generationofswine This was a family film in the '80s and...whatever happened to legit family films? I remember going to the movies to see this and then renting it when it came out on VHS and....my mom liked it as much as I did...and my dad liked it as much as I did.And as an adult today I still like it for reasons that are not entirely nostalgic...it's a great movie.Now I take my nephews to a family film and...I discover it's a kids film. It deals with purely childish things and...even they are a little bored with them sometimes. Once they grow out of the "paw patrol" stage in life."batteries not included" was actually deep enough to hold interests. It had things for children and adults with a theme that both age groups could like...All age groups could like.You don't get that anymore, like Hollywood assumes our collective IQ's have fallen and that anything not made for rugrats will traumatize a child over 5.Watch it with your family...and then feel horrible about what entertainment has come to

gavin6942 Apartment block tenants seek the aid of alien mechanical life-forms to save their building from demolition.This story started out as something destined for "Amazing Stories", and you can tell that it maintained the feel when expanded in length. It still has that sentimental nature Spielberg loves and packed the show with, and it just has that sort of light-hearted fantasy you don't see very often.Aside from the two leads -- Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy -- the cast is largely unknown, and that may not be a bad thing (though it is disappointing that they didn't go on to become bigger names). This isn't a "star" film, it's about regular people helping each other out.

Leofwine_draca I'm guessing that following the success of COCOON, Hollywood producers saw the potential of mixing old-timers with aliens, hence we get BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED. Despite the presence of the geriatrics in the cast, it's a children's film through and through, an old-fashioned fable about tenants in a run-down housing block trying to hold out against greedy developers and the little aliens that come to help them.I don't usually 'do' sentimental films, but I'll make an exception for this one: it's a solid piece of entertainment that quite often reaches magical levels. Certainly the aliens themselves are wonderful creations; little UFOs who whizz around the screen and commit all sorts of mischief. The special effects are exemplary and hold up to this day, even by modern standards.The cast are faultless; Jessica Tandy is a given, but kudos to the producers for hiring SHADOW OF A DOUBT's Hume Cronyn, who has a kind of crusty charm all his own. The highlight, for me, is Michael Carmine's villainous Carlos, who's given much more characterisation (and who elicits far more sympathy) than you might expect from a Hollywood bad guy.Yes, BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED is twee, sentimental and silly, and totally unrealistic with it. Needless to say, Spielberg's fingerprints are all over it. Nevertheless, it still works when you watch it, even today, as a touching fable. One of the things I liked most about it is that it has great characterisation for an effects film; all of the people living in the apartment block have their own story arcs. Plus, the inclusion of the dementia sub-plot gives it an adult, bittersweet taste missing from your usual kid's flick.

gcd70 Director Matthew Robbins and the Spielberg production company (Amblin Entertainment) present us with a movie that has been influenced greatly by the success of Ron Howard's "Cocoon". We have here two stars form that film (Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy), a very similar plot idea and almost the same music (same composer).The story, about tiny alien spacecraft who help save an old block of flats from being destroyed, comes across as silly, and the script is thin and poorly worked. Weak characterisation and blatant predictability don't help either, not to mention the lack of comedy. Not much to smile about.Monday, March 1, 1993 - T.V.