When John Carpenter sets a movie in a barren terrain of ice and snow, you can bet bucks to beans that the only thing colder than the setting is his regard for the human soul! Paul, Javi, and - indubitably - Producer Brad take on one of the greatest studies in fear and paranoia ever put to film: John Carpenter’s The Thing. Released on June 25, 1982, it's one of the rare remakes that outdoes the original in vision and enduring influence, this paragon of the horror genre continues to chill audiences to the bone to this day, and Multiplex Overthruster is here to tell you why!
Though largely, and justifiably, forgotten since its release on June 25, 1982, Hal Needham’s Megaforce is a truly breathtaking experience. And we don’t necessarily mean “breathtaking” in a positive way. This week, Paul, Javi and — of course — Producer Brad take one for the team and come back much changed, chafed, and itching to chat through this grand guignol of gunfire, explosions and toxic masculinity. The manly men of Megaforce may live by the slogan “Deeds not words”, but so many of those deeds are duds, and we have witty, wise words of warning! It is truly one of the most mystifying films from the summer of ’82, and we watched it so you don’t have to.
Los Angeles. November 2019. Paul, Javi, and - naturally - Producer Brad, kick off our epic triple feature weekend of June 25, 1982, by revisiting a sense-stunning vision of the distant future that is somehow now our recent past. One of the most influential films of all time, Ridley Scott’s towering masterpiece has been imitated, examined, recut, recut again, sequelized, and soon sequelized some more. Join us as we explore the mesmerizing multicultural megalopolis of BLADE RUNNER in its original theatrical cut (yes, with Harrison Ford’s reluctant narration), viewed through the lens of the revisionist versions that would (nearly) perfect this landmark of sci-fi cinema. You do not want to miss this episode, which culminates in our co-hosts’ most shocking disagreement yet! Thanks to the wonder of podcasting, these moments will not be lost like tears in the rain (though they may elicit tears of laughter).
It is the height of the cold war and the Soviets have developed a fighter that defies radar detection and responds to its pilots thoughts! Naturally, the best man for the job of stealing this lethal next-gen weapon is a burned-out Vietnam war veteran who is prone to debilitating flashbacks! This week Paul, Javi, and - naturally - Producer Brad take the wayback machine to June 18, 1982, a simpler time when we as a nation knew who the bad guys were, we know where they were, and only Clint Eastwood could get in there to steal their most valuable weapon.
Paul becomes Javi’s psychotherapist as we journey back to June 11, 1982, in this white-knuckle discussion of colonialism, media saturation, and the deservedly hallowed place that cinematic titan Steven Spielberg occupies in our popular culture — all of it musingly masquerading as a discourse on what would become (for the next decade) the biggest blockbuster of all time, E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL. Don’t miss our heaviest, most introspective episode, which ranges from a profoundly personal elegy for a suburban American childhood that will never again exist, to a rhapsodic ode to the exquisite magic of cinema. We’ll be right here.
Javi and Paul descend into the labyrinth of the Dada-ist haiku that is GREASE 2 and ponder the imponderable. Is Rydell High actually haunted by ghosts as Javi theorizes, and is this somehow also a stealth remake of Richard Donner’s Superman? Could anyone other than the transcendent Michelle Pfeiffer have possibly pulled off her scenes, and holy crap is that teenage Pamela Adlon? Will either of our co-hosts emerge with their sanity intact? Tune in to find out — if you dare! — in our most deliriously deranged episode yet.
Boldly go into our most gloriously geektacular (and yes, longest) episode as Javi and Paul embark on an epic exultation of the soaring sacred text that is STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN. On June 4, 1982, Nicholas Meyer arguably saved the franchise by redefining it as a space opera mashup of Horatio Hornblower and Run Silent Run Deep, with a virtuosic score by the great James Horner. Instead of making sequel to 1979’s STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, Meyer cunningly chose to forge a follow-up to the 1967 episode “Space Seed,” reuniting Ricardo Montalban with the iconic role of Khan, unleashing his towering performance as the ultimate antagonist. (And stick around until the end for a shocking decision about what our next movie will be!)
Prepare yourself for gooey geeky goodness as Javi and Paul travel back to June 4, 1982, to ponder POLTERGEIST in our spooktacular second episode! Tobe Hooper horror insidiously invades Spielbergian suburbia as a freaky little girl is sucked into a TV set via spectral static. This ingenious phantasmagoria features beautiful analog VFX wizardry by ILM, a refreshingly functional family, and one of the greatest expository monologues in genre cinema.
On Memorial Day Weekend of 1982, Rocky Balboa’s latest and greatest challenger entered the cinematic pantheon. On this first episode, join Paul, Javi, and, of course, Producer Brad as they root for the Italian Stallion and his new nemesis, the legendary Clubber Lang, played by the formidable and inimitable 80s icon Mr. T. Can Rocky get back the Eye of the Tiger in time to defend all he has fought for? Come along with us to the multiplex for the answer - because we pity the fool who does not!
Meet Javi and Paul, hosts of Multiplex Overthruster: Summer of '82.