I thought for sure we'd find out he lived and he'd show up as an old nan or something. Just kind of a weird and abrupt ending.
27 Reviews
Time travel that's a sentimental touch with connections of the past.
blanbrn4 April 2020
This "Amazing Stories" episode number 5 called "The Rift" is one that's a journey and a time travel themed episode. It involves a War War II Pilot Lt. Cole(Austin Stowell) who lands and crashes in present day Ohio, and he's discovered and meets up with a mom and her little stepson Elijah(Duncan Joiner). This is a big happening and things of the past and connections for all involved are revealed. Really this episode becomes touching as it's a sentimental one of a love revisit. Not great still one of the best from the first season due to it's time travel theme which goes hand and hand with a fantasy series like this!
I don't understand all the hate
steve_da_msn_king11 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This episode was great, great acting and a great storyline, it sums up everything that you would think would happen if time travelling was an actual thing. The only bad thing about this episode was the ending, that's all I can fault.
Recycled plot line but this one has a real feel of Spielberg to it
rshawis5 April 2020
This episode reminded me of several Spielberg films. That familiarity was nice but the plot didn't really go anywhere I didn't expect. As an anthology one would expect that each episode could be very different from the next. The show is called Amazing Stories and at least this one was more amazing than the others. Some of the plot holes however were a bit distracting and annoying. E.g. the wife would have to be at least ninety eight years old if not over a hundred.
Same old same old
jaigurudavid7 June 2020
Best Episode of Season 1
jorgito20013 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
They save the best for last. This is as 'Amazing Stories' as it gets. a WWII pilot transported to modern times through a Rift, and maybe wrapping up some "unfinished business". Definitely hit me in the "feels" more then the other episodes...which is what the original classic series was all about! In the small chance the showrunners I reading this, I hope they make more like THIS and less like S01E02 "The Heat" (worst episode hands down this season). Oh, and give us a "scary" story fix! the original series had a few (like Scorcese's "Mirror Mirror")
Just lazy writing and storytelling....
fridayblues3 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I am sorry but none of the 5 tales in this new Amazing Stories brought back the wonders of the original. This one, The Rift, came the closest but still, it feels rushed because a lot of it makes no sense at all and the ending feels empty... Like Really, you are telling me that a WWII era plane crash lands, blow up and was on fire, and they were able to retrieve all the original parts of the plane and make it flyable again??? what about the parts that were burned, the coolant, the oil, etc. since they cannot put anything that didn't came through with them, they can't put any replacement parts, they can't refill the oil and fuel and so on and yet, they are able to make it flyable in within like 7, 8 hours? And the woman's jeep, when the plane crashed, it shattered all the windows of the woman's car and after one hospital visit, the car is totally fine??? And remember, she doesn't even have cash to buy something from the vending machine... So many potholes it's lazy writing and storytelling...
Enjoyed this episode
Darrell-2704 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I enjoyed this episode. Austin Stowell has a lot of charisma. Very handsome and his acting was spot on. The story feels like it needed more analysis because there were so many holes. I guess when watching Amazing Stories one needs to keep an open mind because most of the things that happen cannot be possible, but this story was over the top when it came to stretching the imagination. Kerry Bishé may be a great actress but her role was very unbelievable in this story. Lack of empathy towards the boy. Focusing a lot on her insignificant personal issues when you've got this man from a different decade and place. The other thing unbelievable was the reaction of Pauline seeing her old love who died 70 years ago. She kept his photo in a locket around her neck for the rest of her life and appeared to lament over him. He comes back to her looking exactly as he did the last time she saw him in the 1940s, and she just looked at him and barely said much of anything to him. No sign of shock or astonishment. He also did not seem jarred by her much older appearance. What's the likelihood of that really happening? So those are my main issues with story. It could have been directed better I think but I loved the basis of the story which is why I gave it 8/10. It was very entertaining and the beginning of the episode with the plane crash immediately drew me into the story. Analysis and direction was missing from the emotional aspect of the characters, but the premise leaves one thinking. That's always a good thing when you leave a story getting something out of it. Austin Stowell carried the story as I believe someone else playing that part would have dropped the ratings.
This series need some good directors!
JohannDanielsson10 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Seriously! How can you screw up an emotional scene like this? It has every potential to make you cry but just leaves me angry. Yes, I am talking about the scene in the end when he meets his now old wife.
This should have been taken care of with sooo much more feeling and emotion.
Besides that... ok.
And So Ends the Great Experiment
Gislef4 April 2020
"The Rift" isn't a bad episode. It pulls at the heartstrings, Spielberg-style. And there's lots of 'Close Encounters of The Third Kind' people staring up at sky, and looking at light shows that only they can mostly see. There's decent performances, primarily from Stowell and Joiner. The direction is okay: nothing fancy, nothing bad.
Overall, 'Amazing Stories' provides a change of pace from the more recent doom-and-gloom stories of 'The Twilight Zone' mark #4, and 'Two Sentence Horror Stories'. None of the episodes were great, but neither were the originals for the most part. The 2020 'Amazing Stories' is very... 2020. Which I suppose isn't surprising. The main reason it doesn't have the charm of the original is that a) it's not unique, and b) the stories are stretched to an hour. It's not the five stories could have been told in a half hour. And none of the five felt like I was wasting my time.
It's just that the nu-'Amazing Stories' stretched to an hour feels like the original 'Twilight Zone' during Season 4 when CBS executives thought that if a half hour was good, an hour would be even better. More does not equal better: whether for the original TZ or for the 2020 AS. It's how the nu-TZ feels, too: padded and stretched out, and so different from the original that you wonder why they bothered with calling it a remake with same name.
Say what you will about 'Two Sentence', but at least it told its stories in a half hour of TV time and then got out. Sometimes less is more.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Overall, 'Amazing Stories' provides a change of pace from the more recent doom-and-gloom stories of 'The Twilight Zone' mark #4, and 'Two Sentence Horror Stories'. None of the episodes were great, but neither were the originals for the most part. The 2020 'Amazing Stories' is very... 2020. Which I suppose isn't surprising. The main reason it doesn't have the charm of the original is that a) it's not unique, and b) the stories are stretched to an hour. It's not the five stories could have been told in a half hour. And none of the five felt like I was wasting my time.
It's just that the nu-'Amazing Stories' stretched to an hour feels like the original 'Twilight Zone' during Season 4 when CBS executives thought that if a half hour was good, an hour would be even better. More does not equal better: whether for the original TZ or for the 2020 AS. It's how the nu-TZ feels, too: padded and stretched out, and so different from the original that you wonder why they bothered with calling it a remake with same name.
Say what you will about 'Two Sentence', but at least it told its stories in a half hour of TV time and then got out. Sometimes less is more.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Best stories
lilyinurheart14 April 2020
Amateur attempt
TheTruthofItIs31 May 2020
I expected FAR MORE from director Mark Mylod, an otherwise accomplished tv director. He basically phoned this in, it looks like it was directed by someone in high school. The story plays out so predictably, too. Again, the show just wreaks of "this is the last one, so let's just get through this." No twists, turns, just a predictable straight line from beginning to end, just like they wrote in the early days of tv.
The best episode in this mini series
ibrahimkamala3 April 2020
Awful
gliner43-713-5303703 April 2020
The ridiculous acting and the pathetic stories in this series have convinced me to cancel Apple TV.
A lack of content, and the poor quality of what content they offer just go to prove that Apple is no longer an innovative company.
A lack of content, and the poor quality of what content they offer just go to prove that Apple is no longer an innovative company.
Great story, poor acting
anuragparanjape4 April 2020
Eh
cruise0110 April 2020
2.5 out of 5 stars.
Plot was cliche. About a pilot in ww2 travelling to future from a rift. Coming across a a woman and her step son which they have been conflicted. Not much happens with this episode besides the kid trying to be a hero. Terrible acting. Boring script and direction.
Plot was cliche. About a pilot in ww2 travelling to future from a rift. Coming across a a woman and her step son which they have been conflicted. Not much happens with this episode besides the kid trying to be a hero. Terrible acting. Boring script and direction.
Pathetic.
johnscottwilson4 April 2020
I would have a hard time deciding what was the worst part of this episode. The acting, directing & writing are all horrible. I am definitely not going to continue my Apple TV membership. I am a big fan of time travel stories and mysterious episodic shows but this is unwatchable. This might have passed in the 80s when I was nine or 10 years old but this is the golden age of television and this is not acceptable by today's standards.
Bad Acting Anyone?
arfdawg-119 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Wow the pilot in this episode is the worst actor on planet Earth. The plot is also so stupid it's beyond belief. A WW2 pilot goes into some sort time rift and nobody believes him. Only it would be absurdly easy to prove on many levels -- the plane. His military records. His dog tags. His memory of people from his past.
But NNNNNOOOOOoooooo. They stick him in a hospital with armed guards.
Maybe that was better because he happens to not be able to act. The story has been done before -- and way better. It really really sucks. On a positive note, it doesnt have all the identity politics agenda BS that the other episodes have. Maybe that's why it gets a marginally better score than the previous episodes.
But NNNNNOOOOOoooooo. They stick him in a hospital with armed guards.
Maybe that was better because he happens to not be able to act. The story has been done before -- and way better. It really really sucks. On a positive note, it doesnt have all the identity politics agenda BS that the other episodes have. Maybe that's why it gets a marginally better score than the previous episodes.
Spielberg say it ain't so
beboa645 April 2020
Decent story, horrible acting
paulfischer-650919 March 2021
Really grating
hnt_dnl12 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Why is this episode rated so highly? In all seriousness, I haven't been impressed by any episode of this reboot so far, but this one has got to be the absolute worst so far. The acting was horrible with all of the characters always talking over each other very unnaturally. The actors were all literally just going through the motions like they were just glad they memorized their lines. The 3 main characters were super annoying. In particular the line delivery of the actor playing the pilot was grade school level! The stepmother wasn't much better with her forced emotion. And I've seen my share of bad child actors in my day, but this kid takes the cake! Within about ONE minute, I couldn't stand him or the stepmother with their cliche road trip family dialogue. Kid playing on his phone and complaining about everything, Mom all jittery and tense. And I haven't seen Ed Burns in anything in at least 10 years and now I know why. Do people just give high ratings to sentimentality regardless of how awfully it's presented? Sometimes, bad is just bad.
not surprised
moodscom4 April 2020
What in the actual heck?
michael-561-69289221 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
A whole episode like the room of a messy child.
Mom and child (or aunt? No clue) driving to California (but secretly to another destination) to dump off the kid. No character development with this relationship. Could careless.
Introducing guy from past... war pilot that died in ww2. Crashes into the misfit family, literally twice. Very little bonding to characters. You feel awkward when woman says she cares more about pilot then agent because again you don't give AF.
Then when most touching moment doesn't actually happen... with pilot dancing with love... dialogue is so busted you just don't give AF.
At end when pilot flies home to go and die again, kid smiles at sky.
....
Mom and child (or aunt? No clue) driving to California (but secretly to another destination) to dump off the kid. No character development with this relationship. Could careless.
Introducing guy from past... war pilot that died in ww2. Crashes into the misfit family, literally twice. Very little bonding to characters. You feel awkward when woman says she cares more about pilot then agent because again you don't give AF.
Then when most touching moment doesn't actually happen... with pilot dancing with love... dialogue is so busted you just don't give AF.
At end when pilot flies home to go and die again, kid smiles at sky.
....
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