Stephen King's It
by Tommy Lee Wallace
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DVD details
Actor: Annette O'Toole, Dennis Christopher, Harry Anderson, Richard Thomas, Tim ReidDirector: Tommy Lee Wallace
Brand: Warner Brothers
Writer: Tommy Lee Wallace
Producer: Allen S. Epstein
Producer: Jim Green
Producer: Mark Bacino
Producer: Matthew O'Connor
Writer: Lawrence D. Cohen
Writer: Stephen King
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 192 minutes
Published: 2002-10-01
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-01
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of Stephen King's It
DVD Review: Stephen King review # 2
Summary: 4 Stars
The second King t.v. mini series, but the first one to try and stay as truthful to the source novel as possible. While I appreciated Tobe Hooper's rendition of Salem's Lot, I still felt the acting, production value, and alterations to the story were all too typical of television movies, plus it looked like it was filmed through a dirty cloth. Stephen King's It was a big deal when it came out back in 1990, and though it was a lot scarier the first time I saw it when I was 9, I still feel it's an effective horror film in its own right.
The first half of the story, the first night of two, is based on the main chracters' childhoods and their first and supposed final confrontations with the creature simply known as It. It gets its name from the fact that it is an unknown supernatural being that can manifest or take the form of young kids' fears and nightmares. One standout scene that is quite effective is the one involving a scared young girl desperately trying to clean blood from her bathroom sink but getting nowhere. The preteens all play their roles quite well, especially Emily Perkings(Ginger Snaps 1-3) and Jonathan Brandis(Lady Bugs, Sea Quest). The first half is set in the 50's and has that sweet and overly nostalgic feel with classic rock tunes and production design. It sets things up for a surrene and nice setting and then we meet Pennywise, played brilliantly as funny and scary, by Tim Curry. Pennywise takes the shape of the creepiest circus clowns you've ever seen. King was smart for this one. I mean, really, who the hell actually likes clowns? The transitions from typical nostalgic fueled 50's to out-and-out terror and horror film conventions is very effective in this movie.
The second half is littered with t.v. pedigree'd actors of the likes of John Ritter, Harry Anderson, Annette O'tool and Richard Thomas. The second half of the tale, involving the older versions of the first half's characters, takes place 30 years after the end of the first night and unfortunately is less effective. There are many reasons for this. One of them being that we get very attached to the young performers in the first half, even though the first night lets us glimpse the older ones, that it's hard to lose them and their performances. Not to slight the older performances at all. John Ritter is a real stand out in this, though they all hit it out of the park in general.
Other problems with the second half come in the form of the ending. Though, we can't completely fault the filmmakers for this. King wrote the ending that the film stays true to, but on the page a giant spider-like monster is a lot scarier in the imagination of the reader then it is on film visualised by special effects and one group of filmmakers'imaginations. The special effects in this movie are really good though, especially when you take into consideration that it was made on a television budget and time schedule and in the early 90's! That's one thing that horror fiction prose will always have over movies, the monster on the brain will always be scarier then the one on screen, no matter how well the speical effects are executed, CGI or other.
Anyone who has read the novle know how very long it was and how long the epilogue runs on after the main climax has occurred. The film, even at three hours, it's truncated for pace, time and content, content too violent or racy for t.v. viewrs in the 90's, especially on the family friendly ABC network. Though, today I feel this is all kids stuff when compared to what's allowed to air on comercial t.v. I really do miss the ritualistic thing the kids do before they fight the monster the first time in the book, though. The film was co-written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace(Halloween III, Fright Night part II), and co-written by Lawrence D. Cohen(De Palma version of Carrie). Wallace came up in the film business working with horror royalty John Carpenter and he does a really good job on what must've been a monster undertaking with this film. The tone is right and this is a straight horror film, no winking. It moves fast, despite it's running time and it looks good.
The DVD is a very good transfer and it's in Widescreen. YAY and HOORAY! I didn't even know this thing was filmed in widescreen, but I'm happy to have been able to see it that way, it's more filmic and less t.v. Besides the great new widescreen transfer the only other special feature we get is an awesome commentary track by director Wallace and cast members John Ritter, Richard Thomas, Dennis Christopher and Tim Reid. It's a lively and super informative commentary that goes everywhere from the history of the project, the casting process, the fights with standards and pracctices, the deviations from the novel, the things the actors didn't like aobut the film and the things that they did, and much much more. I've listened to it twice since I've owneed this disc, it's really fun and worth checking out if you have this disc.
This is a landmark t.v. mini-series for the medium and for Stephen King translations and adaptions, even though Salem's Lot came first. This film did it right and better first. The only downfall about this DVD is the fact that it's a flipper. One half of the series on each side. Also, don't be fooled by the comedic line up of t.v. actors posted on the cover artwork. They are all very good and appropriate in their respective roles. Kudos to director Tommy Lee Wallace for having the foresight to know that all good comedy performers have a lot of darkness somewhere in their hearts. About the cover artwork, I really wish that the orignal poster was used, the same one used for the hard cover novel, but we do get to glimpse it on the DVD menu.
So, make some time and check it out, even if you have seen it already.
Description of Stephen King's It
SEVEN YOUTHS HAVE TO DEFEAT A DEMONIC CREATURE NAMED PENNYWISEWHICH DRESSES IN A CLOWN SUIT AND TERRORIZES A 1960'S TOWN IN MAINE.Bestsellers in DVD
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