With today being the final day for "At the Movies" with current critics Michael Phillips and A. O. Scott, I'm now reviewing the original "At the Movies" program with the late Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. In this one, they are reviewing the worst movies of 1983 with particular attention to the awful sequels that came out that year: Jaws 3-D, Amityville 3-D, Porky's II: The Next Day, The Sting II, Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, and Staying Alive-which follows the further adventures of Tony Manero from Saturday Night Fever. Gene and Roger criticize the shoddiness of the first two though Gene gives credits to the effectiveness of the house's "eyes" in the Amityville one (I think he or Roger also cited the choir-like music as particularly cheesy of which I laughed at during that sequence when shown). They both think the teens of the Porky's sequel are even more obnoxious than previously for their tastes, the second Sting has no Redford or Newman and was just too boring for them, the third Smokey has Burt Reynolds only in a cameo and Ebert thinks any movie with Paul Williams in it as an automatic recipe for disaster (obviously, he forgot about Phantom of the Paradise), and Gene was particularly disappointed in Staying Alive because he loved the Brooklyn reality in SNF and hated the Fairly Tale vibe in SA. (In fact, Siskel loved SNF so much, he bought the suit John Travolta wore in that movie.) The only one of those I actually watched the whole way through (I only saw Jaws 3-D in spots and it was on HBO so I didn't wear the glasses) was S&tBP3 and, no, it wasn't very good. Witty comments said by both throughout. I especially loved when they were recounting the rest of their worst list and Gene said, "Krull, I thought that was a dessert!" Incidentally, another one on that list was The Osterman Weekend, which was Sam Peckinpah's last movie.
4 Reviews
There was a reliance on sequels and CGI 40 years ago...
AlsExGal25 February 2022
... is what this episode of Siskel and Ebert's At the Movies demonstrates.
The films they discuss at length are all sequels, which is their focus this year:
Amityville 3-D
Staying Alive (Sequel to Saturday Night Fever)
Smokey and the Bandit Part 3
Jaws 3-D
Porky's 2: The Next Day
The Sting 2
Then they briefly discuss bad films that are not sequels:
Deal of the Century
The Final Option
Krull
The Lonely Lady
Trenchcoat
Stroker Ace - Gene Siskel's choice for very worst movie of the year
The Osterman Weekend
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone.
So, even in 1983, there was a reliance on the drawing power of sequels, often with no effort put into making the characters or the plot fresh and interesting. In the case of Smoky and the Bandit 3, what Roger and Gene don't mention is that because the film had to be cut with Jackie Gleason's role greatly reduced, Jerry Reed is actually the "star" or at least the lead in this film. And Reed just cannot carry this by himself. Especially with the thin plot. Ironically, Burt Reynolds turned this role down at least in part because he was busy making Stroker Ace, which was another one of the worst films of 1983.
Also, note that there was a fad of 3-D going on at the time, and Jaws 3 and Amityville 3 both relied on it, often causing the plot to become incomprehensible with everything taking a backseat to the effects. Finally Gene Siskel says that if you are thinking about going to a sequel make sure somebody whose opinion you respect and who has seen the film can say it is worth your time. That is probably still good advice four decades later.
The films they discuss at length are all sequels, which is their focus this year:
Amityville 3-D
Staying Alive (Sequel to Saturday Night Fever)
Smokey and the Bandit Part 3
Jaws 3-D
Porky's 2: The Next Day
The Sting 2
Then they briefly discuss bad films that are not sequels:
Deal of the Century
The Final Option
Krull
The Lonely Lady
Trenchcoat
Stroker Ace - Gene Siskel's choice for very worst movie of the year
The Osterman Weekend
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone.
So, even in 1983, there was a reliance on the drawing power of sequels, often with no effort put into making the characters or the plot fresh and interesting. In the case of Smoky and the Bandit 3, what Roger and Gene don't mention is that because the film had to be cut with Jackie Gleason's role greatly reduced, Jerry Reed is actually the "star" or at least the lead in this film. And Reed just cannot carry this by himself. Especially with the thin plot. Ironically, Burt Reynolds turned this role down at least in part because he was busy making Stroker Ace, which was another one of the worst films of 1983.
Also, note that there was a fad of 3-D going on at the time, and Jaws 3 and Amityville 3 both relied on it, often causing the plot to become incomprehensible with everything taking a backseat to the effects. Finally Gene Siskel says that if you are thinking about going to a sequel make sure somebody whose opinion you respect and who has seen the film can say it is worth your time. That is probably still good advice four decades later.
The Worst of 1983
Michael_Elliott6 June 2016
At the Movies: The Stinkers of 1983 (1983)
Fans of At the Movies know that some of the best moments happen when critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel hated a movie. The annual "Stinkers of the Year" episodes are always a lot of fun because the critics get to revisit and laugh at some of the year's worst movies. This episode is pretty much all sequels as we get to hear them discuss films like: STAYING ALIVE, AMITYVILLE 3-D, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT 3, JAWS 3-D, THE STING II and PORKy'S II.
If you're into Siskel and Ebert then you already know how fun these type of episodes are because it gave the critics a chance to attack movies they felt wasted their time and money. This one here is a pretty good one because of the films in question,a though I must admit that I disagreed with a couple of them. They're really harsh on PORKY'S II, which is understandable but they seem outraged that a teen sex comedy would feature naughty jokes. Isn't that the point? They make some great arguments about the poor visuals of 3-D.
Episode: A-
Fans of At the Movies know that some of the best moments happen when critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel hated a movie. The annual "Stinkers of the Year" episodes are always a lot of fun because the critics get to revisit and laugh at some of the year's worst movies. This episode is pretty much all sequels as we get to hear them discuss films like: STAYING ALIVE, AMITYVILLE 3-D, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT 3, JAWS 3-D, THE STING II and PORKy'S II.
If you're into Siskel and Ebert then you already know how fun these type of episodes are because it gave the critics a chance to attack movies they felt wasted their time and money. This one here is a pretty good one because of the films in question,a though I must admit that I disagreed with a couple of them. They're really harsh on PORKY'S II, which is understandable but they seem outraged that a teen sex comedy would feature naughty jokes. Isn't that the point? They make some great arguments about the poor visuals of 3-D.
Episode: A-
The Stinkers of 1983
Michael_Elliott15 January 2018
At the Movies (1983)
Season 2, Episode 18
This episode of At the Movies has Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert listing The Stinkers of 1983, which include JAWS 3-D, AMITYVILLE 3-D, PORKY'S II, THE STING II, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT PART 3 and STAYING ALIVE. Fans of this show as well as the critics other shows know that these "worst of" episodes were usually among the best of the year because they allowed the critcs to really go after the year's worst movies. Not only do they get singled out but the two critics also get many great jokes as they discuss what made them so bad. Fans of the show will certainly enjoy this and it's even more entertaining to watch today just thinking about where these movies are today. And, to be fair, most of them still have a cult following to them.
Season 2, Episode 18
This episode of At the Movies has Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert listing The Stinkers of 1983, which include JAWS 3-D, AMITYVILLE 3-D, PORKY'S II, THE STING II, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT PART 3 and STAYING ALIVE. Fans of this show as well as the critics other shows know that these "worst of" episodes were usually among the best of the year because they allowed the critcs to really go after the year's worst movies. Not only do they get singled out but the two critics also get many great jokes as they discuss what made them so bad. Fans of the show will certainly enjoy this and it's even more entertaining to watch today just thinking about where these movies are today. And, to be fair, most of them still have a cult following to them.
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