lyrafowlpotter
I'm going to let you know right off the bat, the less you know about this TV movie, the better, you might want to stop reading this review now. I first viewed it without knowing anything about it, and I was better for it. I was 11yrs the first time shortly after it aired, and back then, the effects were considered pretty decent for a television film at the time, some of them are laughably bad now, but in a way, this adds to the entertainment value. The movie spellbound me as a child, and I have watched it upwards of 9x's since then, not once have I been bored by it, though I cannot guarantee most people will feel the same, in fact, I doubt that they will.Some of the acting in this is terrible, and no I am not talking about Bronson Pinchot, in fact, he is quite pitch perfect, over-the- top scenery chewing, scene stealer that actually elevates the film. The rest of the acting ranges from good(David Morse, Mark Lindsay Chapman, Patricia Wettig, and Dean Stockwell) to downright terrible (Kate Maberly who was previously amazing in "The Secret Garden", Kimber Riddle, Christopher Collet), and just OK (Frankie Feisman, and everyone else, save one.), and then you have Bronson Pinchot, whom is in his own universe really, literally and figuratively. The premise to this whole mini-series, and the novella(I have read it twice), is both intriguing, and silly. Certainly time travel has never quite been present this way before, and it is very intriguing to watch it unfold. See how it effects each character, and surprisingly, this adaptation is almost completely faithful, save some minor details about characters. Practically all the scenes and dialog are in tact from the novella, but what make this adaptation a miss for some people, again, really comes down to the acting. It really takes this from being a serious movie, in to the realm of pure camp by the third act, but then it ends up being quite serious again for the last 40 minutes, you could say it is wildly inconsistent in tone, but given the material, it is consistent with it. If the acting was more consistent, and better people had been cast in the roles of Bethany and Albert especially, the movie would have been so much better. Casting Bronson Pinchot was a stroke of genius, and the film is largely carried on is tiny shoulders, every scene he is in is electric, and well, crazy. The character of Craig Toomy is intriguing because, well, he is a terrible person, and not because he was abused, and in his mind, still is, no it is because he chooses to treat others based on that abuse. This is a man whom has lost all touch with reality by this point, and most people whom are abused, unfortunately, tend to lose touch with some aspect of reality, but it's not out of your control(I speak from experience), what makes this story so interesting, is no matter how campy it is, it is a very well-done analysis on abuse and what happens when you do not deal with past traumas. Like all King stories, however, Toomy is not the only one dealing with past demons, the others just do a much better job of handling them.There is endless entertainment here, from the mystery aspects, to the camp aspects, to the time travel, to the langoliers themselves(as silly as the CGI looks now, I actually felt they were, stylistically anyway, accurate to the book), it is never a dull movie, unless you are off- put by the uneven acting, and cannot accept it as a camp classic.God Bless ~Amy
zkonedog
There is no doubt that in this version of "The Langoliers", despite being a very serious Stephen King novella, the material is quite cheeseball and (at times) very over-dramatic. Yet, at the same time, the brilliance of King's story still manages to shine through thanks to some great acting and the direction of Tom Holland.For a basic plot summary (no spoilers), a small group of airplane passengers wake up and find the rest of the plane deserted. As they struggle to land the plane and figure out what is going on, they discover that the answer is beyond anything that has ever been seen or experienced before.First off, it would take a great sight more than a bit of 90s cheesy-ness to detract from King's wonderful tale. This is a wide-ranging story (from drama to sci-fi to characters to fantasy) that has something for everyone. Most of King's writing shines through in this adaptation.The acting, however, is what really drives this three-hour film. Great actors such as Patricia Wettig, Dean Stockwell, David Morse, Mark Lindsay Chapman, and Bronson Pinochet (among others) all provide new wrinkles to the overall storyline by portraying such a diverse cast. Is the acting over-the-top? You bet. But due to the diversity of the characters and their development, the craziness actually didn't bother me all that much. Perhaps this is because I "knew what was coming" having already read the story, though.Overall, having prior knowledge of the story, I enjoyed this take on "The Langoliers". While I would still recommend King's written work to get the full extent of the tale, this one will suffice for those who won't pick up a book.
