Batteries Not Included is a 1987 American science fiction film directed by Matthew Robbins and produced by Ronald L. Schwary. It stars Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy as a couple who are helped by extraterrestrials when their Manhattan apartment block is threatened by property developers.
Batteries Not Included was conceived by Steven Spielberg for the 1980s television anthology series Amazing Stories. It was expanded into a feature film by Mick Garris, with further drafts by Brad Bird and Matthew Robbins. Batteries Not Included was theatrically released in the US on December 18, 1987, by Universal Pictures. It grossed $70 million on a budget of $25 million.
Contents
Plot
Frank and Faye Riley, an elderly couple, manage an apartment building and cafe in the East Village, Manhattan. Their tenants are Mason, an unsuccessful artist; Marisa, a pregnant woman waiting for her boyfriend to return; the janitor, Harry, a retired boxer; and an older couple, Muriel and Sid.
Lacy, a property development manager, sends a gangster, Carlos, to bribe the occupants to move out. When they resist, Carlos punches through Mason's door, intimidates Marisa, destroys Harry's property, and vandalizes the cafe. Faye, who is suffering from dementia, believes Carlos is their deceased son, Bobby, and asks Frank to treat him kindly. Muriel and Sid take the bribe and move to a retirement home in New Jersey.
