Night of the Comet (1984)
September 28, 2022 3:29 PM - Subscribe
A comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls (Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney) fighting against cannibal zombies and a sinister group of scientists.
Also starring Mary Woronov.
Written and directed by Thom Eberhardt.
79% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently streaming in the US on Hoopla and Kanopy, and free with ads on Tubi, Pluto TV, and The Roku Channel. JustWatch listing.
Also starring Mary Woronov.
Written and directed by Thom Eberhardt.
79% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently streaming in the US on Hoopla and Kanopy, and free with ads on Tubi, Pluto TV, and The Roku Channel. JustWatch listing.
Also one of the earliest movies I remember (alongside Excalibur). I loved the idea of being able to go into stores and get anything you want.
Watched it again earlier this year, in fact, and it holds up as fun 80s film, with the added somewhat unusual perk of having two women in the main roles, and not treating them like total morons. Perhaps more importantly, because the main characters are women, it relatively free from most of the horrible shit that 80s movies got away with in terms of gross sexism and racism. There's a little homophobia, but it's fairly mild in comparison to a lot of other stuff. Also, Robert Beltran, who'd later be misused in 7 seasons of Star Trek: Voyager! He's pretty adorable here.
posted by Saxon Kane at 4:27 PM on September 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Watched it again earlier this year, in fact, and it holds up as fun 80s film, with the added somewhat unusual perk of having two women in the main roles, and not treating them like total morons. Perhaps more importantly, because the main characters are women, it relatively free from most of the horrible shit that 80s movies got away with in terms of gross sexism and racism. There's a little homophobia, but it's fairly mild in comparison to a lot of other stuff. Also, Robert Beltran, who'd later be misused in 7 seasons of Star Trek: Voyager! He's pretty adorable here.
posted by Saxon Kane at 4:27 PM on September 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
I love this movie and I own it on Bluray. It's also a movie I make everyone watch and they mostly react with "why are you making me watch this?" (I kid. Most people have liked it.)
It all hangs together pretty well and I do think the main characters being women helps. It drags a bit toward the end but it's also still just a fun, satisfying ride.
posted by edencosmic at 5:39 PM on September 28, 2022
It all hangs together pretty well and I do think the main characters being women helps. It drags a bit toward the end but it's also still just a fun, satisfying ride.
posted by edencosmic at 5:39 PM on September 28, 2022
"Daddy would have gotten us Uzis."
posted by Tabitha Someday at 5:41 PM on September 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Tabitha Someday at 5:41 PM on September 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
"I'm not crazy, I just don't give a fuck!"
The end reveal of the license plate is so weird because it like, almost means something? But it's not like he was there in plain sight the whole time, right?
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:14 PM on September 28, 2022
The end reveal of the license plate is so weird because it like, almost means something? But it's not like he was there in plain sight the whole time, right?
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:14 PM on September 28, 2022
I used to be friends with one of the actresses in this movie (not gonna elaborate, for reasons) so it always has a weird little tingle of something extra for me. I think it's pretty great, as a cheesy 80s sci-fi movie, but then there's this person I know in it and that kinda short-circuits my brain. Watching movies must be really weird for industry types who constantly see their actor friends turn up in stuff. I don't know how you can shut off the stupid part of your brain that's like, "There's my friend in the middle of this story, but they're pretending to be somebody else!"
I love the stockboy zombie creeps at the mall, especially the wiseguy leader. "Let's play a game called SCARY NOISES!"
Robert Beltran, who'd later be misused in 7 seasons of Star Trek: Voyager!
I won't sanction the Chakotay hate, but he is pretty fun in this and he's so young and goofy it's kinda hard to believe it's the same actor who would go on to play the Maquis dude with the face tattoo.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 7:37 PM on September 28, 2022
I love the stockboy zombie creeps at the mall, especially the wiseguy leader. "Let's play a game called SCARY NOISES!"
Robert Beltran, who'd later be misused in 7 seasons of Star Trek: Voyager!
I won't sanction the Chakotay hate, but he is pretty fun in this and he's so young and goofy it's kinda hard to believe it's the same actor who would go on to play the Maquis dude with the face tattoo.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 7:37 PM on September 28, 2022
Oh, I love Chakotay -- I just think the writers didn't particularly know what to do with him (or many of the other characters)
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:43 PM on September 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:43 PM on September 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
The end reveal of the license plate is so weird because it like, almost means something? But it's not like he was there in plain sight the whole time, right?
Didn't the movie begin with Sam seeing that a player named "DMK" was the only one who beat her high score in a video game at the movie theater?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:12 AM on September 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
Didn't the movie begin with Sam seeing that a player named "DMK" was the only one who beat her high score in a video game at the movie theater?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:12 AM on September 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
It sure did.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:07 AM on September 29, 2022
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:07 AM on September 29, 2022
This is one of my favorite 80s movies, too. I remember being excited to watch it because the same actor who played Flash Gordon was in it... only to realize that, yeah, he was much better cast as a creepy stepdad-type character.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:43 AM on September 29, 2022
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:43 AM on September 29, 2022
Everytime I finish it, I wonder, "what happened to them next?"
They played Tempest.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:32 AM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
They played Tempest.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:32 AM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I remember being excited to watch it because the same actor who played Flash Gordon was in it
One of us may be misremembering - I don't think Sam J. Jones is in Night of the Comet.
posted by hanov3r at 9:34 AM on September 29, 2022
One of us may be misremembering - I don't think Sam J. Jones is in Night of the Comet.
posted by hanov3r at 9:34 AM on September 29, 2022
The end of Night of the Comet is its only weakness. Up until then, it had been a pretty tight movie. Even the open ending, where they literally throw away their guns to start anew makes sense. But then DMK shows up in a hot car and says he's got a collection of them, implying that's what he's been doing since TEOTWAWKI. That's cool. But he also has the vanity license plate. Uh, how did that happen?
posted by Stuka at 9:35 AM on September 29, 2022
posted by Stuka at 9:35 AM on September 29, 2022
Everytime I finish it, I wonder, "what happened to them next?"
I assumed they went to look for other survivors and then... got to work repopulating the planet. The movie set up boyfriends for the sisters and they had one little boy and one little girl with them, so when they grow up they'll probably pair off. Those goofy kids are going to be the progenitors of humanity 2.0!
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:42 AM on September 30, 2022
I assumed they went to look for other survivors and then... got to work repopulating the planet. The movie set up boyfriends for the sisters and they had one little boy and one little girl with them, so when they grow up they'll probably pair off. Those goofy kids are going to be the progenitors of humanity 2.0!
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:42 AM on September 30, 2022
But then DMK shows up in a hot car and says he's got a collection of them, implying that's what he's been doing since TEOTWAWKI. That's cool. But he also has the vanity license plate. Uh, how did that happen?
I just figured he's the kind of d-bag who'd have a vanity license plate, so he had that from before the comet.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:11 AM on September 30, 2022
I just figured he's the kind of d-bag who'd have a vanity license plate, so he had that from before the comet.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:11 AM on September 30, 2022
Ah, Hanover, I went and looked it up and you're right... for some reason I had it in my head that was the only other movie he made that I saw, but I was wrong. Still a great flick and totally watchable today!
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:34 AM on October 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:34 AM on October 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by Stuka at 3:58 PM on September 28, 2022 [2 favorites]