Funny, I just watched their "worst of... " for 1985. Siskel ends it by saying "Next week, we review four new movies that HAVE to be better than these - including "Revolution" starring Al Pacino and Nastasia Kinski..." And what is on their list for the worst movies of 86? "Revolution" starring Al Pacino and Nastasia Kinski!
The same thing happens in the worst of 1997, the movie on the movies for next week was "Spice World", which was also on the list for worst of 1998. It's very ironic when that happens.
Revolution flopped so bad that it caused Pacino to drop out of cinema for more than 4 years. When he returned, his voice had permanently changed for extreme chain smoking
They get a lot of retro flack now for some of their picks, especially on horror. But Gene Siskel is the only mainstream critic in America that gave Carpenter's 'The Thing' a positive review in 1982.
Sometimes people get too petty and personal about the opinions guys had about some movie 40 years ago. The popularity of these review shows wasn't because they accurately reflected or predicted how films would be regarded long term. The fun of these shows was to hear guys argue passionately about movies they loved or hated. And, they got us all talking about films, even if we aren't hard-core cinephiles.
@@75aces97 oh shut the fuck up. People at the time disagreed with their opinions as well. There is a reason these guys were hated by the film industry and it is because their dismissive reviews of a lot of films led to them being cult classics rather than box office hits.
Agree or disagree, they most certainly are very articulate in defending their reasons. Their reflections are often so much more entertaining than the movies they’re pontificating on.
That reminds me of a movie review by Chris Stuckmann on UA-cam. I think it was for the animated movie Norm of the North. According to Chris, a few children in his screening similarly did everything but watch the movie, as they were bored.
"Sequel-itis" -- I like that new word coined by Siskel (excoriating The Hitcher) a lot. It's a disease in Hollywood that has only grown to more extreme epidemic levels in the intervening decades since this review.
Art is subjective and hard to say what it is that makes a movie successful to audiences. So, naturally they want to make more of the same, with name-recognition to people who liked the original. _Ghostbusters II_ was criticized as being a repeat, probably because they didn't know what made the first work. But it made money and was different enough to be interesting, like _Die Hard 2._
It's because your modern LED monitor is incompatible with the VHS source that this video is feeding from. If you were watching through a CRT TV the tracking would snyc automatically.
WORST FILMS OF 1986 1:48 EXTREMITIES 3:43 HEARTBURN 5:42 THE HITCHER 8:37 HOWARD THE DUCK 10:42 KING KONG LIVES 12:38 PIRATES 14:19 REVOLUTION 16:12 TAI-PAN 18:07 THREE AMIGOS 19:15 UNDER THE CHERRY MOON
WOW! 12:00 in and these guys are officially my mainstream heroes! Calling out the studios for trying to nullify their critique is beautiful. Well done Sis and E!
Cheers for loading these, Andy. We didn't have any film reviewers as good as these guys in Australia until about '86/'87, and that was on a public broadcaster.
I wonder how many times this scenario took place in American homes in 1986 when most entertainment choices were limited to VHS rentals: "Honey, I got good news and bad news!" "Okay, what's the good news?" "I rented an Al Pacino movie." "Okay, that's great, but what's the bad news?" "It's "Revolution"!
@@vhagerty I think you're right, it could be classified under "irreconcilable differences"! That "movie" should also be considered a violation of the Geneva Convention to anyone unfortunate enough to see it!
. The Hitcher ?? Really ?? I (generally) don't like ANY overly-violent movies.....but I LOVED this one !! Thought C. Thomas Howell was REALLY good as "Jim Halsey", and the late Rutger Hauer was EVEN BETTER as the INCREDIBLY evil "John Ryder" !! .
I wish these 2 were still alive, there’s so much utter dogshit coming out of Hollywood these days. I’d love to hear what they had to say. RIP Robert & Richard.
@@SimuLord I think Siskel and Ebert were pearl clutching reactionaries even for 1987. Everything had to have some sort of moral value, nothing could be ambiguous or question your values.
Gene: "I Don't think we will see a Hitcher II" Roger: "Well you never know.". Point goes to Roger as The Hitcher II: I've been Waiting came out direct-to-DVD in 2003.
The critic in Entertainment Weekly reviewed the sequel and said it was actually great and wasn't joking (and was shocked that they thought it was actually great).
Nearly TWENTY years later! Two decades! kinda creates the image of the guy at the side of the road with his thumb out, covered in cobwebs and street garbage "I've been waiting" 👴__👍
I always thought The Hitcher had more in common with neonoir films like Blood Simple than any of the slashers of the time. It's an extremely well crafted and performed film with serious actors and direction. Nihilistic as hell but still very good.
@@Trisket Didn't say it was a good as Blood Simple, just saying the two films have more in common in terms of style and tone compared to the slasher films of the era
It's shit but there are even worse movies. The legend of hercules Around the world in 80 days 2004 version Il mio west When time ran out Sex lives of potato men Little man Norbit Thunder Force 45 years The garbage pail kids.
The problem with the "Heartburn" movie was, it was a bad book. A first person narration lacking pain or joy. And filled with wisecracks. Shallow ones, but wisecracks nonetheless. The movie left them out, leaving just the shallow story. As for "The Hitcher," I saw a wicked classic, like everybody else. So much so, I skipped the remake.
I always liked the Hitcher, but also, I was probably only 8 when I saw it. A bit young, but hell, in the 80s most kids were watching horror/slasher movies, for better or worse.
I think Gene and Roger misunderstood Rutger Hauer. He was not trying to be Shakespeare nor Lionel Barrymore but he was a fun bad guy/youth guy. I don’t remember this particular movie but I do think Gene and Roger were unduly harsh on Rutger Hauer. “Three Amigos” was a crap movie and as movie’s go “low hanging fruit” because it was so bad it was easy to criticize. The movie took a crap script and used the star power of Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short to pull the film through. It didn’t work. Bad movie.
I don’t remember ever watching a movie as suspenseful as The Hitcher when I was young in the ‘80s. It stuck with me all these years whereas most 1986 movies I don’t remember at all
I forced myself to watch Heartburn because it has several great actors, but the movie was terrible. Nora Ephron did much better work later on, but that was terrible.
12:55 The sound of Matthau as a pirate is uproarious! I know he was hired for being one of the few actors available who would take the part, but once cast, they could have re-written it as a genre parody or some kind of surrealistic comedy and really had something.
When I heard Matthau’s monologue , I was actually laughing hard and not for good reasons. I was thinking, “Come on. How am I supposed to take that seriously?”
They’re all stinkers, BUT I completely disagree with their take on “The Hitcher”. For my money it is one of the most suspenseful and eerie horror movies of the late 80’s. Hauer’s chilling performance is his second best next to Blade Runner. Ebert criticized the villain for not having a backstory or a motive. I think that’s part of what makes it so involving. Also, by the end of the film you realize he does have a motive in his trail of death and mayhem. He makes such comments throughout his interactions with C.Thomas Howell about wanting to die. He wanted to push the young man to the brink of murder and he successfully accomplished his mission by the end. I will say the truck scene was a little hard to watch because Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character certainly didn’t deserve it. It is a bleak, nihilistic and ugly story, but it is fully engaging and never boring.
This was when they were pandering to the "protect the children" moms that were throwing hissy-fits over Silent Night, Deadly Night. They even did a whole special episode to distance themselves from slasher films. It's one of the many reasons I criticize Ebert for being one of the worst movie reviewers ever. He said movies like The Hitcher and Friday the 13th as being garbage that has no artistic merit, yet he previously praised the much sleazier films like "Last House on the Left" and "Peeping Tom". He really was a hack. If you're wondering why I give Siskel a pass; it's because, while I often disagreed with him, he was usually consistent with his viewpoints. At least, I can see him as having integrity in his reviews.
I remember in 1986 i went to the theater and had to choose between Ferris Bueller's Day off and Karate Kid part 2, VERY tough decision, i went with Ferris Bueller then snuck into Karate Kid afterwards
If you went to a movie theater back in 1986, and when you see “My Little Pony: The Movie” on a marquee or in a movie poster, your best bet is to avoid that one and go for “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, “Top Gun” or “Karate Kid - Part 2”. If you chose “My Little Pony: The Movie”, you failed.
I was born in 87. If I could do it again, maybe I could have been born in 1970. I would have loved to have experienced some of the greatest movies live for the first time among so many other great things I was too young to see.
I was born in 1970. It's been quite an experience being part of the generation to see the explosion of technology,music,and motion pictures through the 70s to present day.
Their disbelief that Howard the Duck cost "reportedly more than 40 million dollars..." That's a salary now. Notably they didn't mention the fact that Lea Thompson shags the duck in the film. Which is still a disturbing notion. ...oh, Walter Matthau's voice is the main inspiration for Homer Simpson's voice...
What killed me about Thompson's performance is that she's done so much other, better stuff-from Back to the Future to Caroline in the City-and got stuck trying to salvage her material in that turkey.
Regarding them not signing the "King Kong Lives" letter: whether you like Siskel and Ebert or not, you've got to give them credit for their professional integrity and self-respect.
@Otto_Maddox I looked for it and couldn't find the specific letter they were sent either. But essentially the studio was OK with them showing clips on their local Chicago broadcast only if they "signed" a letter promising that they wouldn't show the clips reviewed on their national broadcast. The studio basically knew the film was terrible and were alright with the Chicago area seeing their honest scathing review of the clips but didn't want the entire country (national broadcast) to see the film clips for the same reason. Signing any kind of letter promising to not review some films would have severely limited their opinions and credibility on any movie critique. You can read the transcript of this review if you Google "king kong lives letter to siskel and ebert" on IMDB. Hopefully this helps somewhat, for I would love to see the studio letter myself!
i'm sorry to have offended you. I truly am sorry for having you take the time to give an opinion on my opinion. it's the last thing I wanted to do. please forgive me and for all the crimes against humanity blamed unto me, for what you think I think is my opinion. the world will still continue I'm afraid
It had potential, but the script was a trifle and Prince actually fired the original director Mary Lambert weeks into its shooting, which may have sealed its fate. It’s also been said it was green-lighted from the studio without having even seen a script.
Warner Bros saw Prince as a huge cash-cow back in the day ; it didn't really matter how the film turned out, as it was the record sales that truly mattered. The soundtrack album titled "Parade" was one of his very best.
We watched Revolution in history class because it was the only Revolutionary War movie the school could get their hands on. Never resumed the movie after the first day and no one cared.
As S&E mentioned, it's not really about the American Revolution... It's just used as a backdrop for a romance that doesn't really go anywhere ; I still think it's Pacino's worst film (Jack and Jill doesn't count, because he wasn't the lead actor).
I never read the comic, but was interested in the adventure while watching. Looking back at all the bird and duck jokes was painful, so I had to stop. Lucas should have done _Shazam_ instead, since that characteer was a Saturday matinee serial like the ones he saw that inspired _Star Wars_ and _Raiders of the Lost Ark._
Whoever had the idea for Howard the Duck strikes me as somebody who thought it was totally brilliant in his deranged coked-out mind, and that also goes for the folks who put up the $$. What the hell were they thinking. . .
It was a very popular character in comics. He was essentially the first Deadpool-like character in comic books, someone who said "naughty" things and broke the fourth wall to say how ridiculous both comics books and real life were. The movie erased all of that humor for much more obvious, unsubtle things, as if they though the mass audience wasn't smart enough to understand anything clever, satirical or self-parodying.
First, "Extremities" is hardly a slasher. Nobody even gets killed. Second, they entirely missed the point of "The Hitcher" and WHAT is Siskel going on about? You don't actually SEE JJL get torn in half. No blood, only suggestion.
In addition to the above listed films, Gene also hated "The Mission", "Shanghai Surprise" (thus answering the question as to how he felt about that film, at least in print), and "The Morning After". (SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, December 21, 1986)
@@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729 This show didn't exist when that movie came out (1976) so the "2 thumbs up (or down)" routine wasn't a thing yet. (Maybe they both gave it a good review back then?).
Actually not only was there a Hitcher 2 in 2003 but then the 2007 remake with Sean Bean and Sophia Bush. Yeah they're both in a better place to never seen either of those at that!
"The Hitcher" aged to become a genre classic, memorable enough to warrant an (inferior) remake a generation later. Although there seemed to develop a physic relationship between the hero and villain, I never got the sense that he was fated to take up the killer's mantle. Apart from the genuinely chilling and sly performance by Hauer, its strengths are the remote West Texas highway locations, striking cinematography, haunting score, and distinctive directorial style.
@@christofrip1723 Ah interesting! Never even heard of that. I wonder if screenwriter Eric Red was actually aware of that similar earlier film. The idea of the "murderous hitchhiker" has been used in other movies as well such as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".
@@tinderbox218The tone and similarities in the details makes it obvious he was well aware. It's quite a good old movie with a great performance from William Talman. Based on the American spree killer William Edward Cook Jr. I do believe it's public domain and available on YT and other sites, definitely worth checking out.
I agree with most of the movies on their list as being terrible, but I quite liked The Three Amigos. I don't see it as being one of the worst movies of any year.
It's hard to believe what the Howard the Duck comic book meant to us in the mid 70s when you look at that movie. Steve Gerber's seemingly effortless social satire and comic book parody, oddly wedded to Gene Colan's almost Renaissance-style neoclassical figure studies, it seemed unbelievable that stodgy old Marvel would let them try it. The movie had nothing of the era or context or talent that made it work as a comic in the 70s. It couldn't. And nobody bothered to retool the concept as an 80s movie. They just hosed it down with studio money and went "ha ha, a duck."
The problem with Howard The Duck is it didn’t know whether it wanted to be for kids or for adults and tried to be both and ended up being tonally all over the place.
And of course, they did not mentioned “My Little Pony: The Movie”, the original G1. That movie didn’t work out, but I don’t know why they didn’t mentioned MLP on this show. And of course, “Transformers: The Movie”, the other G1 that they didn’t mentioned on this show as well.
I expected Roger to have "Blue Velvet" on his list. He hated hated hated that movie. But perhaps a film had to have two thumbs way down to make the cut.
The Hitcher had its moments, started out cool, overall kind of an 80s classic, but it lost me at the point where as Roger said, "they abandoned reality" and when it just got so over the top.
They've never been more wrong about a film as they were with The Hitcher. Should be in the top ten films of the year not the worst. Siskel just gave up a massive spoiler too which is a douchebag move.
Three Amigos and the Hitcher? I don´t say they were great but atleast the Hitcher was chilling and surely there must have been much more worse movies than Three Amigos that year?
Hated The Hitcher. I love 80 slashers like Friday the 13th cuz they are cheesy fun and just an excuse to get creative with make-up effects (and show boobs). But Hitcher was just a nonstop nightmare - and not the good kind. I didn't care about the protagonist and the villain kept popping up that i remember rolling my eyes. Rutger Hauer is so much better than this. I know I'm in the minority tho.
They always had atleast one future classic in one of these lists. Three Amigos became a beloved comedy soon after release and has remained popular since then. Willow and some others from their worst of lists have the same resonance with modern audiences. That said, a majority of their picks were absolutely right.
There were other movies that they don’t mentioned on this show were “My Little Pony: The Movie” and “Transformers: The Movie”, the two animated films based off the Hasbro toy lines and both were G1. Both of these films were absolute worst of 1986, and both didn’t mentioned on this show. Both MLP and Transformers fans of G1 were disappointed when Siskel & Ebert didn’t reviewed these two animated films.
you bring it up and let me tell you i saw both as a kid and what i thought then and think to this day. i remember nothing of the mlp movie. we went to see it cause dad was in a business meeting and mom was stuck with two grade school boys for the afternoon. i think i was more interested in my sno caps and pepsi. transformers i saw with the whole family in a renovated downtown theater where they had taken just the balcony chopped in half (some might remember those in the 80s) of a classic bigger theater. anyways it scarred every kid that was stuck there and i spent half the time watching the sticky stuff in between the seats more than i did the movie. the musical parts made me feel like i did during private one on one art lessons with the creep that always wore the floor length trenchcoat and the hard breathing thing..one number still rings in my head "dare to believe you can" uh yeh.. and every time i think of "the touch". letters were sent out immediately. supposedly one 8 year old boy killed himself after watching it. as an adult i read it was that another company had bought out the g1 transformers and new management was behind the on screen genocide. the characters the kids had spent a season or more learning to see as "friends" were killed off in front of their watering eyes heartlessly so that the new management could sell newer more violent looking toys for profit. a disaster and the one silver lining that gladly due to poor ad campaigns. the ads for those movies looked identical to ads for birthday parties at the local skating rink. the gi joe movie never saw a theater release gratefully and become a traumatizing home video in which cobra commander gradually loses his mind as he mutates into a snake. meanwhile the leader of the joes is stabbed in the chest then dies a cowards death later in bed ala optimus prime while an african american character is permanently blinded adding racism to the list of reasons to avoid the gruesome threesome. the reason none of that went on the list of ebert and siskel baddies like they said they didnt like to stoop too low on themselves and just cherry picked the big money failures of the studios.
Ebert was alive at the time (it's from 2011 and he died in April 2013). It was reviewed by Christy Lemire and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky on Ebert's short-lived attempt to revive _At The Movies_ for PBS in late 2011. Lemire and Vishnevetsky gave it two thumbs down.
Well, here's an hint. I'll put everything out just for you and tell me if you'll love those movies or not. And if you're not sure about this, please let me know. Extremities, Duet for One, Heartburn, Three Amigos were beloved flicks. The Hitcher, Revolution, Pirates, Tai-Pan, Kingkong Lives, Under the Cherry Moon, Crossroads, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Labyrinth, From Beyond, Nine 1/2 Weeks, The Golden Child, Head Office, The Best of Times, Big Trouble in Little China were stunning cult favorites as well as others. Plus, notorious bombs like Howard the Duck, Let's Get Harry, A Fine Mess, Wise Guys, Haunted Honeymoon etc. Oh, by the way, just figure it out and see which movie you like the most and why. That's all it takes. Hope you got it, folks!!!
Thank you for enumerating the films! 👍👍 The Hitcher is a suspense-thriller genre classic and I do not understand S&E's assessment of it. Extremities tried too hard to be an urgent feminist film to the point that it obliterated any instance of clear moral judgment or rationality. Howard the Duck, Prince's directing debut Under the Cherry Moon, King Kong Lives, Heartburn, Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, Polanski's Pirates, Michael Cimino's Revolution, and the un-erotic 9&1/2 Weeks are negligible and deserved to be shredded into pieces.
"Big Trouble in Little China" is a great film, probably the best one you mentioned; who didn't like it? "Heatburn," on the other hand, is not beloved, and has little cult appeal, except to Streep, Nicholson, Nichols, or Nora Ephron completists
When crushing King Kong dor their attempt at censorship, they mentioned the different shows - one local and one national. What was their local show called? I'm local and all I remember is watching At The Movies (or Sneak Previews) which was syndicated nationally, I don't recall a separate show that only ran locally? Anybody?
Funny, I just watched their "worst of... " for 1985. Siskel ends it by saying "Next week, we review four new movies that HAVE to be better than these - including "Revolution" starring Al Pacino and Nastasia Kinski..." And what is on their list for the worst movies of 86? "Revolution" starring Al Pacino and Nastasia Kinski!
Coincidence.
@@sha11235 Of course it is, but it's a very funny coincidence.
Haha good catch!
The same thing happens in the worst of 1997, the movie on the movies for next week was "Spice World", which was also on the list for worst of 1998. It's very ironic when that happens.
Revolution flopped so bad that it caused Pacino to drop out of cinema for more than 4 years. When he returned, his voice had permanently changed for extreme chain smoking
"They could've sold tickets to the door." That's incredible. I laughed out loud.
They get a lot of retro flack now for some of their picks, especially on horror. But Gene Siskel is the only mainstream critic in America that gave Carpenter's 'The Thing' a positive review in 1982.
Sometimes people get too petty and personal about the opinions guys had about some movie 40 years ago. The popularity of these review shows wasn't because they accurately reflected or predicted how films would be regarded long term. The fun of these shows was to hear guys argue passionately about movies they loved or hated. And, they got us all talking about films, even if we aren't hard-core cinephiles.
@@75aces97 oh shut the fuck up. People at the time disagreed with their opinions as well. There is a reason these guys were hated by the film industry and it is because their dismissive reviews of a lot of films led to them being cult classics rather than box office hits.
That guy stuck to his opinions through thick or thin.
Agree or disagree, they most certainly are very articulate in defending their reasons. Their reflections are often so much more entertaining than the movies they’re pontificating on.
I think it wasn't horror films so much as it was slasher films that they were so hard on.
"They could have sold tickets to the door!" 😄
10:42 Gene's King Kong Lives speech is so passionate it makes Kennedy's inaugural sound like high school debate.
Roger's "King Kong Lives" anecdote LOL.
That reminds me of a movie review by Chris Stuckmann on UA-cam. I think it was for the animated movie Norm of the North. According to Chris, a few children in his screening similarly did everything but watch the movie, as they were bored.
Roman Polanski could've made his "Pirate" movie even better......BY SURRENDERING FOR HIS CRIMES!!!!
"Sequel-itis" -- I like that new word coined by Siskel (excoriating The Hitcher) a lot. It's a disease in Hollywood that has only grown to more extreme epidemic levels in the intervening decades since this review.
Art is subjective and hard to say what it is that makes a movie successful to audiences. So, naturally they want to make more of the same, with name-recognition to people who liked the original.
_Ghostbusters II_ was criticized as being a repeat, probably because they didn't know what made the first work. But it made money and was different enough to be interesting, like _Die Hard 2._
Not only was there (many years later) a sequel to "The Hitcher," but at least one remake!
The Hitcher one of my favourite horror, thrillers, one of the worst, I think not
It got 61% from the critics and 74% from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes.
My buddy and I liked hitched in it high school. I’m 50 now. hitcher is good. It could have been great but It’s flawed
The Hitcher is underrated. I've always liked it.
Thank you for uploading these. When I was a kid I used to look forward to watching these guys every week!!
Same here!
This is the first time I had to adjust my tracking on UA-cam.
I’m just glad it worked.
It's because your modern LED monitor is incompatible with the VHS source that this video is feeding from. If you were watching through a CRT TV the tracking would snyc automatically.
WORST FILMS OF 1986
1:48 EXTREMITIES
3:43 HEARTBURN
5:42 THE HITCHER
8:37 HOWARD THE DUCK
10:42 KING KONG LIVES
12:38 PIRATES
14:19 REVOLUTION
16:12 TAI-PAN
18:07 THREE AMIGOS
19:15 UNDER THE CHERRY MOON
Siskel & Ebert brought more shade in one of these “Worst of the Year” episodes than entire seasons of Drag Race.
WOW! 12:00 in and these guys are officially my mainstream heroes!
Calling out the studios for trying to nullify their critique is beautiful. Well done Sis and E!
Cheers for loading these, Andy. We didn't have any film reviewers as good as these guys in Australia until about '86/'87, and that was on a public broadcaster.
Did David and Margaret ever do "worst of" lists?
@@Iggsy81 They should have
I wonder how many times this scenario took place in American homes in 1986 when most entertainment choices were limited to VHS rentals:
"Honey, I got good news and bad news!"
"Okay, what's the good news?"
"I rented an Al Pacino movie."
"Okay, that's great, but what's the bad news?"
"It's "Revolution"!
Nowadays, it would be:
"Honey, I rented an Al Pacino movie."
"Great! Which one? "
"Jack and Jill!!!"
Spouse asks for divorce on the spot. 😜
@@vhagerty I think you're right, it could be classified under "irreconcilable differences"! That "movie" should also be considered a violation of the Geneva Convention to anyone unfortunate enough to see it!
.
The Hitcher ?? Really ?? I (generally) don't like ANY overly-violent movies.....but I LOVED this one !! Thought C. Thomas Howell was REALLY good as "Jim Halsey", and the late Rutger Hauer was EVEN BETTER as the INCREDIBLY evil "John Ryder" !!
.
I wish these 2 were still alive, there’s so much utter dogshit coming out of Hollywood these days. I’d love to hear what they had to say. RIP Robert & Richard.
Who are Robert and Richard?
Brutal review of Three Amigos. I think that movie is lol funny at a ton of parts. El Guapo alone was amazing.
Agreed! That movie is a classic! Tons of hilarious parts. Gene was totally wrong.
Saw it but don't remember much about it.
"Three Amigos" was the best movie S&E hated in this episode.
They were both especially fiesty in this episode, but Gene was savage.
Siskel was a sweetheart here compared to Ebert's review of the 1994 Rob Reiner Elijah Wood comedy North.
Well, they are getting revenge on the bad films of the year. Can you blame them?
This brings back childhood memories I cannot tell you how many times as a kid I used to watch at the movies
Howard the Duck was insulting to its audience, its cast, and the entire city of Cleveland.
Thank you for this. Miss Siskel & Ebert’s show. Their small bouts of infighting are phenomenal.
The violence in "The Hitcher" was disturbing at the time, but that's what made it so genuinely scary.
That's a bigger indictment of 2021 than anything. What was shocking in 1986 is tame and pedestrian now because people today are animals.
Francis Perron No kidding! If nothing else, it took me a few days to recover from what happened to Jennifer Jason Leigh. CHRIST!
@@SimuLord I think Siskel and Ebert were pearl clutching reactionaries even for 1987. Everything had to have some sort of moral value, nothing could be ambiguous or question your values.
They're right, UNDER THE CHERRY MOON was clumsy black & white love story 👎👎👎👎
It’s been said even Prince knew that the movie was a disaster, especially the script, which having been written by someone else he used as his alibi.
Gene: "I Don't think we will see a Hitcher II" Roger: "Well you never know.". Point goes to Roger as The Hitcher II: I've been Waiting came out direct-to-DVD in 2003.
True, buuuut if I could make a bit of a dark joke that I think Gene would appreciate- Gene was right, he never had to watch it :)
The critic in Entertainment Weekly reviewed the sequel and said it was actually great and wasn't joking (and was shocked that they thought it was actually great).
Nearly TWENTY years later! Two decades!
kinda creates the image of the guy at the side of the road with his thumb out, covered in cobwebs and street garbage
"I've been waiting" 👴__👍
Gene: "I have nothing against violent movies." Please, Gene.
He did have Platoon and Blue Velvet on his "best" list for this year.
@@simonboccanegra3811Taxi Driver was their top pick for the decade too, as were Raging Bull & Goodfellas. They both liked Pulp Fiction too…
I always thought The Hitcher had more in common with neonoir films like Blood Simple than any of the slashers of the time. It's an extremely well crafted and performed film with serious actors and direction. Nihilistic as hell but still very good.
I agree. A dark action-thriller, not horror.
Rutger Hauer's performance is something to behold on its own.
Please, Blood Simple is a masterpiece compared to The Hitcher.
@@Trisket Didn't say it was a good as Blood Simple, just saying the two films have more in common in terms of style and tone compared to the slasher films of the era
I say when you watch enough of these Siskel and Ebert "bad movies of 19XX" you're guaranteed to find some great movies.
Howard the Duck is the worst movie ever. It was the first movie I walked out of.
It's shit but there are even worse movies.
The legend of hercules
Around the world in 80 days 2004 version
Il mio west
When time ran out
Sex lives of potato men
Little man
Norbit
Thunder Force
45 years
The garbage pail kids.
The problem with the "Heartburn" movie was, it was a bad book. A first person narration lacking pain or joy. And filled with wisecracks. Shallow ones, but wisecracks nonetheless. The movie left them out, leaving just the shallow story. As for "The Hitcher," I saw a wicked classic, like everybody else. So much so, I skipped the remake.
Theme song sounds like an 80’s ROM-COM soundtrack!
It sounds very "80's sitcom about professionals living in NYC"
@@jackedkerouac4414 And their wacky misadventures !
Three Amigos is a classic! You've just gotta appreciate it for what it is.
Some Art isn’t appreciated in its time.
Comedy is so different from generation to generation and person to person.
45% on RT, such a classic
Yep, appreciate it for what it is...a pile of poop.
To me its sort of weird, but it certainly does have its moments. I reckon id give it a marginal thumbs up. Like 2.5/4
should have been funnier..Chevy Chase is not funny in it,,,,
I always liked the Hitcher, but also, I was probably only 8 when I saw it. A bit young, but hell, in the 80s most kids were watching horror/slasher movies, for better or worse.
Three Amigos!
What?? Three Amigos was great!
Wayyyy off on The Hitcher! I didn’t see most of these movies back in 86...I was 15...but I’d probably agree with all the others.
Rutger Hauer is a great villian
They hate most slasher films.
I think Gene and Roger misunderstood Rutger Hauer. He was not trying to be Shakespeare nor Lionel Barrymore but he was a fun bad guy/youth guy. I don’t remember this particular movie but I do think Gene and Roger were unduly harsh on Rutger Hauer. “Three Amigos” was a crap movie and as movie’s go “low hanging fruit” because it was so bad it was easy to criticize. The movie took a crap script and used the star power of Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short to pull the film through. It didn’t work. Bad movie.
I don’t remember ever watching a movie as suspenseful as The Hitcher when I was young in the ‘80s. It stuck with me all these years whereas most 1986 movies I don’t remember at all
Agreed....Rutger owned that part. They didn't like a lot of thrillers and horror either. Hitcher is a great classic.....
Thanks for uploading this!
Usually agreed with them but they are wrong about the Hitcher
I forced myself to watch Heartburn because it has several great actors, but the movie was terrible. Nora Ephron did much better work later on, but that was terrible.
I liked the theme song by Carly Simon....(only)
Meryl Streep dresses like someone’s grandma and acts like someone’s rotten grandchild
12:55 The sound of Matthau as a pirate is uproarious! I know he was hired for being one of the few actors available who would take the part, but once cast, they could have re-written it as a genre parody or some kind of surrealistic comedy and really had something.
When I heard Matthau’s monologue , I was actually laughing hard and not for good reasons. I was thinking, “Come on. How am I supposed to take that seriously?”
Pulansky was a little blacklisted back then for obvious reasons.
They’re all stinkers, BUT I completely disagree with their take on “The Hitcher”. For my money it is one of the most suspenseful and eerie horror movies of the late 80’s. Hauer’s chilling performance is his second best next to Blade Runner. Ebert criticized the villain for not having a backstory or a motive. I think that’s part of what makes it so involving. Also, by the end of the film you realize he does have a motive in his trail of death and mayhem. He makes such comments throughout his interactions with C.Thomas Howell about wanting to die. He wanted to push the young man to the brink of murder and he successfully accomplished his mission by the end. I will say the truck scene was a little hard to watch because Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character certainly didn’t deserve it. It is a bleak, nihilistic and ugly story, but it is fully engaging and never boring.
Howard The Duck is awesome!!!!!!
This was when they were pandering to the "protect the children" moms that were throwing hissy-fits over Silent Night, Deadly Night. They even did a whole special episode to distance themselves from slasher films.
It's one of the many reasons I criticize Ebert for being one of the worst movie reviewers ever. He said movies like The Hitcher and Friday the 13th as being garbage that has no artistic merit, yet he previously praised the much sleazier films like "Last House on the Left" and "Peeping Tom". He really was a hack.
If you're wondering why I give Siskel a pass; it's because, while I often disagreed with him, he was usually consistent with his viewpoints. At least, I can see him as having integrity in his reviews.
@@Pelcurus Yet Ebert would nearly always give violent "Hood" movies not only a pass but rave reviews
I bet he wouldve hate Hush(2016) too. As the villain did'nt have a backstory or a motive.
Rutger Hauer is also pretty good in Flesh + Blood.
Three Amigos is classic.
@Dean F. I believe that honor goes to you, Dean
"That's what you get paid for".
"Not enough". ❤️❤️❤️😄
I remember in 1986 i went to the theater and had to choose between Ferris Bueller's Day off and Karate Kid part 2, VERY tough decision, i went with Ferris Bueller then snuck into Karate Kid afterwards
Two classics for one
good value,,,,....I use to do that.....scaredI was going to get caught
how i used to get into R movies in the 80's
If you went to a movie theater back in 1986, and when you see “My Little Pony: The Movie” on a marquee or in a movie poster, your best bet is to avoid that one and go for “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, “Top Gun” or “Karate Kid - Part 2”. If you chose “My Little Pony: The Movie”, you failed.
Both were worth watching more than once. I think I like _Karate Kid Part 2_ more than the original.
I was born in 87. If I could do it again, maybe I could have been born in 1970. I would have loved to have experienced some of the greatest movies live for the first time among so many other great things I was too young to see.
I was born in 1970. It's been quite an experience being part of the generation to see the explosion of technology,music,and motion pictures through the 70s to present day.
I was born in 72 and its been beyond incredible
Austin Powers was right. You missed nothing but a gas shortage and a Flock of Seagulss
@@KRhetor if you’re listening to Austin Powers then you have the IQ of an ice cream cone.
@@jacktorrance2633 I agree.
Their disbelief that Howard the Duck cost "reportedly more than 40 million dollars..."
That's a salary now.
Notably they didn't mention the fact that Lea Thompson shags the duck in the film.
Which is still a disturbing notion.
...oh, Walter Matthau's voice is the main inspiration for Homer Simpson's voice...
I wonder if Howard is contractually obligated to do movies in the MCU until the $40M is paid off
@@donaldpaluga that much falls outta Lucas' chins every time he jogs.
What killed me about Thompson's performance is that she's done so much other, better stuff-from Back to the Future to Caroline in the City-and got stuck trying to salvage her material in that turkey.
I wonder what Lea Thompson thought about Howard's corkscrew pecker (for those who don't know, male ducks' penises are shaped like that).
can you imagine their children...that would have been a weird sequel
Omg, I remember that opening!! So iconic!
The Three Amigos??? That movie is absolutely FANTASTIC! Sometimes these guys are just so far off base.
Regarding them not signing the "King Kong Lives" letter: whether you like Siskel and Ebert or not, you've got to give them credit for their professional integrity and self-respect.
@Otto_Maddox I looked for it and couldn't find the specific letter they were sent either. But essentially the studio was OK with them showing clips on their local Chicago broadcast only if they "signed" a letter promising that they wouldn't show the clips reviewed on their national broadcast. The studio basically knew the film was terrible and were alright with the Chicago area seeing their honest scathing review of the clips but didn't want the entire country (national broadcast) to see the film clips for the same reason. Signing any kind of letter promising to not review some films would have severely limited their opinions and credibility on any movie critique.
You can read the transcript of this review if you Google "king kong lives letter to siskel and ebert" on IMDB. Hopefully this helps somewhat, for I would love to see the studio letter myself!
@Otto_Maddox You're very welcome, I was happy to help! Take care!
@@geoffelder2236right? Ethically it would just be flat out wrong
these guys liked Speed 2 btw
i like it too
It seems like you think you have a point there 🤷🏻♂️
i'm sorry to have offended you. I truly am sorry for having you take the time to give an opinion on my opinion. it's the last thing I wanted to do. please forgive me and for all the crimes against humanity blamed unto me, for what you think I think is my opinion. the world will still continue I'm afraid
Speed 2 is a fun ride.
Nobody's perfect.
Under the Cherry Moon looks fucking awful!
Don't waste your time.
I didn't.
It was. I was a teenager and a big Prince fan. Probably one of the few people who saw it in the theater. Oof.
It had potential, but the script was a trifle and Prince actually fired the original director Mary Lambert weeks into its shooting, which may have sealed its fate. It’s also been said it was green-lighted from the studio without having even seen a script.
Warner Bros saw Prince as a huge cash-cow back in the day ; it didn't really matter how the film turned out, as it was the record sales that truly mattered. The soundtrack album titled "Parade" was one of his very best.
The "soundtrack" was quite good. The film lacked a decent script, and needed good actors.
Im here binging Siskel & Ebert because Drew & Scott discontinued the 80s All Over podcast and I have a big gap to fill.
We watched Revolution in history class because it was the only Revolutionary War movie the school could get their hands on. Never resumed the movie after the first day and no one cared.
Dang! 😂
As S&E mentioned, it's not really about the American Revolution... It's just used as a backdrop for a romance that doesn't really go anywhere ; I still think it's Pacino's worst film (Jack and Jill doesn't count, because he wasn't the lead actor).
Howard The Duck was just released on 4K. The worst theatrical released in 1986 is still better than much of what streamed in 2020.
I liked it, but I'm biased. It's one of the first 50 movies I remember seeing.
I respect how most people see it as being campy.
That piece of crap gets a 4K remaster and there are silent classics that have never been released on DVD.
I never read the comic, but was interested in the adventure while watching. Looking back at all the bird and duck jokes was painful, so I had to stop. Lucas should have done _Shazam_ instead, since that characteer was a Saturday matinee serial like the ones he saw that inspired _Star Wars_ and _Raiders of the Lost Ark._
Whoever had the idea for Howard the Duck strikes me as somebody who thought it was totally brilliant in his deranged coked-out mind, and that also goes for the folks who put up the $$. What the hell were they thinking. . .
It was a very popular character in comics. He was essentially the first Deadpool-like character in comic books, someone who said "naughty" things and broke the fourth wall to say how ridiculous both comics books and real life were. The movie erased all of that humor for much more obvious, unsubtle things, as if they though the mass audience wasn't smart enough to understand anything clever, satirical or self-parodying.
That somebody is George Lucas
It worked as a comic! And didn't warrant a film...
First, "Extremities" is hardly a slasher. Nobody even gets killed. Second, they entirely missed the point of "The Hitcher" and WHAT is Siskel going on about? You don't actually SEE JJL get torn in half. No blood, only suggestion.
He's got the sensibilities of a little old church lady.
they didn't like The Three Amigos !! ??? wtf... its a classic ! ... smh
come on, it sucked.
It was good when they put it in space-“Galaxy Quest.”
@@christinacascadilla4473 i luv galaxy quest
Three Amigos! Is a cult classic. “You son of a motherless goat!”
@@trevorjroberts guilty as charged
"Purple Rain" was one of the best movies of 1984?? Are you kidding me. Sure, the soundtrack is top notch, but the acting and story are wretched.
The Hitcher is one of my favorites of all time and a favorite of most people I know.
Thanks for uploading :)
every year there seems to be a walter matthau movie on the list lol
In addition to the above listed films, Gene also hated "The Mission", "Shanghai Surprise" (thus answering the question as to how he felt about that film, at least in print), and "The Morning After". (SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, December 21, 1986)
In that case, he REALLY missed the mark with The Mission--to say that's a great movie would be an understatement (even though it's really sad).
did he really hate the Misson? Ebert gave it mild thumbs down....
@@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729 I don't hate the movie, I just love it. Every
minute of it.
They famously both hated Star Wars when it first came out and begrudgingly retracted that when it became obvious no one agreed with them
@@LordSathar I am very sure that you cannot find any proof of that anywhere.
As far as I remember the Jessica Lange version of King Kong made a joke of her new career for a long time!
I think it got 2 thumbs up...
Will never figure out how both she AND Jeff Bridges recovered from that crapfest!
Jessica Lange has now an Emmy and Oscar winning actress/producer.
@@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729 This show didn't exist when that movie came out (1976) so the "2 thumbs up (or down)" routine wasn't a thing yet. (Maybe they both gave it a good review back then?).
That clip of Walter Mathau's English accent was all the evidence they needed for Pirates. Hilarious
Actually not only was there a Hitcher 2 in 2003 but then the 2007 remake with Sean Bean and Sophia Bush. Yeah they're both in a better place to never seen either of those at that!
Roger was still alive, but didn't see them.
"The Hitcher" aged to become a genre classic, memorable enough to warrant an (inferior) remake a generation later. Although there seemed to develop a physic relationship between the hero and villain, I never got the sense that he was fated to take up the killer's mantle. Apart from the genuinely chilling and sly performance by Hauer, its strengths are the remote West Texas highway locations, striking cinematography, haunting score, and distinctive directorial style.
I agree, but the 1986 is also a remake
@@christofrip1723 A remake of what?
@@tinderbox218 The Hitch-Hiker from 1953
@@christofrip1723
Ah interesting! Never even heard of that. I wonder if screenwriter Eric Red was actually aware of that similar earlier film. The idea of the "murderous hitchhiker" has been used in other movies as well such as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".
@@tinderbox218The tone and similarities in the details makes it obvious he was well aware. It's quite a good old movie with a great performance from William Talman. Based on the American spree killer William Edward Cook Jr. I do believe it's public domain and available on YT and other sites, definitely worth checking out.
These guys are pure concentrated energy
I agree with most of the movies on their list as being terrible, but I quite liked The Three Amigos. I don't see it as being one of the worst movies of any year.
It's hard to believe what the Howard the Duck comic book meant to us in the mid 70s when you look at that movie. Steve Gerber's seemingly effortless social satire and comic book parody, oddly wedded to Gene Colan's almost Renaissance-style neoclassical figure studies, it seemed unbelievable that stodgy old Marvel would let them try it. The movie had nothing of the era or context or talent that made it work as a comic in the 70s. It couldn't. And nobody bothered to retool the concept as an 80s movie. They just hosed it down with studio money and went "ha ha, a duck."
Siskel put his finger on why Howard the Duck didn't work. They didn't stay true to the character and make him funny in a bitter and angry way.
The problem with Howard The Duck is it didn’t know whether it wanted to be for kids or for adults and tried to be both and ended up being tonally all over the place.
And of course, they did not mentioned “My Little Pony: The Movie”, the original G1. That movie didn’t work out, but I don’t know why they didn’t mentioned MLP on this show. And of course, “Transformers: The Movie”, the other G1 that they didn’t mentioned on this show as well.
I can't watch it again due to all the bad duck jokes, but I remember him being scared a lot, and how fun is that?
I expected Roger to have "Blue Velvet" on his list. He hated hated hated that movie. But perhaps a film had to have two thumbs way down to make the cut.
The Hitcher had its moments, started out cool, overall kind of an 80s classic, but it lost me at the point where as Roger said, "they abandoned reality" and when it just got so over the top.
They've never been more wrong about a film as they were with The Hitcher. Should be in the top ten films of the year not the worst. Siskel just gave up a massive spoiler too which is a douchebag move.
Hitcher scared the crap out of me one of my favourites of all time
8:27 So which cleanser was Dave using? And why do I get the impression that it wasn't very effective?
I was wondering the same
Three Amigos and the Hitcher? I don´t say they were great but atleast the Hitcher was chilling and surely there must have been much more worse movies than Three Amigos that year?
The production quality of their into is better than most movies these days
Hated The Hitcher. I love 80 slashers like Friday the 13th cuz they are cheesy fun and just an excuse to get creative with make-up effects (and show boobs). But Hitcher was just a nonstop nightmare - and not the good kind. I didn't care about the protagonist and the villain kept popping up that i remember rolling my eyes. Rutger Hauer is so much better than this. I know I'm in the minority tho.
Revolution was awful!
There was a direct-to-DVD sequel to The Hitcher.
Gary Busey`s brother I think....
The Hitcher remake is a tense movie which I see and feel more than Siskel and Ebert
They always had atleast one future classic in one of these lists. Three Amigos became a beloved comedy soon after release and has remained popular since then. Willow and some others from their worst of lists have the same resonance with modern audiences. That said, a majority of their picks were absolutely right.
Matthau's British accent...........Bwahahahahahhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
I want to hear more about the cleanser Dave uses to clean his grundle!
There were other movies that they don’t mentioned on this show were “My Little Pony: The Movie” and “Transformers: The Movie”, the two animated films based off the Hasbro toy lines and both were G1. Both of these films were absolute worst of 1986, and both didn’t mentioned on this show. Both MLP and Transformers fans of G1 were disappointed when Siskel & Ebert didn’t reviewed these two animated films.
you bring it up and let me tell you i saw both as a kid and what i thought then and think to this day. i remember nothing of the mlp movie. we went to see it cause dad was in a business meeting and mom was stuck with two grade school boys for the afternoon. i think i was more interested in my sno caps and pepsi. transformers i saw with the whole family in a renovated downtown theater where they had taken just the balcony chopped in half (some might remember those in the 80s) of a classic bigger theater. anyways it scarred every kid that was stuck there and i spent half the time watching the sticky stuff in between the seats more than i did the movie. the musical parts made me feel like i did during private one on one art lessons with the creep that always wore the floor length trenchcoat and the hard breathing thing..one number still rings in my head "dare to believe you can" uh yeh.. and every time i think of "the touch". letters were sent out immediately. supposedly one 8 year old boy killed himself after watching it. as an adult i read it was that another company had bought out the g1 transformers and new management was behind the on screen genocide. the characters the kids had spent a season or more learning to see as "friends" were killed off in front of their watering eyes heartlessly so that the new management could sell newer more violent looking toys for profit. a disaster and the one silver lining that gladly due to poor ad campaigns. the ads for those movies looked identical to ads for birthday parties at the local skating rink. the gi joe movie never saw a theater release gratefully and become a traumatizing home video in which cobra commander gradually loses his mind as he mutates into a snake. meanwhile the leader of the joes is stabbed in the chest then dies a cowards death later in bed ala optimus prime while an african american character is permanently blinded adding racism to the list of reasons to avoid the gruesome threesome. the reason none of that went on the list of ebert and siskel baddies like they said they didnt like to stoop too low on themselves and just cherry picked the big money failures of the studios.
Lot of respect for these guys in general but The Hitcher is one of the best horror movies of the 80s.
We did get a Hitcher 2 and a Hitcher remake.
I was 1 years old. So much hope. So much to lose in 3hr superhero flix.
I think I used to play with my older brother's Howard the Duck toys and they were cool.
Thanks for the upload
The worst “worst of” pick of all time by the guys is The Three Amigos. By any and all accounts a comedy classic.
I can understand why the hitcher was hated by critics. I can also see why it’s had a cult following
I miss actual critics with integrity...
This show is a good example of how to accept and respect that someone else's articulate opinion that might be different from your own
I wonder what they'll think about the MCU?
like the Avengers Movies, Guardians of the Galaxy
Roger @16:31 "George Warshington"
The Hitcher Imo Was Good 6/10
Boy it's good thing they didn't live long enough to see Pacino in "Jack & Jill".
Ebert was still alive.
Ebert was alive at the time (it's from 2011 and he died in April 2013). It was reviewed by Christy Lemire and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky on Ebert's short-lived attempt to revive _At The Movies_ for PBS in late 2011. Lemire and Vishnevetsky gave it two thumbs down.
@@jessecoffey4737meanwhile, Red Letter Media turned it into one of their best reviews.
If Prince never made a movie I wouldn't have cared.
Ditto! Even Purple Rain was mediocre (there, I said it).
What a worthless opinion
Well, here's an hint. I'll put everything out just for you and tell me if you'll love those movies or not. And if you're not sure about this, please let me know. Extremities, Duet for One, Heartburn, Three Amigos were beloved flicks. The Hitcher, Revolution, Pirates, Tai-Pan, Kingkong Lives, Under the Cherry Moon, Crossroads, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Labyrinth, From Beyond, Nine 1/2 Weeks, The Golden Child, Head Office, The Best of Times, Big Trouble in Little China were stunning cult favorites as well as others. Plus, notorious bombs like Howard the Duck, Let's Get Harry, A Fine Mess, Wise Guys, Haunted Honeymoon etc. Oh, by the way, just figure it out and see which movie you like the most and why. That's all it takes. Hope you got it, folks!!!
Thank you for enumerating the films! 👍👍
The Hitcher is a suspense-thriller genre classic and I do not understand S&E's assessment of it.
Extremities tried too hard to be an urgent feminist film to the point that it obliterated any instance of clear moral judgment or rationality.
Howard the Duck, Prince's directing debut Under the Cherry Moon, King Kong Lives, Heartburn, Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, Polanski's Pirates, Michael Cimino's Revolution, and the un-erotic 9&1/2 Weeks are negligible and deserved to be shredded into pieces.
"Big Trouble in Little China" is a great film, probably the best one you mentioned; who didn't like it? "Heatburn," on the other hand, is not beloved, and has little cult appeal, except to Streep, Nicholson, Nichols, or Nora Ephron completists
When crushing King Kong dor their attempt at censorship, they mentioned the different shows - one local and one national. What was their local show called? I'm local and all I remember is watching At The Movies (or Sneak Previews) which was syndicated nationally, I don't recall a separate show that only ran locally? Anybody?