Amazon Women on the Moon
| Amazon Women on the Moon | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Joe Dante Carl Gottlieb Peter Horton John Landis Robert K. Weiss |
| Produced by | John Landis Robert K. Weiss |
| Written by | Michael Barrie Jim Muholland |
| Starring | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> |
| Music by | Ira Newborn |
| Cinematography | Daniel Pearl |
| Edited by | Malcolm Campbell |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release dates
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Running time
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85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 million |
| Box office | $548,696 |
Amazon Women on the Moon is a 1987 American satirical comedy film that parodies the experience of watching low-budget movies on late-night television. The film, featuring a large ensemble cast, was written by Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland, and takes the form of a compilation of twenty-one comedy skits directed by five different directors: Joe Dante, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Horton, John Landis and Robert K. Weiss.
The title Amazon Women on the Moon refers to the central film-within-a-film, a spoof of science fiction movies from the 1950s that borrows heavily from Queen of Outer Space (1958) starring Zsa Zsa Gabor, itself a movie that recycles elements of earlier science fiction works such as Cat-Women of the Moon (1953), Fire Maidens from Outer Space (1955) and Forbidden Planet (1956).[1]
Film actors making cameo appearances in various sketches included Rosanna Arquette, Ralph Bellamy, Griffin Dunne, Carrie Fisher, Steve Forrest, Steve Guttenberg, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kelly Preston and Henry Silva, alongside television actors such as Ed Begley, Jr., Bryan Cranston, David Alan Grier, Howard Hesseman, Peter Horton, William Marshall, Joe Pantoliano, Robert Picardo and Roxie Roker.
Other notable people in the cast included voice actors Corey Burton and Phil Hartman, talk show host Arsenio Hall, adult film actress Monique Gabrielle, science fiction writer Forrest J. Ackerman, B movie stars Lana Clarkson and Sybil Danning, musician B. B. King, radio personalities Roger Barkley and Al Lohman, composer Ira Newborn, director Russ Meyer, model Corinne Wahl, comedian Andrew Dice Clay, Firesign Theater member Phil Proctor and independent film actor Paul Bartel.
John Landis had previously directed The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), which employed a similar sketch anthology format.
Contents
Plot
Fictional television station WIDB-TV (channel 8) experiences problems with its late-night airing of science-fiction classic Amazon Women on the Moon, a 1950s B movie in which Queen Lara (Sybil Danning) and Captain Nelson (Steve Forrest) battle exploding volcanoes and man-eating spiders on the moon. Waiting for the film to resume, an unseen viewer begins channel surfing—simulated by bursts of white noise—through late night cable, with the various segments and sketches of the film representing the programming found on different channels. The viewer intermittently returns to channel 8, where Amazon Women continues to resume airing before faltering once more.
These segments feature:
- Arsenio Hall as a man who nearly kills himself in a series of mishaps around his apartment;
- Monique Gabrielle as a model who goes about her daily routine in Malibu, California, completely naked;
- Lou Jacobi as a man named Murray, zapped into the television, wandering throughout sketches looking for his wife;
- Michelle Pfeiffer and Peter Horton as a young couple having trouble with eccentric doctor Griffin Dunne delivering and then concealing their newborn baby;
- Joe Pantoliano as the presenter of a commercial recommending stapling carpet to a bald head as a hair loss prevention measure;
- David Alan Grier and B. B. King in a public-service appeal for "blacks without soul";
- Rosanna Arquette as a young woman on a blind date, employing unusual methods of investigation to reveal the qualifications of Steve Guttenberg;
- Henry Silva as the host of a show entitled Bullshit or Not?, clearly intended as a spoof of Ripley's Believe It or Not! (TV series) with Jack Palance and In Search of...;
- Archie Hahn as a man who dies after a critical mauling of his life (by Roger Barkley and Al Lohman, mimicking Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert), then is roasted at his funeral by a variety of people, including Steve Allen, Henny Youngman, and even his own wife;
- William Marshall as the leader of the Video Pirates, who hijack an MCA Home Video ship, uncover a vast amount of videotapes and laserdiscs, and promptly begin illegally bootlegging the media;
- Ed Begley, Jr. as the son of the Invisible Man, having trouble with his formula;
- Angel Tompkins as a president's First Lady who is also a former hooker;
- Matt Adler as a sexually frustrated teenager trying to purchase a pack of condoms, with unexpected results;
- Marc McClure renting a personalized date video that spills over into real life;
- An epilogue at the end of the credits, with Carrie Fisher and Paul Bartel in a black-and-white ephemeral film warning about the spread of "social diseases" in the style of Reefer Madness.
Alternative versions
An alternate version of the "Pethouse Video" sketch was filmed for the television broadcast of the film, with Monique Gabrielle in lingerie instead of appearing naked throughout the segment. However, most European television broadcasts of the film retained the original theatrical version. Bullshit or Not? was retitled Baloney or Not? for the television version.
The American television edit, in addition to the alternative "Pethouse Video" sketch, features an additional bridging sequence between the death of Harvey Pitnik and his subsequent celebrity roast. In it, the mortician successfully cons Pitnik's widow into having the celebrity roast as part of the funeral, and her performance gets such strong positive feedback, it becomes a continuing performance series lasting for weeks.
The DVD release features an unreleased sketch titled "The Unknown Soldier", starring Robert Loggia. Some television broadcasts of the film featured the sketches "Peter Pan Theater" and "The French Ventriloquist's Dummy", which were not present in the theatrical version.
Cast
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"Mondo Condo" (directed by John Landis):
"Pethouse Video" (directed by Carl Gottlieb):
"Murray in Videoland" (directed by Robert K. Weiss):
"Hospital" (directed by Landis):
"Hairlooming" (directed by Joe Dante):
"Amazon Women on the Moon" (directed by Weiss):
"Blacks Without Soul" (directed by Landis):
"Two I.D.s" (directed by Peter Horton):
"Bullshit or Not" (directed by Dante):
"Critics' Corner" (directed by Dante):
"Silly Pâté" (directed by Weiss):
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"Roast Your Loved One" (directed by Dante):
"Video Pirates" (directed by Weiss):
"Son of the Invisible Man" (directed by Gottlieb):
"French Ventriloquist's Dummy" (directed by Dante):
"Art Sale" (directed by Gottlieb):
"First Lady of the Evening" (directed by Weiss):
"Titan Man" (directed by Weiss):
"Video Date" (directed by Landis):
"Reckless Youth" (directed by Dante):
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Critical reception
The majority of critical opinion agreed that the quality was inconsistent throughout the film. Variety called it "irreverent, vulgar and silly... [with] some hilarious moments and some real groaners too."[2] Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times felt that the exercise was somewhat unnecessary: "Satirists are in trouble when their subjects are funnier than they are."[3]
Janet Maslin of the New York Times, in a largely positive review, described the film as "an anarchic, often hilarious adventure in dial-spinning, a collection of brief skits and wacko parodies that are sometimes quite clever, though they're just as often happily sophomoric, too."[4]
Certain portions of the film were singled out for praise. "The funniest episode probably is 'Son of the Invisible Man', directed by Carl Gottlieb, in which Ed Begley, Jr. plays a man who thinks he is invisible but is not", wrote the Chicago Sun-Times.[3] "The film's best sight gags come from Robert K. Weiss, who deserves kudos for the inspired idiocy of his Amazon Women segments", was the opinion of the New York Times.[4]
In a retrospective article for Entertainment Weekly, Chris Nashawaty called this film "the beginning of the end of Landis' career". He cited the episodes featuring Monique Gabrielle, Archie Hahn, Ed Begley, Jr. and David Alan Grier as "inspired", but criticised others for their failure: "You'll never see Michelle Pfeiffer look as trapped as she does in her skit with thirtysomething's Peter Horton, or Joe Pantoliano and Arsenio Hall as unfunny as they are in their skits."[5]
Amazon Women on the Moon has a rating of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 15 reviews, indicating a mixed critical response.[6]
See also
- The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), a similarly formatted anthology comedy from John Landis
- Disco Beaver from Outer Space (1978)
- UHF (1989)
References
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External links
- 1987 films
- English-language films
- 1980s comedy films
- 1980s science fiction films
- American comedy science fiction films
- American parody films
- American films
- American satirical films
- American anthology films
- Films directed by Joe Dante
- Films directed by John Landis
- Films directed by Carl Gottlieb
- Films directed by Robert K. Weiss
- Universal Pictures films
- Moon in film
- Film scores by Ira Newborn
