Blast from the Past

Plot synopsis:
In 1962, Dr. Calvin Webber (Christopher Walken), an eccentric scientist who, like so many people at the time, thinks that a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union is imminent, has built a large, fully functional fallout shelter in his backyard deep underground. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, thinking the conflict could escalate, Calvin takes his pregnant wife Helen (Sissy Spacek) into the fallout shelter as a precaution. When a fighter jet flying over loses control, the pilot bails out and the jet crashes into their house, causing a large explosion; Calvin, thinking the worst has happened, sets and activates the shelter's locks (designed not to open for 35 years). Everyone assumes the entire family was killed in the accident, as no one knew of Calvin's secret fallout shelter.
Calvin's wife Helen gives birth to a boy, whom they name Adam. Adam grows up being taught and exposed to all culture up to 1962, such as watching reruns of The Honeymooners and listening to Perry Como and Dean Martin. During their 35-year stay in the shelter, a small diner called "Mom's" is built on the site where their house stood. A young man named Melcher (Joey Slotnick) works for Mom (Dale Raoul) as a soda jerk. The diner (which later becomes a pub) is shown throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 90s, as the neighborhood deteriorates from suburban to inner city ghetto complete with abandoned graffiti-marked buildings, adult bookstores, and the homeless, prostitutes, and addicts as its residents. Eventually, Mom gives the pub to Melcher, who lives in the abandoned remains (in 1995), an alcoholic.
When the locks open in 1999, Calvin is so shocked to see how the world has changed (believing it to be a post-apocalyptic wasteland populated by irradiated mutants), he decides the family must stay underground. However, their supplies are running out, and Calvin suddenly falls ill from the stress, so Adam (Brendan Fraser) must venture onto the surface to procure more. As he leaves the shelter for the first time, he meets Melcher who had encountered Calvin in his radiation suit the previous night and mistook him for God after he burst through the floor of the abandoned pub using his elevator to the surface. Having built a shrine above the elevator shaft, Melcher now worships Calvin and the elevator, with Adam's words of encouragement to him being mistaken as affirmation of his new religion. As he marvels at the outside world, seeing many things for the first time the sky, a little girl, and "a Negro", Adam eventually realizes that while purchasing supplies in bulk, he has strayed too far from the pub containing the elevator to the fallout shelter and cannot remember his way back.
Adam meets Eve Rustikoff (Alicia Silverstone) when he tries to sell his father's classic baseball cards at a hobby shop. She stops the store owner (Bill Gratton) from trying to buy the cards for much less than their collectible value and is immediately fired. Adam asks Eve to drive him to a Holiday Inn in exchange for a rare baseball card; she takes the card and leaves, but returns the next morning to give it back out of guilt. When Eve mentions that she must find a new job, Adam asks her to help him purchase supplies and, unaware of the value of money, immediately agrees to her request for $1,000 a week. He also asks Eve to help him find a wife from Pasadena, California (per his mother's advice), who is "not a mutant"; he uses the term literally as meaning a mutant due to radiation from the nuclear war which never happened. Adam meets Eve's gay housemate and best friend, Troy (Dave Foley), who is amused by Adam's naiveté but offers advice and gives Adam a fashion makeover.
Eve and Troy take Adam to a 1940s swing-style nightclub to find him a wife. Adam immediately attracts the attention of several women, including Eve's flirtatious rival and nemesis Sophie (Carmen Moré). Eve becomes jealous and reconnects with her ex-boyfriend Cliff (Nathan Fillion), but leaves after Cliff goads Adam into an altercation ultimately backing off as Adam demonstrates his skills in boxing (having trained every day with his dad). Troy later returns home alone and explains to Eve that Adam went home with Sophie. Adam returns later, explaining that he politely rejected Sophie's advances, saying that he could only think about being with her. He and Eve kiss, but when Adam tells her the truth about his past and states that he wants to take her to be his wife "underground," she asks him to leave.
The next morning after successfully locating the pub containing the elevator (as well as a full congregation of destitute people hanging onto Melcher's every word), Adam returns to Eve's house, where she is waiting with a team of mental health professionals to have him committed. He sadly cooperates at first, but escapes as they leave the house asking that Eve and Troy collect his things for him and pay his hotel bill. Troy and Eve find toiletries and clothing manufactured in the early 1960s as well as absurdly valuable stocks in companies like IBM, and realize that Adam was telling the truth.
With Melcher and his cult helping with loading the supplies into the shelter, Calvin is prepared to seal him and his family inside once more, until Eve spots Adam standing outside of the abandoned pub, the two share an embrace as Adam takes her to meet his parents. Calvin and Helen are impressed with Eve and agree to Adam's request for the two of them to set the lock timer for two months while they stay down there.
During this time which time he and Eve use the money from selling the stocks to build his parents a new home in the country, which is a 1950s style suburban tract home identical to the home that was destroyed except it is built on a beautiful spot way out in the country. Included with the house is a restored red 1960 Cadillac convertible. They also use the money to help Melcher rebuild the old pub into a 50's themed night club after convincing him that Adam isn't God. When they are settled in, Adam lets Calvin know the truth about the jet crash. He tells his father there was never an atomic war and that the Soviet Union collapsed. Calvin takes the news stoically, thrilled to hear of the fall of the Soviet Union, but still suspecting it was a Commie trick. He tells Adam not to mention this to Helen. After Adam walks away upon being told by Helen that dinner is ready, Calvin mutters "Commies..." to himself and begins measuring the space in the backyard, beginning the development of a new fallout shelter as Eve watches from the window while playing with her engagement ring.

Tags: cult

Review:
Seeing the past come alive in the form of music, baseball cards and even the furniture makes you feel like a window has been opened and you're actually watching family life in the early 60s.
See the movie to find out why, but Brendan Fraser's crazy dad has had him underground for thirty years in an elaborate bomb shelter, so that when Brendan finally goes upstairs in the 90's to get more supplies for his parents, he's in for a bit of a shock.Christopher Walken is wonderful as the crazy, atomic-age inventor.
Terrific fun time-skipping romantic comedy buoyed by the personality of Fraser - perfect to watch with a sweetheart, or with family on a warm weekend in..
Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone are on screen gems in their aptly named characters Adam and Eve. Everything about "Blast From The Past" was superb from the casting of Christopher Walken, Sissy Spacek and Dave Foley to the outstanding performances by everyone made this film so enjoyable.I could not find one thing wrong with this film because it was that good.
Also, everyone seemed to enjoy each other's company as well as performing in this movie and it showed; furthermore, it also showed up in the box office and rental receipts as people couldn't get enough of this great comedy."Blast From The Past" is a worthwhile comedy that deserves everyone's attention.
It's a simple romantic comedy with a huge twist thrown in, which works to the movie's advantage.Adam (Brendan Fraser) had lived in a fallout shelter for all of his life, because his father (Christopher Walken) thought a nuclear bomb was dropped on the house.
This movie is everything romantic comedies today don't have: no crude humor, funny lines, good acting, and a fun story.
The whole premise (i.e., a man who was born and raised underground with no contact other than his parents for 30+ years, only to go "above" and find himself in today's world) is brilliant.Brendan Fraser is perfect as Adam--sweet, naive, and trusting--and reinforces my feelings that he is a very underrated actor.
right there in his house, or the "Well good for you!" about Troy being gay.Alicia Silverstone is wonderful as Eve, as are Sissy Spacek and Christopher Walken as Adam's parents, and the rest of the cast.It's hard for me to grasp why some folks don't like this movie!
Fraser plays his awkward goofy naive persona that we've seen in a few other films but he still manages to be funny and likable and Silverstone is pretty and charming as she ends up delivering a decent performance.
Well, it may never have happened, but this romantic comedy shows us what it must be like."Blast from the Past" tells the story of Adam Weber.
I liked Brendan Fraser as the naive Adam and together with Alicia Silverstone he forms a nice couple in this movie.
Even though the entire story could have used a little bit more developing, overall it looks good and offers some good laughs and plenty of fun for the people who like romantic comedies.
As his parents who spend the majority of the movie in a bomb shelter Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek are simply swell, an utterly adorable couple who react very differently to their confinement but are a joy whenever they are on screen.
dave Foley is good for when he's there.Overall the movie is a fun comedy/romance and I enjoyed it a lot.
Brendan Fraser is great, and the rest of the cast, including Sissy Spacek, Christopher Walken, Dave Foley and Alicia Silverstone, is great.
The wife (Sissy Spacek) is 9 months pregnant at the time, so she has her baby (Brendan Fraser) in the shelter.After 35 years, the father is ready to explore the world to see if it is habitable, but just as he's about to get some much-needed supplies, he has a mild heart-attack.
Heading the cast is Brendan Fraser, who's pitch-perfect as naif Adam Webber, who's spent 35 years growing up in a fallout shelter after his father mistakenly assumes nuclear war broke out back in 1962.
Brendan Fraser is Adam, a 35-year-old who's spent his entire life living in a nuclear bomb shelter after his paranoid parents (played by Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek) mistook a 1962 plane crash for the start of World War III.
Cocooned in a cosy world of cheesy 50s sitcoms and endless Perry Como, Adam is understandably frustrated and so jumps at the chance to get out and re-supply the shelter.Almost immediately he meets Eve, and from then on the comedy is meant to flow from the clash between her street-smart twenty-something and Adam's impeccably-mannered, old-school gent.The performances in Blast from the Past shine, Silverstone providing a performance that overlaps anything she has ever done, Fraser also gets the best-of-his-career' nod.
The name of this film is rubbish, the synopsis makes it sound like a really tired idea, and I'm not really a huge fan of Brendan Fraser.But, you know what, this was great fun in an eek, dare I say it, wholesome family sort of way, and the way films used to be made - something for everyone, lots of very original funny bits, some little digs at the American psyche.So, overall it's a happy, fun and thoughtful little film that deserves much better than the 6.5ish average it gets here.
Fraser is superb, Spacek is hilarious, and Christopher Walken is, well, Christopher Walken, but I can't help but love his stuff...Put your cynicism to one side and just enjoy a sweet, very classy little movie that has great heart and doesn't over-Hollywood itself..
When "Blast from the Past" came out, it looked kind of silly, especially since Brendan Fraser had just played a very good role in "Gods and Monsters".
In this case, a scientist (Christopher Walken) and his wife (Sissy Spacek) move into their fallout shelter during the Cuban Missile Crisis and lock themselves in for 35 years when they think that a bomb has fallen.
Spacek is also funny when she looks forward to getting her liquor supply restored.The final act of the movie is somewhat of a disappointment as it degenerates into standard romantic comedy formula.
The script is chock full of great, little one-liners, which are used well by Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, Sissy Spacek & Chistopher Walken.
Is there no end to the cheap shots by these atheists who dominate the film world?I did enjoy the first third of this movie but when Brendan Fraser's lead character, "Adam Webber" went "up' to the existing world, the movie just fades into another "fish out of water" film, which has been used many times in many different circumstances.This was no "blast" from the past.
His (and Christopher Walken's and Dave Foley's) understanding of the subtle humor carries the film.It might be a perfect film if someone other than Alicia Silverstone was cast as the leading lady.
Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone, is doing a great job in this great movie.I have seen it 5 times now, I found it amazingly good, and i'll recommend it to all who want to see a great and entertaining movie.10 out of 10 stars..
Alicia Silverstone makes for a good love interest, and Christopher Walken is entertaining as always.There's quite a few great quotes, particularly the "What's baseball?" exchange and "I think I'm being chased by a psychiatrist" - "It happens." Also, I couldn't help but notice the inclusion of the song 'Hell', which would later be used in Monkeybone (another film starring Brendan Fraser and David Foley)..
Blast from the Past is a charming fish-out-of-water story about a young man who lives the first 35 years of his life in a fallout shelter, then emerges to a modern surface world filled with things he cannot understand.Much like the film Pleasantville, BFTP nails the idiosyncrasies and cultural touchstones of a simpler time.
Back them up with Sissy Spacek and Christopher Walken (the parents) and Dave Foley (as Alicia's friend) and you have a solid base upon which to build.Kudos to the set designers, who managed to create an underground shelter that makes 35 years of isolation seem possible.BFTP is a light comedy I recommend for anyone who likes the genre.
This movie continues to impress more and more upon subsequent viewing.The first time the wife and I watched Blast From The Past we thought it was a hoot and quite funny.
It is quirky, cute and innocent with subtle layers of humour underlying the more obvious comedic moments and these layers pop up again and again throughout the movie for even more laughs.The non-typical casting is near perfect with Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek revealing a sense of comedic timing that we've rarely had a chance to see from them before.
(And thank goodness!) After spending his whole life in a bomb shelter with his "Leave it to Beaver" parents we watch as Adam (a 30+ year-old man) sees the world for the first time.
I really like Brendan Fraser as an actor, its too bad that this didn't do that well for him considering its harmless fun, and done with some heart.Silverstone as an actress is strictly average-but the camera loves her and what the hey-she's only 24 or so, she's more someone who was brought up early and became famous before knowing what she was doing before a camera.This movie sometimes plays like an extended sit-com, more or less Happy Days level in spots-but if you forgive the stereotyped cartoony characters Spacek, Schiavelli and Walken have to play, and just go with it-you will enjoy.The actors are good and its not bad.**1/2 outta ****, pretty decent time-killer, nothing great..
But Eve and Adam have to deal with other problems besides love!!This movie also co-stars Christopher Walken(Sleepy Hollow) as Adam's dad and Sissy Spacek,JFK) as Adam's mother!!If you look carefully you can see Rex Linn as a friend of the Webber's just before the house is destroyed by a missile by mistake!!!.
You have "Blast From The Past", a surprisingly funny and clever little movie starring Brendan Frasier and Alicia Silverstone.Brendan Frasier was truly the only choice for the part of Adam, a 35 year old man who has lived his entire life in a fallout shelter his parents moved into during the Cuban missile crisis.
His blank look and goofy expressions are perfect, and he plays the part with so much enthusiasm that its hard not to like it.Alicia Silverstone gives her best performance to date, as (get this) Eve, the girl Adam (see I told you it was goofy) falls in love with.
The most pleasant surprise in this movie is Dave Foley as Troy, Eve's gay roommate (yes, Adam thinks he's just happy).
Brendan Fraser plays a 35-year-old man who comes to the Earth's surface for the first time in modern day L.A., after being raised by his parents in a bomb shelter since 1962.
You need to see it a few times to be able to fully appreciate all the nuanced looks (for example, when Sissy Spacek "watches" Christopher Walken, or Alicia Silverstone watches Brendan Fraser at times.) The 50's/early 60's styling is spot on, and all the character actors add wonderful spice.
You will also laugh out loud more than once.If you enjoy romantic comedies with great "unsaid lines" (said with just a glance,) coupled with a crazy sounding premise that works (supported by excellent cast, writing, set dressing and pacing) then you will be glad that you watched this movie.
If you're looking for a nice, pleasant, funny and fun movie, you need look no further than "Blast From The Past." No, it's not a masterpiece, but all the adjectives above describe it perfectly, which means that it's thoroughly enjoyable to watch.
Then the film becomes a typical, run of the mill romance, with Brendan Frasier acting like a goofy little boy and Alicia Silverstone giving a terrible performance.The year is 1962, and Calvin Webber (Christopher Walken) has secretly been building a huge underground bomb shelter stocked with food and all the needs for his wife Helen (Sissy Spacek) and their soon to be son Adam (Brendan Frasier).
A funny and original concept is used in this romantic comedy about a boy who as lived is entire life in a fallout shelter (35 years).
Later his son is born in the shelter, and his brought up in a very protective environment with only his parents for his entire life until the doors unlock and he wanders through L.A. finding supplies for his family.Along his way he meets a girl named Eve played by Alica Silverstone and falls romantically in love.This is very overused kind of plot, where a man wanders through unknown civilization falls in love and has very funny moments learning all the things he's never seen or heard of before.
The casting is great (except for Alicia Silverstone, who makes faces like she's just been to the bathroom and thrown up, which isn't entirely impossible, and she lacks any kind of chemistry and she is whiny and has a grating voice and should shut the f**k up and just accept she is a fat has-been).The film has a nice retro feel to it, OK, the premise demands suspension of disbelief but I tend to be more forgiving of comedies than other movies.Nothing mind blowing, but I dig it and I dig George of the Jungle and I dig the Mummy, take it for what it is or don't see these movies.
Every once in a while, however, Wilson hits his stride and finds just the right touch - as in the moment where it suddenly dawns on Dave Foley's bitchy gay best friend that good manners like Fraser's are a show of respect for those in his company, not a sign of superiority.It's great to see Christopher Walken in a non-villainous role, playing the square, paranoid scientist father, and looking quite a bit like Michael Douglas' vigilante in "Falling Down".
What makes it really worth watching are two great performances by Sissy Spacek and Christopher Walken as the parents.
Brendan Fraser's performance in this movie is somewhat goofy but genuinely endearing, the parents (Walken and Spacek) are hilarious, and Alicia Silverstone also carries off her role serviceably, but not as well as the other actors in this film.
Still, it's a great movie to rent and I thoroughly recommend it to any romantic comedy fans out there, as well as to any Brendan Fraser fans..
You can feel a little nostalgia in the ways of Adam Webber and how he influences the people around him without himself turning into a bitter 90's man.This movie is watchable several times, has it's moments and is lighthearted, so I don't know what's the point finding plot-holes in it..
Brendan Fraser is a "Blast from the Past" in this 1999 film also starring Christopher Walken, Sissy Spacek, Alicia Silverstone, and Dave Foley.Walken and Spacek are Calvin and Helen.
It stars Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Walken, Sissy Spacek and Dave Foley.
Plot has Fraser as a 35 year old man who after being raised by his parents in a nuclear fallout shelter, surfaces to sample American life in the 1990s.A different spin on the fish-out-of-water premise, Blast from the Past in a gentle romantic comedy that although light and breezy, does show how society has vastly changed over a three and half decade period, happily tinting the edges with satire as the central couple, Fraser and Silverstone (yes, they be called Adam and Eve) engage in way that perfectly befits the airy nature of the story.
A very original, sweet, witty and funny romantic comedy starring the always sexy and screen charmer Alicia Silverstone and Brendan Fraser who delivers a fine performance.The plot is truly innovative and delivers genuine laughs with very funny material taken from dark situations in the history of mankind.
To be honest, when it comes about nuclear destructions and massive tragedies; it's hard to make funny situations but "Blast From The Past" takes those moments in such an original and convincing manner that you can't help but enjoy.This is what romantic comedies should be; original, funny, witty and with great characters.
It takes something special, different or unique to really make a rom-com stand out from the pack.Blast from the Past does have such a quality, in that its' plot is slightly different – Adam (Brendan Fraser) has spent his entire life in a fallout shelter (for reasons too long-winded to bother going into now) and emerges 35 years later to find a drastically changed world from that which his father (Christopher Walken) has taught him about.
I love Alicia Silverstone, I own "Excess Baggage", "The Crush", "Scorched", and soon "Batman and Robin" (not because it's good, merely for comedic value, believe me) here was my problem.The movie begins with Adam in the bomb shelter, being born, etc.
A fairly entertaining film with Fraser playing a Tom-Hanks-in-"Big" character and Silverstone proving once again that yes, she's a young 20-something from California.Walken and Spacek are thrown into the mix in a bit of odd casting but they end up proving themselves as the perfect "out of this time" couple.
A witty comedy with a brilliant cast, including Brendan Fraser--playing yet another displaced character, "Adam"--and an hilarious Christopher Walken as the father.
Dave Foley is perfect as the gay friend of Alicia Silverstone's "Eve."  This film is a sweet, funny tale and good for the whole family..
Blast From the Past benefits from the presence of Brendan Fraser (playing for what seems like the umpteenth time his patented fish out of water role) and Alicia Silverstone in the primary roles, making up for lapses in the narrative action.
Where did SHE learn to dance like that?)Don't waste your time with this one unless you just think Fraser and Silverstone are too good-looking to miss.
I enjoyed watching this movie for Walken, as well as for the funny things that Brendan Fraser says and does.