“Sunshine” was based on a best-selling book that was inspired by a true story.
Not long after Jessica McClure was rescued from the well, a TV movie was made about it, and even though everyone knew what happened, it was still very good. It was called “Everybody’s Baby.”
“The Betty Ford Story” was a biopic about the First Lady and her battles with alcoholism and breast cancer. It, too was very good.
“The Burning Bed” was not fun to watch, but it sure increased awareness of domestic violence, and changed Farrah Fawcett from a pinup girl to a serious actress. Its subject, Francine Hughes, died a year or two ago; she poured gasoline all over the bed where her abusive husband was passed out, and lit it, hence the name of the movie and the book that spawned it.
I think that Nicholas Meyer (the guy who wrote the Sherlock Holmes-meets-Sigmund Freud pastiche The Seven per cent Solution and its sequels, ands who co-wrote and/or directed the Star Trek II through IV movies) is the Unsung KIng of TV movies. The ones he directed or produced or wrote are among the best:
The Night that Panicked America – dramatization of the impact of the Orson Welles “War of the World” broadcast of 1938. It contained the entire actual broadcast, and showed a lot about how it happened.
Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders – adaptation of Robert Hans van Gulik’s “Judge Dee” novel with an all-Asaian Ancestry cast (except, ironically, for the title character) – a real rarity even as late as 1974, when it was made. Clearly intended as a pilot for a Judge Dee TV series (they’d already had a six-episode series in the UK – with a non-Asian cast), but it unfortunately never happened, the lead actor ending up playing a modern-day detective in San Francisco in “Chang!”
The Day After – the sensational 1983 TV-movie about nuclear war.
The Odyssey – surprisingly faithful adaptation, with pretty decent effects from the Henson people.
The Informant – I haven’t seen this one about an IRA informant, but it won an award for best teleplay. It ran on Showtime.
Killdozer is awesome! Even my wife likes it, and she’s not a hige Sci fi fan. Clint Walker! Carl Betz! Robert Urich! Caterpillar-fu!
I vote Birds of Prey, with David Janssen as a Salt Lake City traffic helicopter reporter who stumbles on an armed robbery (with hostage) and chases the crooks in his chopper. One of the best helicopter action movies ever made.
Choce number 2, (which I just now remembered) is Assault on the Wayne, one of the best non-Star Trek Star Trek movies (behind only Captain Horatio Hornblower and Forbidden Planet).
Submarine captain Leonard Nimoy is running secret AMB tests when Soviet agents infiltrate his boat and attempt to steal the tech.
When I was in junior high school, somehow our teacher transcribed the script for this (no idea how she managed it back in the days before VCRs) and we did a stage play of it. Everyone (except one) running around wearing a flesh colored cone hat!
Another aside: This reminds me of a short-lived series–“Chopper One.” Fantastic first episode, then pfft! Why? One of the chopper pilots said it best: (Pilot #2 was going to jump out of the bird and pursue a suspect on foot, Pilot #1 says: ) In the air, you’re worth ten cops; on the ground, you’re worth just one (or something). Show got boring fast. Too bad, it had promise.
Wow! What a cast! All those guys worked together previously. First showing was up against the “All in the Family” premiere? Why didn’t they just put the movie up against a wall and put it out of its misery?
Well yeah, a movie based on a Richard Matheson (I am Legend, etc…) with the screenplay also written by him, and then directed by Steven Spielberg ought to be awesome!
So many forgettable bad ones but a memorable bad one is Mazes and Monsters, starring Tom Hanks, came our during the moral panic over Dungeons and Dragons.
I’ve only chimed in to say how pissed i am at Burpo for stealing my thunder on one of the few subjects i have some expertise on.
I feel like the fifth person on Family Feud trying to guess the dregs of the subject.
Anyone mention:
“The Love War” or “Terror at 37,000 Feet” How about “Gargoyles”??
Neither are fucking “Trilogy of Terror”. Guess I’ll cheat and mention three films that may as well be TV movies, “Ssssssss”…“Bug” and “Damnation Alley”
^ Dale, whatcha waitin for? How many times have you seen the fifth contestant on The Feud pull the #1 (91 pts) answer out of his ass? Me, neither.
Gargoyles has been mentioned twice; The Horror at 37,000 Feet scared the living crap out of me at 12 YO* (up until cartoon-Shatner, that is. :D); Damnation Alley got this comment from me in another thread.
Carpe dregs!
*The Professor bought the farm! Nooooo!
Satan’s Triangle - During the Bermuda triangle craze, we got this movie starring Kim Novak, Doug McClure and Alejandro (“The Flying Nun”) Rey about a sailboat abandoned in the You-know-where and strange goings-on when the rescue crew arrive. Extremely down-beat ending. Not even recommended for Novak completists.
There was a really dumb one about a ocean liner that sunk, and somehow it was rendered airtight and had society on board. The promos showed a diver approaching a porthole and being startled by a face appearing. I confess to being intrigued enough to watch this turkey.
