Cheap Blast From the Past (Family Edited Edition) (Video) (Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone) (Hugh Wilson) Price

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Customer Reviews of Blast From the Past (Family Edited Edition)

Entertaining, Witty and Extremely Likeable Comic Fantasy
Calvin Webber (Christopher Walken) is a slightly mad genius living in Los Angeles at the height of the Cold War. Paranoid about the communist threat, he has made a vast and elaborate nuclear bunker under his house. And, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, he takes the precaution of going into it with his pregnant wife Helen (Sissy Spacek). By bizarre coincidence, just as they get down underground, a military aircraft crashes on their house. Convinced this is the dreaded nuke, he locks in and they prepare to stay there for 35 years until the radiation reaches safe levels. Finally come the 1990s and son Adam (Brendan Fraser) is sent out to reconnoitre and get look for fresh supplies in what they are convinced is a nightmarish and disintegrated post-apocalyptic world. (The neighbour has gone badly downhill in a way that makes this a more than understandable mistake.) Out he goes armed only with an indefatigable innocence and decency, an unshakable conviction that Perry Como is at the cutting edge of popular music and what he does not yet realize is a huge fortune in vintage baseball cards. After a few hours he is seriously at sea and hopelessly lost. Then he meets Alicia Silverstone's wordly and cynical Eve...

The central conceit of this film is the clash of what is basically a 1950s sensibility with the harsh and cynical realities of 1990s America. That way it strongly recalls 'Pleasantville', made a year earlier. But this is a much better film. While 'Pleasantville' rather condescended to the past, with its knowing modern kids teaching stuffy old 50s types how to be cool and have sex, this film is much more intelligently ambivalent about the blessings of modernity and has a very nice satirical edge. Not to mention much funnier. It is Eve who learns from Adam far more than the reverse. It's essentially an unusual romantic comedy with a bizarre fantasy premise. But it's an unusually sharp, witty and unintelligent romcom. A certain mismatch between British and American senses of humour may partly explain why I seldom laugh out loud at American movies. Several lines in this were notable exceptions. Its best moments recall, as very very few contemporary films manage to recall, the sharply observed intelligence of the great Hollywood romantic comedies of the 30s and 40s. Fresh, entertaining and extremely well-acted, it's well worth a look.

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Better than I expected
I didn't see this movie when it was in the theaters- nor did I have much desire to even rent it- largely because the TV commercials promoting its release did not do it justice (and because most of Brendan Fraser's films have not done well financially or critically). So I was pretty surprised when I finally did see it and found that it was witty and much more intelligent than I expected.

Adam (named after the biblical first man on earth, since his parents believed they were the only survivors of the "blast" that kept them locked in their amazingly well-stocked shelter for 35 years, waiting for the radiation to clear) is sent out into the real world for supplies when his father suffers a heart attack. After his inital shock at seeing the sky for the first time, exploring the supermarket, and riding the bus, he meets Eve by chance at a baseball card store. (She prevents him from getting ripped off by the store owner, who is trying to buy Adam's extremely valuable 60's cards for a fraction of their worth). Reluctantly (for Eve, not for the puppydog-ish Adam), the two gradually become friends as Adam persuades Eve to help him gather groceries and other staples... never really revealing why it is he needs so much stuff. By the time Eve finds out about Adam's past, even the fact that she (briefly) thinks he's clinically insane can't stop her from falling for him.

Of course, this whole story line is completely unbelievable, but that's part of the fun. It's amusing to see how Los Angeles grows, changes, and decays above-ground while things remain stuck in a 60's time-warp down below. (And can someone please explain how this family of three managed to live down there for 35 years without killing each other?) Also humorous is the side-story of the down-on-his-luck guy (an employee of the various businesses occupying the space above the shelter over the years) who is there to witness Adam's arrival into the real world, and builds a whole religion out of worshipping his new god. (It's funnier than it sounds). I must also say I disagree with ... claim that Alicia Silverstone is poorly cast as Eve. Though her character could have been more well-rounded and personable, I think Alicia did a fine job with the role (and her hair looked great, by the way).

All in all, a creative, sweet, and funny movie.

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BEAVER REDUX
Brendan Fraser is remarkably good in this good-natured comedy about a young man born and raised in a fallout shelter. Fraser manages to parlay his rugged good looks and youthful exuberance into an intensely likeable hero named Adam. Once released into the modern world, Adam is gleefully joyful to watch. Alicia Silverstone is fine as his "Eve" who is both enamored and repelled by Fraser's childishly kind behavior. Dave Foley as her gay friend is marvelous as well. I also liked Joey Skolnik as the bartender who metamorphoses from a happy teenager to the self-proclaimed monk of a new religion. Kudos also to Nathan Killion (Firefly series) as Alicia's macho boyfriend who gets put in his place by Fraser. Also to the delightful dance scene where Fraser and two girls jitterbug to high heaven. But one cannot overlook the truly marvelous performances from Sissy Spacek and Christopher Walken as Fraser's paranoid parents. They are both brilliant, and one can see how these two won Oscars for previous performances. Director Hugh Wilson keeps it all together and I found myself smiling and chuckling all the way through. A delightful find!