Movie Review: The Flintstones (1994) presumably seen in theatres as well as on DVD and multiple streaming platforms.

Comedy: Some scenes may be unsuitable for young children, language and mature themes.

The film follows a live action version of the town of Bedrock and it’s citizens where Fred Flintstone, (played by John Goodman,) lands his dream job of working at “Slate and company” after his friend Barney, )played by Rick Moranis,) switches aptitude tests with him as gratitude for Fred and his wife Wilma, (played by Elizabeth Perkins,) loaning Barney and his wife Betty, (played by Rosie O’Donnell,) money to adopt a baby after they were having trouble conceiving. Things go south for Fred when he finds himself paying the ultimate price for a scheme being developed by Fred’s coworker Cliff Vandercave, (played by Kyle Mclachlan,) and his assistant, Sharon Stone, (played by Halle Berry.)

The film opens with Cliff and Sharon standing in the office of Slate and Company where they discuss how they plan to take a trip with the money received for items that are supposed to be for the office. Cliff says all he needs to do is find someone who is completely clueless of how to work in the company to make all of his dreams come true.

The scene then cuts to Fred Flintstone as “The Flintstones theme plays re enacting the opening cartoon sequence. As the sequence ends, Fred is seen driving with Barney. As the two are singing a song on the radio, Barney admits that he can’t wait to be a father and how he owes it to Fred, (who had given him the money before the events of the movie started.) Fred tells Barney he just wants him to be happy and tells him to keep it a secret from Wilma, to which Barney asks if he is afraid to speak to Wilma. Stopping the car, he tells Barney that he doesn’t need Wilma’s permission to make a decision.

As Fred arrives home, Wilma confronts him as they are completely out of money and need a new garbage disposal. Though he says he doesn’t know what happened to it, Wilma forces it out of him that he gave it to Barney, explaining that he and Betty couldn’t afford to adopt a child without it. As Wilma’s response hints at getting angry at Fred, he defends himself by saying she can yell, scream and involve the neighbours for all he cares. However, her response is gratitude towards what he has done, saying that she loves him for acting selfless.

The next day, Wilma and Fred join Betty and Barney at the adoption agency. The child is presented as dirty and hyper and it is explained that he was raised by apes and does not speak and is nervous around humans. They give him the name “Bam Bam.” Upon Barney trying to embrace him, Bam Bam goes crazy and hits Barney over the head with a bat before jumping out the window and running across the street, forcing Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty to chase after him.

The scene cuts to a montage of Barney and Betty attempting to clean Bam Bam up and give him a haircut while he is still very hyper, though they eventually manage to calm him down. As Betty reads Bam Bam a good night story, he falls asleep.

Meanwhile, Fred and Barney go out to a bowling tournament and Fred is able to lead their team to victory, after which Barney shares a written speech about his friendship with Fred, ending it by saying that he promises to return the favour to him for giving him the money to adopt Bam Bam. At the end of the speech, the entire bowling team drinks a crate full of beer, resulting in Fred arriving home drunk.

As he opens the door, he is nearly greeted by Dino but Fred manages to subdue him with a dog bone. As he continue to walk around the house, he trips and falls with the bowling ball hitting him in the head, knocking him out for a split second. As he comes to, though in a daze, he can see his mother in law, (played by Elizabeth Taylor,) waking him up and confronting him for being drunk rather than taking care of Wilma and their daughter Pebbles. After Wilma says it’s no big deal that Fred goes out, she goes on to say that he robbed her just so Barney was able to adopt.

Fred tells his mother in law that he will have money some day and Wilma will get everything she deserves. His mother in law insults him to Wilma by saying he provides her nothing but shade, (which I was too young to realize was a fat joke.) She insists that Wilma do her best to find someone other than Fred.

The next day, Barney and Fred go to take an aptitude test for the new position at “Slate and Company,” which is presided over by Cliff. While Barney is shown to have passed the test, Fred failed the test miserably. However, Barney sees this as his opportunity to pay Fred back and switches the tests, making Fred the winner. He must start the next day.

Fred arrives at his new job and is introduced to his new secretary, Miss stone, as well as the dicta bird, a parrot like creature who antagonizes Fred. After Cliff leaves Fred alone in his office, Fred presents a red flag when he reveals that he doesn’t eve know what his job title is in trying to yell out the window, “Hey everybody, you know who I am? I’m vice president of…..he then has to look at his name plate to get the name right, which results in Fred raising him arms in the air in victory.

Problems arise for Fred when he is first tasked the duty of firing Barney based on his test results as Cliff says Barney is dead weight who is no longer right for the job based on his test score. Despite Fred’s apprehension in doing so, he is strong armed into performing the task when Cliff threatens to terminate him if he fails to do so.

As Fred drives home with Barney, he ironically says that he feels he will work there forever while saying Fred has been unusually quiet for the whole ride.

As they arrive home, it is revealed that Betty and Barney have put together a surprise party for Fred as a congratulations for landing the job. His mother in law has attended the party and is much nicer to him now that he makes money. Fred however, is less than enthusiastic about the party as well as the gift given to him from Betty and Barney, which is a briefcase with his initials branded on it. Fred eventually tells Barney he can’t afford the briefcase anymore, and then pulls the trigger and fires him. When Barney asks him why he is being fired, Fred replies that even though he is a good friend, that wouldn’t count on an aptitude test, thus implying the real reason he was fired.

After Cliff gives Fred a bonus at work the next day, a montage is shown where the Flintstones buy expensive items as they go from lower class to upper class while Barney and Betty remained lower class. This eventually leads to the Rubbles selling their house to make money, as they move in with the Flintstones. Meanwhile, Fred and Wilma’s lavish lifestyle is beginning to antagonize Barney and Betty as Barney implies to Betty one night that it should be him and Betty who have all the money to spend, though this implication goes over Betty’s head as Barney says that it it just sour grapes.

Things turn nasty for the Flintstones and the Rubbles during a night out to dinner with Fred’s bonus. Barney is shown to work at the restaurant they are attending. After he sees that Fred unknowingly signed pink slip documents which result in everybody at the quarry being fired, he confronts Fred who was made to believe the documents signed were to give everybody at the quarry a vacation. This upsets Barney and after exposing Fred as a fraud, (which is made apparent when Fred doesn’t even know what 2 plus 2 equals,) Fred snaps and says he is out with his wife and not to bother him with work before demanding that Barney bring him a clean spoon.

Barney snaps back and says that Fred only got the job because he switched the tests with him. When Fred denies this, Wilma and Betty begin arguing in defense of their respective husbands. The result of the fight leads to Betty demanding that he and Barney move out and Barney knocks Fred out before leaving.

The next scene shows Wilma attempting to smooth things over with the Rubbles as they are seen loading up the car, saying they said things they didn’t mean. Fred however, does nothing in trying to convince them to stay, which angers Wilma. As the Rubbles leave, Wilma trashes the house of all the expensive items they’ve bought, claiming she needs the Rubbles more before getting into a taxi and going to stay with her mother, leaving Fred alone.

Meanwhile, Fred is pursued by all of the people whom he supposedly fired. After disguising himself while in an angry mob of men, one of whom says he’d love to get his hands on him, a pig squeals the name “Flintstone,” causing his cover to be blown resulting in the angry mob chasing him.

Back at home, a re enactment of Fred embezzling the money is shown on tv where Wilma’s mother sarcastically says she can legally divorce if Fred is not found within six years. To prove his innocence, Wilma and Betty enlist the help of the dicta bird as he supposedly knows everything that goes on around the office. Through physical force from Betty, the dicta bird agrees to speak on Fred’s behalf.

As the angry mob has caught up to Fred and is getting ready to execute him, Barney arrives driving a ice cream truck, having taken a job selling snow cones. As the two men are in danger of being executed at the same time, (due to Barney revealing he used to be friends with Fred,) Wilma and Betty find them where Betty sarcastically asks Barney if he always must copy Fred.

At first the dicta bird refuses to speak as he had requested a proper apology from Fred for the poor treatment he received from him throughout the film. Once the apology was given, the dicta bird tells the true story, thus making it official that Fred is innocent.

Meanwhile, Cliff has kidnapped Pebbles and Bam Bam and leaves a note saying he will harm them if Fred does not return the dicta bird, (which in the movie is seen as office equipment despite it being a living thing,) to the quarry by dawn and threatens him not to involve police.

As Fred and Barney return the dicta bird to the quarry, they notice the children tied up to a machine that is about to blow up. A fight between Fred, Barney, and Cliff results with Fred eventually being able to rescue the children as police arrive where the dicta bird tell them the story. Meanwhile Cliff is covered from head to toe in gravel resulting in him becoming a statue.

Mr. Slate arrives who commends Fred for what he did as he unknowingly saved the company. Despite an offer being put forward to make him an executive, Fred declines, saying his family and friends are the only ones he wants to be with as the credits roll.

As I wasn’t even in school yet when this movie came out, I do not remember if this was the Flintstones movie I had seen in theatres. I do know there was one I had seen in theatres but I did not know if this one was the one, hence me saying that I presumably saw this one in theatres.

John Goodman was the perfect casting choice for Fred as he actually resembles what Fred should look like in real life. In my opinion, the actor chosen for the 2000 “Flintstones” movie was not the right fit. Having seen this movie numerous times following it’s 1994 release, I became the ultimate fan of this movie and have been a fan of it every since.

I will say this though. As I discussed in my previous blog about the 2000 film, the movie would have been better if it showcased how Fred and Wilma got together if they were going to do a sequel in 2000 where the family take a trip to “Viva Rock Vegas.” In my mind, since this movie came out years before “The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas,” the movie in my mind would have been better if Fred and Wilma were only dating in this movie, maybe marrying by the end of it, thus the 2000 movie would be a sequel to this film which would have made more sense. Maybe Viva Rock Vegas could have been where Fred takes Wilma on their honeymoon.

My point is that despite it being a very good movie, the timeline is backwards as the first movie shows them as an already married couple, where the 2000 movie depicts Fred and Barney before they met Wilma and Betty respectively. To make it simple, everything that was present in 2000 movie should have happened in the one in 1994 and the 2000 movie should have showcased them as a married couple throughout, thus the timeline makes more sense.

Despite that small flaw within the timeline, it was a really good movie and I will continue to support the franchise and I do definitely recommend it.

Movie rating: 8 out of 10