Two Must-See Kitschy Chick Flicks: Fathom and Valley Girl

Fathom, Directed by Leslie H. Martinson (1967)
This film is a female version of the popular James Bond saga. Raquel Welch plays the cool, intelligent and beautiful Fathom Harvill. Fathom is a dental assistant on a worldwide tour as a parachutist. She is with her crew in Spain and gets mixed up in an adventure filled with espionage.

When her crew lands in Spain, Fathom is picked up by Flight Lt. Timothy Web (Richard Briers) and taken to meet up with Col. Douglas Campbell (Ronald Fraser). Unbeknownst to her, the two have cooked up a plan that includes her as the central figure. They let her in on what they say is a British governmental intelligence operation to recover a stolen Chinese dragon artifact. They ask if she would include herself in for the sake of national security. Fathom agrees and quickly finds herself jumping out of a plane into an unknown world of lies and treachery. In this world she meets up with several interesting characters. Peter Merriweather (Tony Franciosa) is one of them. At first Fathom is told that Peter is the bad guy. As a legitimate agent himself working for the Chinese government, he is also looking for the dragon but wants to sell it on the black market for his own profit. Although this is true, Fathom soon finds out that nobody is who they seem to be.

Fathom is classic '60s kitsch with big bouffant hairdos and lime green bikinis. The music also takes you back into time with its muzak incorporated cool laid-back tunes. Raquel Welch is smart and sexy. She portrays the cool intelligent strong female persona perfectly. I was impressed with her acting and proud that she was not cast as the typical dingy beauty. Other actors also did their part in adding to the entertainment of the film. Tony Franciosa fits his part of the bad guy turned good.

Fathom was made during a time when directors still filmed on location overseas instead of some lot in L.A. There are beautifully shot scenes of the coastline in Spain as well as a small coastal town complete with real locals. The final scene takes place between two airplanes fighting it out with each other and the view of the rocky coastal cliffs is magnificent. Even though this film is filled with corny moments, the shots of Spain's landscape alone, are worth a viewing. For the guys - Raquel Welch in a tiny green bikini - enough said!

Valley Girl, Directed by Martha Coolidge (1983)
Julie (Deborah Foreman) is a typical valley girl. She lives in the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley along with her valley girlfriends. She is a junior at Valley High School and has no worries. Julie has just broke up with her val-dude boyfriend Tommy (Michael Bowen). She wants to date other guys but Tommy is making it impossible to meet anyone. Then one night at her friend's party, two guys from Hollywood crash the scene. Julie immediately takes a liking to Randy (Nicolas Cage). Randy is nothing like her valley friends. He dresses different, talks different and lives in Hollywood, which is a world away from Julie and her lifestyle. Julie and Randy begin to date, much to the displeasure of Julie's friends. Julie then has to make a big decision, either she date Randy or keep her friends.

Valley Girl is the quintessential 1980s teen flick. It contains everything and all that was believed, done, worn, and listened to during that time. This was a small budget film and was Nicolas Cage's first starring role. The lighthearted and witty storytelling makes this film enjoyable to watch. Yes, it is extremely corny but that is also what makes it charming. The dialogue is totally '80s, using such val-terms as "for sure, like totally, bitchin'" and many others.

Director Martha Coolidge attempted to film an honest portrayal of life in the valley during the early 1980s. She achieves this and more, arguably making Valley Girl historic in a lot of ways. Many ex-valley girls and guys today can completely relate to this film. The direction and editing give the film a very independent feel. You can tell that money was not available. But this is what gives Valley Girl its natural appeal. Nicolas Cage shows why he is the big star that he is today. His character connects with the audience and the viewer is rooting for him through the entire film. The soundtrack is one of the best ever made. It contains such classic hits like "Love My Way" by the Psychedelic Furs, "I Melt with You" by Modern English, and "Who Can It Be Now?" by Men at Work. All in all, Valley Girl is a great teenage love story that takes place in the much-missed '80s.

Souces:

Fathom, 20th Century Fox DVD, 2002
Valley Girl, MGM DVD, 2003