ALL SCI-FI

[Bogmeister]

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______________ The Fury (1978) Official Trailer


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This was director Brian de Palma's follow-up to Carrie (1976) and has some similarities, such as telekinetic superhumans, but there are also some key differences to the plot.

A lot of this involves one of those shadowy government agencies, also made popular by Stephen King in later fare such as Firestarter. This agency is interested in developing superhumans as special weapons.

Kirk Douglas plays Peter, a retired agent whose son Robin (Andrew Stevens) happens to be one of these extra-talented people. Unfortunately, Peter is betrayed by his friend at this agency, played by John Cassavetes. Robin is spirited away to places unknown, setting the stage for Peter's quest to find his son. Eventually, Peter acquires the aid of another powerful telekinetic, a young girl (Amy Irving) who has just learned of her own powers.



What's surprising about the structure of this supposed meditation on superior humanity is its emphasis on the spy/thriller angle. Nost of this film comes across as another standard spy thriller, with Kirk Douglas evading the forces of Cassavetes while also on the hunt.

It's only in a few trendsetting set-pieces involving actual displays of superpower that the film veers into unusual territory and establishes its own peculiar style. Much was made of the groundbreaking Scanners from Cronenberg a few years later, but it just seemed to copy from this. It all leads up to the eye-popping finale — that's the scene everyone talks about and remembers.



The cast is uniformly good. Irving is especially impressive in an early starring role (she was also supporting Sissy Spacek in Carrie). Douglas still had his star power, and Cassavetes is appropriately sinister.

There's also good support from Carrie Snodgress as Kirk's sometime girlfriend and Charles Durning as the head of the institute that explores potential powers in humans. Though this is thought of as a horror film, it's mostly sci-fi, the then rare exploration of super-powered humans. The horror materializes from the transformation of an average young man into an inhuman monster. Back in the late seventies, this was a fairly bloody presentation.

BoG's Score: 7 out of 10

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Furious Trivia: very early small roles for Dennis Franz (as a beleaguered cop) and Darryl Hannah (as a student).


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[Bud Brewster]

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I haven't seen this one, but BoG's review (and the fact that I'm a Kirk Douglas fan) makes me tempted to watch it.

I've placed it on my Netflix list.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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I watched a Netflix DVD of The Fury recently and I was very impressed. The ending is a bit grim (to put it mildly), but story-wise the movie is a winner!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production.
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~ John Williams's music was composed in the style of a Bernard Herrmann score from an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Note from me: Here's a suit from the soundtrack. Listen and judge for yourself.

___________The Fury ultimate soundtrack suite


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~ A big star like Kirk Douglas was cast as the lead in this film because director Brian de Palma had felt that his previous picture Carrie (1976) had suffered at the box office without a name draw-card.

Note from me: Well, maybe a big name star would have helped the movie at the box off, but Sissy Spacek did a fine job in Carrie . . . and I just don't Kirk Douglas would have looked half as good in the prom dress!

Plus, if Kirk Douglas wanted to kick the asses of those vicious high school bitches, he wouldn't need telekinesis to do it!

~ For her role as a psychic with telepathic powers, Amy Irving attended a biofeedback clinic to learn about different levels of consciousness. After personally experiencing psychic changes, she had a better sense of how her character could transmit and receive messages.

Note from me: Wait . . . Amy Irving studied "different levels of consciousness" and learned how to "transmit and receive messages"? Great Caesar's ghost, just what the hell does that mean!

~ Sissy Spacek was considered for Gillian Bellaver.

Note from me: Yes, but that would have confused the audience, because Sissy had literally "been there, done that", right?

So instead they cast Amy Irving . . . who played Carrie's friend, because she'd literally "been there, and saw that being done" — thus sparing the director all that time he'd have to spend telling Amy how to act when she eventually becomes a maniacal murdering telekinetic monster . . .
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

Definitely the best part of the movie was the score. (Although the BEST film score of all time was by Bail Poledoris ….here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9jvb1xzsAs

Kirk was great as always!
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.