Timothy Bottoms

George Gardner (Timothy Bottoms) encourages his 12-year-old son David's (Hunter Carson) dreams of becoming an astronaut by stargazing with him. A thunderstorm wakes David, and he observes a strange alien spaceship landing on Copper Hill, just beyond the house. His father agrees to investigate, but returns a changed man. In the morning, David Gardner notices his father wearing only one slipper. His normally sunny disposition is somber and his personality is flat. David also notices a wound on the back of his father's neck in the shape of a letter 'X'. In the kitchen, George Gardner dumps sugar cubes into his coffee, and the coffee dribbles down his chin as he drinks. David is frightened by his father's change in behavior. At night, when he confesses his suspicions to his mother, Helen Gardner (Laraine Newman), she assures him that George is fine. Later, however, Helen calls police after she realizes George is missing. When the police chief (Jimmy Hunt) and Officer Kenney (Kenneth Kimmins) agree to investigate Copper Hill, George suddenly appears. The officers return to the house with altered personalities, but only David notices the difference. He wakes up in the middle of the night, and observes as his parents disappear over the ridge. In the morning, Helen is transformed. She offers David a plate piled with burnt bacon, and wants to take him to see the special place on Copper Hill. When David sees his mother eat a chunk of raw hamburger smothered in salt, he declines to go. At school, David overhears his schoolteacher, Mrs. McKeltch (Louise Fletcher), tell the police chief about a plan that involves George Gardner. David sneaks into Mrs. McKeltch's office and catches her eating a live frog. Mrs. McKeltch chases David, claiming he knocked over a female student. Nurse Linda Magnusson (Karen Black) rescues David and questions him in her office. She has no neck wound, so David gives his account of the unidentified flying object (UFO) at Copper Hill that robs people of their personalities. When Linda confronts Mrs. McKeltch, the teacher refuses to let the nurse examine the "boil" on her neck. Linda also notices a bandage on the neck of a student named Heather (Virginia Keehne). Linda fears for David's safety and suggests he hide at her house. However, David evades Mrs. McKeltch and Heather as they search for him in the parking lot, and becomes trapped when he hides in the teacher's van. She drives to a cave, and David follows her inside. After walking through a series of tunnels, Mrs. McKeltch encounters a round alien creature, a face and brain uttering sounds. As it speaks, light flashes from the device planted in Mrs. McKeltch's neck. The aliens realize David is in their midst, and Mrs. McKeltch vows to "get him" before he escapes. Soon, Linda Magnusson finds David on the run, and he shows her the alien cave. When he gets to the location, however, the cave has disappeared. He insists they go to Copper Hill, but the spaceship is also gone. In the distance, they hear George Gardner send two men with metal detectors into the sandpit at Copper Hill. David and Linda watch as a circular opening in the earth swallows the men. Linda and David drive away and narrowly miss hitting a school bus driven by Mrs. McKeltch. When Linda stops at a gas station to call state police, Mrs. McKeltch kidnaps David and drags him toward the school bus, but he breaks free. Linda hears the disturbance, and David gets into her car. They arrive at her office to find the telephone inoperable. The chief and Officer Kenney search the building while David leads Linda to the basement furnace room. They knock over some equipment, alerting their pursuers. However, an alien spaceship emerges through the floor, causing the officers to lose their footing, and enabling David and Linda to escape. David wants to find his parents before leaving town, but Linda insists they get help. David and Linda meet with General Wilson (James Karen), commander of the military base that employs David's father. The general attempts to verify their story by questioning the men with metal detectors, but the interrogation is halted when an invisible force kills the prisoners. The neck devices emit sparks of light as they appear to unscrew from the necks of the corpses. The general orders the base perimeter sealed, and summons officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA and Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) scientists meet with the general and insist that their launch to Mars go as scheduled. For security purposes, the general calls for a temporary delay until they can determine the risks. Meanwhile, George Gardner plants a bomb inside a truck bound for the launch pad. A monitor in the general's office indicates that the bomb has successfully destroyed the Mars rocket. It is here that General Wilson finally believes David's claim about aliens and speculates that the aliens are from the nearby planet Mars and when they observed the SETI rocket under construction and bound for Mars, the aliens misinterpreted it as an attack on their planet and so they decided to strike first by landing on Earth to destroy the rocket before it could be launched. General Wilson asks David to show him the sandpit at Copper Hill, and orders his soldiers to surround the area, but Sargent Rinaldi (Eric Pierpoint), the general's aide, loses his footing and the sandpit swallows him. Two aliens stand near the cave, eyeing advancing soldiers and Dr. Mark Weinstein (Bud Court), a member of SETI. Weinstein wants to converse with the aliens before the military launches an attack. He returns an alien mechanical part, believing the aliens understand him. Nevertheless, the scientist is vaporized by the alien's ray gun, and the soldiers kill the aliens. David runs into the sandpit hoping to locate his parents, and Linda follows. Both are swallowed up, and the general sends soldiers after them. They lay down explosives and rappel into the hole left by the explosion. Inside a lab at the alien spaceship, David observes as a device is implanted in Sgt. Rinaldi's neck to control humans. Mrs. McKeltch orders other aliens to capture David and Linda. David pleads with the Martian Supreme Being to release his parents, arguing that mind control is wrong, and predicting the aliens' failure in conquering Earth. The head Martian comments that David is "a poor little guy," and the boy punches him in the nose. As he runs away, David knocks over Mrs. McKeltch, who falls into the gaping mouth of an alien and is eaten alive. In the tunnel, realizing Sgt. Rinaldi is under the control of the Martians, the general orders his men to shoot him dead. David leads the soldiers back to the spaceship to destroy the Martian Supreme Being and save Linda from receiving an implant. Many soldiers are vaporized, but American firepower causes the Martian Supreme Being to retreat into a protective eye-shaped shell. As Linda is saved, soldiers plant explosives, and the general orders a five-minute delay to escape before detonation. Upon discovering that the escape route is blocked, David sacrifices a mint copper penny his father gave him to activate an alien weapon that is left behind since the metal copper is the source of the alien's technology. Meanwhile, the wounded Martian Supreme Being orders the aliens to prepare the ship for takeoff. The soldiers escape through the new opening, but David hears his parents calling. He refuses their entreaties to join them on the spaceship, and while he struggles against them near the ridge, the spaceship explodes in the sky. The implants in his parent's necks are apparently deactivated, but the aerial fireball begins to overtake and consume both David and his parents.... Suddenly, David awakens in his bedroom. His parents comfort him, and he is relieved to find nothing implanted in his father's neck. The entire Martian invasion and battle was apparently nothing more than David's nightmare. His mother tucks him into bed and reminds him that dreams are not real and tells him goodnight. But sometime later, a thunderstorm snaps him awake. When he opens his window, David sees the exact same Martian UFO spaceship landing on Copper Hill. He runs to his parents' room in a panic. David's nightmare is starting again.... or is it?

Jill and mom return to Bishop, renting trucker John's place during a summer getaway years post-tragedy. Jill fights her instant attraction to John, but they ultimately connect, past hurts complicating their romance. Several years after the deaths of Dick Buek and her father, Jill Kinmont and her mother leave Los Angeles to spend their summer in their hometown of Bishop, California. They rent a summer house from a handsome truck driver named John Boothe. Jill is instantly captivated by John, but denies it to everyone, including herself. Eventually, Jill and John fall in love, but deep fears and hurts from the past threaten to be the couple's undoing. —Anonymous

One morning in November 1951, Sonny Crawford (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane Jackson (Jeff Bridges), co-captains of the dismal high school football team in the small dying town of Anarene, Texas shrug off insults about the team's last game of the season. Sonny relaxes with his friends, Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson), the aging but still vital cowboy who owns the small town's cafe, pool hall and movie theater, and Sam's ward, the mute, gentle, simple-minded Billy (Sam Bottoms). Sonny and Duane have breakfast at the cafe, run by salty-tongued waitress Genevieve (Eileen Brennan), and discuss their usual Saturday night plans of seeing the "picture show" and necking with their girl friends in the pickup they jointly own. Sonny goes to work and that night, while Duane and his blonde girl friend, Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd), take the first turn in the pickup, Sonny joins his girl, Charlene Duggs (Sharon Taggart), in the theater. The unpleasant and bickering Charlene complains that Sonny has forgotten their one year anniversary, but Sonny is more interested in watching Jacy, the most beautiful and wealthiest girl in town, as she and Duane come into the theater and begin to kiss. Sonny and Charlene then take their turn in the pickup, but the frustrated Sonny, longing to do more than fondle Charlene's breasts, ends their stale relationship when she becomes petulant. Later at the cafe, Genevieve comforts Sonny and wonders why both he and Duane live in a boardinghouse rather than with their parents. At basketball practice one afternoon, Coach Popper offers to get Sonny excused from class the next day for driving the coach's wife Ruth (Cloris Leachman) to her doctor's appointment, and Sonny agrees. That night, Jacy is confronted by her alcoholic mother Lois (Ellen Burstyn), who does not want her daughter to waste her youth as she did. When Lois advises Jacy not to marry Duane and instead sleep with him to learn that there is "nothing magic about it," Jacy is shocked. Then next day, Sonny arrives at Coach's home to pick up Ruth, and the shy woman is disappointed to see that her husband has not come himself. During the return trip, Sonny is nonplussed by Ruth's tears, although she tells him that there is nothing seriously wrong. Afraid to be alone, Ruth invites Sonny in for a soda, but her continuing sobs unsettle him even more, although he timidly tries to comfort her. Another few days later, at the town's annual Christmas dance, Lester Marlow (Randy Quaid), one of Jacy's country club friends, asks her to come to a nude swimming party at the home of wealthy Bobby Sheen (Gary Brockette). Eager for excitement, Jacy consents, then schemes on how to end her date with Duane. Perturbed to see Lois dancing with Abilene (Clu Gulager), the oil driller with whom Lois is having an affair, Jacy lures Duane to the pickup. There, Duane gives Jacy a lavish Christmas present and Jacy, hoping to distract him, places his hand under her skirt before announcing that Lois had ordered her to attend the swimming party with Lester. Meanwhile, Sonny helps Ruth clean up and while they are outside, they engage in a passionate kiss and agree to meet soon. In the nearby town of Wichita Falls, Lester introduces Jacy to Bobby and his crowd of sexually adventurous friends, and Jacy, eager to attract Bobby's attention, strips on the diving board and finally jumps into the pool, fully naked, and joins the group. Back at Anarene, Duane suggests to the other boys that they ought to buy a hooker for Billy so that he will not die a virgin. Sonny's attempts to stop them are unsuccessful and soon Billy is in the back seat of a car with local waitress Jimmie Sue, who, angered by Billy's fumbling, bloodies his nose with a massive punch. The group returns Billy to Sam's pool hall, and while Sam questions them, Duane hides. Upon hearing what the boys have done, Sam condemns their "trashy behavior" and bans them from entering his businesses. Duane pretends to have fallen asleep in the car, and as the weeks pass, continues to patronize Sam's establishments, while Sonny stays away and is lonesome for Sam, whom he admires deeply, as well as Billy and Genevieve. In the meantime, Sonny begins an affair with Ruth, although during their first encounter at her house, Ruth is so horrified by the loud squeaking of the bed springs that she cannot enjoy herself. Several weeks later, Sonny enters the cafe one night and Genevieve, while reprimanding him for his treatment of Billy, allows him to stay. She attempts to caution him about his affair with Ruth, which is common knowledge, but Sonny remains silent. Sam and Billy enter, and after Billy joyfully greets his friend, Sam forgives the repentant youth. Another afternoon later on New Year's Eve, Sam takes Sonny and Billy fishing and reminisces about a time 20 years earlier when he brought a young lady friend swimming at the same spot. Although he and his paramour were in love, she was already married and Sam lost her. Meanwhile, in Wichita Falls, Jacy attends another party at Bobby's, where the arrogant young man asks if she is a virgin. When Jacy admits that she is, Bobby tells her to come back when she is more experienced. Back in town, a bored Sonny and Duane decide to go to Mexico for the weekend and Sam, bemused by their exuberance, gives them some money. Upon their return a few days later on January 3, however, the boys are shocked to learn that Sam has died from a sudden heart attack during their absence. In his will, Sam leaves the movie theater to Miss Jessie Mosey, who ran the theater's concession counter, the cafe to Genevieve and the pool hall to Sonny, which stuns the young man. A few months later, the spring season arrives. The senior class attends their class picnic in Wichita Falls and Jacy plans a rendezvous with Duane at a local motel so that she can be rid of her virginity. The excitement and pressure make Duane impotent, although he is successful upon their second attempt after graduation. Meanwhile, Ruth, who has blossomed under Sonny's attention and fallen in love with him, gives Sonny a wallet for graduation. Jacy breaks up with Duane, telling him that she would rather be with Bobby. Heartbroken, Duane leaves town for an oil-drilling job. Jacy's plans go awry, however, when Bobby dallies with her, then marries his girl friend. One night, bored and lonely, Jacy is sitting at home when Abilene arrives to see Lois. Flirting outrageously, Jacy asks Abilene to take her to the pool hall, where he has sex with her on a pool table. Upon their return, however, Abilene treats Jacy coldly, and when she sees her mother, Jacy breaks into tears. As Lois is comforting her, she mentions Ruth and Sonny's relationship, and Jacy, who was unaware of Sonny's liaison, is intrigued, as she knows about Sonny's crush on her. Determined to win Sonny away from Ruth, Jacy begins to date him, and promises that eventually they will spend the night together. Intoxicated, Sonny avoids Ruth, who waits miserably for him every afternoon. Skipping forward another few months later, the summer passes until one day, Duane comes home for a visit and questions Sonny about Jacy. Sonny admits that they have been dating and as the confrontation grows more heated, reveals that Jacy told him about Duane's impotence. Furious, Duane smashes his beer bottle against Sonny's temple, nearly blinding him. While he is in the hospital, Sonny refuses to see Ruth and Duane joins the US Army. Later, when Sonny returns home, Jacy, who is thrilled to be the center of attention due to the fight over her, tells him they should elope. Eagerly anticipating having sex with Jacy, Sonny acquiesces, but after they are married and are driving home, Jacy reveals that she left a note for her parents detailing their plans. Sonny is crushed when they are stopped by a patrolman and Jacy is driven home by her furious father, who arranges for the marriage to be annulled, but Jacy, who wanted only to heighten her notoriety, is pleased. A resigned Lois drives Sonny back to Anarene, where she reveals that she was the woman with whom Sam had the affair twenty years earlier. Another month or two later in the autumn season, Sonny watches the school football team play and learns that Duane is home on leave. Both dreading and needing to see his friend before he ships out for Korea, Sonny finds Duane and asks if he wants to attend the picture show, as Miss Mosey is being forced to close it due to lack of business. Duane agrees and the boys spend a companionable evening watching the last movie. In the morning, Duane admits that if he had married Jacy, her father would have forced them to get an annulment, too. After Duane leaves on the bus, Sonny is in the pool hall when he hears the screech of brakes in the street and rushes outside to discover that Billy has been hit and killed by a trucker who did not see him, but then drove away from the scene in a hit-and-run. Grief-stricken, Sonny lashes out at the gathered men who deride Billy as a simpleton, then drags his friend's body to the sidewalk, where he carefully covers him. In the final scene, Sonny then drives to Ruth's house, where the surprised woman admits him but then upbraids him for breaking her heart. Although Ruth tells Sonny that he has ruined what was between them, when he tenderly takes one of her hands, she caresses him in return and tells him, "Never you mind, honey. Never you mind."