Siskel & Ebert Review - Apocalypse Now, 10, Starting Over, When a Stranger Calls

[@danieljimenezjofre2441]

More than 50 years… at the end of the show, Roger was right about Apocalypse Now. Its a clasic and epic movie

[@arthurrimbaud7287]

Your math is a little off.

[@danieljimenezjofre2441]

@@arthurrimbaud7287 jjajaja yes, you right! I meant 40 😅😅 thanks ❤️

[@gheller2261]

Why is it necessary for people to refer to everything the like as "epic"? By definition, Apocalypse Now is not an epic.

[@darcyj19]

@@gheller2261 What definition are you using? Because Apocalypse Now is a Homeric epic. It paints a big picture through events framed around the small group on the boat and even more closely through the psyche of Willard. It has huge scale but is personal. It concerns a major event of history and trivialises nothing. That, sir, is an epic.

[@joedimaggio3687]

The first 2/3 of Apocalypse Now is good. The last 1/3 of the movie sucked.

[@deckofcards87]

Apocalypse Now was Roger's favourite movie in the 40 whatever years he was a critic. Gene was thrown off by the movie's murky ending which I kind of understand... but at the same time those last 20 minutes are beautiful and haunting it doesn't ruin the experience for me at all. I enjoy watching Brando ramble on about weird shit and his "moral terror" speech leaves something to my imagination.

[@gordons-alive4940]

It is murky but then so was the whole american involvement in Vietnam. Gene saying Kurtz had nothing to say is one of his worst takes, IMO.

[@nattyps3160]

I'm surprised siskel gave away a spoiler about the guy being a cop not the killer. I think thry did this often. Still I can watch their reviews of past movies anytime. Legends

[@gus4u2c]

Such a Dick move on Gene’s part

[@gordons-alive4940]

They gave away the killer is in the house twist from When a Stranger Calls in their choice of clip, too. Disappointed in them.

[@justinbergmans36]

I would have loved to have been able to see Apocalypse Now in the biggest theater, not having any idea what to expect.

[@kowalski3769]

It was magnificent!! Stayed with me for years!

[@BookClubDisaster]

Gene isn't completely wrong. The end of Apocalypse Now feels slightly anti-climactic after the buildup. But everything else about it is so amazing, giving it a thumbs down is still insane.

[@yournamehere6002]

You have to understand that there was a massive amount of expectation in regards to Apocalypse Now, because Coppola had spent years making it, and it was constantly in the headlines. It came with a lot of baggage, and so I think to some it probably felt like a letdown.

[@BookClubDisaster]

@@yournamehere6002 what I'm talking about is what happens when you watch it now. Outside of any context from 1979. We're expecting Godfather Brando but instead we get a tired Brando, basically Biden from Wednesday night. Even playing him as madman Trump might have worked better dramaticallly....

[@wrlord]

I saw When A Stranger Calls in the theater when it came out. It was horrifying. The audience went wild when Charles Durning burst through the door.

[@citygirl5705]

I saw it on a double feature with "Saturn 3" when I was a kid. I kept closing my eyes. Scared me to death.

[@gspendlove]

Wish I'd been that lucky. I was way too young, and that's a movie my parents would never have taken me to see.

[@FreshSpecimens]

Can you answer something then, since you saw it in the theater? I distinctly remember my older sister referring to a scene in which the children are shown bloody and dead and that the killer was shown with blood on himself as well. Siskel refers to that scene here, too, saying we see a shot of the bloodied kids. However, I have never seen a version of this movie that had such a scene and I cannot seem to find any information about the scene being cut out or anything. From what you recall of seeing this in the theater, was there such a scene in the film?

[@patrickprendergast9589]

i saw in the theatre also

[@drumtum]

@@FreshSpecimens Seriously doupt this. The movie is 1 hour and 37 minutes. You can even find it on KZbin. No bloody children in bed. There are however a couple of scenes of a bloody bed and blood on the killers shirt at 1:06:55 and just after, and thats it. You can´t see the children. Just bloody sheets. The version on KZbin is uncensored.

[@johnboy32064]

It’s interesting how long the clips they show are. It really helps to see them. Reviewers and talk shows never show such comprehensive clips these days. Strangely sometimes the clips they show here are two long.

[@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729]

no commercials..Public television

[@joesimon2029]

Yes- that When A Stranger Calls clip RUINS the entire scene !

[@freedomfries6618]

@@joesimon2029 Ruins the entire movie.

[@kmetcalfe]

I think the reverse. They used to have much longer clips because that gave them ratings. 2/3 of the show was the clips. Then (in the mid 80s) they reversed the trend and spent more time talking about the film, rather than having us watch scenes the studios wanted to give to the reviewers.

[@bobspence5322]

@@kmetcalfe the higher their ratings went and the more people saw it on actual networks rather than pbs the shorter the clips got because the move studios threatened to sue. they were only allowed by 1982 to show one clip of e.t. the alien and it had to be a still not cut from the picture itself.

[@AT-sd9qq]

I'm so glad i saw 10 before seeing this review because they show the entire clip of him falling and trying to climb back up the hill which is one of the biggest lol moments in the movie.

[@gradeahonky]

What they showed here seemed like a precursor to Hot Rod.

[@DotelMotel]

Really surprised Gene didn’t realize that Bergen is PURPOSELY playing a bad singer who doesn’t know they are a bad singer in Starting Over, that’s literally the joke of the character.

[@fenderjazzbrian]

I remember watching this episode as a kid.

[@mhinko1]

I enjoyed watching this episode of Siskel and Ebert. First, for the nostalgia. This was produced at Chicago's WTTW. It's called Sneak Previews - the first iteration of their long running collaboration. Second, although you have to wait for the last segment, they review Apocalypse Now. And, lucky for us, they disagree.

[@jamesc.lockwood3810]

They never mention that "Apocalypse Now" is based on Joseph Conrad's novel "Heart of Darkness". I don't think that they read the book. The movie got 10 Oscar nominations. It has turned out to be a very important movie. The director's cut is even better.

[@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729]

I liked the director`s cut less but a great movie....

[@marktosh3739]

I saw "Redux" when it was rereleased. Great to see the restoration on a big screen.

[@boppob1343]

Ebert and Siskel had a lot of dumbass takes back in the day lol

[@raymondm.9954]

Gene did rate "Hearts of Darkness," the documentary about the making of "Apocalypse Now," the best movie of its year.

[@jackscratch785]

John Milius.

[@williamhicks7736]

The ending of Apocalypse Now is great… When Willard throws down his machete and everyone there throws down their weapons too, it gives me chills…. What a sublime movie!

[@FreshSpecimens]

I don’t remember the movie WASC showing the dead kids. I remember my sister talking about that scene yet it was never in any of the versions I saw. And here Siskel mentions it as well. 🤔 I wonder if they cut that out after the fact or something.

[@joeblough261]

I know..I want to see the damn scene. Has to be somewhere. And they're take on that movie is one of their worst of all times.

[@RenR70]

It’s always fun to go back to these & see that one or both these guys were so wrong. Lol

[@WG55]

I wouldn't say that they were "wrong," but they would often have bad first impressions of a movie that would evolve over the years. Gene Siskel, for example, didn't like _Taxi Driver_ when it first came out-he didn't like the violent ending-but he grew to appreciate it over the years. Or sometimes, they are simply not the intended audience.

[@RenR70]

@@WG55 It always comes down to a matter of opinion, but I would still say it’s “wrong” if a overwhelming majority of people say one thing & you say another.

[@nicholasjanke3476]

The Legend of The Seven Golden Vampires is an excellent film!

[@nicholasjanke3476]

My dad took me to see Apocalypse Now. I was nine. I liked it but of course at that age I understood none of it. In the Godfather series, G.D. Spaulding plays the evil character and Marlon Brando plays the good guy. In Apocalypse Now, Spaulding plays a sympathetic character and Brando plays an evil character!

[@bobspence5322]

its funny.. gene hated apocalypse now had a thumbs up for full metal jacket. roger was entranced by apocalypse now which i must admit is a MAJOR american film that nothing like it has been made you start to wonder.. was the war even a point to this? or was this just sth over all our heads. just a MOVIE like you have to take drugs to get on tier with 2001 a space odyssey and really as epic. roger on the other hand hated full metal jacket felt like it had nothing much to say and wanted audiences lmao to go see benji the hunted that week (which both movies made me cry in different ways).

[@ronniebishop2496]

10 is simply a man who’s middle aged crazy, lots of people go through this. It’s not about being a child but a fear of growing old.

[@gspendlove]

And trust me on this....a lot of middle-aged guys try to relive their childhoods. They spend their money on toys and stuff.

[@ronniebishop2496]

@@gspendlove Yes you’re right, a friend of mine Sonny Throckmartin wrote a hit song called Middle Age Crazy by Jerry Lee Lewis. About that very thing, trying to prove he still can. Lol

[@ghostwolf1435]

I really didn’t like it Moore rehashing his old comic tropes and clunky pratfalls Stitched together by Bo Dereck as the carrot on the stick for Moore’s Buffoonery

[@ronniebishop2496]

@@ghostwolf1435 Yes a lot of people felt like you do, especially women.

[@finnsterling6514]

I haven't seen APOCALYPSE NOW in a long time (and while I know the bullet points of HEART OF DARKNESS, I have never read the novel) but... Isn't the ending kind of the whole point of the movie/story itself? That war, especially the war in Viet Nam, was pointless, pretentious, and inexplicable? And that "The horror[s], the horror[s]..." were too overwhelming for even the perpetrators to fully convey, explain, or justify them?

[@nattyps3160]

Apocalypse now's cast is unreal. Sheen, Brando, hopper , a 14 year old Lawrence fishburn, Duvall & Harrison Ford. Platoon had a similarly spectacular cast. Charlie sheen, Whitaker, berenger, Dafoe, Dillon, David keith & a young 2nd film Johnny depp. 3 crazy facts from both films. Brando who's eating & laziness were out of control was paid 1 million a week & Coppola resurrected his Carrer when no studio would touch the guy. All he was asked was to read the book heart of darkness & lose weight. He showed up late fatter than ever & didn't read the book. Coppola called him out on his b.s. of not memorizing lines saying " u used to memorize for the stage & early in ur career. I know Brando said it's more natural to say the lines when reading them off cue cards the walls super baby's diaper bur I think it's laziness. He won his Oscar's when he memorized them. Plus their are so many takes I'd think u get the lines down. Another fact is ford's name tag said " Lucas " obviously named after Coppola BFF George plus Ford had done 3 films under Lucas at that point one being a little film called star wars. As far as platoon goes Johnny depp learned Vietnamese & had way more screen time & while watching the dailies the producers Said depp was so striking that he should have been the star. So stone left much of his work on the cutting room floor. I must admit depp was a stunner in that film. He was about 22.

[@jackscratch785]

John Milius wrote the script.

[@geoffroy1970]

Yer buggin

[@redadamearth]

"Apocalypse Now" is the "same, old standard Vietnam stuff"? Oh, Gene. Come on, man.

[@redbeard36]

I’d love to see a score sheet of who liked more movies that became undisputed classics. My guess is it would be Ebert.

[@bobspence5322]

roger hated more classics. while ebert hated a good number of films that became classics so did gene. they talked about gene hating butch cassidy while roger hated dead poet society the elephant man and a clockwork orange. roger was 8 years older than gene a pulitzer prize winner and after watching night of the living dead in a theater full of 6 year olds wrote a article that led to the establishment of the ratings system that movie theaters still use to this day.

[@mikec6111]

The scene that they showed for when a stranger calls is the whole movie.

[@WG55]

"We've traced the call. It's coming from inside the house!" And thus a meme was born.

[@TheJameslehr]

An URBAN LEGEND virtually came out of that 15 minute segment of the movie. Afterwards, we get the BACK STORY of the Charles Durning character is the way he is. This is quite a change of pace for a "slasher" flick. I'd think both critics would reconsider what they think about this film.

[@jasonrothbaum7266]

Funny enough, I think they both missed the point of Apocalypses Now. It is a journey into the heart of darkness and the further down river they go, the further into the darkness they go. It is not a film with a statement about the Vietnam War - it is a take on the Joseph Conrad novel. This is the reason that it has outlasted most war films - the war was only secondary to the story. Gene Siskel has been proven wrong by time, but Roger Ebert was also wrong in his analysis.

[@ac9559]

Starting Over is an under-appreciated Gem of a movie. I thought Burt Reynolds gave perhaps his best performance. Which makes it all the more frustrating the mostly bad movies he made in the 1980s.

[@eargasm1072]

Yep...his best role along with Deliverance and Smokey

[@marktosh3739]

I thought he had a good turn in "Breaking In."

[@ac9559]

@@marktosh3739 I agree. My favorite film of his that decade.

[@burdenernie6050]

Candace Bergen singing lol!

[@joesimon2029]

@@ac9559 wait a minute - your favorite movie of the 1970s or 1980s ???? WHAT ?

[@crheath2001]

I've seen When a Stranger Calls several times. I've never seen a bloody shot of the children Gene is referring to in his review. Where is that?

[@joesimon2029]

In his MIND. Gene was VERY against any harm to a child in a movie - even though it's fake . It was a peeve of his.

[@mr.orange8211]

When the killer is reminising later in the movie. He's standing in front of a mirror naked and has flashbacks to what he did that night seven years prior.

[@crheath2001]

I was referring to Gene's comment "we get a bloody shot of the murdered children".

[@citygirl5705]

It doesn't exist. Unless they cut it out.

[@frankpalancio8471]

Didn't the 'that's Cambodia captain' scene come after the helicopter attack scene? Siskel had the sequence wrong

[@adamquiles2468]

I must admit here folks that I wasn't born yet when Apocalypse Now and 10 came out but I did enjoy them. I was born in 1984 but hey better late than never

[@TheJameslehr]

Also CITY OF FIRE featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000's pre-season year (1988). No puzzlement in wondering why.

[@jeffcarlin5866]

My enthusiasm for Apocalypse Now has waned over the years. It is a masterpiece, for sure, but it is also a tedious slog after the first act. The 4K looks great, that's for certain.

[@nicholasjanke3476]

Well I think the big problem with the film is that it might be very dated. When it came out the Vietnam War ended only five years ago, so the film was alot more relevant in the 1970s,-the Vietnam War was a fresher reminder to the public- than it is now. So I think perhaps that that contributed to much of its popularity. Also there hadn't been any movies dealing directly with Vietnam untill Apocalypse Now, so no doubt that too added to its popularity. It was the kind of film that was not only about a recent event, but the kind of film the public never saw before. Mash was about Korea so it wasn't the same. But since then there's been Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Jacob's Ladder so the novelty of Apocalypse Now has faded.

[@Smeatbass]

I actually had never seen Apocalypse Now until late last year (I'm 44-years old), and I loved it. I didn't feel it was a slog at all. It blew me away. I'm retroactively mad at myself that I missed it for so long.

[@danielberg7644]

I wonder what they would of thought of TROPIC THUNDER?

[@TheJameslehr]

The most memorable aspect of This is Spinal Tap! was the idea of "taking the volume up to 11". Well, Carl Reiner probably got that idea from "10". Also I'm mystified as to why the film is called "10" when Dudley Moore's obsession ranks an "II".

[@67psychout]

Standard Vietnam stuff? There was no such thing in 1979

[@VinMar-m6w]

The previous year, the Vietnam War dramas _The Deer Hunter_ (#9 of '78) and _Coming Home_ (#15 of '78) were box-office hits and were nominated for a ton of Oscars. The former was the big winner, nabbing *Best Picture,* *Best Director,* and *Best Supporting Actor* among others; the latter won for *Best Actor,* *Best Actress,* and *Best Screenplay.*

[@jakesingerman9257]

Candice Bergen was terrific in “Starting Over”.

[@Bacalao2929]

Hammer meets Shaw

[@dimasgirl2749]

I liked Dudley Moore as the Narrator in the US release of "Milo and Otis" and as Spin in National Geographic's "Really Wild Animals" series.

[@jaygrinder7694]

I've said it before, I'm gonna say it again. Either Ebert never watched Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, AKA Seven Brothers vs. Dracula, or he went into the movie jaded, and seeking a "Dog of the Week". Because yes, it is obvious that Cushing was present in Hong Kong, and he did interact with the local actors. Saying what he says here is just unfair.

[@joesimon2029]

Also , there are a LOT of worse movies out there ! Way worse - like those sub standard slasher movies from the same time period. Seven Brothers V. Dracula was VERY available for RENTAL in the early days of Video Stores! 1981-83. That's how I saw it . It was one of those tapes that was EVERYWHERE . I have no idea why. Me and my posse enjoyed it.

[@charleswinokoor6023]

I agree with Gene regarding “Apocalypse Now.” When the movie was released I wanted to like it, and after I saw it I tried convincing myself that it was a good movie. Sheen, for starters, was a terrible choice for the lead role of military assassin. Brando, of course, got the last laugh and, no pun intended, made a killing all the way to the bank.

[@marktosh3739]

Thanks again, T.O.TV !

[@jstewlly4747]

Siskel is on point about Vietnam we can make 1000 movies about that it is a copout theres so many wars in history chill, a battle of isandlwana would be amazing these days

[@ResistanceQuest]

It's true if almost any war movie, though. Take any war context like WW2 or Vietnam and it can be immediately emotionally effective because of the connotation. The question is whether the presentation illustrates something we didn't know about war or about ourselves. I'd say AN does that

[@mykal.7424]

Jill Clayburgh was never really that attractive, but she was a very good actress . I would've loved to see Apocalypse Now in 70mm when it was re-released in '87 . We had a great 70mm theater here in Cincinnati

[@edfelstein3891]

I just don't understand the people who criticize the Brando portion of Apocalypse Now. His "polio vaccine" monologue is brilliant. It addresses one of the biggest questions about human nature, one that has never and can never be resolved: How can people who are able to love deeply also able to commit the most heinous acts imaginable? This is something that applies to pretty much every atrocity down through human history, whether Vietnam or the Holocaust or the multiple genocides that many of us have witnessed in our very lifetimes. I can't think of another movie that raises this question so unforgettably. There will never be another film like Apocalypse Now.

[@avengemybreath3084]

Siskel liked 10 (fine) didn’t like Apocalypse Now. These guys were great, and fun, but wow they got wrapped up in their own BS.

[@sonicgrub]

Siskel likes 10 and dislikes Apocalypse Now. Wow!

[@joesimon2029]

10 was AWFUL .

[@bucksdiaryfan]

@@joesimon2029 Thank you!!! How could he dislike AN and like that awful "10"???

[@ghostwolf1435]

@@joesimon2029 Absolutely I hated it

[@justinbergmans36]

All those years ago, no one could know how that film would age. Many people didn’t like it when it premiered. And that’s ok.

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

Siskel could be a real idiot.

[@kali3665]

Heh. MST3K trashed City on Fire during its first (KTMA) season. Not sure if it's one that I would have wanted done later in the run with a full staff of writers since it's still kinda pathetic, but I would have enjoyed if MST did Hanger 18 (also a KTMA episode) again. As for The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula, that, of course, is the American release, which I understand was cut bigtime. The REAL problem is that Christopher Lee did NOT play Dracula in the film - he rightfully told Hammer to go stuff itself after The Satanic Rites of Dracula. So, it's automatically going to be second rate, especially the poor slob they got playing Dracula at the start and finish of the film before he took over the body of the Chinese man.

[@ebrown2112_a]

Matthew J. Elliott & Ian Potter riffed HANGAR 18 for Rifftrax

[@kali3665]

@@ebrown2112_a Yep, and I loved it! Still wish Joel & the Bots had done it again, though.

[@richg4189]

Didn't Siskel later give Heart of Darkness movie of the year? Odd that he didn't love the movie but loved the movie about making the movie. Maybe I am nuts.

[@acholl980]

You didn't watch their 500th special 2 years earlier when Gene admitted AN's a classic and he made a mistake.

[@nicholasjanke3476]

Martin Sheen was on the brink of forty when he did Apocalypse Now, and he was probably really too old to play an army officer (or rather a kind of U.S. army secret agent!) and his character is not sympathetic eitheir (when he shoots the wounded lady on the boat!).

[@WorldwideWyatt]

My Grandfather was a 37 year old Colonel in the 5th Special Forces on his last deployment to Vietnam.

[@kengreenberg]

And Sheen had a heart attack during filming

[@OK-hl6qd]

city on fire looks awesome

[@KaristaSwiss]

Thanks for the transcript

[@robaquarian]

City on fire looks hilarious

[@johnfitzpatrick3094]

I saw that movie a long time ago. Leslie Nielsen plays the mayor with a straight face. Henry Fonda plays the fire chief.

[@joesimon2029]

It is!!

[@joeblough261]

So so wrong on WASC..,.including audience reaction. Film made over $20M bucks on a $1.5M budget...it terrified people. To this day, when the cop tells her the calls coming from inside, and her reaction, and the music, my entire body tingles.

[@robaquarian]

They gave away when a stranger calls.

[@cl759]

13:32 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Grandizer8989]

They could make a movie how Apocalypse Now was made

[@dreamquesttv]

Are you joking?

[@ResistanceQuest]

@@dreamquesttv just in case they aren't joking, such a movie WAS made, it's called Hearts of Darkness

[@majestyk3337]

Before all you Gene haters go on overdrive, you might want to watch a later 1980 Sneak Previews called "Take 2: Vietnam War Movies". In this, Gene is more positive about the first half of the movie and he even concedes that Roger's analysis of the second half was very good.

[@andylindsey]

I can't believe they gave away the reveal of the location of the killer in When a Stranger Calls! The first 15-20 minutes is the only good part of the movie worth seeing and should not be spoiled for new viewers of the film.

[@magistrumartium]

The film clips are so long!

[@patcrites5274]

That is because this was on PBS,, so they had no commercials on that channel

[@tdirgins]

way to give away the movie Gene!

[@gordons-alive4940]

Brando's character had nothing to say? What, Gene? The horror... The horror...

[@NoelBass-rn7sy]

They both missed that apocalypse was a retelling of Heart of Darkness. The journey up the river to find an insane man.

[@kengreenberg]

Vietnam journalist/screenwriter Michael Herr, author of the novel/memoir “Dispatches,” is the literary soul of the film. It’s a much more fundamental part of the film than Brando’s star turn.

[@freemangriffin4953]

Starting Over is a superb movie and the best of these four movies. Apocalypse Now has some great moments but it's wildly uneven. I find Dudley Moore obnoxious but Julie Andrews is great in 10.

[@vintageretro83]

How is a dog that is named the "wonder" dog never have to wonder? I wonder?

[@boblester8641]

With mobiles you can’t really make stranger call movies anymore

[@ronniebishop2496]

I turned 21 in Phu Cat S Vietnam! But it was the Deer Hunter that caused flash backs for me. Martin Sheen turns me off, I was a liberal too, but not like him, I didn’t think I knew everything or better than other people, like telling 75 million people how they should vote and telling the electoral college to ignore those votes and not do their legal jobs. Genes wrong about Vietnam but not this picture. It’s a big disappointment.

[@edfelstein3891]

Gene giving a No vote to Apocalypse Now is the kind of ignominious act that warrants eternal censure.

[@T11639]

Not the only odd take he's had on now-revered films.

[@drumtum]

10 was never more funny than the Pink Panther movies. It had a couple of funny moments, and lived heavily of some nude scenes.

[@drumtum]

It´s hilarious how much they showed on these sneak peaks. They showed way to much i would say. Spoilers? No kidding!

[@horaceball5418]

My review: I hated 10 (I give it a 3) I loved A pack of lips now (9.0 they never should have killed the great Colonel Kurtz)

[@middlefingermotionpictures4772]

A COMPLETE misunderstanding of the Hammer/Run Run Shaw team up. Sometimes Ebert was just a complete idiot.

[@KaristaSwiss]

They ruined when a stranger calls!!!

[@joeblough261]

I can't believe how much they gave away. The trailers were too revealing also. I saw it after the fact, I remember having a babysitter when my parents went to see it at the theater bc I was only 5

[@joesimon2029]

Wow ; at the time When a Stranger Calls came out , we all knew "urban legends" but they were never identified as such. They were never "gathered up" and analyzed either- so - it was FRESH territory . I remember a kid in our neighborhood telling us the "Have you checked the children" story a good 3 or 4 years BEFORE When a Stranger Calls came out! I was PARALYZED with FEAR when I heard it! LOL. The power of suggestion and imagination is a POWERFUL thing. Less powerful was..the movie. Great climax, Great opening but what was in the middle was a DULL police procedural that was straight out of a TV show like Kojack or Columbo. Gene and Roger are treating this like it's Friday the 13th Part 2 ! LOL. Misguided and muddled all the way around-- from inception to reviews.

[@raymondm.9954]

Looks like it was the origin of the "The calls are coming from inside the house!" trope.

[@john19034]

@@raymondm.9954 actually it was Black Christmas

[@bertfromseasamestreet]

Ebert sounds a lot like Roeper in this episode.

[@ChrisOliver4307]

They spoiled every movie.

[@nattyps3160]

Lol what they say about bergen 's awful singing. I wish burt did more serious roles. He's awesome in deliverance & he regrets not taking Nicholson part in terns of endearment

[@reneedennis2011]

10 is a classic, but When a Stranger Calls is trash. I understand that it is loosely based on a true story.

[@teejaye6226]

When you compare 'When A Stranger Calls' to "Taxi Driver'....yea it's trash, but when you discern that the first 20 minutes goes down in film history as what they train film students on how to direct suspense...S&E were not directors for a reason.

[@LuisFigo4]

It's amazing how wrong they are about movies like Apocalypse Now, Unforgiven, etc

[@AUTOPSY666]

The Usual Suspects

[@Emulous79]

They censored the word "balls"? How ridiculous.

[@citygirl5705]

Their review of "When a stranger calls" is total bullshit. Because........ 1) It's scary as hell. 2) It's not a "coincidence" that the guy calls her years later at the restaurant, as Ebert said. 3) They never showed the bloody children in bed, like Siskel said. The beginning and ending of the film are really scary. Too bad the middle of it drags.

[@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729]

I thought the first 10 minutes was intense..but the rest really dragged

[@joesimon2029]

@@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729 The middle SUCKED . It ruined the movie . P.S. GREAT movie poster !

[@joeblough261]

Worst review of all time perhaps..audiences loved it and it made over $20m on a $1.5M budget. I haven't seen the dead kids but there are many people who did see it back then in the theater. Deleted scene must be somewhere. I've seen the movie 50x, but not in a while, did Durning show a photo of the kids to someone and maybe that's what they're talking about? I can't remember. And yes, it was no coincidence, other than him seeing her photo in the paper. And yes, the middle drags, but we still get a crazy Durning throwing poison darts and shit, so it's good enough, and the Torchys scene is wild, same bar from 48hrs.

[@BrianRidgway-u5g]

Man, amazing how Gene so casually dismissed Apocalypse Now as merely another war movie. Roger gives a weak recommendation, as though he feared weighing in too heavily on it. Clearly one of the best films of the decade, they should have dedicated an entire episode to it. Then Roger could've cut loose. But great memories though. I miss these two blowhards!

[@itsmedrooms6071]

Classic Gene, getting it totally wrong yet again.

[@saymynameice-zen-berg511]

I saw 10 for the first time just a few years ago. WOW Bo Derek was incredibly hot.

[@henrimatisse7481]

the only Apocalypse Now I've seen. Looks very testosteroni

[@JoeBlow-fp5ng]

I agree with Gene on Apocalyse Now. Disjointed waste of time. Brando was a total mess.

[@ghostwolf1435]

10 isn’t funny It’s Dudley Moore doing the same old Schstick that he ran into the ground The premise is ridiculous Loaded with cheap pratfalls

[@tdirgins]

Siskel wrong again. Apocalypse Now? What a clown.

[@Michael-bl4no]

Siskel is a true woke liberal. 🤷‍♂️

[@ResistanceQuest]

Yeh totally, in 1979

[@WilAdams]

!0 was an average film. Bo looked great on the beach, and the TV ad capitalized on that image. Starting over was one of those films that would have gone on to greater success if it had replaced Jill with the much more talented Kathleen Turner. Just picture those scenes between Burt and Kathleen. Now that is film fireworks. As for When a Stranger Calls, the opening sequence is riveting. Like the film Halloween it is atmosphere build up and Carol Kane plays the role so well that you can actually feel her mounting terror coming through the screen. Later, in the sequel When a Stranger Calls Back, you just don't fell the same terror. Instead you feel like you felt in Halloween 2. Yeah, I've seen this in the other film and it was better. Too bad because Stranger could have been so much more. I would also say that this is one of those films that could have been improved by exchanging Carol for P.J. Soles. In the non-terror sequences P.J. would have added an edge. You would have felt that somewhere a laugh was building and you expect it, but then it would have been more horror.

[@Paul-vf2wl]

Kathleen Turner was only 25 in 1979

[@middlefingermotionpictures4772]

These two should NEVER have been allowed to review horror movies. They had no idea what they were talking about when it came to that genre.

[@patcrites5274]

They have all movies they see & talk about them, including horror movies. That is why Siskel & Ebert are film crittics

[@haveanicedave1551]

Overall, I didn't like When a Stranger Calls. I've never seen any of the other films.

[@mE-zx7pt]

Appocalypse Now highly recommended 👍

[@joesimon2029]

@@mE-zx7pt Seven Brothers v. Dracula is a movie Quentin Tarantino probably LOVED as a 19 year old.

[@mE-zx7pt]

@@joesimon2029 That sounds like a fun one.

[@88feji]

Starting Over is one of the best drama comedies ever, both actresses got nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars, Burt Reynolds was really cute and charming, the songs in the movie are really really good ... too bad its success is largely forgotten now ..

[@PureBleachFilms]

I love Apocalypse Now…but I agree Brando at the end his monologue is just a collection of words with no meaning.

[@AUTOPSY666]

"You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill" Pretty easy to understand that.

[@christopherfoote4643]

I think thdy are wrong about When a Stranger Calls. She qas supposed to be a teenager and wasn't supposed to know hiw to defend herself and I thought it was a good movie.

[@Verilee1970]

It's a good thing the movie Arthur exists because 10 was so bad that it should have ended Dudley Moore's career.

[@ericcrawford3453]

10 suxxxxxxxx

[@mooseyman74]

Brando mumbling was a lame ending