An example of bad writing is when you want to get to an idea: Guy appears 35 years in the future and is a fish out of water - a single joke movie. So, how do you get to this idea?--by bad writing: having a family live in a bomb shelter for 35 years. The movie doesn't deal with the psychological depression, rotting food, removal of waste, things aging, breaking down...etc. The 35 years pass as though this was a shelter funded by NASA. In short, suspend your disbelief so we can get to the funny situation of a guy showing up in a future far from the supposedly 1950s bland homogeneous lifestyle that appeared on some TV shows at the time. This has been done in other movies and done much better. So, their house is not just turned into a mall...but the lily white middle class neighborhood becomes a porn infested ghetto in 35 years....it's OK...suspending your disbelief is what you are supposed to do for the entire film. It just can't get any dumber.

Released in 1999, "Blast from the Past" is a dramedy about a couple in 1962 who mistakenly think a nuclear war has started and so lock themselves in a bomb shelter for 35 years until the radiation dissipates. Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek play the couple. The latter has a baby almost immediately and, when he's grown-up, he's sent to the surface in the late 90s where he (Brendan Fraser) experiences serious culture shock.This is an entertaining fish-out-of-water dramedy highlighted by Fraser's innocent and wide-eyed antics and Alicia Silverstone as his potential girlfriend. The bomb shelter sequences are generally dull, but the film picks up whenever Fraser or Silverstone are on screen. The film's quite good and could've been great if just a little more effort was put into fleshing out the potential of the plot and actors. Silverstone is gorgeous and effective, but somewhat underutilized. Nevertheless, "Blast from the Past" is a must.The film runs 112 minutes and was shot in the Los Angeles area.GRADE: B

Blast from the Past is a relatively entertaining 1999 comedy that could be considered the final installment of the Brendan Fraser "Fish out of Water" Trilogy, following Encino Man and George of the Jungle.The film stars Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek as a 1950's couple with a child named Adam, who hide out in a bomb shelter during the 50's and what happens when a grown-up Adam (Fraser) decides to venture out of the shelter in 1999 Los Angeles because the family needs supplies.Fraser's effortless screen charisma and his experience with this kind of character makes this movie seem a lot better than it really is. Walken and Spacek are wonderful as his parents and Alicia Silverstone is adequate as the obligatory romantic interest.Hugh Wilson's direction is exuberant and keeps the story somewhat believable but it's really the performances of Fraser, Walken, and Spacek as the family caught in a time warp that make this film worth sitting through.

It's 1962 Los Angeles at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Rich eccentric inventor Calvin Weber (Christopher Walken) brings his pregnant wife Helen (Sissy Spacek) down to the bunker. An American jet accidentally falls on their house and the bunker automatically locks for 35 years. Everybody assumes that they're dead and they assume that the world is destroyed by nuclear war. After 35 years, Calvin comes up to find the rundown neighborhood a foreign world. He wants his family to stay underground but Helen insists her boy Adam (Brendan Fraser) be allowed to see the sky. He's a fish out of water. He's about to be taken advantage of but Eve Vrustikov (Alicia Silverstone) helps him out. Together they set out to buy supplies for the underground bunker. Troy (Dave Foley) is her gay roommate and Cliff (Nathan Fillion) is her jealous ex.The first 30 minutes is not funny enough and it's better to get to the modern day sooner. Fraser is a bit annoying at first but his childlike exuberance slowly wins me over. Silverstone is good as the tough chick who can't find love. They have a nice rom-com chemistry. The dance scene is fun and most importantly, it slowly dawns on Eve that she's jealous and in love. The movie is a bit too long, the start is too slow and not all the intended comedy works. Nevertheless, the couple is good enough and it has a sweet light charm.