Nothing Lasts Forever

1984
PG
1h 22m

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

984

YOUR RATING

An artist fails a test and is required to direct traffic in New York City's Holland Tunnel. He winds up falling in love with a beautiful woman, after he takes a trip to the moon on a Lunar Cruiser.

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Comedy Drama Fantasy Romance Sci-Fi

An artist fails a test and is required to direct traffic in New York City's Holland Tunnel. He winds up falling in love with a beautiful woman, after he takes a trip to the moon on a Lunar C... Read allAn artist fails a test and is required to direct traffic in New York City's Holland Tunnel. He winds up falling in love with a beautiful woman, after he takes a trip to the moon on a Lunar Cruiser.An artist fails a test and is required to direct traffic in New York City's Holland Tunnel. He winds up falling in love with a beautiful woman, after he takes a trip to the moon on a Lunar Cruiser.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

984

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Produced in 1982, the film was shelved by MGM after poor reception at advance screenings. It's had rare airings on European television, and later aired on American TV. Its most recent airing was January 2015, as part of Turner Classic Movies' TCM Underground (2006) series.

Goofs
After the bus changes its destination sign to "The Moon", in the next shot when it starts to drive off, the sign has reverted back to "New York City".

Quotes
Eddie Fisher: How the hell did I wind up singing on a bus to the moon?
Alphacruiser Steward: Musta been all them women, Mr. Fisher.

Alternate versions
One print of the film omits the nude scene at the Port Authority Testing Center. However, this same print does contain two scenes that MGM forced the director to remove from the final film:
1. An extension of the opening newsreel, in which narrator Paul Frees announces that the state of California has been destroyed in an earthquake.
2. After speaking with the Swedish architect in the train, Adam runs to the window and says "I hereby end my staying here for my return to the United States. I pray to God, the Buddha, James Joyce, Ramakrishna and Jesus the Christ that I will become an artist, no matter what."

Connections
Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movies That Are Incredibly Hard to Find (2018)

Soundtracks
Polonaise opus 53 A flat
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Performed by Josef Lhevinne

User reviews17

Review

Featured review

10/10

An extraordinary film, neglected

Since a version of this film was "leaked" - if that's the right term -- to YouTube a few days ago, it's had a second life worthy of the film's own protagonist, liberated from a job yelling at bad drivers in the Holland Tunnel to a bravura performance at Carnegie Hall. There have been many evocative or pastiche films of the classic era -- Woody Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo, Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, or Gary Ross's Pleasantville -- but none has more vividly, sweetly, and yet ironically invoked the magic of the movies as has this film. Don't be distracted by the Dan Ackroyd or Bill Murray cameos (fun as they are): keep your eye on the veterans, who've been in more films than you can count, and who bring their considerable powers to bear here: Sam Jaffe (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Bedknobs and Broomsticks); Paul Rogers (Billy Budd, The Homecoming) and the incomparable Imogene Coca, all part of a secret underground league of New York artists who seek to aid any who will give their all, unreservedly, to the cause of art. This film deserves an immediate DVD/BluRay release -- one can only imagine how richly it will shine -- and shame on MGM, Turner, Warner, and all who have kept this gem in their dark, dim, Gollum-like cavern of oblivion.