Blast from the Past [P&S]

Director: Hugh Wilson Hugh Wilson

Overview

In 1962, Calvin Webber (Christopher Walken) was a brilliant but somewhat paranoid scientist living with his Donna Reed-esque wife, Helen (Sissy Spacek), in Los Angeles. In the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a plane crashed into the Webber's yard. Mistaking the blast for "the big one," the Webbers moved into their elaborate bomb shelter to wait out the half-life of radioactive fallout. In the shelter, now a sort of time capsule, Calvin and Helen conceived and raised their son Adam (played as an adult by Brendan Fraser). For 35 years, Adam was raised on Jackie Gleason, Perry Como, and stories about life on the surface. Calvin taught his son about science, baseball, and communists while Mom taught Adam about dancing, good manners, and charming young ladies. Just in time, too, as Adam is sent to the surface to gather supplies and find a wife, preferably a nice, non-mutant girl from Pasadena with which to repopulate the world. Once this "fish out of water" story is set up, the fish, Adam, is set adrift in a sea of supermarkets and adult bookstores, but is soon caught by Eve Rustikov (Alicia Silverstone). Completely lost above ground, Adam enlists Eve's help to navigate his new world and find the supplies on his list. The literally sheltered Adam falls for this bitter, cynical, street-smart woman who grew up in a bleak Los Angeles with little use for love. Living with her gay roommate, Troy (Dave Foley), Eve has had her hopes chipped away by a long line of dead-end jobs and loser boyfriends. When the throwback Adam enters her life with his sunny disposition, seersucker jacket, and joy at seeing the sky, she can't help but fall in love.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/09/2010
UPC:	0794043143908
Original Release:	1999
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	New Line Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:52:00
Sales rank:	1,417

Special Features

Closed Caption; "The Love Meter" game: how do you rate?; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Brendan Fraser	Adam Webber
Alicia Silverstone	Eve
Christopher Walken	Calvin Webber
Sissy Spacek	Helen Webber
Dave Foley	Troy,Actor
Joey Slotnick	Soda Jerk
Dale Raoul	Mom
Don Yesso	Jerry
Scott Thomson	Young Psycho
Rex Linn	Dave
Cynthia Mace	Betty
Hayden Tank	Adam (age 3)
Douglas Smith	Adam (age 11)
Ryan Sparks	Adam (age 8)
Ted Kairys	Navy Pilot
Harry S. Murphy	Bob
Wendel Meldurm	Ruth
Richard Gilbert Hill	Guest
Steve Bean	Harold
Ann Ryerson	Woman Guest No 1
Donovan Scott	Ron
Hugh Wilson	Levy,Child
John Roselius	Atkinson
Bill Gratton	Boss
Bill Duffy	Workman No. 1
Bill Stevenson	Workman No. 2
J. Bruce Eckert	Realtor
Karen Geraghty	Woman Buyer
Christopher Holloway	Man Buyer
Harrison Young	Bum
Jazzmun	Streetwalker
Hannah Kozak	Drunken Hag
Dori Mizrahi	Pakastani
Fred Pierce	Bystander No. 1
Annie O'Donnell	Woman
Julie Zelman	Mother
Monty Ash	Old Jewish Man
Sheila Shaw	Bakery Clerk
Michael Hagiwara	Japanese Produce Clerk
Todd Susman	Butcher
Rosalee Mayeux	Hotel Registration Clerk
Danny Zorn	Bellboy
Rod Britt	Hotel Desk Clerk
Robb Skyler	Marine Manager
Nathan Fillion	Cliff
Todd Robert Anderson	Jason
Michael Gallagher	Jonathan
Carmen More	Sophie
Deborah Kellner	Miss Sweet
Mary Ann Hermanson	Heather
Jenifer Lewis	Dr. Aron
Jonathan Stockwell Baker	Broker
Brian Blondell	Mr. Brown
Sonya Eddy	Postal Worker
Mary Portser	Woman Guest No. 2
Hubert Hodgin	Bystander No. 2
Gary Cruz	Low Rider
Robert Sacchi	Bogard DJ
Steve Dorff	Composer

Technical Credits

Hugh Wilson

Bill Kelly

Hugh Wilson	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Bill Kelly	Screenwriter
Denise Chamian	Casting
Renny Harlin	Producer
A.J. Nay	Stunts
Sunil Perkash	Executive Producer
Claire Rudnick Polstein	Executive Producer
Amanda Stern	Executive Producer
David Waine	Special Effects
Mark Hopkins Mcnabb	Sound Mixer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Blast from the Past
1. The Party [3:37]
2. It's Time [4:29]
3. Going Under [4:26]
4. 35 Year Lock [7:58]
5. Happy Birthday [2:51]
6. Just Open the Door and Go Up [2:04]
7. I Come in Peace [4:07]
8. Beware the Adult Bookstore [4:56]
9. Adam Meets the Mutants [4:31]
10. Grocery Shopping [2:10]
11. Adam Encounters Eve [5:57]
12. Welcome to the Holiday Inn [5:34]
13. Eve For Hire [1:09]
14. Two Weeks to a Non-Mutant Wife [3:31]
15. Brining Adam Home [5:29]
16. Getting Up-to-Date [2:07]
17. You Have to See it to Understand [4:20]
18. Wife Hunting [10:09]
19. Adam Tells the Scary Truth [8:39]
20. Off to the Funny Farm [4:41]
21. Searching For Mr. Poute [7:16]
22. Rebuilding [2:52]
23. The New House [4:16]
24. Credits [4:44]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Blast from the Past
   Play
   Scene Selections
   Special Features
      Theatrical Trailer
      Cast & Crew Bios
      Love Meter
   Languages
      English: 5.1 Surround Sound
      English: Stereo Surround Sound
      English Subtitles - On
      English Subtitles - Off

Editorial Reviews

The double entendre of the title -- a reference to Cold War atomic detonation as well as a common cliché -- is the most clever thing about Blast From the Past, a fish-out-of-water comedy whose original premise is a lot less airtight than your average fallout shelter. Brendan Fraser may not play a cartoon character, as he's basically done in Dudley Do-Right (also directed by Hugh Wilson) and George of the Jungle, but those admittedly marketable skills are just as over-modulated as ever. Equally cartoonish is Alicia Silverstone, though more for her appearance than her whiny acting style. As the former teen star transitioned uncomfortably into her adult years, she developed a puffy, collagen look. That leaves Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek as the best things about Wilson's film, and they regrettably disappear for its middle portion. Walken's comedic skills, demonstrated during numerous stints hosting Saturday Night Live, have been tragically underutilized throughout his career, and Spacek seems to have fun with her own vacation from dramatic work. More of their eccentric parenting and less of Fraser's naïve pratfalls through modern existence might have broken down some of the formula -- but probably also narrowed the film's popular appeal and its status as an accessible romantic comedy. As Silverstone's homosexual sidekick, Dave Foley gets good laughs by trusting his instincts to tone down the flamboyance expected from such a role.

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