Gremlins (Special Edition)

5 Comments

1. James Rolfe

   October 5, 2010 at 1:03 am

   Review by James Rolfe for Gremlins (Special Edition)
   Rating:
   It follows a somewhat conventional monster movie plot. An ordinary guy witnesses his unusual but cute cuddly pet spawn a horde of evil Gremlins. He tries to warn the authorities, but they don’t believe him until the creatures show up and go on a rampage throughout the town. Like in many monster movies, a plan is devised to destroy them, which works, but then there’s still one left which needs to be defeated.

   Every monster movie convention in the book is used, including all the famous shocks such as something jumping out in the foreground and something jumping out in the background, but what makes this film original is the Gremlins’ silly personalities. They don’t eat people or kill them in order to survive in any way. They just want to have fun and cause chaos! Their personalities are almost human and seem to represent a side of us that has no morals and just wants to let loose in a world without regulations. At times, you are cheering for the monsters, which makes this movie so unique.

   Two major highlights are the bar scene and the movie theater scene where all the gremlins gather together and have a great time!
   

   Reply
2. Andre Heeger

   October 5, 2010 at 12:47 am

   Review by Andre Heeger for Gremlins (Special Edition)
   Rating:
   How can something so sweet and cuddly as a Gremlin become so mean and angry like your own kids when they don’t get what they want. The ideas behind this hilarious transformation are so marvellous you’d want to watch this one again and again – with or without your own kids present (who knows, they might get ideas). Gremlins is one of the funniest movies ever. A cult-classic.

   Reply
3. MMAGuy

   October 5, 2010 at 12:28 am

   Review by MMAGuy for Gremlins (Special Edition)
   Rating:
   This is not worth the upgrade for the cost it is going at right now. WB did not remaster Gremlins for Blu-Ray. In my opinion (and many others) the BD is only a small improvement over the DVD. I’d say the improvement in clarity and detail varies between 5%-30% better throughout the film. The audio is much better though, really fun to hear the score in HD audio. Wait till the price drops, then pick it up.

   Reply
4. CreepyT

   October 4, 2010 at 11:31 pm

   Review by CreepyT for Gremlins (Special Edition)
   Rating:
   An inventor with a penchant for oddities that don’t work (Hoyt Axton), while selling his wares in a sketchy section of Chinatown, comes across a young boy who promises to show him some wonderful things within his grandfather’s shop. Once inside he does indeed find himself amongst the odd and wonderful. He becomes drawn to the singing of a cute furry little creature known as a Mogwai, and informs the shopkeeper that he simply must have the Mogwai, as he’s in dire need of a Christmas present for his son. The shopkeeper hesitates, and finally says no to the inventor, Randall Peltzer, as with the Mogwai “comes great responsibility.” Distraught, Mr. Peltzer turns to leave. However, knowing that his family needs the money, the young boy offers to help him out by selling him the Mogwai behind his grandfather’s back. The adorable fuzzy little creature comes with three rules. He doesn’t like bright lights, he can’t get wet, and he can’t be fed after midnight. Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) is elated upon opening his present. He immediately becomes friends with the Mogwai, Gizmo, and makes sure he abides by all the aforementioned rules. When a neighborhood boy comes by to deliver a Christmas tree, he doesn’t exercise quite as much caution and accidentally spills water on the Mogwai. This unveils a whole new trait for Gizmo, and a whole new world for Billy. The Peltzer family soon discovers just how much responsibility is necessary for a creature of this caliber, as does the rest of the town they live in. Bad things may come in cute, cuddly, furry little packages. I rate the movie as five stars, and the DVD as three, hence the average of four stars. The acting is superb, and the effects are brilliant, even if they are a little gory (the whole kitchen scene comes to mind) for the rating given (PG). The gremlins themselves are superbly done, especially when you consider that these are puppets and are not computer-generated! Each of them has their own unique personality that comes out in little snippets throughout the duration of the film, proving that every minute detail was taken into consideration with the making of this movie. The soundtrack is classic eighties cheesiness in all its glory and splendor. Howie Mandel did a good job as the voice of Gizmo, even if it didn’t consist of much. Chris Columbus, Joe Dante and Steven Spielberg prove themselves an excellent team, combining a humorous and witty script with some extremely good moviemaking. This movie has become, and will live on as, a cult classic adored by fans of monster and horror films and should not be missed.However, the DVD package leaves something to be desired. Apparently “Special Edition” need not be very special at all, consisting of only a couple of commentary tracks and the trailer for the film. Both of which are appreciated, yet many DVD’s offer much more than that these days. I would have hoped that this very special movie would be released with a little bit more bite, and perhaps someday it will. Until then, this DVD will have to suffice.

   Reply
5. John Lindsey

   October 4, 2010 at 11:30 pm

   Review by John Lindsey for Gremlins (Special Edition)
   Rating:
   Inventor Randy Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) has bought a special gift for his son Billy (Zack Gallaghan) and it’s a furry Chinese creature called a Mogwai (voiced by Howie Mandall). But there are three important rules that must be followed if he wants to keep the creature such as number 1 which means to keep him away from bright light especially sunlight cause it will kill him, number 2 is to never get him wet and number 3 which is the most important rule of them all which is never feed them after midnight. But Billy does what he can but he accidently gets him wet one day and it makes him mutiply other Mogwaii like him and he accidently feed the Mogwaii except Gizmo after midnight as it makes them into ghastly reptilian ghouls that cause havok in the town of Kingston Falls.

   Brilliant and highly original Horror fantasy comedy from executive producer Steven Spielburg, director Joe Dante (“The Howling”) and writer Chris Columbus. This movie became one of the biggest box-office hits of 1984 and of all time, this movie has a great sense of charm and of course black humor thrown into it with gruesomeness. The film co-stars Corey Feldman, Phoebe Cates and Dick Miller and special appearences by Robby the Robot and Chuck Jones, this movie did caused some controversy when it came out because parents thought it was too violent for small children even around the same time “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” came out. So the MPAA created the “PG-13” rating was created that year, i love how make-up artist Chris Walas did the lovable furballs and the hideous beasts and made them some of the most memorable creatures to hit the screen. The film has often been imitated much with films like “Critters 1 & 2” (Which are great movies in their own rights), “Ghoulies”, “Munchies”, “Beasites”, “Elves”, “Evil Toons”, “Troll” and the worst one of them all “Hobgoblins”, this one is a true must see even around the holidays.

   This special edition DVD has excellent sound and picture with nice extras like deleted scenes, Trailers, 2 audio commentaries, behind the scenes featurette, photo and storyboard gallery and filmmaker and cast highlights.

   Also recommended: “Gremlins 2 : The New Batch”, “Black Christmas (1974)”, “Small Soldiers”, “Critters”, “Critters 2”, “C.H.U.D.”, “The Pit”, “Evil Dead II”, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Grindhouse”, “Silent Night Deadly Night”, “E.T.”, “Troll”, “Dead Alive (a.k.a. Braindead)”, “The Witches of Eastwick”, “Cat’s Eye” and “Monsters Inc.”

   Reply