The 'Burbs (1989)
The 'Burbs was the link movie connecting Small Soldiers and The Empire Strikes Back.
Linked through Wendy Schaal and Carrie Fisher.
Both Wendy Schaal and Carrie Fisher appeared in The 'Burbs.
About The 'Burbs
"He's a man of peace in a savage land... Suburbia."
When secretive new neighbors move in next door, suburbanite Ray Peterson and his friends let their paranoia get the best of them as they start to suspect the newcomers of evildoings and commence an investigation. But it's hardly how Ray, who much prefers drinking beer, reading his newspaper and watching a ball game on the tube expected to spend his vacation.
Directed by Joe Dante
Written by Dana Olsen
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Soundtrack
Score by Jerry Goldsmith
The film's orchestral score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith. The soundtrack received an expanded double-LP release from Waxwork Records in 2018. Additional music featured in the film but not on the soundtrack albums includes Machine (Circus of Power); Se Sei Qualcuno è Colpa Mia (Ennio Morricone); Questa o Quella (Enrico Caruso); and Locked in a Cage, Make Some Noise and Bloodstone (Jetboy).
Movie trivia
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1
Screenwriter Dana Olsen drew on childhood experiences of odd neighbors and local crimes, describing his approach to the story as Ozzie and Harriet meet Charles Manson.
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2
Producer Brian Grazer championed the script and believed Joe Dante would be ideal to direct because the project blends comedy, horror and reality.
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3
Joe Dante had been developing Little Man Tate but took this then-titled Bay Window script when that project collapsed, shifting his focus to The 'Burbs.
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4
The producers cast Tom Hanks as Ray Peterson as an everyman lead; Hanks embraced building off-stage backstory for the character and said he finds motivation himself rather than asking a director.
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5
The movie was shot entirely at Universal Studios over ten weeks in summer 1988, principally on the Colonial Street back lot, which production designer James H. Spencer rapidly reworked to suit the film's tone.
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6
Dante filmed three different endings amid a writers' strike and preview audiences disliked the original, more critical ending of the protagonists, prompting changes to the finale.
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