The Flintstones (film)
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| The Flintstones | |
|---|---|
 Original 1994 Film Poster | |
| Directed by | Brian Levant |
| Written by | Tom S. Parker Jim Jennewein Steven E. de Souza |
| Produced by | Bruce Cohen |
| Starring | John Goodman Rick Moranis Elizabeth Perkins Kyle MacLachlan Rosie O'Donnell Halle Berry Elizabeth Taylor |
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey |
| Edited by | Kent Beyda |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates | May 27, 1994 (U.S.) |
Running time | 91 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $45,000,000 US (est.) |
The Flintstones is a 1994 live-action film based on the prime time Hanna-Barbera animated television sitcom, The Flintstones. It is produced by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. It features some classic storylines (for example: a typical family man with a loving wife and child; a mother-in-law who disapproves of her daughter's husband; and a married businessman having an affair with his secretary) to show how they would be in the Stone Age.
Plot
 | This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (May 2008) |
Cliff Vandercave (Kyle MacLachlan), currently running Mr. Slate's quarrying company as executive vice-president, plots a scheme to abscond with company money and flee to Rockapulco, Mexirock. He wants a patsy: someone to take the blame, an incompetent. Spying on the workers, he decides to invent an executive placement program, and gives the workers an exam. This exam stirs up an excited feeling in Fred Flintstone (John Goodman), making him think that this promotion will give him the chance to give his wife, Wilma (Elizabeth Perkins), the wealthy life that she used to have. Barney Rubble (Rick Moranis) (who also works for the company now) and Fred Flintstone take their exams using the proper chisel (analog to pencil). When Barney offers to take Fred's exam to turn them in, he notices that Fred did miserably, and swaps the exams in a well meaning attempt to pay Fred back for loaning him the money to adopt his son Bamm-Bamm.
In fact, Fred had the worst results, while Barney had the best, and when Cliff and Rosetta review them, they promote Fred to the executive suite - believing that he cheated - and thinking that he will be perfect for the plan. Cliff takes Fred to his new office, and shows him all of the accessories. Just when he thinks that it can't get any better, a gorgeous woman named Rosetta Stone (Halle Berry) walks into his office and stuns Fred with her body. Cliff introduces her to Fred as his secretary. Cliff leaves the room and Rosetta briefly seduces Fred by sitting on his lap. Fred stares at her leg on his lap. After Rosetta leaves, it is revealed but unknown to Fred that Cliff hired Rosetta as Fred's secretary knowing that Fred has a strong weakness for beautiful women, despite his marriage. Cliff later tells Fred to fire Barney. Fred at first protests saying that Barney just adopted a son and needs money to support his family. However, he is told that if he does not fire Barney, then Cliff will fire both him and Fred. Fred agrees to do so.
Later that night, the Rubbles throw a surprise party for Fred, only increasing Fred's guilt. They offer Fred an expensive briefcase as a congratulations gift, but he rejects it saying that Barney can't afford it. After asking Fred what he is talking about, he fires him and leaves the party in despair. Barney tells him that it is alright, that there could be a whole new opportunity for him out in the world, but his mood is changed once Fred tells him the real reason Barney was fired... he got the lowest test score, making him regret his choice to switch the tests.
Meanwhile, Cliff shows off the company's future, automation, and Fred is concerned about the loss of jobs. Cliff intends, however, that the machinery will be shoddy and fall apart... after he's gone from the country. Rosetta gives Fred the documents that will put all of the company's money into Cliff's account, but tells him that the documents will merely pay the contractors. Fred decides to read the documents before signing them without trusting the contractors, but Rosetta stops him from doing this by sliding onto his desk and seducing him. Her scheme works and Fred enjoys seeing his secretary on his desk flirting with him with barely any clothes on, but his pleasure is short-lived as Wilma walks in and witnesses Fred cheating on her. Fred is very embarrassed so he tries to make up for it by keeping his cool, but gets so nervous that he forgets Wilma's name while introducing her to Rosetta. Fred kindly excuses Rosetta, but his weakness for Rosetta gets the best of him once again as Wilma sees him stare at her butt as she walks away. Wilma forgives Fred, as this is not the first time Fred's weakness for women has gotten the best of him. Wilma tells Fred that the Rubbles had to rent out their home, and suggests that they move in with them.
As Fred looks out the window in the conference room, he sees the quarry operators playing around, and wishes he still worked down there with them. In an attempt to make his new job "fun", he takes the model of the operational machine, and accidentally breaks part of it while trying to play around with it. Rosetta walks in at the same time. He tells her that he is worried about the machine taking over the operators' jobs and putting them out of work. When she is about to leave, she tells him that she did not mean to get him in trouble with Wilma the other day when she was seducing him. He tells her that she always forgives him and also tells her the story about how they first met. He says that he wonders what a beautiful girl like Wilma was doing with someone like him. Rosetta tells him that she knows exactly what Wilma sees in him. Rosetta tells Cliff that Fred is starting to catch on to their evil plan and that they should call it all off. He tells her "stick to her strengths", meaning "strengths" by her seducing Fred, and forcibly kisses her. Cliff then realizes he needs something to keep Fred's mind off of work, so he gives him a bonus.
The Flintstones celebrate his promotion by going to the most exclusive restaurant in town, where the entertainment is provided by the BC-52s (the B-52's in stone-age garb) and Wilma lets her hair down.
An argument between Fred and Barney results in Barney telling the truth about the swapped exams, and the two of them stop speaking to each other. The Rubbles lose their home and end up in the swamps, while Fred adds a second story to his house, a hot tub, a large-screen television, and even a satellite dish. Following the argument with the Rubbles, and the revelation of Fred signing documents that fired the workers, Wilma leaves Fred and takes their daughter Pebbles with her, leaving Fred guilt ridden and lonely.
When Fred returns to work the next day, he is greeted by a mob of angry workers who want revenge on him for taking away their jobs, although he had no idea that he actually did. Fred goes into the file room and finds the contracts that he signed and discovers that Cliff framed him. When Fred confronts him, Cliff makes him realize that the bonus he got was the money made from the modernization and that Fred has been indicted for a federal crime. Fred also discovers that Sharon was also on his side, and that she was only seducing him to prevent him from finding out about their plan.
Later that day, Sharon and Cliff are preparing to go Rockapulco, but Sharon discovers that Cliff was planning to leave her in Bedrock while he went to Rockapulco by himself.
Fred goes on the run and is nearly lynched (along with Barney), but Wilma - who misses him - gets together with Betty and they get the dictabird that can prove Fred's innocence to save the two from the lynch mob. But at the same time, Wilma incurs the wrath of Cliff, who kidnaps Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, forcing Fred and Barney to confront him. However, during the confrontation, Fred duplicates the accident he had with the model of the machinery. Cliff attempts shoot the dictabird, as he is the only evidence that Fred is innocent, but is knocked out by Sharon. Cliff is eventually covered in a new and unknown substance. Sharon is arrested, but does not leave without flirting with Fred for the last time, and he shows that he is still attracted to her beauty. Mr. Slate appears, asks what is going on, and decides to name the substance that Cliff was made into after his daughter, Concretia. With Wilma and Pebbles back at his side, Fred asks to return to his old job operating the dinosaur machine, while also getting benefits for the other workers, and fixes things up with Barney.
Cast
- John Goodman - Fred Flintstone
- Elizabeth Perkins - Wilma Flintstone
- Rick Moranis - Barney Rubble
- Rosie O'Donnell - Betty Rubble
- Elaine and Melanie Silver - Pebbles Flintstone
- Hlynur and Marino Sigurdsson - Bamm-Bamm Rubble (voiced by Elizabeth Daily)
- Dann Florek - Mr. Slate
- Kyle MacLachlan - Cliff Vandercave
- Elizabeth Taylor - Pearl Slaghoople
- Harvey Korman as the voice of the Dictabird
- Halle Berry as Rosetta Stone
- the voice of Dino was provided by Mel Blanc, using the voice recordings from the original series.
According to pre-release publicity for the film, Sharon Stone was invited to play the role of Rosetta Stone, but had to decline as she was already working on Diabolique. She later admitted her regret for turning down the role. After Sharon Stone declined, the producers mulled changing the character's name to "Rosetta Stone," but decided most people would miss the archeological reference.
According to Spielberg, while Goodman was intended to play Fred from the start, Danny DeVito was the original first choice for Barney. DeVito eventually turned down the role as he felt he was too gruff to do the character properly, and reportedly suggested Moranis for the role. This film ended up being Moranis' second collaboration with Hanna-Barbera, after the TV series Gravedale High - which aired on (and was co-produced by) NBC (now a corporate sibling to the film's distributor, Universal Pictures).
Cameos
- Jean Vander Pyl (the original voice of Wilma) - Mrs. Feldspar
- Jonathan Winters - Grizzled Man who leads the lynch mob after Fred
- The B-52's (Kate Pierson, Fred Schneider and Keith Strickland) - renamed the "B.C.-52's"
- Richard Moll - "Hoagie", Fred's co-worker
- Jay Leno - a talk show host
- William Hanna, co-creator of the original series - Boardroom Executive who denounces steam power as madness
- Joseph Barbera, co-creator of the original series - man driving a Mersandes
- Sam Raimi - Cliff look-alike
Reaction
This film met with mixed reaction from fans and critics alike. Most felt that Goodman's portrayal of Fred was on character and that Moranis' portrayal of Barney was within tolerance. Some critics saw Perkins' portrayal of Wilma as a bit lacking.
In at least two cases, the physical appearance of the actors selected for the roles was the source of near-universal dislike by both critics and fans. Taylor as Wilma's mother, Mrs. Slaghoople, was said not to have matched the physique of the original cartoon character, who had been a physical match for Fred; Taylor was easily dwarfed by Goodman. Some saw O'Donnell's portrayal of Betty to be unacceptable, as her overweight physique did not match that of the slender Betty, but to O'Donnell's credit, she arguably managed to recreate the tone and verbal mannerisms established by Bea Benaderet and Gerry Johnson in the original cartoon. O'Donnell was the recipient of the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her performance in this film. Siskel and Ebert also gave this film two thumbs down.
Despite these issues, the film was a box office hit, grossing over $130 million domestically, including the $29.6 million made during the Memorial Day weekend in 1994 and over $340 million worldwide.[1] It was also a major seller in the DVD market, and according to Netflix has been in their top 100 rentals since the company first went into business.
Comic
Harvey Comics published a comic adaptation of the film in two different art styles that could be read through a pair of enclosed 3-D glasses - one style was drawn in the film's realistic style, the other in the style of the cartoon.
Logo
When the Flintstones arrive at the theater, the music for the "Univershell" logo uses the the Revue Studios jingle (the older production logo music for Universal TV used until the 1970s) as opposed to the normal James Horner "CGI Globe" music. [clarification needed]
References
- ^ "The Flintstones". Box Office Mojo.
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