ion age ▁thr iller ▁that ▁star red ▁George ▁Seg al . ▁A ▁review ▁in ▁New ▁York ▁Magazine ▁was ▁unf avor able ; ▁" Lou ▁Lomb ardo ▁direct s ▁un in sp ired ly ▁from ▁a ▁far ▁from ▁insp iring ▁script ▁co - author ed ▁by ▁Tom ▁Ar d ies , ▁the ▁original ▁author ▁of ▁the ▁novel ." ▁The ▁film ▁was ▁released ▁for ▁home ▁video ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 6 , ▁and ▁has ▁recently ▁been ▁review ed ▁more ▁favor ably . ▁ ▁Lomb ardo ▁both ▁produced ▁and ▁edited ▁The ▁Black ▁Bird ▁( 1 9 7 5 ), ▁which ▁was ▁a ▁hum orous ▁sequ el ▁to ▁the ▁film ▁no ir ▁classic ▁The ▁M alt ese ▁Fal con ; ▁the ▁film ▁also ▁star red ▁George ▁Seg al , ▁and ▁was ▁poor ly ▁review ed ▁upon ▁its ▁release . ▁ ▁Lomb ardo ▁co - produ ced ▁Che ech ▁& ▁Ch ong ' s ▁first ▁film , ▁Up ▁in ▁Sm oke ▁( 1 9 7 8 ), ▁which ▁is ▁now ▁known ▁as ▁the ▁" class ic ▁st on er ▁comedy ". ▁The ▁film ▁enjoyed ▁great ▁box ▁office ▁success . ▁Lomb ardo ▁is ▁also ▁cred ited ▁as ▁the ▁super vis ing ▁editor ▁on ▁the ▁film . ▁ ▁About ▁ 1 9 8 1 ▁Lomb ardo ▁directed ▁P . ▁K . ▁and ▁the ▁Kid , ▁which ▁star red ▁a ▁very ▁young ▁Mol ly ▁Ring wald . ▁The ▁film ▁was ▁not ▁released ▁until ▁early ▁ 1 9 8 7 , ▁when ▁Ring wald ▁had ▁become ▁well - known ; ▁it