My review of the rocky but entertaining live action cartoon adaptation The Flintstones(1994) starring John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Elizabeth Perkins, Rosie O’Donnell, Kyle MacLachlan, and Halle Berry.

Directed by Brian Levant.
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Transcript:
[Music] hey there welcome back to another video
this time around it is my review of the
1994 film The
Flintstones now before we get around to
sharing more of my thoughts on the film
I would like to give a special shout out
to Bronson for requesting this review
and if there’s another film TV show or
topic that you would like to see me
discuss in the future feel free to
donate to either my PayPal or to my
patreon the link to both is in the video
description down below and I will try to
get your request as soon as I possibly
can now The Flintstones is one of those
films that when it came out it was a
gigantic hit it made a ton of money in
the box office a ton of money when it
comes to merchandising probably sold a
ton of Happy Meals at
McDonald’s but it was a flop critically
critics really didn’t like this film at
all and it gets like a 24% Run
tomatoes and it doesn’t have the best
reputation critically even to this day
and you know
what I’ve always had fun with this movie
I remember uh watching this a ton of
times on VHS when I was a kid so it’s a
film that I definitely do have some
Nostalgia for but I will be honest this
film is at best a Time waster like it’s
good when it comes to elements like the
production design uh certain uh cast
members but the plot it’s not the
best it’s also not really as funny as it
could be uh honestly I’ve I laughed more
when it comes to films that
aren’t uh technically the Flintstone but
deal with
Prehistoric uh eras like
caveman uh
but it also isn’t completely devoid of
laughs or or
Chuckles I honestly think it’s on par
with like your average episode of the
cartoon which is fitting
because this is an adaptation of that
cartoon The Flintstones cartoon I never
really was super fond of in fact I I
would watch the liveaction film more
than I would ever watch any of the
cartoons it’s a cartoon series that I
definitely have an appreciation for and
and a certain amount of respect for
because of what it did for animation and
and what it was able to get away with
during uh its era but it’s not really
something that I’ve honestly ever really
truthfully liked
so I’m not one of those Flintstones
purists so to speak who is uh hard on
the film because it’s not like the
cartoon uh I kind of didn’t mind that it
wasn’t like the cartoon I I was fine
with it being the way that it was and
honestly from what I remembered it was
like the cartoon in the first place but
I liked it more than the cune
because it was
liveaction and it wasn’t dealing with
the limitations of cheap animation from
uh the 50s or 60s now the film was
directed by Brian lant and this entire
production was a uh labor of love so to
speak from Levant and Spielberg
Spielberg is the reason why the film got
made because Spielberg Steph Spielberg
for those of you who uh don’t know who
I’m talking about which is probably next
to No One But just to be clear Stephen
Spielberg is one of the producers of
this film and he had
um a dream so to speak to to uh get a
Flintstones movie made because he was a
big fan of the cartoon and because of
his poll in the industry if Spielberg
wanted something to get made it was
going to get made but it was kind of
stuck in development hell for a while
there was a script in
the80s that apparently was like Grapes
of Wrath meets The
Flintstones which I find to be
absolutely ridiculous like as as uh weak
and just mediocre as the script is for
this version of the movie uh a Grapes of
Wrath Flintstones movie is in infinitely
worse Grapes of Wrath and The
Flintstones is an oxymoron the two do
not mix yeah apparently the plot was
involving Fred and Barney losing their
jobs and then going around touring uh
well not really touring but trying to
find work throughout uh a
bedrock and meeting various different
people along the way and during their
Journey they realized the the value of
friendship and family
and that’s just not the right kind of
vibe for a Flintstones movie like oh hey
kids here’s uh Fred and Barney oh they
got fired from their jobs and they’re
homeless now and they they have to go
try to uh scr for food and find work and
they’re away from their wives and their
kids uh Yabba daba do like I mean
what like I’ve heard people say that it
was like it was like uh uh commentary in
the Great Depression I’m like The
Flintstones in the Great Depression is
are not things that should
be uh in the same
sentence but yeah when Brian Levant was
eventually hired because of the fact
that he was a Flintstones fanatic like
Brian is a legitimate
Flintstones fan like one of the biggest
Flintstones fans out there like the guy
loves The
Flintstones and Stephen saw that and was
like you know what he’s worked with me
before he directed
Beethoven uh and that was a that was a
hit uh you know give him the job let’s
see what he can do and when the VA was
hired all these other scripts were
complet completely tossed out
understandably
so and you wound up having a different
screenplay that was utilized for the
final product and when it comes to
levant’s Direction I think he did a a
solid job I think for this kind of movie
that
shot pretty much on set for the majority
of
it and it’s very stylized very
cartoonish
lvon did a good job when it comes to
shooting the scenes with that cartoonish
energy and that
mirth
and you can definitely tell that
Levant had a real passion for The
Flintstones and you could really feel
that in pretty much every scene
especially in the scenes where he’s
recreating the intro for the cartoon or
the sequences that really focus more on
Fred and Barney and their friendship and
them being pals or the various different
uh uh appliances that The Flintstones
use in the house or or the scenes where
they’re driving their Automobiles and
they’re using their
feet that’s really where uh uh the
direction shines the most is when it
comes to the stuff that really fits with
the
cartoon where kind of Falls a little
flat is when it comes to the the
business Espionage kind of scenes the
scenes that just have Fred sitting there
in a desk uh signing off on
documents uh those are a little bit uh
rough in terms of the fact that they’re
just very uh um
stodgy and uh and so is some of the
scenes involving more effects like the
whole climax at the end with the machine
like it was really obvious that it was a
a uh work of like mechanics and plaster
and so on and so forth it looked
incredibly cheap and fake like the rocks
that were flying around they look like
they were made out of
Styrofoam
so I think
that there are some moments where
levant’s
Direction kind of holds the back at
times like he doesn’t shoot the movie in
a way where you can hide some of
the the Lesser qualities of the sets or
the effects like there are moments where
the way that he shoots them is loving
and it just really puts them in a good
light but then there’s other scenes
where it puts them in a really bad light
cuz it’s like shot uh in the day and
he’s not using a lot of Shadows or a lot
of other lighting so then it becomes
just blatantly obvious that you’re just
watching scenes that are performed on a
set that yes it was built on a location
but you but it still has that sound
stagey uh look to it the direction
though did have a decent amount of
variety when it comes to some of the
angles and some of the zooms or pans or
or uh different kinds of shots and
techniques that that uh lavant decided
to utilize for the film uh definitely a
lot of them were very uh
Cartoon uh uh like in terms of uh the
vision that he had for it and so there’s
a lot of scenes that look like a
legitimate liveaction cartoon but that’s
very fitting for The Flintstones film so
I would say consistency wise other than
John Goodman and Rick baranis said f as
Fred and Barney
uh Brian levant’s direction
is one of the more uh consistently good
things about this
film uh the script by Thomas Parker Jim
jenwin and Stephen de dza on the other
hand not so much this script really is
what holds this film back the
cast for the most part I think the cast
is really good except for one glaring
exception which I will mention later
the director is a good pick because he’s
very passionate about the source
material and really wants to do the
movie the production design by William
Sandell I believe that’s who did it uh
is spectacular like it’s really
impressive what the production designer
was able to to do when it comes to the
sets and and and just to make a Bedrock
come to
life same thing goes for the visual
effects and the Practical effects that
are used in the movie some really good
puppetry some early uh uh CGI of Dino
that honestly holds up pretty well uh
despite the age of the movie so you have
all these elements that should lead to a
classic film but the script is just
lacking
like it just seems like it’s one of the
more forgettable episodes of the cartoon
series like when the cartoon series
Focus more on appealing to adults
instead of families and so you had
certain plot lines that really only
adults would really find that
interesting and here it
is uh uh rearing its ugly head again
with this plotline about uh business
Espionage or or stuff involving a fraud
a business fraud and you’re like really
like that’s that’s the plot that you
pick for The Flintstones
film this plot about Fred being uh set
up by this uh this uh uh greedy and uh
snively businessman who decides to set
him up
uh and uh frame him for all these uh
business deals that the guy is making on
the side so we can steal all of his
money and and bezel it from the
company that’s not really something that
seems like a good fit for a Flintstones
movie and at times it it’s too serious
like the stuff
involving uh Fred and Barney and they’re
falling out the scenes involving uh Fred
and his wife Wilma and them having their
brief breakup uh scenes with uh Barney
and and
um oh God Betty yeah Barney and Betty
just being homeless with their kid on
the on on the side of the street
somewhere well it’s not really the side
of the street it’s in the middle of the
desert they’re they’re homeless in the
middle of the desert it’s
like it’s like they didn’t learn the
lesson from The Grapes of RA storyline
that some other writer came up with and
decided to just copy some of those
elements again and The Flintstones is
not a film that should be this serious
like you should you should just throw
that out like I understand the falling
out between Fred and Barney like I can
deal with that to be honest because of
the payoff but like the other depressing
stuff cut that out of the movie like
what is that doing here like I don’t
remember the film being that depressing
when I was a kid because I guess I
didn’t have the Conta for those scenes
now I do and I’m like that’s a
bummer that’s a dino sized bummer what
is
this why is this movie depressing now
there’s also humor that is just way too
mean-spirited like the stuff about uh uh
Wilma’s mom and there’s even like a
scene where uh Fred imagines her being
eaten by a dinosaur I’m like well that’s
a little bit too edgy for the Flint
Stones
movie and it just creates a very weird
tone because there’s scenes where it’s
taking itself really seriously and it’s
dramatic then you have like weird edgy
bits of humor and then and then it’s
just straight Kitty stuff like the
scenes with Dino or some of the stuff
that’s just a straight up Recreation of
the cartoon and you’re like pick a lane
pick a tone it just makes the script
just come across as very totally
inconsistent and that is something that
really hurts this film honestly hurts
any film is tonal
inconsistency uh
and it doesn’t help either that the
comedy it’s mostly lame with you know
the type of puns that you saw in the
cartoon but what works for a cartoon
from back in the day doesn’t necessarily
work in the same
capacity uh for ’90s film like the The
Rock puns and the dinosaur
puns they got old really quick and they
elicited more groans than they did
laughter
but it’s not all
bad it’s one of those things
where every now and then there’s a
little pop culture reference it was kind
of
funny uh there’s some Psy gags that work
uh the script does a good job with the
relationship and the friendship between
the characters specifically the the
friendship between uh Fred and Barney so
when they have their falling out it
genuinely does hurt because they’re such
good pals early on I think the drama of
having Barney be the one that swaps the
test
scores or the tests so to speak for the
itute test for the
promotion uh I think that was a a good
choice I think that was a good uh uh
addition to the script it it created
some genuinely solid
drama but when
Fred he makes all this money he becomes
rich he becomes
entitled the way that things are written
he’s too much of an so that’s
another thing where they take a little
bit too
seriously they go way overboard with it
so it’s not an instance in the film
where oh it’s kind of funny because of
just how much of a jerk he is and he’s
over the top it just comes across as
mean-spirited like it’s not that kind of
thing where he’s just spending
irresponsibly he just comes across like
a total jerk off and and those scenes
are really hard to watch as as a result
and it makes his Redemption Arc not
really as effective either you don’t
root for his Redemption because the
transition from Yaba daao and uh Hey
Barney You’re My Pal you’re my friend
I’m going to spend uh some of the last
money that I have saved up so you can
have a
kid to raging uh a is just it’s
too quick of a transition and it just
also feels out of character so that’s
the other problem is is so unrealistic
so when he
switches like a flip of a coin basically
like he’s two face it it’s
just something that doesn’t click and I
think on paper and in theory it’s an
idea that might work but it’s just not
executed well and then when it comes to
the villain is not very memorable it it
doesn’t really come across as that
intimidating despite the fact that he’s
willing to kidnap Barney and Fred’s kids
and tie them up and uh uh have them go
through a a uh deadly dly machine at the
end he still doesn’t come across as that
formidable of a
villain
and there’s this other stuff too like
the stuff with the secretary which also
doesn’t make Fred look good like Fred
just looks like a total douche there too
where he’s just is basically you know
cheating on his
wife uh it doesn’t it doesn’t you don’t
you don’t see him have sex with the
secretary but it’s implied and it’s
defin definitely you definitely show him
think about it or uh have an inkling to
do it which also doesn’t hurt the
charact which I mean which also doesn’t
help my bad doesn’t help the character
of Fred
Flintstone but yeah despite these
issues like I said there’s a good
groundwork there’s a good
foundation there are some moments
involving uh uh the comedy or some of
the the twists or the turns that are fun
uh I like the dictor bird I I like the
stuff involving that charact that that
character in the
film uh I like uh the scenes with Fred
you know bowling with his
Pals I like the scenes where Fred and
Barney are working together and their
friends although at the same time even
though they’re falling out really
strengthens their
friendship it’s something that you don’t
necessarily look for in a Flint ston
movie you you want to see them together
more than apart and so that’s another
problem with the script is that so much
of the film just kind of wastes uh these
two characters because they are at odds
with one another for a good chunk of the
runtime and a and a good chunk of the of
the
screenplay so it’s just a misguided
script it’s not completely totally
terrible but it’s definitely misguided I
also feel like uh uh Bam Bam and uh the
other the other girl like pebbles yeah
Bam Bam and
Pebbles their uh uh stuff in the script
is really bad but then again they’re not
very strong characters anyway but it’s
really uh uh really terrible when it
comes to the scenes involving those two
thankfully though the script kind of
realizes that and doesn’t have them uh
Center Stage or feature a lot of scenes
with them
probably for that reason because they
were like what are we going to do with
these
two
um the cast though I think it’s a great
cast and see that’s that’s a big reason
why it’s a Time waster for me is because
of this cast specifically John Goodman
and Rick Moranis those two were born to
play Fred and Barney uh John
Goodman he mentioned how he felt like he
was trapped in this role uh because
Steven handpicked him to play Fred uh
when uh Steph uh saw him uh acting on
the set of
always uh and he worked with uh uh John
on that
film and because you know Steven
Spielberg is Steven Spielberg like he
couldn’t back out of
that and so he just felt like he was
kind of Trapped in that role but despite
his
trepidation he really went all with it
and he really gave it his all and it
really shows like John Goodman is just
so jolly and jovial and fun to watch
when he’s Fred as who you expect Fred to
be when he’s just a Jerk It’s it’s a
different thing entirely you don’t want
you it’s cringe
inducing but not because it’s a bad
performance it’s because it’s too
convincing when it comes to him being
such an entitled
prick um
but the scenes with him and Rick Moranis
when they are together the chemistry is
just off the charts it’s amazing it’s
great the two just work so well with one
another and Rick is is remarkable too as
as Barney uh Rick was just a perfect
casting because this is a guy who in a
lot of ways is kind of ragd doll he’s
kind of ran over and stomped on and and
so on and so forth but despite how
pathetic his character can be at times
there’s a certain endearing quality to
him that you really do appreciate and
you kind of admire uh how he’s able to
persevere and look for the bright side
despite things uh not being uh great and
and and things kind of uh hitting a
rough patch
and Rick just handled that performance
with just the perfect amount of charm
and and uh
commitment and it easily could have been
something where you was just Hamming it
up but no and Rick it helps too that he
just has that personality naturally
about him where you just like the guy
and you you want him to do well so like
the scenes between him and his kid you
know Bam
Bam uh like the scene where Bam Bam says
data like it’s it’s genuinely
heartwarming because Rick is just so
good at playing those kind of roles so
Danny DeVito was considered to play
Barney but then he decided to pass on it
and that’s what led to Rick eventually
getting it and and I feel that it was
just the perfect casting Choice uh I
know
that uh there were other actresses
considered to play Wilma Aina Davis and
Katherine orara but Elizabeth Perkins is
eventually the the actress who won the
role and you know what I think this is
honest honestly one of her best
performances it’s definitely one of her
more memorable performances to me like I
thought she was a really great uh
casting choice to play
Wilma I I think she’s another standout
uh in this cast I think the chemistry
that she has with John Goodman is really
good too and like the scene where she
lets her hair down and is dancing to the
b52s at the club like she’s pretty sexy
too like who knew who knew that Wilma
was was such a
fox um but yeah U Elizabeth Perkins I I
really liked her performan as Wilma so
yeah the main three great I mean the
casting couldn’t get any better I mean
John Goodman is Fred Rick Moranis is
Barney Elizabeth Perkins is Wilma it all
of them seem like they just walked right
off the cartoon and onto the big screen
Rosie O’Donald though it’s Betty
Rubble what the hell hell like what was
that casting
Choice it’s crazy to me where you nail
the casting for the first like three
main uh uh uh cast
members and then you just completely
just drop the ball and just fall flat in
your face with the casting for Betty
apparently Rosie o’donell got the role
because she was able
to do a convincing imit of Betty’s laugh
and I’m like that’s not enough of a
reason to cast somebody to play a role
that they can mimic a laugh and
apparently there was some other actors
that were considered like Daphne Zena
and Tracy Ol Man like Tracy Oldman is a
much more talented performer I would
have loved to have seen her Betty she
would have nailed it uh or Daphne ziga
probably would have worked too but Rosie
odono was just really really bad casting
and really brought the film down when it
comes to scenes featuring her character
or scenes that focused on excuse me I’m
just man I just got a little bit of
indigestion just thinking about Rosie
odonnell in this
movie um maybe I’m just having
flashbacks to uh her in uh skin tight
SNM lever from uh that movie I said Eden
but that’s a whole other story
um but yeah just just terrible casting I
don’t know what they were thinking with
that uh especially when you had Tracy Ol
Man and you were like now we’re going to
pass on you for Rosie
O’Donnell
um apparently Sharon Stone was actually
supposed to play mstone and nich Nicole
Kidman was also offered a role or
offered that role but It ultimately went
to Hal Barry and H Barry was fine in
that role as Miss Stone this uh sexy
secretary although I didn’t necessarily
buy the the the turn at the end where
she’s supposed to be a good guy didn’t
didn’t really uh didn’t really uh vibe
that well for
me um you also have Kyle mclin who I
really like I’m a big fan of his but
this is one of his weakest performances
of his careers Cliff Vander
cave he’s not the kind of guy to play a
campy over-the-top bad
guy he he’s a guy who plays like an
oblivious mayor in Portlandia he’s a guy
who can be play a weird kind of uh
detective uh in like Twin Peaks or polar
tradies and dune guy trying to solve
some quirky mystery in a small
town or an alien from outer space he’s
not the guy to play your uh Charming
swaave charismatic uh a villain you love
to hate who’s trying to screw over Fred
Flintstone with uh business fraud it’s
just not really the best casting choice
I it just feels like he’s just
completely out of place in
this um Elizabeth Taylor’s also in this
as uh Wilma
mother and I I don’t really have much to
say about the performance like the
character was just one note gag the
entire
time oh she’s the Mother-in-law what a
what a that’s really what the joke
was Richard Maul is also in this as one
of the guys who works at the Corey
Harvey Corman he’s in this as the voice
of the dicta bird honestly H ly in a lot
of scenes he stole the show like he was
funny it was like one of the funniest
things about the movie is Harvey
Corman um Jonathan Winters is also in it
as this coworker Fred and Barney’s line
Newman has a very brief Cameo as Susan
rock you have uh Hannah and Barbara
themselves as various different
characters uh William Hannah plays a
boardroom executive Joseph Barbara plays
a man driving
or
mandes uh Jay Leno is in this as the
host of bedrocks Most Wanted which I
thought was a weird casting cho too like
Jay Leno is like the John Walsh type
hosting a parody of americos Most
Wanted okay I guess Sam Ry also has a
cameo in this as a glyph Vander cave
look look alike yeah Sam Ry just a
complete random Cameo like you also have
like the kids who play Pebbles and Bam
Bam Elaine and Melanie silver as Pebbles
hillner and Marino Sigerson as Bam Bam
apparently they’re
twins the performances for both of them
is were pretty awful especially the kid
playing Bam
Bam
um cast it’s not as solid as it could be
but for the most part pretty dang
good especially when it comes to like
the main three the cinematography by
Dean cundi is great it’s Dean cundi like
the man is a master of his craft he’s
one of the most uh legendary and iconic
cinematographers uh not only of his time
but ever and he does some really good
work here too in the film uh you can
tell he was having fun having having a
good time doing the Flyn Stones movie uh
the editing by Kent bet I also thought
was uh was really good definitely fit
the whole vibe and the feel and the
energy of the film very well added to
the chaos and and the
cartoonish uh uh style of various
different
sequences uh it was a good fit and so
was the score by David Newman I thought
that was a good fit to the film too
especially the rendition of of the main
you know Flintstones theme and some of
the other original pieces that he did
too I thought were uh pretty good not
one of my favorite scores of his but
still a good score still something that
uh worked within the
movie and wasn’t too much of a standout
in a negative way and it’s like a 91
minute long movie that’s with the end
credits without the end credits is like
an hour and 28 minutes so it goes by at
a good Pace it’s not that long it’s not
that
boring uh
and the $46 million budget is on the
screen and then some like it was just
fun to watch the movie again just to see
the costume design and the set design
the production design art Direction and
the effects just to see all of that
because so much of it was done
practically very few instances of green
screen work and it’s a it’s a spectacle
at times it genuinely is like it’s a
it’s a true Testament to the
craftsmanship of those involved with the
production who really put their heart
and soul and everything in the movie so
that’s why I think it’s a little too
harsh to say it’s like
24% like really bad just absolute
garbage a total uh prehistoric turd like
I think
that’s that’s too much I don’t think
it’s anywhere near that bad and like I
said the original cartoon is not nearly
as great when it comes to the writing
either um I think it’s something that
despite how misguided it is at times and
how inconsistent it is it still got its
heart in the right place
and it can still be a fun watch if
you’re in the right mood but it’s not
something that I you know I would really
watch over and over again or anything um
but I’m glad to have it in my collection
and I would recommend checking it out if
you haven’t seen it or if it’s been a
long time just to just to check out the
effects and the set design and just to
see John Goodman and Rick Moranis play
off of one
another um but anyway that’s my review
of The Flintstones and until next time
I’ll see you later see
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