Well, I like this movie for only one reason: It has a computer in it that hates Paul Reiser and wants to kill him. And after you hear and see him composing some of his god-awful synthesizer music in his apartment during the opening scene with pathetic cinematography, you can only think "Please, shoot this guy... and make it quick". So there's this evil computer controlling an hi-tech giant miniature tower made out of plastic. Paul Reiser, the new employee, gets locked in during one night, together with his possible love-interest. Lots of running around, getting stuck in elevators and air-shafts and things blowing up (including a sauna). All pretty stupid, but mildly entertaining. The special FX's are fun but cheap. Basically this movie could be categorized as stupid nonsense, but since it was 'made for TV', I'll be very mild in my final rating. Why did I watch this nonsense a second time, you ask? I just like to see Paul Reiser suffer
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Vomitron_G20 February 2010
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This TV movie is proof that machines can't and shouldn't run the world. Here, an employee named Tony goes to his first day of work at a corporate high-rise, whose security system is run by a main computer with a mind of its own. When it fails to identify Tony as the new employee, and after several security breaches, it deems Tony as a security risk and attempts to terminate him.
A bit of an interesting plot with some thrilling moments in and there. But, the plot doesn't really hold its own as there is really no suspense built-up or character development. Paul Reiser appeared to be miscast in this movie, showing no real drama or emotion; he acted like everything was a joke around him. The female characters were OK and were humorous at times. The romantic subplot between the two character leads didn't mix in well with the main story, though.
Basically, this film appears to be a somewhat well-budgeted flick, but put together with haste.
Grade C- -
The-Sarkologist21 December 2013To quickly describe this I would call it some strange b-grade horror movie, the ones that I find funnier than scarier. As I always say about horror movies, is that what I find scary are things that could really happen, and I find them more disturbing than scary. Movies like Misery, the Net, and even Very Bad Things, are more horrifying than this. Even though what happened in this movie is theoretically possible, it does not leave the images that a movie like Very Bad Things does.
This movie is about a futuristic building that is run and protected by a very sophisticated computer. The problem is that the computer is so rigid that is there is one thing wrong then it construes it as its programs would do. If you park in the wrong place, or don't look after your keycard, then the computer will construe you as an intruder.
This movie seems to have been created by a cookie cutter. It has a nasty unbeatable opponent, a pretty girl, a daring man, and people dying horrible deaths. Other than that the only real moral of this movie is that you shouldn't rely on computers because they can be unpredictable in the most predictable ways. It was an okay movie, but really doesn't do all that much. -
uds329 November 2003Unfairly trashed little telemovie I feel. Sure its derivative and non too brilliant in its execution (as it were). Simplistic tale of a computer techo who is taken on in a high-rise that is the domain of the computer-in-charge.....a la GREMLINS 2. The computer takes an instant dislike to Reiser and after multiple "violations" marks him for "deletion"
Sure, just about everything you see has been done before...but hell its still entertaining in a B-Grade, got-nothing-else-to-do-anyway kinda way! OK, the script is crap....the fx somewhere between acceptable and less-than-average but Reiser's infectious attitude keeps the thing's head above water!
A solid 5 which makes the thing not a total loss. Watch it, have a laugh! -
JackH13 August 1998This film brilliantly explodes the uneasy relationship we have with machines in our isolationist, paranoid, postmodern society. Actually, I'm lying: it's derivative rubbish. You can almost imagine the production meetings: "Hey guys - let's take the best bits of the best films and mix them all together to make the best film ever!" That must have seemed like such a good idea at the time
Don't worry if you haven't seen this film - the plot is so familiar it will seem like you have anyway. It concerns a monumental tower-block (Hey! Just like in "The Towering Inferno" (John Guillermin: 1974)) with which the owners are seriously pleased - until it all goes terribly wrong ("The Towering Inferno" again.) It seems this tower-block is controlled by a powerful, state-of-the-art computer which, fed up with playing Minesweeper all day, goes bonkers (Anyone seen "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Stanley Kubrick : 1968)?) and decides to take over the control of the tower - and eventually the world. This is where Julie Christie comes in. Oh - sorry that's "Demon Seed" (Donald Cammell: 1977) No, this one is totally different. Here we have just one man who is pitted against the might of the computer ("2001" again) - played with an admirably straight face by Paul Reiser. This is a hideous bit of miscasting: Reiser, though a competent enough actor, isn't exactly lead material mainly because he's far too familiar - predominantly as a lightweight comedy actor, playing the intelligent one in the TV sitcom "My Two Dads"; and in films like "Sunset Limousine" (Terry Hughes: 1983), Cross My Heart (Armyan Bernstein: 1987) and "Crazy People" (Tony Bill: 1990 ) Herein lies the problem: is this being played for laughs? Unbelievably, it appears not. Reiser runs, ducks, types energetically on a computer keyboard , swims like Shelley Winters in "The Poseidon Adventure" (Ronald Neame: 1972 ), and rescues a cat like O. J. Simpson in "The Towering Inferno". Okay so I lied about the last two - but I eagerly await the sequel - and the point I'm making is that despite the corny lines, the clichéd plot and uninspiring special effects, Reiser works like a trooper to try to get you to care. Ultimately though, it's all in vain.
This film serves as one of those spot-the-originals, where the audience is constantly reminded of other - generally superior - films and as such provides moments of entertainment. They are only moments, though. With a little more care, this could have been a really good film - the idea is sound enough - but instead it inhabits that lonely middle-ground of mediocre films that are neither good enough to be taken seriously, nor bad enough to be worth watching. Generally, if it's three o'clock in the morning, you can't sleep and have already scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom , then I'd recommend you rediscover the joys of a good book rather than waste your time with this. Contains swearing. 2 out of 10 -
palm2116 January 2001This movie shows Paul Reiser in one of his worst roles ever. He usually plays in comedy movies and after this attempted thriller should definately never consider doing one ever again. The movie is a simple ripp-off from all the other "Man vs. Computer" movies we have seen in the last years("The Terminator" springs to mind). I got the feeling that the people who wrote and produced this movie just decided that they wanted to make some money and hoped they could join the hype, thereby making those big bucks... Unfortunately this meagre attempt resulted in a movie which seems to be no more than just a loose bundle of scenes joined together in no particular order. This is probably because of the lousy script and the way the camera is used(which must have seemed creepy to the makers, but looks ridiculous to me). The cheap love story could be summerised in 1 line: Man finds the love of his life in fight against machine. His 'girlfriend'(Susan Norman) acts annoyingly bad and spoils most of the scenes. But all this set aside the real problem is this: This is supposed to be a thriller and therefore should be exciting. The viewer should be starteld and feel connected to the main character in his fight against his enemy. Too bad none of the afore mentioned happened to me... Conclusion: TV rubbish of absolutely no interest to any one.
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I recently caught this and was laughing most of the way through at the silly script, loopy synth music, crass lighting and really naff fashions, but then it amazed and shocked me, when I looked it up online and discovered it wasn't made in 1983!
Worth a look for the model work and special effects, and if you enjoy the so-bad-it's-good genre of sci-fi movie. -
Angeneer28 October 2000You should wait nothing deep from this movie, and nothing is what it delivers. There are times though where you're looking for just a pass-time and it's quite good at this. In fact I found it rather pleasant, as the directing is adequate and the acting not too pompous. The main idea could produce a very good thriller, but as another reviewer noted Stanley Kubrick has already taken care of this.
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Really,thats what it is, a piece of s***.This movie sucks in all categories (in acting, in screenplay etc.).After seeing this stupid ass movie I tried to remember what other crappy movies I have seen and compare them to this "masterwork" but this is the king of all crappy films.Besides being totally boring, the movie had a severe lack of... well everything.A complete waste of time!Avoid at all cost!
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VanillaLimeCoke28 June 2011The Tower 1993 movie is definitely a very flawed but yet enjoyable SCI-FI fantasy horror film.
New worker Tony Minot (played by Paul Reiser) messes his key card by using the old jimmy the lock open trick after locking himself out of his apartment (back then they seemed to issue the key cards before your first day of work).
It's not quite clear what Tony's new exact job is, but he isn't the model worker. He seems to eat unhealthy (cold pizza for breakfast), goof off (play paper ball slide on vent ducts), failed to watch the orientation videos (they were boring), and tampers with the equipment which gets the security system really upset.
Littlehill the boss (Roger Rees) is definitely a no non-sense guy stickler. But then again he gives Tony a huge assignment just before quitting time that day; despite the fact that Tony has a date. I mean come on, it's his first day; and then of all things Littlehill goes into his own personal sauna (a sauna at work??).
But that's just the least of Tony's worries as the security system goes on night mode and turns very brutal starting to execute the employees; thinking they're Tony.
Tony eventually makes it out but then his co-worker (Linda played by Susan Norman) steps in and he has to rescue her and go back through the horror fun house for round two.
This film is like that X-Files episode "Ghost in the Machine" plugging into DIE HARD.
While the film is set on 8/1/1992 (which is actually a Saturday), the music and sounds make it seem more like 1987 or 1988.
This is just yet another underrated TV movie. The whole film seems unintentionally funny.
I would definitely see the film if it sounds interesting. -
SusieSalmonLikeTheFish12 September 2014Tony is a really nice guy, but after being pressured to get a "real job", he tries to ignore his love of music to be a businessman in the world's smartest building, a high-tech skyscraper called Intercorp. Within the skyscraper a supercomputer named CAS controls the entire building. When Tony messes with his ID card and it confuses CAS, CAS begins trying to exterminate Tony by hunting him down, accidentally killing a security guard and a CEO in the process. Now Tony is stuck in the tower, along with his childhood friend, now his co-worker.
I don't understand why this has such bad reviews! Sure it's a little outdated and low-budget, but it's a great TV movie thriller, comedic and suspenseful, without needing to rely on bad CGI effects and fart jokes to be entertaining. CAS is an uncanny resemblance to GlaDOS from Portal, a homicidal computing system with many sarcastic jokes and pranks to play on Tony. The soundtrack, which is that corporate 80's/90's keyboard synthesized stuff, sounds pretty cool. The Tower is outdated slightly even for its time but can still be funny today. The acting was decent enough and although there were a few sexual jokes from CAS, the film remains not rude enough to be too annoying to watch. It certainly isn't boring, it has a moment or two that drags on but is still thrilling from beginning to end and doesn't quit. I personally really enjoyed it, and thought it was far better than that Hunger Games crud that's so popular right now. Don't judge The Tower just on reviews, check it out for yourself to see what you think, you might be surprised. -
virek21329 December 2001Even given the fact that it's a made-for-TV affair, the execution, the screenplay, and the acting of the 1993 Fox-TV movie THE TOWER are inscrutably inane. The premise is certainly not the problem; the idea of a computer in charge of security in an L.A. high-rise going after its occupants is, in fact, dead-on perfect.
The problem is, however, that even the best stories, if executed either poorly or in a mediocre fashion (the latter in this case), lose their suspenseful effectiveness. Paul Reiser, of TV's "Mad About You", is quite the obnoxious one as a tenant of the building whose smart mouth and list of security violations makes him a target for CAS, the building's security computer (voice of Dee Dee Wilkinson). What we have then is a film whose malevolent computer is basically a more sinister female counterpart to HAL from Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, and a setting clearly inspired by THE TOWERING INFERNO and DIE HARD, but whose execution couldn't hope to compete with those masterpieces unless a talent like Steven Spielberg was in the director's seat, and Michael Crichton or Arthur C. Clarke wrote the dialogue. Despite all this, I give THE TOWER a rating of '6' for the premise, as well as some pretty nifty special effects. -
Quint-717 February 2001I saw this movie on or local cable station a little while ago and found myself enjoying it. It is a predictable movie, but I continued to watch anyway. Paul Rieser is both the star and the comic relief as Tony. his character is enjoyable, a little annoying sometimes, but not enough that you are put off by him. He has several good one liners. and several scenes where he sings "Bad Moon Rising" The basic plot is that Tony starts running up computer violations in his new job. after a few, the computer, CAS, who's the mind of the building, views him as a security risk and decides to terminate him, and while doing so, kills off several innocent people in the process. watch it if you ever have the chance, I enjoyed it to the end. SPOILER AHEAD...My only gripe is that Roger Rees gets killed off way to early. I am a fan of his, and I felt that a lot more could have been done with his character. I would have really enjoyed the movie if He and Paul Rieser teamed up to stop the building. Other than that, it was an enjoyable movie.
7/10 ***
P.S. future Dinner and a Movie host Annabelle Gurwitch is also featured in a small role -
OK, so the plot stinks, the acting is so dead that it has begun to decompose and the effects are just plain poor. But when you look past these (minor) downfalls, this movie is kinda cool.
I mean a building that goes evil and begins to waste its unsuspecting occupants all because of some incompetent clown that couldn't do his job properly? What more could you ask for.
The movie is filled with some semi-cool kill scenes, such as the guy that gets minced in the elevator doors, and it features some pretty good one-liners and slapstick deaths.
Sure the film isn't your pick if you want a film with a coherent plot and passionate characterisation, but as opposed to your standard telemovie its pretty great. Given I was 9 when i first saw it, I think this film is a pretty good alternative to days of our lives or oprah or whatever else may be on the tube when this one airs. Stop bagging this film. -
unnamed-3214516 December 2020TBH, I watched this a couple of times 10-20 years ago and as far as I remember, I have actually liked it.
There was not much SFX. But the story was dense and looked authentic. And Paul R. has delivered it well.
It's as simple or complicated as it has to be, and even nowadays it should raise some red flags in the eyes of the AI fans. -
marvinwright200021 July 2005I saw another version of this movie about 8 years before this one was released. There was a computer named Lola that was absorbing human energy and trapped a bunch of people inside a building. The newer version 1994 differed greatly from the original but the same theme was used. I like movies where computers take over some of my favorites are Demon Seed and Colusus the Forbin Project. I think one day computers will be smarter than humans possibly in our lifetime. I mean in my fathers day going to the moon was science fiction but today its an every day occurrence, these movies show the dangers of science and technologies continual progress and are to be noted.
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Kai-1813 March 2000Even though this film is really dumb and unoriginal there is a fun feel to it. Sides, you got to love a movie where a computer really hates Paul Reiser and tries to kill him. (after those damn phone commercials I don't blame him. Candice Bergen is still worse) It's great for a night were you and friends want to heckle movies. Enjoy this little cheese ball. I did.
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G-Man-258 February 2001A cheap, dumb, derivative and mostly unintentionally funny hybrid of sci-fi and disaster flicks that nonetheless manages to entertain, IF you're not too demanding. Would be a prime candidate for a feature on "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" if that show was still on the air. The technology and effects in the movie are already hilariously out of date, like some bad TV-movie from the 1970s. Some prime heckle-worthy dialogue and situations abound. All in all, amateurish fun for everyone!
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azathothpwiggins7 September 2022Tony Minot (Paul Reiser) starts a new job at Intercorp in the fortress-like structure of the title. It's a fully automated building, where the humans seem more like worker drones than human employees. The atmosphere is ominous from the beginning, and Tony is completely lost.
Tony doesn't take things very seriously, especially the security system. Unfortunately, it takes him very seriously.
THE TOWER is a made-for-TV horror-sci-fi movie about technology gone mad. Reiser is perfectly cynical / sarcastic in his role, making it all more fun than expected. The idea of an office building preying on humans that it views as a threat was also done in the 1985 version of this film. It has been used in an early episode of THE X-FILES as well.
So, take out your brain and just enjoy the ride... -
This is a movie where you constantly will be commenting about how stupid and unrealistic one scene after another is. It could have been a good movie, but it just gets too enoying, because you keep seing a computer doing the most stupid things, that no computer would, and people do things that doesn't make sence. They seem to have programmed the computer to kill intruders and vandalists!!! Watch it with friends so you can have a laugh at it.