Blast From The Past
Directed by Hugh Wilson
Written by Bill Kelly and Hugh Wilson
Starring Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, Sissy Spacek, Christopher Walken, and Dave Foley
106 minutes. Rated PG-13. Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1. 1998
Don't you think this movie poster looks a lot better than the butt-ugly VHS and DVD cover?    Blast From The Past is a lot smarter than it looks. I mean sure, we get to watch Alicia Silverstone in cute dresses and Brendan Fraser make a fool of himself, but there's more going on here than just that. Honest.
    It's a truly funny film, first of all. Fraser and Silverstone are great, and backed up by a terrific supporting cast. The script is funny and clever, and had me laughing almost non-stop. It's even got it's warm and fuzzy moments, enough to make the promotional posters scream things such as "THE DATE MOVIE OF THE YEAR!!" and the like.
    Fraser, of course, plays a young man who's lived in a fallout shelter his whole life because his parents think that the world was devastated by nuclear weaponry during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In reality, his parents (Walken and Spacek) had been in the shelter when a plane crashed in the backyard. Dad panicked, shut the door, and the time lock engaged - not to open again for 35 years.
    When it does finally open, and they send Fraser out to do some grocery shopping, is where the fun begins, of course. I won't bore you with a plot synopsis you can get from the trailers, but suffice it to say, he meets Silverstone, they fall in love, etc, etc, etc.
    Blast From The Past is an etiquette lesson and a jab at the paranoid sixties disguised as a "date movie." Fraser's character is a perfect gentleman, in sharp contrast to everyone and everything around him, which is a bit sobering. Also, his parents (Walken and Spacek are truly brilliant) personify the "crazies" of the sixties, but at the same time their reaction to the brave new world of the nineties is a display of how far we've fallen. It's also a vehicle for lines like "He has a computer? In the house??" and a nifty dance sequence with Fraser and two (count 'em, two) lovely women.
    The bottom line: Funny, touching, and with a message too! Yours for just $7.75!
    My review: B+
    My advice: Actually worth the $7.75.
Get the movie poster!