Histoires fantastiques (1985)

Steven Spielberg began his diverse career with television. As his star began to rise above the Hollywood sign, he created AMAZING STORIES, an anthology series not unlike THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Not surprisingly, this new project debuts just a couple of years after his involvement in the doomed TWILIGHT ZONE movie. The filmmaker would fluctuate his involvement in the series from directing a couple of episodes to story suggestions and plot ideas. No matter what, his influence is felt throughout the run.

The opportunity to work with Spielberg shook the walls of the movie factory. Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Brad Bird and Robert Zemeckis are just a handful of directors who helmed an episode. Kevin Costner, Carrie Fisher, Kiefer Sutherland, Rhea Perlman and Danny Devito appeared in the series amongst another list of hundreds of A-list performers. John Lithgow took home an Emmy award for his performance in the touching episode THE DOLL.

Since the series is so diverse, each episode should be reviewed on its own merit, as if each was its own unique film. These reviews would no doubt vary from excellent to weak. Not surprising from a series that's budgets from complicated war scenes to shots in limited detail studios.

Enjoy the series, and note how many of the stories seem to re-appear as the format for many other films for years to come.