Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1984 was an exciting year for films giving us a lot of films that would go on to be beloved favorites and cult classics. Imagine a world where This is Spinal Tap and Repo Man hit theaters on the same day. That is the world of 1984.
We’re going to pick and choose which movies we hit, but right now the list stands at nearly three dozen.
Yes, we’re insane, but 1984 was that great of a year for film.
The articles will come out on the same day the films hit theaters in 1984 so that it is their true 40th anniversaries. All films are also watched again for the purposes of these reviews and are not being done from memory.
This time around, it’s Sept. 7, 1984, and we’re off to see The Brother from Another Planet and The Warrior and the Sorceress.
The Brother from Another Planet
Imagine E.T., but instead of being a big-headed creature, he is actually an allegory for the immigrant and African-American experience.
The Brother (Joe Morton) crashes on Earth after escaping from his planet. He finds himself in Harlem and quickly assimilates into the culture despite his lack of being able to speak. While he makes his way through his new home, he is also pursued by two men from his world who want to return him there.
The Brother from Another Planet is a very engaging film, and an entertaining watch, but that doesn’t mean it is without its flaws. While the film does an excellent job of using The Brother as an allegory for the plight of immigrants in a new land, as well as what appears to be a story of escaping slavery, it relies a bit too heavily on the audience picking up on all of the clues of what the story is. Was he a prisoner or a slave? We see him flinch at policeman, but yet he seems to relate heavily to a story about the Underground Railroad.
Are the bounty hunters after him for returning him as property or as a prisoner?
Is he an outcast due to his skin color or the fact he has three toes?
How many others from his world are here? We know at least a dozen or so have made their way to our planet.
Again, none of this is to say this is a bad movie. I was entertained from the beginning to end, but I was also left with a lot of questions.
It’s also clear that John Sayles was not an experienced director as of yet when he made this film from lighting to angle choices, some things simply did not work.
Well worth watching, but keep your expectations in check.
The Warrior and the Sorceress
Have you ever watched a movie and thought, “This had to be part of a money laundering scheme…”?
Well, after watching The Warrior and the Sorceress, I can safely say I have.
Set on a desolate planet with twin suns (gee… never seen that before), Kain the Warrior (David Carradine) makes his way to a settlement where two men live across the street from each other and fight an ongoing feud over a well.
Yes, this movie is about neighbors who can’t agree over a property line.
The film tries so hard to make you believe Kain is a bad-ass warrior, but all of his fights feel so weightless that there is just nothing to get excited about. Smacks on the back with a sword doesn’t make for a very exciting movie fight. Not to mention everything is lit so poorly that a lot of the time you can’t tell what is going on.
And the unfortunate women of this film who spend the entire run time topless. Guess that’s one way to save on the budget is just by cutting out an entire section of wardrobe for everyone.
The sad thing is, it feels like there was a fun story hidden somewhere in this film, but it was never given a chance to really come to fruition as it was hidden under horrible acting, bad directing, and an incredibly silly premise.
1984 Movie Reviews will return on Sept. 14 with Exterminator 2, Ninja III: The Domination, and A Soldier’s Story!
