Friday Flix: May 1992

Summer is right around the corner!

May is the month movie studios start pumping out high octane movies in preparation for the summer blockbuster season. May 1992 is no exception.

There are a couple mediocre movies in the mix but enough good ones to keep the theaters packed.

In May 1992 I was hitting my stride in the new city. And, more importantly I found a movie theater nearby to watch all the great (and not so great) movies coming out.

What did I watch in May 1992? Let’s take a look.

Movies from May 1992

K2

K2 is a movie loosely based on the story of two mountaineers who were the first Americans to summit K2, the second highest mountain in the world.

There’s a little action, lots of drama and not much else. Visually the movie is fantastic but that’s about all it has going for it.

K2 was a box office failure. If you like mountaineering movies check out Touching the Void, The Summit (also about K2) or Everest.

Poison Ivy

This movie is a crazy ride.

I didn’t see it in the theater. I rented it from the local video store. Which was a rent-to-own store that also rented videos. I didn’t start going to Blockbuster until the mid 90s.

Poison Ivy stars Sara Gilbert from Rosanne, Tom Skerritt and Drew Barrymore as Ivy. Ivy is a deranged young lady who befriends Sylvie (Gilbert) and slowly takes over her family. First Ivy manipulates the mother, who is sick, then she goes after the father, Darryl (Skerritt).

The mother ends up dead, Ivy and Darryl have an affair and Sylvie catches them in the act. But it doesn’t end there. Ivy tries to take over the mother’s spot in the family, leading to the final confrontation with Sylvie.

Poison Ivy was a box office failure. That didn’t stop them from making more. There are three sequels, Poison Ivy 2 and 3 were direct-to-video and Poison Ivy 4 was a made for TV movie. I haven’t seen any of the sequels.

Sister Act

This is the kind of movie made for Whoopie Goldberg, unlike Burglar which was re-written for her and was a complete disaster.

In Sister Act Goldberg plays Deloris a lounge singer in Reno who witnesses a murder. She is placed into the witness protection program until she can testify. What better place for a Reno lounge singer than a convent in San Francisco.

Only the head nun and priest known she isn’t a real nun. The movie is funny even though it’s predictable. Deloris takes the nuns out for a night of fun and they all discover what they are missing.

During Sunday service Deloris leads the choir in hymns and it quickly morphs into Rock and Roll inspired songs. The popularity of the choir garners more church goers and helps the failing parish.

The popularity also lets the murder know where Deloris is located and they come to get her before the trial.

Sister Act was a box office smash earning over $231 million. It’s the eighth highest grossing movie of 1992. It’s success led to a sequel in 1993 which was also a box office hit.

I saw Sister Act once in the theater. It’s a funny movie but not one I’ve ever re-watched.

You can watch Sister Act on Disney+.

Alien 3

There were two sequels (threequels?) released in May 1992 that are part of successful franchises. Alien 3 and one we’ll talk about below.

I saw and enjoyed both Alien and Aliens, going to see the third movie was an easy decision.

Alien 3 takes place immediately after the events of Aliens. The escape pod carrying Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Newt, Hicks and Bishop crashes on planet Fury 161 a maximum security prison planet.
There’s also a facehugger roaming around the escape pod and may have infected the inhabitants.

The escape pod is discovered and the facehugger escapes. Newt and Hicks were killed on impact and Bishop was badly damaged. Ripley emerged unharmed. Ripley insists on an autopsy for Newt to make sure she isn’t infected with the alien. Then Newt and Hicks’ bodies are incinerated.

The facehugger infects a dog and and alien burst from the dog setting the stage for the movie.

From this point on the movie gets a little stale. Ripley gets control of the prison planet and convinces the prisoners to help her destroy the alien. Ripley scans her body and discovers she has the embryo of the Alien Queen growing in her body.

There are explosions and the alien kills most (all) of the inmates. The corporation that runs everything wants the Alien Queen to use as a bioweapon and Ripley wants it dead.

In the final scenes Ripley does a Nestea plunge into the furnace just as the Alien Queen erupts from her stomach. It’s the end for both of them.

The movie is decent. There are to many Alien perspectives during the chase scenes and the chase scenes get boring. Somehow the prisoners can outrun the super space alien.

Alien 3 is the first film directed by David Fincher. He would go on to direct some great movies like Seven, Fight Club and Panic Room.

Past cast members were disappointed with the film. James Cameron, writer and director of Aliens said killing Newt, Hicks and Bishop was a slap in the face. Michael Biehn was so upset about Hicks dying he demanded as much money to use his likeness in Alien 3 as he made for Aliens. Director David Fincher has even disowned the film.

Alien 3 didn’t do well in the States, drawing only $50 million. It was a international success though making over $104 million internationally.

This isn’t my favorite movie in the Alien franchise but it’s not too bad. I like the first two movies better.

Encino Man

Hey, Buuuddy

Pauly Shore was huge in the late 80s, early 90s. He was a popular stand-up comic and shot to nation wide fame when he was on MTV. His show Totally Pauly was a big hit for MTV. Shore’s success on TV led to starring roles in movies.

In Encino Man Pauly Shore plays, well, Pauly Shore and Sean Astin plays his high school friend. They find a man encased in a chunk of ice while digging a swimming pool in the backyard. The ice thaws and out comes Branden Fraser as Link, a prehistoric caveman.

This is a typical fish-out-of-water story. There’s nothing original about it, all the normal tropes are used.

Whether you like this movie or not is solely based on one thing…Pauly Shore. If you can tolerate his humor you’ll like this movie. If not, then you won’t.

I was a big Pauly Shore fan when he was on MTV. I enjoyed his movies, some more than others. My favorite is Son-in-Law. I can re-watch Son-in-Law. I’ve tried watching Encino Man before but can’t get through it.

In 1992 Encino Man was a box office success, making over $40 million on a $7 million dollar budget.

Did you know there was a made-for-TV sequel made called Encino Woman? I never saw it. The full version of Encino Woman pops up on YouTube ever now and then.

Far and Away

Far and Away starring husband and wife Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. They previously starred in the highly popular 1990’s hit Days of Thunder.

In Far and Away they play Irish immigrants Joseph and Shannon who are seeking a better life in America. On the boat over to America they learn of a free land giveaway in Oklahoma.

Once they land in America things don’t go as planned and they struggle to find their way to Oklahoma and the land rush. Joseph starts bare knuckle boxing to raise money and Shannon is a burlesque dancer.

Nothing works out for them and they end up going their separate ways only to find each other once again in Oklahoma.

During the Land rush Joseph gets in a fight over a pot of land and is nearly killed. Shannon rushes to his side and they claim the land together.

Far and Away was directed by Ron Howard. Howard has directed some big movies in his career like Backdraft, Apollo 13, The Da Vinci Code, Solo: A Star Wars Story and one of my favorites Willow.

Far and Away was another movie that did OK in the States and better internationally. Overall it grossed over $137 million, the majority from the international market.

Tom Cruise is box office gold. Anything he touches is successful. He’s had a few bad movies over the years but is consistently making high grossing movies.

He’s been a superstar in the movie industry since the 1980s and is still making high quality movies today. His latest movie is the highly anticipated Sequel to 1986’s Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick. I already have my tickets!

Lethal Weapon 3

Lethal Weapon is easily the best Buddy-Cop movie franchise ever made. Lethal Weapon and Lethal Weapon 2 were huge hits. Would a third movie prove to be a success or a dud?

Lethal Weapon 3 sees Murtaugh (Glover), Riggs (Gibson) and Leo (Pesci) together again trying to stop a retired LAPD lieutenant turned arms dealer. The movie also introduces a love interest for Riggs, Sergeant Lorna Cole (Rene Russo).

In Los Angeles, gang violence was at an all time high in 1992. The movie weaves real life events into the plot. Riggs is breaking up a gun sale and during the shootout Murtaugh kills a boy who is friends with his son. Murtaugh is devastated and he and Riggs are determined to catch the arms dealer.

The movie has al the hallmarks of the first two, lots of action, humor in all the right spots and sincere emotion. All of which make for a great movie.

Leo Getz is back with his bombastic personality and is as funny as ever. Cole is an internal affairs officer on the case since the arms dealer is an former cop. She has a complimentary personality to Riggs and they quickly hit it off. Riggs is like a proud papa when he tells Murtaugh to watch Cole beat up five guys in an auto body shop.

Lethal Weapon 3 wasn’t a dud. It was the most successful of all the Lethal Weapon movies. I saw this in the theater three times. It was the best movie to watch in May 1992.

Lethal Weapon 3 made over $320 Million making it the fifth highest grossing movie of 1992. It’s success also led to a fourth film in the franchise aptly titled Lethal Weapon 4.

The success of the franchise led to an arcade game, console game adaptions and a pinball machine. I’d love to have the pinball machine, if you have an extra one laying around let me know.

There was a short lived TV series in 2016. It was OK, but didn’t have the same tone that made the movies success.

There have been rumors of a Lethal Weapon 5 for years. In December 2017 director Richard Donner confirmed Gibson and Glover agreed to reprise their roles for a fifth movie. In December 2020 Donner said he was writing the fifth movie which he would produce and direct. Adding it would be the final film he directed. Unfortunately Richard Donner died in July 2021.

As of November 2021 Gibson is attached to star and direct the film. He said he’d direct it in honor of Richard Donner. Lethal Weapon 5 has an entry on IMDb and is listed as ‘In Development.’ If it gets made I will be in the theater watching Riggs and Murtaugh kick ass one last time.

You can watch Lethal Weapon 3 on HBO Max

Other movies released in May 1992

Here are the rest of the movies released in May 1992. I’m interested in watching Split Second with Rutger Hauer. It’s currently on Amazon and on my list.

Have you seen any of the movies below? If I’m missing out on a good one let me know.

That’s our look back at May 1992. Some good box office draws banking on established franchises and some movies hoping for success. Lethal Weapon 3 is my favorite movie of the month, followed by Alien 3.

As an added bonus here’s Siskel and Ebert reviewing a few of the movies mentioned above.

What are your favorites from May 1992?

Let us know in the comments below. Or tag us on Twitter. The main channel is @TRNSocial and I’m @MileHighSamurai

Don’t forget to check out Box Office 30! They are currently covering 1992 and some of the movies mentioned above.

Next week we’ll look at May1997.

Until then the balcony is closed.