Welcome to the single most requested classic movie review I’ve had lobbed at me.

Considering my sub-series on pre-COVID era movies is known as my Blast From The Past reviews, it’s not wholly unusual that I’ve had several folks comment something along the lines of “You should review the movie Blast From The Past!” or “I thought you were reviewing the actual movie Blast From The Past!”. And I put off reviewing this flick for one very simple reason.

It, uh, wasn’t streaming anywhere for free.

Now I’d love to say that I finally put my money where my title is and plopped down the unremarkable cost of four American dollars so I could make my audience happy, but that’s not even the truth. There are so many films to watch for free first! But no, It was actually the most underrated of all streaming platforms, Tubi, to the rescue.

As I scrolled through Tubi to find something to watch today, lo and behold, there was Blast From The Past, under both the “Just Added” tab and the “Leaving Soon” tab. Because I guess if you get your hands on Blast From The Past, you can only hold a dynamo like this movie so long before it flutters away, back into the ether. Knowing that my window was small, I watched it immediately, man of the people that I am. I wasn’t going to let this chance slip away.

Blast From The Past starts off in the 1960’s with Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek playing a married couple living in fear of the nuclear bomb being dropped by the hated communist Russians. One day while in their fallout shelter after hearing a news broadcast, a plane crashes in their back yard, leading them both to believe the bombs were flying. Calvin, Walken’s character, seals the shelter for 35 years, believing that will be the next time it will be safe to emerge.

While underground, the couple welcomes their first and only child, Adam, and they raise him with all the values of early 1960’s America… even as the world above their shelter changes over time into the 1990’s. When the locks disengage in the 90’s, it’s up to Adam to go above ground and get supplies for their shelter. And he’s also hoping to find a suitable wife from what is left of society.

Adam is wowed by 1990’s California, and soon finds himself being saved from being taken advantage of by the beautiful Eve. The two then strike up an arrangement with her agreeing to work for him to help him gather his supplies, but could she ever see herself falling for him?

(It was 1990’s Brendan Fraser; of course she could)

TWO UPS AND TWO DOWNS

+ Brendan Fraser movies always work because he commits to ANY bit and sells it like it’s the most sensible material in the world. Everything he is doing here is highly embellished and goofy, but you just buy it because it’s coming from him and he’s so earnest. It’s crazy that he would end up doing this and The Mummy in the same year. He’s got great range, and he has always had it. 

I’m not sure anyone back in the 90’s and 2000’s saw “future Academy Award winner” when they looked at Brendan Fraser, but he was always a great actor who had that potential if he did more drama. I think his comeback and winning of Best Actor was one of the academy’s true feel-good moments.

+ Aside from the standout in Fraser, the rest of the cast is a lot of fun. 1990’s Alicia Silverstone was a nova who should have blown up bigger than she ever did, but it’s still great to see her at around her peak. Dave Foley is a comedic treat as usual as Troy. Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek do really good work as Adam’s parents (especially Spacek, who has a little more nuance to her character). There’s even a cameo role for a younger Nathan Fillion! Whoever was casting for this flick should have gotten a raise, because they really brought the talent.

– Blast From The Past is just shy of two hours long, which is way too much for a silly romcom from the 90’s. There’s a decent amount of fat that could be cut from this screenplay to get it down to around 1:30 and make it a quicker, more palatable movie. There is a sudden subplot about Eve calling social services on Adam that could be lost, and there is a lot at the beginning before we even get to adult Adam being played by Fraser that’s not wholly necessary. The more Fraser, the better.

– Eve’s falling for Adam kind of comes out of nowhere after she is fairly put off by him for most of the movie. She takes him out, sees him dance really well, and is suddenly enamored of him. They could have built that a little better than they did. And yes, I just complained that they should have CUT stuff, but I can have it both ways; they’re MY criticisms. 

OVERALL

After so many demands to get around to this movie, it would have been so easy to dislike it for being thrust upon me by readers. But you know what? There is an easy charm to this picture that insidiously wiggles its way under your skin. Silverstone and Fraser are a joy together, and in another time, I could see a world where they went on to do a handful of other romcoms together. If the movie wasn’t so darn long, this would be an even easier recommend from me, but as it is, it settles in at “Good” on my scale.