X
- 1987
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
- 1987
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
Summary Apartment block tenants seek the aid of alien mechanical life-forms to save their building from demolition.
Directed By: Matthew Robbins
Written By: Mick Garris, Brad Bird, Brent Maddock, S.S. Wilson, Matthew Robbins
- 1987
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
- 1987
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 46 m
*batteries not included
54
6.7
Where to Watch
Summary Apartment block tenants seek the aid of alien mechanical life-forms to save their building from demolition.
Directed By: Matthew Robbins
Written By: Mick Garris, Brad Bird, Brent Maddock, S.S. Wilson, Matthew Robbins
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
54
29% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
50% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
21% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
54
29% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
50% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
21% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Not surprisingly, considering that it is a Spielberg production, Batteries Not Included is a handsome film, impeccably (and ingeniously) designed by Ted Haworth and enriched by a superb James Horner score that brings a melancholy tinge to its brassy big band sound. Batteries Not Included is in the best Hollywood tradition of raising serious questions in a thoroughly entertaining way.
Cronyn and Tandy rescue the movie from looking altogether like a retread, and the saucers do their part, too. Designed by Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects wizards, the saucers swoop and vibrate and blink and purr and even have children, which they assemble out of old toasters and other househood appliances. "Batteries Not Included" is a sweet, cheerful and funny family entertainment.
Children may enjoy this, but their adult escorts will have a harder time...It's been well made and, especially in Miss Tandy's case, acted with a sense of fun. But the time for this brand of fantasy may have come and gone.
This film is so harmless it`s boring.
Robbins' handling of the human element is as sickly and soggy as a dunked doughnut, and the script makes gonks out of its characters. But the flirting frisbee scenes are pretty neat.
Batteries is a strange kids' movie, a queer mix of violence and otherworldly benevolence. It might have been a good idea, a story of the vanishing urban neighborhood and gentrification by tycoon. But half-pint aliens to the rescue? It's time E.T. went home.
Rarely has a children's picture been so stagnant, so bereft of passion. [18 Dec 1987, p.8]
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 6 User Ratings
6.7
67% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
17% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
17% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 6 User Ratings
6.7
67% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
17% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
17% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company
Universal Pictures,
Amblin Entertainment
Release Date Dec 18, 1987
Duration 1 h 46 m
Rating PG
Tagline Five ordinary people needed a miracle. Then one night, Faye Riley left the window open.
Awards
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Young Artist Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
