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Synopsis:
The movie begins with Fred and Barney arriving home just as Wilma discovers that the Flintstones' life savings has been withdrawn. Wilma's assumption that Fred is up to some harebrained scheme is waylaid when she discovers that Fred gave Barney and Betty the money so that they could adopt a little boy. The couples head into town to pick up little Bamm-Bamm, discovering that he is a pillar of strength and a wild child that doesn't speak --- having been raised by wild mastodons. Civilizing the child and getting him cleaned up turns out to be quite the project. Later that night at the Water Buffalo bowling tournament, Barney pledges his eternal friendship to Fred for what he did --- vowing to find a way to pay him back. Unfortunately for Fred, when he arrives home late he must endure a personal attack from Wilma's mother Pearl --- who has him pegged as a hopeless loser. Slate and Company sets up an Executive Placement Program by preparing an aptitude test for the men in the quarry to decide upon a new vice president. Fred, hoping to prove his mother-in-law wrong, studies hard for the test but draws a blank at test time. Barney catches a glimpse of Fred's answer slab, and --- remembering his vow to pay back his friend --- switches Fred's test with his own.& Fred is awarded the position, but no one realizes is that he is being set up to take the fall for Vice President Cliff Vandercave, who is embezzling money from the company. As Fred takes over his new position, his seductive new secretary Miss Stone starts shoving slabs in front of him to chisel his signature into --- the first part of a devious plan to make it look as though Fred is stealing money from the company. Fred's dictabird warns him not to sign something without reading it, but Fred reminds him who is in charge. Everyone is impressed with Fred's new position, even Pearl. But much to his horror, the first assignment given to Fred is to fire the worker who made the lowest score on the aptitude test ---- Barney Rubble. As the Rubbles are forced to rent out their house and move in with the Flintstones, Vandercave encourages Fred to live like an executive --- adding on to his home, buying a fancy car, and generally living life more extravagantly. Meanwhile, Barney desperately tries to make ends meet by taking odd jobs, and he and Betty start to resent the Flintstones' new attitude and lifestyle. Thinking that Vandercave has finally allowed him to give the men in the quarry some much needed vacation time, Fred chisels his initials in their termination papers --- inciting the wrath of the quarry workers. Things reach the boiling point as Fred and Barney come to odds, and Barney tries to tell Fred that he switched the test results. After the Rubbles pack up and leave with nowhere to go, Wilma takes Pebbles and moves in with her mother. Fred discovers what Vandercave has been up to, but it is too late ---- Fred has been accused of the crime. His secretary starts to feel guilty and tell him to run for it, but the quarry workers grab Fred with plans to lynch him up. Barney shows up selling snow cones, but is grabbed by the angry crowd for his part in getting Fred his job. Meanwhile, Wilma and Betty sneak into Fred's office to kidnap his dictabird and they arrive on the scene just in time to stop the lynching --- with the dictabird recounting a chiilling tale of deception. Vandercave breaks into the house while Pearl is baby-sitting and kidnaps Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, hoping to trade them for the dictabird. Fred and Barney find their children at the quarry atop a huge conveyer belt, and Barney catapults himself to the top of the conveyer belt where Bamm-Bamm utters his first words. After a struggle --- and unexpected assistance from Miss Stone --- they are able to save the children and foil Cliff, who gets imbedded in a new material. The discovery of this new material --- dubbed concrete after Mr. Slate's daughter Concretia --- incites Mr. Slate to hire back all the workers and offer Fred a real vice president's position, but Flintstone chooses the simple life he has come to love with his family and friends.
Featured Cast:
This Page Maintained by John Paul Murphy |
The special effects in this movie are phenominal, even if the plot is a little thin. All of the cute things from the original series -- the use of animals as appliances, the gravel pit, the Flintstones' car, and even the well-known opening and closing drive-in sequences -- are all used to make this film such a visual delight.