The 3 Guys Podcast Recorded on 10/5/2022 How do you kill something that can't possibly be alive? In this podcast we review Stephen King’s movie adaptation Christine starring Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, Harry Dean Stanton and directed by John Carpenter. WARNING: There will be SPOILERS!
And look for a special segment on our show presented by the man himself, Kevin Smith. The 3 Guys Rating 2.6/5
Notes From The Show * Quick Synopsis * Released: December 9, 1983
Based On The Book: “Christine” by Stephen King
Directed By: John Carpenter
Screenplay By: Bill Phillips
Stars: Christine, Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, Harry Dean Stanton and a bunch of other actors.
Plot: A nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.
Tagline: How do you kill something that can’t possibly be alive?
How did this movie do: Budget: $10 Million Box Office: $21 Million * Casting * + Initially, Columbia Pictures had wanted to cast Brooke Shields in the role of Leigh because of her publicity after the release of The Blue Lagoon (1981), and Scott Baio as Arnie. + The filmmakers declined the suggestion, opting to cast young actors who were still fairly unknown. Kevin Bacon auditioned for the role, but opted out when offered the lead in Footloose (1984). * Book Differences * + According to the movie, Christine was evil from the day she rolled off the assembly line, injuring an inspector and killing another worker who dropped cigar ashes on her seat. In the book, Christine was just a normal ’58 Plymouth Fury that was purchased by Roland LeBay, brother of George LeBay (Roberts Blossom), the man who sold Christine to Arnie in the movie. It’s Roland LeBay who made Christine evil, his love for Christine overriding even his love for his wife and daughter, both of whom died in the car. Thus, Roland’s evil spirit became one with Christine. In both the movie and the book, Christine could drive herself and repair any damage so long as she was kept moving. When Roland died and with no one to love her and drive her around, Christine ceased “living” and began to show her age, until Arnie came along. Roland’s evil spirit and love for Christine was then transferred to Arnie. + In the book, Arnie and Dennis worked on a construction crew over the summer. This is how Arnie saved up enough money to buy Christine and explains how Dennis knows how to drive the bulldozer. However, the book’s finale does not feature a bulldozer but instead a pink septic truck named Petunia. Stephen King’s idea for the final battle was two powerful “ladies” duking it out. * Trivia * + Christine is identified in the film as a red-and-white 1958 Plymouth Fury. In reality it was typically a 1957 model and often most the cars were Savoy and Belvedere models dressed to look like the Fury + In June 2021, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Blumhouse Productions announced the development of a remake of the film with Bryan Fuller penning the script and directing and Jason Blum, Vincenzo Natali and Steve Hoban producing. + Stephen King’s popularity was such at the time that the film went into production before the book was even published. + 15% of the budget was just on the cars. By the end of filming, all but 2 were destroyed. + Portions of the film, particularly Arnie’s neighborhood, were shot in the same South Pasadena neighborhood that director John Carpenter used in Halloween (1978). + Stephen King chose a ’58 Plymouth Fury for Christine because it was a “forgotten car.” “I didn’t want a car that already had a legend attached to it like the ’50s Thunderbird.” + One of the Plymouth Furys from the movie was sold for $167,000 in 2004. + John Carpenter refused to go to the premiere because of a superstition. “When I go to premieres, something bad always happens.” + Keith Gordon (Arnie) says on a DVD extra that he pretended the car was a woman, so wherever he touched the car, he imagined which part of a woman the car was. + The movie playing during the drive-in scene is Thank God It’s Friday (1978), which features a running gag where a character’s cherished automobile keeps getting damaged (both deliberately and inadvertently) throughout the film. + Keith Gordon was nervous about kissing Alexandra Paul, so he asked her to practice first. + Stephen King later created two characters named for Harry Dean Stanton: Harry Terwilliger and Dean Stanton. They were the names of two of the guards in The Green Mile (1999), which also featured Stanton himself as Old Toot-Toot. + In the scenes where Christine is autonomous a green hue is visible to indicate her sentience. This is also visible in Maximum Overdrive (1986) in the scene where a green hue is seen in the night sky. Both are works of Stephen King. + Body count : 8. + John Carpenter blacked out Christine’s windows so you don’t know if Arnie is driving her. + To achieve Christine’s very bright headlights, two 12 volt batteries were used. Unfortunately, this caused the headlights to burn out frequently. + The origin of the killer car’s name comes from Christine Romero. Stephen King was filming Creepshow in Pittsburgh with George and Christine Romero when he had the idea for the novel.
Released: December 9, 1983
Based On The Book: “Christine” by Stephen King
Directed By: John Carpenter
Screenplay By: Bill Phillips
Stars: Christine, Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, Harry Dean Stanton and a bunch of other actors.
Plot: A nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.
Tagline: How do you kill something that can’t possibly be alive?
How did this movie do: Budget: $10 Million Box Office: $21 Million
The filmmakers declined the suggestion, opting to cast young actors who were still fairly unknown. Kevin Bacon auditioned for the role, but opted out when offered the lead in Footloose (1984).
According to the movie, Christine was evil from the day she rolled off the assembly line, injuring an inspector and killing another worker who dropped cigar ashes on her seat. In the book, Christine was just a normal ’58 Plymouth Fury that was purchased by Roland LeBay, brother of George LeBay (Roberts Blossom), the man who sold Christine to Arnie in the movie. It’s Roland LeBay who made Christine evil, his love for Christine overriding even his love for his wife and daughter, both of whom died in the car. Thus, Roland’s evil spirit became one with Christine. In both the movie and the book, Christine could drive herself and repair any damage so long as she was kept moving. When Roland died and with no one to love her and drive her around, Christine ceased “living” and began to show her age, until Arnie came along. Roland’s evil spirit and love for Christine was then transferred to Arnie.
In the book, Arnie and Dennis worked on a construction crew over the summer. This is how Arnie saved up enough money to buy Christine and explains how Dennis knows how to drive the bulldozer. However, the book’s finale does not feature a bulldozer but instead a pink septic truck named Petunia. Stephen King’s idea for the final battle was two powerful “ladies” duking it out.
Christine is identified in the film as a red-and-white 1958 Plymouth Fury. In reality it was typically a 1957 model and often most the cars were Savoy and Belvedere models dressed to look like the Fury
About The Movie From IMDB
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