[Publicity photos of characters from this film are available on
the Vortex Technology WWW server via the "Professor Neon's TV
& Movie Mania" URL: "http://www.vortex.com/ProfNeon.html".]
THE FLINTSTONES
A review by Professor Neon
May 24, 1994
Starring: John Goodman, Elizabeth Perkins, Rick Moranis, Rosie O'Donnell,
Kyle MacLachlan, Halle Berry, Elizabeth Taylor
Cameos by: Jonathan Winters, Laraine Newman, Jay Leno.
Directed by: Brian Levant
Produced by: Bruce Cohen
Written by: Tom S. Parker, Jim Jennewein, and Steven E. de Souza
Based on the Animated Series by: Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.
Special Visual Effects by: Industrial Light & Magic (A division of
Lucas Digital, Ltd.)
Animatronic Creatures by: Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Film Copyright 1994 by Universal Pictures, Inc. & Amblin Entertainment, Inc.
"The Flintstones" and Flintstone Characters are Copyright & TM
Hanna-Barbara Productions, Inc.
MPAA Rated: PG
Professor Neon's rating (0-10, 5=average, 10=best): 6.5
Total run time (as of 4/15/94): 92 minutes
Release date: Friday, May 27, 1994
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I came up from the Lab to view "The Flintstones" fully expecting to dislike
it. Memories of "Popeye" (Robin Williams--1980) are still all too strong.
Most attempts at transforming animated characters to live-action have been
less than artistically successful, to say the least.
After the full 92 minutes of Flintstones (longer would definitely have been
too much!) I sat with my chin on my hand trying to decide how best to
describe the experience. The best word I can come up with is "interesting."
And indeed, I find that I did not dislike the film. In fact, I mildly
enjoyed it. It's a novelty film really--and if you're into novelty
movies you'll probably want to see it. Let's face it, when you go
to see a live-action version of a cartoon, high drama (or even high
comedy) shouldn't be what you expect.
The production values of Flintstones are quite good, and ILM has done their
usual state-of-the-art job with the effects. The team of ILM and Jim
Henson's Creature Shop did a great job of bringing to "life" characters
which were originally created only to be cartoons. "Dino" in particular is
wonderful and may be a merchandising dream come true--if enough children see
the film in the first place.
Within the very limited confines of the Flintstones universe, performances
were fine. Goodman is indeed the embodiment of Fred Flintstone, though
sometimes it was difficult to be sure if he was doing Flintstone or
Jackie Gleason from "The Honeymooners." But in all fairness, it's
long been speculated that the entire Flintstones concept was
inspired from "The Honeymooners" in the first place. Rick Moranis
is a credible Barney Rubble, and Elizabeth Taylor looks good as Fred's
mother-in-law (in her first film appearance in over ten years).
As might be expected, the film relies heavily on sight gags, and on audience
amusement at seeing the various animated devices of the cartoon show brought
to life. The plot (involving Fred being framed as an embezzler, and
friction between the Flintstones and the Rubbles) is of little import.
The biggest potential pitfall (that's a stone quarry joke, son) for "The
Flintstones" may be difficulty in finding its audience. It may be too (and
I use the word with some trepidation) "sophisticated" a film for many small
children. It also is probably not sufficiently sophisticated for those
adults who don't appreciate its "novelty" aspects.
Whether enough moviegoers fall into the right categories for
"The Flintstones" to be successful is difficult to predict.
Yabba-Dabba-Doo?
[ Professor Neon ]
---
Professor Neon's rating for "The Flintstones"
(0-10, 5=average, 10=best): 6.5
---------------------------------------------
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