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, who takes him to the moon on a Lunar Cruiser.

Nothing Lasts Forever (1984)
  • Rating: (236 votes)
  • Runtime:82 minutes
  • Director: Tom Schiller
  • Country:USA
  • Actors:
    Adam Beckett
    Zach Galligan
    Mara Hofmeier
    Apollonia van Ravenstein
    Eloy
    Lauren Tom
    Father Knickerbocker
    Sam Jaffe
    Hugo
    Paul Rogers
    Ted Breughel
    Bill Murray
    Daisy Schackman
    Imogene Coca
    Buck Heller
    Dan Aykroyd
    Uncle Mort
    Mort Sahl
    Aunt Anita
    Anita Ellis
  • Genres:Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
  • Producers:
    John Head
    co-producer  
    Lorne Michaels
    producer  
    John H. Starke
    associate producer  
no picture
  • User's comment:A Homeless Man Told Me All The Secrets Of The Universe Today! by Joseph Sylvers

    Zach Galligan of Gremlins fame, stars in this strange lost film, from a former SNL writer, Tim Schiller, in the 80's. This was produced by Lorne Micheals, and features cameos from Dan Akroyd as a Holland Tunnel inspector (who uses the only instance of profanity, this movie is PG) and Bill Murray as the villainous Captain of an interstellar bus which transports the elderly to the moon. Galligan is a young man whose been abroad for years, and returned home only to find that the New York Port Authority has seized control of the city, due to traffic problems. Galligan is a naive but kindly upstart who knows only that he wants to be an artist. After failing the mandatory "art test" used to determine, who is an artist and who isn't, he is forced to work at the Holland Tunnel with Akroyd, but not for too long, as he meets a fellow artist, falls in love and is taken through a short montage of the new york art world. The setting is essentially timeless, at one point, it suggests the thirties, at another they mention the 50's as part of the past, and at one brief moment, there's a strong hint of 80's, but the film is shot in black and white mostly, and made to resemble a science fiction from an earlyish period from the last century, 30's, 40's??? The plot takes a few turns from here which are surprising and fantastical and not to give away too much, but unfortunately since this movie has NEVER been released on home video or DVD(and doesn't seem likely too), I'll give a way a little more of what's to come...New York as you know it may be an illusion, the homeless are the secret masters of the city and possibly more, and the elderly have been taking routine bus trips to the moon since the 50's, they have chips in their heads which make them say "Miami" every time they even think the word "Moon", so they can't tell anyone. All of these plot elements are told with a matter of factness and a touching sweetness, at no point does this film become cynical, mean, perverse, or pretentious (not something most films as rare and surreal as this can claim). Others have rightly compared it to both Terry Gilliam and Woodey Allen at their most fanciful, but there's a sweetness to this, which gives it a charm all of its own. It's completely unique, very clever, and unusually heartwarming. See it by any means necessary, and as the secret society of bums commands,"Fear not, love all".


  • Quotes: Ted Breughel: You're damn tooting, nothing lasts forever! Hugo: We shall show you that New York City is a dream created by higher beings as a temporary lodging place in the earthly sojourn. Adam Beckett: Wow. But how do I know that this isn't a dream right now?
  • Also known as: Alles ist vergänglich (West Germany), Nada é para sempre (Brazil), Nada es eterno (Spain - TV title),

What do you think of this movie? Leave a comment.