By sheer coincidence, I had JUST finished reading "The
Langoliers" when I saw that it would be on USA the next two
nights. So I said to myself, "Self...why don't you watch it and see
how it compares?" As an adaptation, this movie is just about as faithful as you can
get. Some minor changes were made for time (for example, an
entire character was dropped from the plane...he didn't do much or
contribute ANYTHING to the plot, he just slept the whole time), but
all in all, it was pretty much like an abridged audiobook with visual
images. Virtually nothing was changed in the transfer from page
to screen. As a result, the weaknesses in the movie mostly stem from
weaknesses in the book. I really like Stephen King's style, though
I haven't read very much by him. The most interesting thing about
the story is the horror of the unknown, and each character's
different reactions to it...hysteria, anger, disbelief, etc. My problem
with the story (and the movie as well) is that the Langoliers are a
bit of a letdown. Visually, they looked like computer-generated
images, not like real monsters. But even in the story, their
presence seems unnecessary. The most frightening parts of the
story are when the passengers of Flight 29 have no clue what's
going on. Wouldn't the Langoliers have been more interesting if
we never saw them, but knew they were there...i.e., seeing the
disappearance of the world, hearing the sound of the Langoliers,
but never seeing them...possibly a brief glimpse as the plane
takes off or as one of the characters gets eaten. Acting wise, the movie was a mixed bag. Some people really got
into their roles. I though Bronson Pinchot was great as Craig
Toomey, and I also think he's pretty underrated as an actor since
he was Balki in Perfect Strangers. Other people, I thought were a
little flat. I've never been too fond of David Morse (the pilot), and as
much as I like Dean Stockwell (Al from Quantum Leap, whoo-hoo),
he didn't seem to fit the role of the mystery writer Bob Jenkins. The special effects were pretty miserable. It all looked like pretty
low-tech computer effects - the plane, the Langoliers, the time rip.
Not too impressive. But hey - TV movie, what do you expect? Overall, this is an excellent adaptation of a pretty good story. Some
changes should have been made in the transfer, but that's my
opinion.
Langoliers" when I saw that it would be on USA the next two
nights. So I said to myself, "Self...why don't you watch it and see
how it compares?" As an adaptation, this movie is just about as faithful as you can
get. Some minor changes were made for time (for example, an
entire character was dropped from the plane...he didn't do much or
contribute ANYTHING to the plot, he just slept the whole time), but
all in all, it was pretty much like an abridged audiobook with visual
images. Virtually nothing was changed in the transfer from page
to screen. As a result, the weaknesses in the movie mostly stem from
weaknesses in the book. I really like Stephen King's style, though
I haven't read very much by him. The most interesting thing about
the story is the horror of the unknown, and each character's
different reactions to it...hysteria, anger, disbelief, etc. My problem
with the story (and the movie as well) is that the Langoliers are a
bit of a letdown. Visually, they looked like computer-generated
images, not like real monsters. But even in the story, their
presence seems unnecessary. The most frightening parts of the
story are when the passengers of Flight 29 have no clue what's
going on. Wouldn't the Langoliers have been more interesting if
we never saw them, but knew they were there...i.e., seeing the
disappearance of the world, hearing the sound of the Langoliers,
but never seeing them...possibly a brief glimpse as the plane
takes off or as one of the characters gets eaten. Acting wise, the movie was a mixed bag. Some people really got
into their roles. I though Bronson Pinchot was great as Craig
Toomey, and I also think he's pretty underrated as an actor since
he was Balki in Perfect Strangers. Other people, I thought were a
little flat. I've never been too fond of David Morse (the pilot), and as
much as I like Dean Stockwell (Al from Quantum Leap, whoo-hoo),
he didn't seem to fit the role of the mystery writer Bob Jenkins. The special effects were pretty miserable. It all looked like pretty
low-tech computer effects - the plane, the Langoliers, the time rip.
Not too impressive. But hey - TV movie, what do you expect? Overall, this is an excellent adaptation of a pretty good story. Some
changes should have been made in the transfer, but that's my
opinion.