In Search of Tomorrow

This is a 2022 documentary, long in length (without the end credits, 4 hours and 45 minutes!) which I discuss below: 

Those that have seen any of the three In Search of Darkness documentaries concerning 80's horror, it is more of the same here, except the focus is 80's science fiction on celluloid. I enjoy the format they use even if it's mainly nostalgia and you may not learn too much about all the films they cover; it's still nice to reminisce and see the people involved with those movies get the spotlight shone on them.

If you haven't watched In Search of Darkness, the format is the exact same: after an intro, each year of the decade is covered chronologically as a few movies are presented each year and typically, at least one person involved with a film appear to offer brief comments on the experience. In between each year is a broader topic; in this case that included production design, practical effects, musical scores and advertising. Not all the major movies are covered and like in Darkness, some things appear to be discussed only because of who they talked to. Thus, Steve De Jarnatt is present for both Cherry 2000 and Miracle Mile, along with Barry Bostwick for... MEGAFORCE.

While not for everyone, as someone born in 1981 it was neat to see all those movies discussed from my childhood: Star Wars, Star Trek, Flight of the Navigator... along with things I only got around to as an adult (like TRON) and films that I'm happy received attention once I discovered them as an adult, like Outland. It was rather surprising that only one John Carpenter movie was broached (Escape from New York) and Highlander was an omission given that Carpenter and Clancy Brown were among the talking heads. Yet, there are plans for a second installment so there's the opportunity for pictures like those, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, The Hidden, Critters, Godzilla, and heck... perhaps some more lower-budget movies and possibly even ripoffs from countries like Italy.

As mentioned in the beginning, it was nice to see various veteran actors & directors talk lovingly about what they worked on back in the day. Even more so, it was appreciated to see the likes of composers and VFX artists-from Phil Tippett to names not as famous-talk about the halcyon days before CG make everything easier—and much lazier. Even though all those documentaries are long (this in particular: 305 minutes! This is why I waited to the weekend to view this in a single night) they are simply delightful. There are even nice small moments to be entranced by. Joey Cramer of Runaway and Flight of the Navigator fame appears to be doing fine now; regrettably, he was yet another child actor who was arrested more than once as an adult. Among those present who I expected to compare WarGames to 1970's Colossus: The Forbin Project, it was NOT Gene Simmons; yes, that happened.