 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1983 film Christine Obviously based on a Stephen King novel done by John Carpenter. So This is actually the first time I've seen this film and this one goes out to Long-time subscriber of my channel uncle Pete who had told me a few times, you know, you really need to see Christine He said it's behind the thing remake. It is his second favorite John Carpenter film, which is funny because he he made the thing and then right after that his next film was Christine so it was boom boom for Uncle Pete I still think after watching this the fog is my second favorite after the thing for John Carpenter But Christine is really good and I'm really glad I finally saw this film I think it has done better over time because when it first came out It actually did not do well at the box office. It was not received all that well Just because I mean think about what the premises. It's absurd. It doesn't sound like it would be a good film But I think that the way Carpenter shot it It ends up being good. There are some things that could have been changed here or there to make it even better But yeah, and I will say that after watching this film It really does make me want to read Stephen King's book, which one day I'm not a super fast reader So we'll see Once again directed by John Carpenter. This was after the thing and right before he did Starman that's I don't think I've no I think I have seen Starman I was gonna say I don't think I've seen it, but I think I have but it's been like decades Literally this one was written by Bill Phillips who's also written some screenplays such as fire with fire Physical evidence and there goes the neighborhood and obviously based on Stephen King novel as we know Phillips put profanity in this intentionally apparently So he did the script and then he went back and he injected profanity into it because he And I don't get this He wanted to make sure it would get an R rating Because he thought that with the premise of what it was supposed to be And I think the the studio thought as well that if it didn't get an R rating And then it would have even less of a chance of being financially viable in the theaters Which obviously didn't end up being that in the end, but Why don't you just make the kills more grandiose make the kills gorier? Like that's another thing like don't just put in the profanity to get to an R rating put in the kills Put in at least some blood because it's it's it has a little bit of blood Especially at the end where Arnie dies, but put more blood in it doesn't have to be like over the top So it becomes an unrated film, but just put in more blood like I feel like that's the best way to do it Obviously the cheapest way to do it is put in profanity because you don't need to spend money on The fake blood and everything, but I don't know just for me personally And that's one of my biggest criticisms of the film is that the kills are too Tain, I mean especially for the 80s, you know, this is 1983 in horror films There were so many great kills so many great kills So I feel like this film it's like a missed opportunity with this film And I kind of like to see John Carpenter remake it nowadays. I think that'd be really cool. Just have it gorier Anyway 15% of the budget was actually spent on cars for this because as you can see watching the film They destroyed cars they destroyed plenty of cars and that's one of the other things I really like about this film is whenever they're shooting stuff or when Carpenter shooting stuff in this film Around the cars It looks way better than you would expect it to like he shot it in a way that all the car sequences are actually super engaging Like I said like you would come into this thinking the premise is really stupid and it's probably not going to be that interesting But he managed to shoot them in a really interesting looking way and it's super engaging and I was surprised You know when Uncle Pete was like you got to watch Christine. It's so good I'm like it's about a killer car man. Like how good can that really be pretty good? Keith Gordon who played Arnie actually pretended the car was an actual woman So one of the things he said he's he's done is he would visualize Touching an actual part of a woman whenever he was touching Christine to kind of create that chemistry between him and the sentient Car which I think is a really cool idea and it's really cool Just to know that little bit of information Especially if you do a rewatch on it and you're just like what part of the woman Does he think he's touching right now because I found my myself thinking that when I was watching the film Yeah Kevin Bacon was initially offered the lead role He was supposed to be Arnie Very interesting. He ended up turning that down for Footloose I Don't like Footloose personally. I know by a lot of people do but I'm not a Footloose fan I would rather seen him in this but I do think that Keith Gordon did an excellent job Which by the way, Keith Gordon now is a director and has mainly just been directing TV shows But he did some movies as well, but that's just interesting to know Scott Bayo was considered for the role of Arnie. Brooks Shields was considered for the role of Lee Nicholas Cage auditioned for the role of Buddy And John Cusack auditioned for the role of Arnie A lot of big names right there makes you kind of like start thinking what if What if what if I always like those scenarios? I love finding out who else auditioned and then just play those what if scenarios in my mind So especially when you throw nick cage into the into the buddy role that could have been pretty fun He's not a big role in it, but you know So the backstory of the plant Making the car and it being evil immediately. I don't really think is that great But it does kind of make you wonder until you get further into the film Like what's the car been doing up for decades up until the point that Arnie finds it But you you know slowly end up getting that information and finding out that It's been killing people basically it's been getting very close controlling people and killing people Which tells you exactly what's going to end up happening with Arnie But watching the movie you just have this feeling like Arnie could be the one who breaks that Sequence basically the that breaks the history of what this car does to people But alas in the end it's not meant to be he still dies as well Which is sad Because he wasn't a bad character. It's just the hold of the evil car christine like got a hold of him Now that initial backstory sequence of the car actually being made Apparently is not in the book from what I've read and it was just put in there to kind of have like an origin for it I don't think it's a great origin. Honestly. I obviously sets it up to be a killer car But where did it come from? Like where did this sentience For the car actually come from it makes no sense. It's just like it rolled right off the Uh the plant And it just happened to be evil, but none of the other cars are I don't really get that Was it like a child's play type situation? I don't know like I feel like we needed that a little bit extra or don't have the plant thing Just have the car show up You know when Arnie and Dennis initially see it and just go from there. I just don't think the backstory really worked Honestly, plus it kind of I feel like it kind of takes some of the tension and Discovery of the film away because you already know that the car kills It would have been kind of better impact wise if you didn't know that the car kills up front Because when George the person that they purchased the car from or that Arnie purchases the car from When George says that his brother died in the car or when they find out that his brother died in the car You might think oh, yeah, it was suicide But having seen that opening sequence you think well the car killed him because the cars killed other people Now take that sequence out and you would potentially think okay. Some guy killed his so he killed himself in the car. That is creepy But you don't know the extent of it and then it's more of a surprise when you find out that Christine will kill people So I don't know. I just like it. I would like it better without that that initial scene, honestly The setups are pretty typical horny high school guys setup Um, which is fine. It makes it very relatable for a younger audience Which is obviously what they were going for especially with it not being like super gory and everything So that's fine You get the idea that Arnie can't do anything with Dennis in the very beginning of it because he's constantly kind of looking at Dennis for what should I do here? And it also seems like he doesn't really have any Willingness or ability to stand up to people unless Dennis is there. It's kind of like his backup It's like all of his courage comes from Dennis until obviously further in the film where he starts getting that instead from Christine It's like he has to siphon courage off of other people Because he his self-esteem is so low and you see why obviously because his home situation is terrible The way his parents treat him. They bully him at home. He's bullied at school. It's a lot of bullying in this film and it's At its core a very interesting story for that reason Because it's it's also relatable because I'm sure a lot of people have had a friend or been a been one of the people who You Aren't seen as popular. You aren't seen as desirable Like Arnie and then you get a relationship like Arnie gets with Christine And you all of a sudden have this boost of self-confidence a boost in self-esteem And you feel like you have value then Because someone is feeding that to someone is making you feel like you matter at that point and then there's a tendency that You can kind of go a little bit too far in how your personality changes, which is what happens with Arnie You know most people don't go to the extent that Arnie does because he stops He starts caring about only Christine She has such a hold over him and then doesn't really care about people who end up dying That's you know something else, but I think there's kind of like this this um Uh extra magical Type hold that Christine has on Arnie that it's not all natural part of it is natural I think his his personality changes, but not all of it because they're so severe The first scene with buddy is definitely too long. I really did thought they needed to cut that scene down like you get the point pretty Immediately immediately that Arnie is bullied and downtrodden and he can't stand up for himself They didn't need to you know have it go as long as it did especially with buddy not being such a huge part of the film What does Arnie really see in Christine? Uh, you end up realizing that later he sees himself and her Something that's abandoned and undervalued this kind of goes to what I was talking about about the self-esteem issue That Arnie has he then sees a lot of that in Christine Which is why he initially wants the car you could probably also argue that there's some sort of like magical hold That Christine puts out initially when he first sees her Maybe there's no actual evidence for it, but it it would it would make sense But I think it was more of he saw an undervalued car that is ugly like him I think he even makes a statement kind of like that at some point. And so he wants to Improve that car and through improving that car He's improving himself as well And then you see once the car is actually in working order and looks great He totally changes his look, you know, he loses his glasses. He starts dressing a lot cooler He gets that date with Lee like everything changes So it's a mirror image of what's going on with this car and the work that he's putting into his car It's just like work that he's putting into himself to improve himself along with the car How is Arnie's mom mad at Dennis? It's like she views him as Arnie's babysitter This kind of speaks a little bit more to The bullying issue there and the fact that you know Arnie's parents are so bad that they don't even trust him to like be an adult Even though he seems like he's initially a good student Where he gets the car and then Arnie's mom's like yelling at Dennis saying like Why did you let him and he's like I didn't let him he bought the car Like I told him not to but he bought the car like he's a human being He has his own, you know, will he's gonna do what he's gonna do But that makes it makes you feel like when his parents aren't with him with him That they feel like Dennis should be the one to babysit him and make sure that he doesn't do things that they don't Want him to do which is ridiculous But that shows that level of control issue at home As soon as Darnell Comments that he knew a person with a car like Christine who killed himself in it You know that that was Christine. In fact, I do like that little bit of dialogue there Because it makes the audience member like oh, yeah, it was that guy most likely I guarantee it Notice how people demean Christine just like the bullies do to Arnie a lot of people talk trash about Christine especially initially which I do feel like kind of Helps in creating that initial emotional connection between Arnie and Christine because Arnie Like he's bullied all the time is seeing that Christine is kind of being bullied in the same way So that kind of drives him even further to her Christine playing songs to communicate is a clever way to have her interact with characters I did like that also the the use of the green light that comes on with the radio to kind of Show that Christine is trying to interact with people or going to do something I did like that touch as well. That was really nice And the thing is the song thing could have come off as really weird and and like corny and cheesy But I it doesn't it plays well for some reason You see that Arnie just looks at Lee as an object when he yells at the guys Trying to get trying to give her the Heimlich maneuver when she was choking because Christine made her start choking It's kind of kind of similar to the way Christine is with Arnie like there's a mirroring Factor going on there where you realize that Arnie Wasn't really even in to Lee as a person He was just into her body and started just really viewing her as an object because his actual relationship was with Christine so From a sexual standpoint and a you know appearance standpoint He was just looking at Lee that way and like I said you see that most when she's joking And the the person at the drive-in theater pulls her out and starts trying to give her the Heimlich maneuver Arnie's not concerned at that moment about her choking Or about is she okay or not? He's more concerned about yelling at the guy to get his hands off of her because that's his girl Because that's his property basically and if you think about it, that's what Christine is doing Christine is making Lee choke at that point because that's my guy Arnie is my guy get your hands off my guy It's the same thing And that's why story-wise it's very well executed all this stuff um Great shot of Arnie tending to Christine and Lee standing alone in the background This is when uh, Christine's been smashed up the first time and Arnie finds it when he's with Lee at the time and then the just his great shot of showing Focus on Lee in the background and then Arnie like tending to Christine and it's it's just such a great shot because even though Lee is there with Christine and Arnie It it frames it and makes it look like she's alone because she is like There's so much focus between Christine and Arnie that Even though Lee's there. She is definitely alone You have a hard time believing Christine would allow herself to be destroyed But then when you see her end up rebuilding herself Uh, it indicates that she let it happen in my opinion I think she let that happen in order to draw Arnie closer to her because she was kind of starting to see That Arnie was moving a little bit closer to Lee and I think that Christine believed that if she let those bullies destroy her Then she could pull Arnie closer in to care about her more just like I mean that happens with people in actual relationships You know they act like they have some sort of problem or they need the other person More for some reason to pull them back in to to keep them from wandering away from the relationship Or to refocus them on that person and their needs Christine does exactly that because you find out she could have immediately rebuilt herself or she could have killed the bullies When they were initially smashing her up So it leads me to believe that she did it on purpose She allowed it to happen to pull Arnie further in and I think that's pretty brilliant story wise Arnie reaches a new level when he has the very contentious first Interaction with detective Junkins played by Harry Dean Stanton who I think is awesome by the way And if you have not seen the film Paris, Texas do yourself a favor and see that he's wonderful in it um Yeah That's something that you feel like Arnie would never have done otherwise If he wasn't under the control of Christine because he gets really mouthy with a detective Not a good detective mind you but a detective nonetheless Because he's just like this absurd detective that like it seems like he has kind of an inkling what's going on with the car But at the same time like how would he have that inkling of what's going on? And if he was an actual good detective, he would have been looking at everything points to Arnie So why is he just having like these very casual conversations with Arnie and also allowing Arnie to be like very belligerent And mean to him at the same time and not becoming even more suspicious of Arnie It seems like he's just suspicious of Christine the whole time, which doesn't really make sense in my opinion. It just doesn't The scene of buddy's car getting wrecked and blown up is pretty cool And then buddy getting chased by Christine while Christine is on fire And then run over and he's on fire as well That's even better like the the buddy's car blowing up scene that whole scene is really good in the first place But then it ups itself once again with Christine on fire chasing buddy down the road It looked great carpenter shot it in an excellent way This goes back to what I was saying before about all the car related scenes were shot so well and engaging Everything would point to Arnie being the one killing people. Yeah Just think about that like it really would and Arnie kind of seems to not pick up on that because he's so focused on Christine When Dennis scratches the message in Christine's hood To make you know Arnie show up to the garage Darnell's You really are thinking do not do this pal because that car is going to kill you for that I mean at least I did I did like the twist though. I didn't see it coming of Christine already hiding In the I guess garage at the junk. It was a junkyard. I guess at the garage Um, I didn't see that coming and then I also didn't see it coming that Arnie was actually in Christine I thought it was Christine who was Just doing her own thing like she was like these people are going to try and come between me and Arnie So I have to take them out. No Arnie was actually in her. So at that point Arnie was Willing to kill them or willing to go along with Christine to kill them and that was he he reached this pinnacle So that's the point where really he did have to die story-wise And it's tragic and I do think it was a good impactful death for him, especially when you it comes so Close after you just find out that he was in the car And I think for that reason it's cool that they made The windows like they blacked the windows out so you couldn't really tell if Arnie was in there or not Which I thought was smart Um Nice touch with the little bit of movement of the christine cube at the end. I call it the christine cube how she was like Compacted into that cube. Uh, there's that little bit of like a movement Perfect. So I mean obviously set it up for a sequel. I don't think there was ever a sequel book There was obviously not a sequel movie. I don't think so if i'm wrong. You can tell me in the comments, but Yeah, it was a good ending Um, obviously it shot really well this film because it's john carpenter Um, oh something you need to note the guy who plays george in this the guy they initially buy the car from His name is roberts blossom and when I was watching this watching it for the first time I was like his voice sounds very familiar. He plays marley in home alone the original home alone Just fun little fact there Note how arnie starts looking and acting different once he gets christine It literally is like what happens when someone gets a significant other Because confidence increases and how they mark the passage of time In the film lets you know that arnie's change is actually gradual. That's another great thing that they chose to do They could have just had it all happen within like a week or something, but You're just getting the highlights of how of the points where arnie's Uh, personality is is changing for the worst And they do a good job of marking that by saying, you know, it's october It's december, you know Stuff like that. So you get the idea that more time is passing. You're just not seeing all the boring stuff So they did a good job with it. So overall obviously I quite enjoyed this film I think it's pretty well done. So out of five stars with half stars in play I'm going to give it a very solid four star rating. This is a good film Uh, glad I finally saw it. So thank you uncle pete, but i'm going to remind you because I know you watch this review uncle pete Because I watched christine bump that up my list You have to bump up assassination nation and attack the block Just saying And i'm excited for you to get to those. I already have a review for assassination nation on my channel I need to do a review for attack the block and I will at some point But anyway, thank you so much everyone for checking this out. Put some comments down here What do you think about christine your thoughts and feelings on it? And what you know, what were your thoughts when you first saw it where you did you think it was stupid? And then you thought it was better later. I don't know. I'd be interested to know that Also, do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button because that is the best way to repay me If you like this video or any video I've ever done. I really do appreciate it I'm just trying to build this nerdy horror community and that really does help Um, so yeah, I would appreciate that also hit the notification bell button That way you'll know when I'm putting up more review videos or unboxings or any of that stuff So regardless though, thanks. I really appreciate you taking your time to watch this and until next time keep it brutal