Search - The Langoliers on DVD

James B. (wandersoul73) from LINDALE, TX
Reviewed on 6/18/2009...

This was okay for a bit, but then boredom kicks in with a vengeance.

2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

One of my favorite King miniseries

Daniel Jolley | Shelby, North Carolina USA | 10/10/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For some reason, I find myself watching The Langoliers again every few months. Almost inexplicably, it has become one of my favorite Stephen King miniseries. The plot has a couple of holes big enough to consume the giant time rip that causes all the problems in the first place, and the actors overplay their characters almost to a man, but the concept of the "langoliers" themselves lends a fresh little twist to the sometimes hackneyed concept of time travel. David Morse outshines the rest of the cast in his role as Captain Engle, although Bronson Pinchot (in quite a breakout role for him at the time) is wonderful (albeit irritating) as the deranged Craig Toomey. Pinchot really goes for all the stops in making his character as noticeable and loud as possible, and he begins to learn the secrets of making your face reflect madness toward the end. The quirky Dean Stockwell is another overactor here; playing a mystery writer, he hems and haws, striking Rodin's Thinker-like poses all over the place, invigorating even his most trivial comments with a sense of dire importance. Mark Lindsey Chapman is not bad, nor is Patricia Wettig. Kate Maberly plays the young blind girl Dinah; this character has the distinction of being the most annoying character I have ever encountered. I earnestly dislike her character, which makes my fondness for this movie so surprising to me. I would be remiss if I failed to mention Stephen King's appearance; it is one of his best cameos ever, in my opinion. He plays a bank president, but his appearance can only be described as cheesy, reminding me somewhat of the character he played in Creepshow. DVD technology actually detracts from this movie somewhat; the langoliers, when they finally arrive, look much cheesier than they originally appeared on television and VHS. This does not really harm the story, though. Despite its flaws, it is a story I find fascinating. This movie is probably a little long for some people's taste, coming in at three hours; despite its length, character development actually leaves something to be desired. Some of the dialogue is rather forced, as well. Thus, I can easily see why some folks don't jump up and down praising The Langoliers, but somehow it manages to entertain and intrigue me every time I watch it. It offers an unusual twist to the done-to-death subject of time travel, and I think that is what keeps me coming back."

Sadly a hugely underrated movie, WELL worth a watch.

Pritham | Brussels, Belgium | 02/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am not a Stephen King fan in general. I liked 'The Shining', but that was really because I stand in deep awe of anything that Kubrick did. However, the Langoliers is quite something else and very, very special. If all King's stories could be like this one, he would be magnitudes more famous and popular (not that he's struggling for a buck now!). The sad thing is that it's a pity that the budget for this was curtailed to such an extent that it could only be released mostly in a mini-series format along with the de-facto mind-numbingly lame special effects. It's hard to believe that this film only goes back to 1995!! Anyway, to make up for it, the cast really do pour their hearts out in the acting and if you are going to see it for the first time, be warned, this movie will put you on the edge of your seat almost from the first moment till the very last. Also, the funny thing is that it stands up to being re-watched several times, and each time, you get almost a philosophical insight into the subtle points that King was really trying to portray. Not your typical American mini-series then, whose sole aim is to fill an evening slot and give your eyes somewhere to go to when you take them off the pizza. If you can bring yourself to look beyond the dodgy special effects, you will see creditable roles being played, especially by David Morse as the ice cool captain and Mark Lindsay Chapman as the even cooler Englishman who does exude a certain charisma and rock solid old world dependability and charm. An amazing performance as the deranged Craig Toomey by Bronson Pinchot. It'll be hard to imagine him ever again as the gullible and annoyingly idiotic immigrant in Perfect Strangers or as the effeminite guy in the Beverly Hills cop series. If anything, it was a bit too strong, disturbing and frightening the way he played the role and it shows exactly how dynamic his talents can be. In fact, the first time I saw it, I recognised the face, but I thought it must have been a different actor!! All in all, all the character definitions were good, the contrasts were crisp and to the point, and more importantly, the delivery was honest and credible. You could almost believe that they were who they said they were. Another positive thing going for this film is technical accuracy. I love movies featuring aircraft but I loathe the ones directed and produced by people who don't know the difference between a TriStar and a 737 or 747. So you'll see different planes in all the external shots and lots of different cockpits allegedly for the same plane. 99% of movies featuring planes are like this so you wont have to look hard. However, this one features a TriStar throughout, inside and out (even with the same paint scheme!). So it adds a tiny layer of believability and coherency. Verdict : Ace of the skies, go see it ASAFP."

The Story Will Do the Work, Not the Acting

Pritham | 03/15/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For a four hour movie, "The Langoliers" was unexpectedly easy to sit through for me. Stephen King's name an reputation are most likely what drew people to the movie when it first aired on cable tv in 1995, and what still stands today is not the praise over grand performances, but rather the clever plot. 9 passengers and one pilot who fall asleep on a commercial airline flight, suddenly find themselves in a time-warp, with many questions to be answered and not enough time to answer them. Its nieve to say that the movie keeps you watching to see what happens next, but watching the 10 time-stranded passengers figure out how to escape possible vanishing from existence is all it takes to keep you interested. Stephen King backs up every scenerio with simple but clever obstacles that the cast must overcome...and as you realize why time is critical in their situation, then you will get to know the Langoliers. The cast is well done for this movie, Mark Lindsay Chapman (Nick Hopewell) is pretty much 1995's answer to todays' Russel Crowe. His character is rather annoying at times but interesting to watch. Dean Stockwell is the "philosophical answer man" so to speak, who's character as you will see is the most critical in finding the hiddin clues in their journey. Kimber Riddle, a never before seen cutty plays one of the two young people in the group, who basically assist the others in working on getting out of their predicament. Bronson Pinchot plays Craig Toomey, a disturbed buisness man who is driven by intimidating voices of his dead father, and who winds up a key element in the group's survival. And a few familiar faces appear in the cast as well. The movies' not about a lot of action, but King is well known for working around that and making a good movie. The movie again is about four hours long...but if you ask me it was easier to sit through than "Titanic"."