these, the Three Stooges could find this battleship. (In fact, this would've been a great vehicle for Moe, Larry, and Curly.)
"Indian burial ground": If those three words appear anywhere in a real-estate listing, look for a different neighborhood. A young couple with a young daughter and a toddler-age son move into a Maine house adjacent to a pet cemetery--and, after a l-o-o-o-ng hike, an ancient Indian burial ground. Seems the Indian ground can bring Fido or Fluffy back from the dead--if you don't mind having a raving hell beast for a pet. It can do the same for dead people--if you don't mind having a homicidal zombie around the house.
Throw in a busy two-lane blacktop, speeding big rigs, a well-meaning (if somewhat dim) old neighbor, and one kid who really doesn't get enough supervision, and I think you can figure out what happens from there--an over-the-top, illogical mess, which, in all fairness, does offer up a few scares.
Well, there are worse Stephen King adaptations (such as "Maximum Overdrive," which King also directed). But there are far better ones, too (such as "Salem's Lot," "The Dead Zone," and both versions of "The Shining").
Throw in a busy two-lane blacktop, speeding big rigs, a well-meaning (if somewhat dim) old neighbor, and one kid who really doesn't get enough supervision, and I think you can figure out what happens from there--an over-the-top, illogical mess, which, in all fairness, does offer up a few scares.
Well, there are worse Stephen King adaptations (such as "Maximum Overdrive," which King also directed). But there are far better ones, too (such as "Salem's Lot," "The Dead Zone," and both versions of "The Shining").