Twilight Zone: The Movie Trivia

The on-set helicopter crash caused some inevitable changes to the finished movie. Many were suprised that the film was even released at all with the Vic Morrow segment. Originally in the script, whilst running from the American soldiers firing at him and an attack from a US Army helicopter in Vietnam, he would come across two Vietnamese orphans and, moved by their plight, would rescue them from the air attack by carrying them across the river -redeeeming himself in process. At the end of the segment, as an entire village was to be destroyed in the background, the reprieved racist would reassure the youngsters: “I’ll keep you safe, kids! I swear to God!”

After the opening segment, where the movie really starts. Burgess Meredith narrates the classic "You're Travelling through another dimension. A dimension, not only of sight and sound, but of mind". "You've just crossed over to The Twilight Zone". If you look real close you can see (Rod Serling) the creator of the Twilight Zone in the pupil of the eyeball....Also, Burgess Meredith was in four original Twilight Zone episodes: Time Enough At Last (1959), Mr. Dingle The Strong (1961), The Obsolete Man (1961) and Printers Devil (1963).

"Kick The Can", "Terror at 20,000 Feet" and the "It's a Good Life" segments were all originally Twilight Zone episodes. "Terror At 20,000 Feet" originally starred William Shatner.

In the now infamous example of failed on-set safety precautions and dubious Hollywood labor practices, both Vic Morrow (Bill Connor in the "Time Out" segment) and two child actors, Renee Chen and My-ca Le, were tragically killed on July 23rd, 1982 in a horrible 3am accident on the set while filming a scene involving pyrotechnic blasts causing a helicopter to crash right on top of him and two young children --who were improperly recruited to the set on a cash basis, in direct contradiction of the child labor laws.

John Landis attended both funerals and said at Morrow's: “Tragedy can strike in an instant, but film is immortal. Vic lives forever. Just before the last take, Vic took me aside to thank me for the opportunity to play this role.”

An unsuccesful criminal charge of manslaughter against Landis and others followed, as well as many multi million dollar lawsuits -including one by Vic Morrow’s daughters, Carrie Morrow and actress Jennifer Jason Leigh. The terms of the following settlements have never been made public. You can read more here

Nancy Cartwright, who appears in this movie later went on to provide the voice of Bart in The Simpsons and of Chucky in The Rugrats. The Simpsons also spoofed Cartwright's segment in a Halloween special with Bart being the boy everyone was afraid of. Ironically Cartwright's character in The Twilight Zone ends up trapped forever inside a cartoon. Funny how life works out!!

Helen Foley was a character in the Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare as a Child."

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