FilmSkool — a free film school
The Flintstones
Modern Stone Age family the Flintstones hit the big screen in this live-action version of the classic cartoon. Fred helps Barney adopt a child. Barney sees an opportunity to repay him when Slate Mining tests its employees to find a new executive. But no good deed goes unpunished.
1994 · Directed by Brian Levant · 91 min · Fantasy · Comedy · Family · Screenplay in the scene database · 17 frames
Tagline
Yabba-Dabba-Doo!
Plot
In Stone Age suburban Bedrock, Slate & Co.'s vice-president Cliff Vandercave and his secretary Sharon Stone plan to swindle the company of its vast fortune, pin the blame on a patsy, and flee. Fred Flintstone loans his best friend and neighbor Barney Rubble money so that he and his wife Betty can adopt a feral little boy named Bamm-Bamm, who can only pronounce his own name. Though initially hard to control because of his super strength, Bamm-Bamm eventually warms up to his new family and befriends Fred's daughter Pebbles. Cliff holds an aptitude test for a new executive; Barney notices Fred struggling with the test and, to return his kindness, switches his test with Fred's. Barney happened to have the highest score, so Fred is made an executive, but his first order from Cliff is to fire Barney, who received the lowest score from Fred's test. Fred refuses to fire his best friend because he just adopted Bamm-Bamm, but Cliff gives Fred a warning that if he doesn't fire Barney then Cliff would not only fire Barney but Fred would be fired as well.
Fred allows the Rubbles to move in with him and his wife Wilma while Barney attempts to find a new job, and Cliff lavishes Fred with material perks of his new position to distract him while using him to further his plans. Fred and Wilma become greedier and more self-centered while treating the Rubbles like servants, culminating with Barney revealing he switched their tests and he and Betty leaving. A remorseful Wilma, disgusted with Fred's actions, soon leaves afterward with Pebbles and moves in with her mother Pearl, and reconciles with Betty. Fred learns that Cliff's plan to build a "modernized" assembly line for Slate & Co. is a cover for his embezzlement, but Stone has tricked Fred into signing all the relevant forms, and also into firing most of the company's labor force. Fred is forced to go into hiding when Cliff reports his theft to the police. Wilma, disbelieving Fred's involvement, decides to break into his office and steal his "Dictabird", which remembers all conversations overheard in his office. Cliff observes her with the bird and realizes it overheard his admission of guilt to Fred.
Wilma and Betty find Fred and Barney about to be lynched by disgruntled ex-workers, and the Dictabird reveals to them Fred's innocence and that Cliff actually fired them. The two couples return home and find that Cliff has abducted Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, and is holding them hostage in exchange for the Dictabird. The next day, Fred and Barney arrive at Cliff's assembly line and release the bird to him, and Cliff flees while Fred tries to stop the machinery and Barney goes to rescue their children. Stone arrives to stop Cliff from escaping, and Fred destroys the assembly line while Barney escapes with the kids. The machinery breaks down and a slurry of water and mineral waste cascades onto Cliff, encasing him entirely. Mr. Slate and the police arrive and the Dictabird clears Fred's name, and Mr. Slate is unexpectedly delighted by the material covering Cliff, naming it "concrete" in honor of his daughter Concretia. He orders the workers rehired and makes plans to begin mass-production of concrete, and offers Fred the position of president of their new concrete division, but Fred has realized that wealth changed him for the worst and declines. He instead asks for his old job back, with some additional benefits for the workers, and the two families return to their normal lives.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Steven E. de Souza, Jim Jennewein, Tom S. Parker
- Written by: Michael J. Wilson
- Cinematography: Dean Cundey
- Edited by: Kent Beyda
- Music: Ted Nichols, Marty Paich, David Newman
- Production design: William Sandell, Eloy Lobato
- Produced by: Colin Wilson, Bruce Cohen
Cast
- John Goodman as Fred Flintstone
- Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma Flintstone
- Rick Moranis as Barney Rubble
- Rosie O'Donnell as Betty Rubble
- Kyle MacLachlan as Cliff Vandercave
- Halle Berry as Sharon Stone
- Elizabeth Taylor as Pearl Slaghoople
- Dann Florek as Mr. Slate
- Richard Moll as Hoagie
- Irwin Keyes as Joe Rockhead
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Amblin Entertainment, Universal Pictures
- Budget: $46,000,000
- Box office: $341,631,208
- Themes: friendship, plan, jealousy, manager, adoption, bad mother-in-law, family's daily life, stone age, based on cartoon, prehistory
Own the film
FilmSkool earns a small commission from qualifying Amazon purchases, at no cost to you.
More by Brian Levant
On this film
This is the plain index, shown because JavaScript is off. Every lesson here is a free video published by the channel credited on it and plays through that channel's own embed — FilmSkool hosts nothing.