Most of the passengers on an airplane disappear, and the remainder land the plane in a mysteriously barren airport.Most of the passengers on an airplane disappear, and the remainder land the plane in a mysteriously barren airport.Most of the passengers on an airplane disappear, and the remainder land the plane in a mysteriously barren airport.
- Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 3 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the novella, there is no wind, not even a light breeze when they are in Bangor. Since this was virtually impossible to execute for the movie they simply created dialogue to explain that even with a wind down here the clouds are not moving.
- GoofsWhen approaching LAX, Laurel notes that everything looks the same and there's no one there. Except there are cars driving around.
- Quotes
[Engle informs the remaining passengers that they are diverting to Bangor]
Craig Toomy: I have an important meeting in Boston at nine O'clock! And I forbid you... From flying to some whistle-stop Maine airport! DO YOU HEAR ME?
Laurel Stevenson: Can you please quiet down? You're scaring the little girl.
Craig Toomy: Scaring the little girl? SCARING THE LITTLE GIRL? LADY! We've been diverted to some tin... pot airport in the middle of nowhere! And I have more important things to think about than scaring a little girl!
- ConnectionsEdited into The Timekeepers of Eternity (2021)
Dean Stockwell treads water as mystery writer, Bob Jenkins, only delivering lines; a shame given the character's contribution. David Morse (Cpt. Engle) and Mark Lindsay Chapman (Nick Hopewell) do the most to carry the movie along both as characters and performers. I was most impressed with Morse's very matter of fact take of the pilot. Pinchot's Craig Toomey, the loopy head case that's always tough to get right, doesn't quite hit the mark but gets very close. The other actors are substandard TV movie fare, particularly Maberly's poorly acted blind girl, Dinah. She nails acting blind, but is otherwise terribly distracting (rather like Kimber Riddle's hippy breasts).
The plot is involving, the concept intriguing and the whole thing unravels from the characters' perspective so you're never that far ahead and waiting for the movie to catch up with you if you start sussing things out. Suspense does build and the tension with both the incoming noise (and the unknown threat it brings) plus Toomey's threatening insanity can be tangible at points, but the main set-piece is only as effective as the budget allows. The graphics certainly do the what they're meant to but don't quite pay off the build-up.
The biggest criticism is length. I sat through this in one sitting, and three hours really drag. The intended mini-series structure is all too evident and is the only way this piece works, it feels way too long for one sitting. If you can get past the trappings of a TV movie straining at the sides of its budget and you're prepared to watch with a pinch of salt, you'll get an interesting take on time travel adequately presented. If cheesy TV movies aren't your thing, then you'd be better of reading the book. It's apparently one of the truest adaptations of King's work so let's be thankful he didn't write a stinker to begin with.
- steevbishop
- Oct 4, 2004
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Stephen King's The Langoliers
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1