Product Details

• Actors: Ray Walston, Cheryl McWilliams
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MCA/Universal Television
• VHS Release Date: August 11, 1993
• Run Time: 70 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301961412
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,518 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In 1985, Steven Spielberg launched the anthology TV series Amazing Stories, directing one of the early episodes, "The Mission," a taut, emotional story set during a World War II combat flight.

Kevin Costner plays the pilot of an American bomber running raids into German airspace. During a dogfight with Nazis, a piece of enemy aircraft wedges itself into the hull of Costner's rig and jams the hatch of the ball turret gunner. The shootout cripples the landing mechanism, and the net effect is that the gunner (Casey Siemaszko) is stuck in his transparent shell, unable to get back up into the body of the plane and certain to die horribly during an imminent, emergency landing. Spielberg keeps tightening the screws, brilliantly directing a handful of good actors (Kiefer Sutherland is in the mix) in a tight space rapidly filling with dread and grief. While it has to be said that the resolution of "The Mission" may well be the most improbable turn of events in television history, everything up to that point is as exciting as TV can get.

Also on Book 1 is "The Wedding Ring," starring real-life spouses Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman as a married couple who spice up their 10th year together after DeVito, playing a costumer in a wax museum, gives his mousy bride a ring that belonged to a black-widow killer. Perlman, cast as a beleaguered waitress exploited by a callous boss, gets a personality makeover whenever she dons the ring, becoming insatiable in bed and a convincing femme fatale everywhere else. The only problem is that she's soon chasing her terrified husband around with a large kitchen knife, imbued with more than the sexy spirit of the ring's previous owner. Directed by DeVito, this cute episode works best as a different kind of vehicle for Perlman, who really does make the screen sizzle. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars With dream's, You live, June 26, 2001

By 

Adam Hunnicutt "A.H." (Remember to vote!! Click my name to read more reviews. Send me an E-Mail to review your product.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amazing Stories - Book One [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I can seriously relate to the characters in the mission. My grandfather was a tailgunner during WWII. Once he was sick and unable to go on a mission. His entire crew and plane were destroyed on take-off. And where would I be? Out of existance. Steven Spielberg directs the first in a series of Amazing stories, a story about heart and survival. Kevin Costner is the captain of a crew of airmen in WWII. The Bellygunner dreams one day of drawing for Disney, and hopes as soon as the war is over, to work in the land of magic.

Kiefer Sutherland, a more serious character and close companion, always keeps an eye out and protects his friend nomatter the cost. On one mission in flight over enemy lands, the plane is hit my enemy fire. The good news is they can make it back to base. But the tragedy is, the door to the bellygunner is stuck and the landing wheels are jammed. Sutherland has a tremendous decision to make, and is faced with a hard decision of his life.

In a tension mounting climax, you see how the dreams and ambitions of one man can change the lives of the others around him forever. Absolutely great.

The other story, The Ring, is funny as all get out. If the decision had been left to me, I wouldn't have stuck these two stories together because they are so different. I would wait a half an hour between the two so you can get the most out of them. Devito and Pearlman have a hard lesson to learn about love, and what it takes to rekindle it. Good stuff.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DVD? Hello...., February 12, 2006

By 

Lucius (northeast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amazing Stories - Book One [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Maybe someone can explain why this truely Amazing anthology is not on DVD. Given the glut of tv series that have been released, that "Amazing Stories" remains locked away is criminal. [Oddly enough, the most interesting (if short lived) tv series ever made - Level 9, First Wave, Special Unit 2, Dark Skies, Prey, Swift Justice, Strange Luck - remain in blackout. Heck, Firefly, the Lone Gunmen, and Crusade made it to DVD and they lasted no longer than a number of these equally well made shows.] It's just a shame.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best hour of TV ever, February 16, 2002

By 

John Gibson (Venice, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amazing Stories - Book One [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I remember watching this Amazing Stories premiere and being
rendered slackjawed for the entire episode. I can remember no
better television, ever. It was like watching 'Raiders of the
Lost Ark', '1941', and 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' all
wrapped up in an hour of tension. This is a masterpiece worthy
of film.

...and the DeVito episode is pretty good too.

:)