There are also problematic undertones, with the message essentially boiling down to ‘don’t trust beings that are different to you’. It’s a killer twist, for sure, but the rest of the episode is pretty uninspired, bordering on downright dull. In a final twist, they discover that the book is, in fact, a cookbook (‘to serve’ having a double meaning), and the aliens intend to eat the human race. A group of cryptographers determine that the book is titled ‘To Serve Man’, confirming the aliens’ MO. Here's my separate ratings for each segment (out of four stars): Segment #1: **1/2 Segment #2: *1/2 Segment #3: ***1/2 Segment #4: **** This adds up for an estimated combined rating of *** stars.“To Serve Man” (season 3, episode 24) is one of the most iconic episodes of The Twilight Zone, telling a first-contact tale wherein aliens arrive on Earth, purporting to benefit mankind, and proffer a book written in their language. So my advice is skip the first two segments, but watch the last two. It's an excellent finale to "Twilight Zone: The Movie". What is it? A man? Or is it a monster? This segment literally had me on the edge of my seat. Things get worse when Lithgow see's something on the wing of the plane. Segment #4, directed by Miller, is a truly scary tale starring John Lithgow (from TV's "3rd Rock From the Sun") as a terrified passenger of an airplane flying through a severe thunderstorm. This segment works because it's creepy (the look of the house on the inside is fascinating) and funny (every member of the kid's family is a complete nut). Quinlan begins to realize that this kid is not normal. It's a house where every TV set has a cartoon on, and the boy's family act like a bunch of crazy people (like their cartoons themselves). Segment #3, directed by Dante, stars Kathleen Quinlan as a woman who meets a little boy after accidentally knocking him off of his bike with her car. But then the film picks up with the strong last two segments. Up to this point, "Twilight Zone: The Movie" is disappointing. Let's just say that its a game with a fountain of youth twist to it. After making friends with some of the elderly people living there, he talks them into playing a spirited game of kick the can. Scatman Crothers stars as an elderly man who comes to live at a retirement home. However segment #2, directed by Spielberg, is the weakest story of the bunch. As for how this segment goes, it's only so-so. When the man steps outside of a bar, he finds himself on a street in Nazi Germany a few minutes later he's confronted by the Klu Klux Klan then he discovers he's in the middle of the Vietnam War and so on. This story is about an angry man (played by Morrow) who is not happy with America because of all the different races that are living in the country. This is the part of the movie that made headlines around the world when a freak accident killed actor Vic Morrow and two children while shooting a helicopter scene (which is not seen in the film). Then comes segment #1, directed by Landis. "Twilight Zone: The Movie" starts with a brief prologue starring Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks. Four bizarre tales are told through the minds of four different filmmakers: John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller (Landis and Spielberg also produced). "Twilight Zone: The Movie" is a mostly entertaining anthology film based on Rod Serling's classic TV series of the 1960s.
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