Fantastic Planet

Fantastic Planet on VHS. Starring Barry Bostwick, Cynthia Alder, Jennifer Drake, Eric Baugin. Music by Alain Goraguer. Animation by Roland Topor. From the book by Stephan Wul. Directed by René Laloux. 1973.

Fantastic Planet aka La Planete Sauvage on VHS. Starring Barry Bostwick, Cynthia Alder, Jennifer Drake, Eric Baugin. Music by Alain Goraguer. Animation by Roland Topor. From the book by Stephan Wul. Directed by Rene Laloux. 1973.

From the VHS box:

This acclaimed animated science-fiction/fantasy classic from France weaves a spell with its colorful imagery and strange beings. The inhabitants, 39 feet high Draags, have tiny human looking creatures called Oms, as pets. Education is obtained electronically through headsets. When one on the Oms escapes with the educational device, he rallies the others to resist the giant Draags.

Upgrade the Fantastic Planet: Fantastic Planet on DVD

Read the Fantastic Planet: Fantastic Planet Paperback by Stephan Wul

Listen to the Fantastic Planet: La Planete Sauvage Soundtrack by Alain Goraguer

Tensegrity

Carlos Castaneda's Tensegrity on VHS. Directed by and starring Carlos Castaneda. 1996.

Carlos Castaneda’s Tensegrity on VHS. Directed by and starring Carlos Castaneda. 1996.

From the box:

Volume 3 Energetically Crossing From One Phylum To Another

Tensegrity is the art of utilizing, in a modern setting, magical passes, movements discovered and developed by shamans who lived in Mexico in ancient times. They were called magical passes because through practicing them, those shamans attained mental alertness, physical well-being, and more important yet, the possibility of becoming conscious of the abstract, unknown part of man. They were able, for example, to focus their full consciousness on a vibratory force, which they understood as the binding that holds together each living being in a cohesive unit.

In this videocassette, Energetically Crossing from One Phylum to Another, eight complete magical passes are shown. According to those shamans, by means of these passes, they were capable of transporting their awareness across the lines of our own phylum — Chordata — into an entirely different phylum: Arthropoda.

The members of what modern man calls the phylum Arthropoda, like the butterfly, for instance, were believed, by those shamans, to see the world as if through a container of crystal gelatin. They affirmed that for such creatures, the world consisted of hues, and that each hue had a particular scent.

This journey of consciousness was taken by those shamans as the means to accentuate their general awareness, and the prowess of their senses.

DVD Upgrade: Tensegrity Series 1, 2, & 3

Nostradamus

Nostradamus on VHS. Starring ? Directed by ? 1988.

Nostradamus on VHS. Starring ? Directed by ? 1988.

From the box:

His Predictions Are Accurate — And Frightening!

He foretells of… the end of the world… war in the Mideast… the big earthquake… the new antichrist… disaster in space… assassinations… and more. You Must See For Yourself!

Nostradamus. His name has resounded through the centuries — shadowed in legend and mystery. Who was this amazing 16th century mystic who accurately predicted future world events more than 400 years before they happened? These unbelievable predictions include the French Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon, the rise of Adoplh Hitler, The Kennedy assassinations and Man’s Walk on the Moon! Future predictions include what most experts feel is the most unnerving one of all, the nuclear annihhilation of the world as we know it.

Hod did Nostradamus do it? Within this remarkable story, we are able to explore the true essence of Nostradamus and his mysteries, and in doing so, possibly determine mankind’s future destiny on this planet.

Hiroshima… Nostradamus foretold of a day when a new weapon would “make the sun appear double…” Man had at last harnessed the awesome power of the stars.

DVD Upgrade: ?

Big Fish

Big Fish VHS box cover art. Adventure drama fantasy movie starring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, Robert Guillaume, Marion Cotillard. With Steve Buscemi, Danny DeVito, Deep Roy, Miley Cyrus. Directed by Tim Burton. 2003.

Big Fish on VHS. Adventure drama fantasy movie starring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, Robert Guillaume, Marion Cotillard. With Steve Buscemi, Danny DeVito, Deep Roy, Destiny Cyrus. Directed by Tim Burton. 2003.

From the VHS box:

An Adventure As Big As Li[obscured by sticker]

Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, portrayed by five-time Best Actor Oscar nominee Albert Finney, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures in this marvel of a movie.

DVD upgrade: Big Fish (Special Edition, with Collectible Book)

Creature From The Black Lagoon

Creature From The Black Lagoon on VHS. Classic horror movie starring Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, Whit Bissell. Special appearances by Ricou Browning, Ben Chapman. Directed by Jack Arnold. 1954.

Creature From The Black Lagoon on VHS. Starring Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, Whit Bissell. Special appearances by Ricou Browning, Ben Chapman. Directed by Jack Arnold. 1954.

From the box:

Terrifying Monster Ravages Mankind!

A member of a scientific expedition traveling the dangerous Amazon River discovers an unidentifiable and mysterious web-fingered skeleton hand. The team searches further in this treacherous region to recover the rest of this terrifying beast. The search ends when they encounter a gruesome half man/half fish creature… who is alive! [The adventures of the Gill-man continue, but you won’t read it here as the remaining description just gives away the whole plot.]

DVD creature collection: Creature From the Black Lagoon: The Legacy Collection (Creature from the Black Lagoon / Revenge of the Creature / The Creature Walks Among Us)

Amazon Instant Video: Creature from the Black Lagoon

Sing it: Dave Edmunds — The Creature From The Black Lagoon




The Big Red One

Samuel Fuller's The Big Red One on VHS. War movie starring Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco, Kelly Ward, Siegfried Rauch, Stephane Audran. Directed by Samuel Fuller. 1980.

Samuel Fuller’s The Big Red One on VHS. Starring Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco, Kelly Ward, Siegfried Rauch, Stephane Audran. Directed by Samuel Fuller. 1980.

From the VHS cover:

The real glory of war is surviving.

The combat-hardened sergeant squints at the members of his rifle squad. His face is lined and stubbled. The faces that look back are as smooth as summer peaches. They belong to kids right out of high school. And it’s the sergeant’s job to keep those kids alive.

The Big Red One, named for the insignia of the First Infantry Division, is the unsparing story of a handful of GIs battling their way from North Africa through Sicily, Omaha Beach and Belgium to the ultimate horror of the Nazi death camps. Academy Award winner Lee Marvin (Cat Ballou, The Dirty Dozen) plays the sergeant, and he’s joined by a talented young cast including Star Wars veteran Mark Hamill and Revenge of the Nerds alumnus Robert Carradine.

The writer/director is Samuel Fuller (Pickup on South Street, Merrill’s Marauders), one of the most influential filmmakers in Hollywood history. Fuller was actually in the Fighting First during World War II. He knows that to a soldier, war is no bigger than a single foxhole or a desperate 20-yard run up a beach — and that while generals ask “Will we win?,” the dogface asks “Will I survive?” And that means The Big Red One may be the most immediate, truest war movie you’ve ever seen.

“The real glory of war,” Fuller says, “is surviving.” And the real glory of The Big Red One is how powerfully it captures that idea.

DVD upgrade: The Big Red One: The Reconstruction

The Emerald Forest

John Boorman's The Emerald Forest on VHS. Action, adventure, drama movie starring Powers Boothe, Charley Boorman, Meg Foster, Estee Chandler. Directed by John Boorman. 1985.

John Boorman’s The Emerald Forest on VHS. Movie starring Powers Boothe, Charley Boorman, Meg Foster, Estee Chandler. Directed by John Boorman. 1985.

From the VHS cover:

REEL DEAL

Powers Boothe is Bill Markham, an engineer helping civilization conquer the world’s last savage frontier, the Amazon. Charley Boorman is Markham’s son who, one day, at the jungle’s edge, disappears. Markham returns to the Amazon year after year, searching for his son. Then, after ten years, Markham finds the man who had once been his boy, but now is a warrior from a different world.

Director John Boorman’s brilliant visualization breaths life, danger and ancient mystery into this captivating adventure. Based on a true story, The Emerald Forest is a penetrating look at a savage and mesmerizing world.

DVD upgrade: The Emerald Forest

Silver Streak

Silver Streak on VHS. Comedy, crime, action movie starring Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder, Jill Clayburgh. With Patrick McGoohan, Ned Beatty, Clifton James, Ray Walston, Scatman Crothers, Fred Willard, Richard Kiel. Directed by Arthur Hiller. 1976.

Silver Streak on VHS. Comedy, crime, action movie starring Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder, Jill Clayburgh. With Patrick McGoohan, Ned Beatty, Clifton James, Ray Walston, Scatman Crothers, Fred Willard, Richard Kiel. Directed by Arthur Hiller. 1976.

From the box (car):

In this wild comedy adventure, rail passenger George Caldwell (Gene Wilder) finds that a romantic escapade with a sultry secretary (Jill Clayburgh) puts him in the middle of a Hitchcockian murder plot. Leaping on and off the train, in and out of roomettes, bars and dining cars, George teams up with an amiable, small-time crook (Richard Pryor) to defy the murderer’s henchmen, FBI agents and a host of other outrageous characters.

DVD upgrade: Silver Streak

More classic comedy duo: Richard Pryor / Gene Wilder Triple Feature (Stir Crazy / See No Evil, Hear No Evil / Another You)

More Pryor: The Richard Pryor Collection (Which Way is Up?/ Brewster`s Millions/ Car Wash/ Bustin` Loose)




Golden Years

Stephen King's Golden Years on VHS. 232 minutes. Starring Keith Szarabajka, Frances Sternhagen, Felicity Huffman, Ed Lauter, R.D. Call, Bill Raymond. Television mini-series directed by Allen Coulter, Kenneth Fink, Mitchell Galin, Stephen Tolkin, Michael Gornick. 1991.

Stephen King’s Golden Years on VHS. 232 minutes. Starring Keith Szarabajka, Frances Sternhagen, Felicity Huffman, Ed Lauter, R.D. Call, Bill Raymond. Television mini-series directed by Allen Coulter, Kenneth Fink, Mitchell Galin, Stephen Tolkin, Michael Gornick. 1991.

From the box:

His body held the secret of time. Now time is… running out!

Reigning horror master Stephen King (Misery, Pet Sematary, The Shining) creates a chilling vision of scientific progress run amok in this electrifying, original techno-thriller! Starring Keith Szarabajka (Missing, “The Equalizer”) and Frances Sternhagen (Misery, Doc Hollywood), Golden Years features make-up and special effects supervised by legendary effects master Dick Smith (The Exorcist, Amadeus) and a plot that builds to an astonishing ending!

When aging janitor Harlan Williams is accidentally exposed to exotic chemicals in a lab explosion, he undergoes an extraordinary change. It’s a process the government will do anything to learn more about — no matter who has to die in the process. Soon, Harlan, his wife Gina and the lab’s beautiful security chief are on a cross-country race to evade a murderously effective federal agent. But even as he stays one step ahead of his ruthless pursuers, Harlan continues his transformation into something the world of science has never seen… or imagined!

DVD upgrade (2 discs, 236 minutes): Stephen King’s Golden Years

The Fog

John Carpenter's The Fog on VHS. Horror movie starring Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Hal Holbrook, John Houseman. Directed by John Carpenter. 1980.

John Carpenter’s The Fog on VHS. Movie starring Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Hal Holbrook, John Houseman. Directed by John Carpenter. 1980.

From the VHS cover:

John Carpenter’s tale of vengeance beyond the grave…

A weather-beaten old fisherman tells an ancient tale of betrayal and death to fascinated children as they huddle together by their campfire. As a piece of driftwood in a child’s hand glows with spectral light an eerie fog envelops the bay and from its midst emerge dripping demonic victims of a century old shipwreck… seeking revenge…

DVD upgrade: The Fog (Special Edition)

Amazon instant rental: The Fog (1980)

Music by John Carpenter: The Fog (Original Soundtrack) [Soundtrack] John Carpenter | Format: Audio CD