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{{Infobox Film | name = The Flintstones |
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| image = Flintstones_ver2.jpg |
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| caption = Original 1994 Film Poster |
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| director = [[Brian Levant]] |
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| producer = [[Bruce Cohen]] |
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| writer = Tom S. Parker<br />Jim Jennewein<br />[[Steven E. de Souza]] |
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| starring = [[John Goodman]]<br />[[Rick Moranis]]<br />[[Elizabeth Perkins]]<br />[[Kyle MacLachlan]]<br />[[Rosie O'Donnell]]<br />[[Halle Berry]]<br />[[Elizabeth Taylor]] |
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| music = [[David Newman (composer)|David Newman]] |
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| cinematography = [[Dean Cundey]] |
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| editing = Kent Beyda |
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| distributor = [[Universal Pictures]] |
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| released = [[May 27]], [[1994]] ([[United States|U.S.]]) |
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| runtime = 91 min. |
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| language = [[English language|English]] |
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| budget = $45,000,000 US (est.) |
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| gross = $340,000,000 |
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| preceded_by = ''[[The Man Called Flintstone]]'' |
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| followed_by = ''[[The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas]]'' |
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| imdb_id = 0109813 |
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}} |
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'''''The Flintstones''''' is a [[1994 in film|1994]] [[live action|live-action]] film directed by [[Brian Levant]], and based on the prime time [[Hanna-Barbera]] animated television sitcom [[The Flintstones|of the same name]]. It is produced by [[Universal Pictures]] and [[Amblin Entertainment]]. The film was poorly received by critics but was a box-office success. It was followed by a sequel, ''[[The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas]]'', released in 2000. |
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==Plot== |
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<!--Please keep this section below 700 words.--> |
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The film begins as Cliff Vandercave, the Executive Vice President of Industrial Procurement at Slate & Co., plans to appoint a Vice President of his division to frame for a crime. To find one, he makes an exam to give to the quarry operators, among whom are [[Barney Rubble]] and [[Fred Flintstone]]. |
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Fred loans Barney money so he and his wife, [[Betty Rubble|Betty]] can adopt a child. They adopt a caveboy named Bamm-Bamm. Barney appreciates what Fred did for him and is determined to pay him back. |
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While taking the exams, Fred fails it, and is disappointed since he will not be able to give his wife, [[Wilma Flintstone|Wilma]] the wealthy life she used to have. Barney takes Fred's exam up for him and notices how poorly he did, so to pay him back for giving him the money to adopt Bamm-Bamm, he swaps his exam with Fred's. Cliff then announces that Fred will be given the promotion and he is excited. |
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On Fred's first day as an executive, Cliff brings him to his new office, where he meets the beautiful and seductive secretary, Miss Sharon Stone. Miss Stone seduces Fred and tells him she will do whatever he desires, despite being married to Wilma. Fred is then introduced to the dictabird. Cliff orders Fred to fire Barney because of his exam score, and he fires Barney at the Rubbles' surprise party. Cliff proposes a new machine that will do all of the quarry work and increase the company's income. However, Fred is concerned about the operators losing their jobs. Cliff plans to have a fake version of the machine built and flee with the money gained from the machine and have Fred frame him for it. Cliff orders Miss Stone to give Fred the forms, but he believes it will merely pay the contractors. When Miss Stone distracts him, Wilma walks in, much to her dismay. |
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While out at a restaurant, Barney, working as a busboy, sees on the news that Fred has fired all of the quarry operators. He confronts him about it, and their falling-out leads to Barney revealing that he switched their tests. The Rubbles move out and Wilma abandons Fred. The next day, Fred finds out about the scam, eventually leading into a chase by an angry mob of the unemployed quarry operators. They eventually catch Fred and attempt to lynch him and Barney once they find out it was because of him that Fred was awarded the job. Fred and Barney reconcile while Wilma and Betty show up with the dictabird, who is the only evidence of Fred's innocence. [[Pebbles Flintstone|Pebbles]] and [[Bamm-Bamm Rubble|Bamm-Bamm]] are kidnapped by Cliff, who wants the dictabird in exchange for their release without involving the police. Fred and Barney bring the dictabird, but Cliff instead turns on the machine. Cliff attempts to kill the dictabird, but he is knocked out by Miss Stone. While Barney rescues the kids, Fred uses the catapult to destroy the machine and eventually causes Cliff to be trapped in wet concrete. The dictabird tells the police that Cliff was behind the scam. Miss Stone is arrested as an accomplice to Cliff, but Fred offers to tell the police that she saved his life thinking they will release her because of it, and she tells him that even though it was her job to seduce him, she really was interested in him, and says farewell. [[Mr. Slate]] decides to name the substance that Cliff was trapped in after his daughter Concretia, and offers Fred the presidency of a new division in the company, but Fred turns down the offer. |
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The film ends with a [[live action|live-action]] montage of the animated series' closing credits. |
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==Cast== |
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* '''[[John Goodman]]''' as '''[[Fred Flintstone]]''' |
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* '''[[Rick Moranis]]''' as '''[[Barney Rubble]]''' |
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* '''[[Elizabeth Perkins]]''' as '''[[Wilma Flintstone]]''' |
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* '''[[Rosie O'Donnell]]''' as '''[[Betty Rubble]]''' |
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* '''[[Kyle MacLachlan]]''' as '''Cliff Vandercave''' |
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* '''[[Elizabeth Taylor]]''' as '''Pearl Slaghoople''' |
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* '''[[Harvey Korman]]''' as the voice of the '''Dictabird''' |
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* '''[[Halle Berry]]''' as '''Miss Sharon Stone''' |
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* '''[[Dann Florek]]''' as '''[[Mr. Slate]]''' |
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* '''[[Mel Blanc]]''' (archive soundtrack) as the voice of '''[[Dino (The Flintstones)|Dino]]''' |
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* '''[[Elaine Silver]] and [[Melanie Silver]]''' as '''[[Pebbles Flintstone]]''' |
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* '''[[Hlynur Sigurdsson]] and [[Marino Sigurdsson]]''' as '''[[Bamm-Bamm Rubble]]''' |
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According to pre-release publicity for ''The Flintstones'', [[Sharon Stone]] was invited to play the role of Sharon Stone, but had to decline as she was already working on ''[[Diabolique]]''. She later admitted her regret for turning down the role. After Sharon declined, the producers mulled changing the character's name to "[[Rosetta Stone]]," but decided most people would miss the archeological reference. |
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According to executive producer [[Steven Spielberg]], while Goodman was intended to play Fred from the start, [[Danny DeVito]] was the original first choice for Barney. DeVito eventually turned down the role as he felt he was too gruff to do the character properly, and reportedly suggested Moranis for the role. ''The Flintstones'' ended up being Moranis' second collaboration with Hanna-Barbera, after the TV series ''[[Gravedale High]]'' - which aired on (and was co-produced by) [[NBC]] (now a [[NBC Universal|corporate sibling]] to the film's distributor, Universal Pictures). |
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===Cameos=== |
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* [[Jean Vander Pyl]] (the original voice of Wilma) as Mrs. Feldspar in the [[Conga]] line behind [[Dino]] |
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* [[Jonathan Winters]] as Grizzled Man who leads the lynch mob after Fred |
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* The [[The B-52's|B-52's]] ([[Kate Pierson]], [[Fred Schneider]] and [[Keith Strickland]]) - renamed the "B.C.-52's" |
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* [[Richard Moll]] as "Hoagie" |
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* [[Jay Leno]] as a talk show host |
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* [[William Hanna]], co-creator of the original series as a Boardroom Executive |
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* [[Joseph Barbera]], co-creator of the original series as a man driving a [[Mercedes-Benz|Mersandes]] |
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* [[Sam Raimi]] as Cliff look-alike |
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* [[Ernie Sabella]] as a mob member |
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==Reaction== |
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<!-- Please note, when updating Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic ratings, you should also update the "accessdate" field within the citation tags to reflect the date on which you have updated them. --> |
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''The Flintstones'' has received generally negative reviews from film critics.<ref name="meta">{{cite web | url= http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/flintstones | title=Flintstones, The (1994): Reviews | publisher=[[Metacritic]] | accessdate=2008-07-30}}</ref> [[Rotten Tomatoes]] ranked the film as "Rotten", with only 18% of its selected critics giving the film positive reviews, based on 39 reviews (7 "fresh", 32 "rotten") with an average rating of 3.6/10. <ref>{{cite web | url= http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/speed_racer/ | title=The Flintstones at Rotten Tomatoes | publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] | accessdate=2008-07-30}}</ref> At [[Metacritic]], which assigns a [[normalization|normalized]] rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an [[weighted mean|average]] score of 38 out of 100, which indicates "generally negative reviews", based on 38 reviews.<ref name="meta"/> |
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In at least two cases, the physical appearance of the actors selected for the roles was the source of near-universal dislike by both critics and fans. Taylor as Wilma's mother, Mrs. Slaghoople, was said not to have matched the physique of the original cartoon character, who had been a physical match for Fred; Taylor was easily dwarfed by Goodman. Some saw O'Donnell's portrayal of Betty to be unacceptable, as her overweight physique did not match that of the slender Betty. O'Donnell was the recipient of the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her performance in this film. [[At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper|Siskel and Ebert]] also gave this film two thumbs down. |
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Despite these issues, ''The Flintstones'' was a box office hit, grossing over $130 million domestically, including the $29.6 million made during the Memorial Day weekend in 1994 and over $340 million worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=flintstones.htm|title=The Flintstones|publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]]|}}</ref> It was also a major seller in the [[DVD]] market, and according to [[Netflix]] has been in their top 100 rentals since the company first went into business. Goodman was praised for his role as Fred, saying he was 'on character' to the role. |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==See also== |
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* [[Theatrically-released films based on Hanna-Barbera animations]] |
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==External links== |
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* {{imdb title|id=0109813|title=The Flintstones}} |
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* {{amg movie|id=1:131161|title=The Flintstones}} |
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* {{rotten-tomatoes|id=1051663-flintstones|title=The Flintstones}} |
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{{The Flintstones}} |
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{{Brian Levant}} |
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{{Steven Spielberg productions}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Flintstones, The}} |
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[[Category:1994 films]] |
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[[Category:American films]] |
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[[Category:Amblin Entertainment films|Flintstones 1]] |
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[[Category:English-language films]] |
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[[Category:Films produced by Steven Spielberg]] |
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[[Category:Comedy films]] |
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[[Category:Universal Pictures films]] |
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[[Category:The Flintstones films]] |
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[[Category:Live-action films based on cartoons]] |
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[[Category:Prehistoric fantasy films]] |
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[[cy:The Flintstones (ffilm)]] |
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[[de:Flintstones – Die Familie Feuerstein]] |
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[[fr:Les Pierrafeu (film)]] |
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[[it:I Flintstones (film)]] |
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[[nl:The Flintstones (film)]] |
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[[pt:The Flintstones (filme)]] |
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[[ru:Флинтстоуны (фильм)]] |
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[[tr:The Flintstones (film)]] |
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[[uk:Флінстоуни (фільм)]] |
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