Forever Young (1992)

Director:

Steve Miner

Writer (WGA):

J.J. Abrams (written by)

Release Date:

16 December 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Time waits for no man but true love waits forever

Plot:

A 1939 test pilot asks his best friend to use him as a guinea pig for a cryogenics experiment. Daniel...

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Test Pilot | Cryogenics | Hibernation | Rapid Aging

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Mel Gibson	...	Capt. Daniel McCormick
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Claire Cooper
Elijah Wood	...	Nat Cooper
Isabel Glasser	...	Helen
George Wendt	...	Harry Finley
Joe Morton	...	Cameron
Nicolas Surovy	...	John
David Marshall Grant	...	Lt. Col. Wilcox USAF
Robert Hy Gorman	...	Felix
Millie Slavin	...	Susan Finley
Michael A. Goorjian	...	Steven
Veronica Lauren	...	Alice
Art LaFleur	...	Alice's Father
Eric Pierpoint	...	Fred
Walton Goggins	...	Gate MP (as Walt Goggins)

Also Known As:

Return of Daniel (USA) (working title)
The Rest of Daniel (USA) (original script title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some language and domestic conflict.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Austria:6 | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Canada:G (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Claremont, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

J.J. Abrams' script was sold for $2 million under its original title of "The Rest of Daniel".

Goofs:

Continuity: While Daniel is about to make dinner, Nat's hands are alternately folded/resting on the table between shots.

Quotes:

Harry Finley: [as they walk away from the wrecked airplane] Danny, please - - don't work for the airlines, okay?
Daniel: Bet you thought I wasn't gonna pull up, didn't you?
Harry Finley: Well, that thought crossed my mind.
Daniel: Oh, it crossed MY mind, too, I can tell you.

Movie Connections:

References Ghost Busters (1984)

Soundtrack:

You Are My Sunshine

Forever Dung? No, but high on the cheese-and-twee content

Not the kind of film you expect from Gibson, who specialises in playing reluctant heroes or personality-flawed action types, Forever Young is wholesome, mushy and a little corny - but not altogether unwatchable. It's a time-travel film but doesn't ask you to stretch your sensibilities to believe it might be possible: here Gibson, an airforce officer pining for his comatose girlfriend in 1939, opts to be cryogenically frozen and 'melted' upon her waking. However because of oversight and red tape, his icebox gets stowed away in some dusty old hangar for 60 odd years. You can imagine how shocked he is on his accidental rousing.

The plot of the film then centres around him firstly acclimatizing to the lifestyle and gadgetry of the 1990s, and then to his quest to find his girlfriend Helen - if she's still alive. He's joined and aided by a young boy (Wood) and then his struggling single mother (Curtis) while some zealous military bureacrats get wind of Gibson's character's presence in the present and begin hunting for him. (Having given you all these pointers, I'm sure you could imagine some of the scenes.)

The film is an adequate exploration of the story it offers, though at times it is simplistic and lightweight. Gibson does 'bemused' and 'bewildered' very well, so no problems there, but his level of surprise at 1990s technology is contrived and often insufficient (imagine you were from the 1930s, familiar only with black and white film in cinemas, and you saw a colour TV in a loungeroom - would you simply raise an eyebrow?) The conclusion and resolution, having Gibson rapidly age as he raced to meet his 1930s lover, was also far too convenient and twee - but we must have our happy endings now, mustn't we? It's that type of saccharine drama: sweet but ultimately fake, but if you can swallow that, then watch it by all means.