Blast From The Past

Director Hugh Wilson has not told many stories, but he has some very good ones to his credit. "Blast From The Past" is among them. His first work to receive national attention was on television as the creator, writer, and executive producer of WKRP In Cincinnati. If you have seen it, you will recognize his hand in everything since. Comedy with a very sharp edge, is his tool and his gift to us.

Imagine a Cal Tech physics genius with a tilt towards the doomsday propheteers of the 1950s. So, he builds not just a bomb shelter, but a bomb fortress where he and his family can survive for 50 years if necessary. When the unimaginable happens, he and his family are prepared.

Christopher Walken (Deer Hunter, Milagro Beanfield War, and Catch Me If You Can) is perfect as the over-prepared patriarch, and shows us just what being a father in the 50's was all about.

Sissy Spacek (Carrie, Coal Miner's Daughter, and Raggedy Man) starts out as June Cleaver and ends up as Roseanne Conner. Ouch. But, along the way I totally enjoyed her transformation, and I even found myself empathising with her.

The story however, is really about the son, born to the above couple shortly after sealing themselves inside the bunker. Brendan Fraser (Encino Man, With Honors, and Crash) is allowed to go back to the surface to search for a suitable wife among whatever survivors there might be.

Who does he find among the thriving metropolis of LA, oblvious to the fact that a family is living underneath them, but Alicia Silverstone (this is the only thing she has done that I like aside from the old Aerosmith videos). Somehow these two complete opposites find each other and make it work.

Supporting these four main characters is a wonderful cast Angelenos, all of whom locals should recognize as their friends and neighbors. The night club scene alone is worth the rental. No folling, trust me.

Watch this movie with someone who remembers the 1950's.