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The Mist
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DVD detailsActor: Andre Braugher, Chris Owen, Nathan Gamble, Toby Jones, William Sadler Brand: Genius DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed) Format: Color, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.66:1 Running Time: 126 minutes DVD Release Date: 2008-03-25 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Model: 81058 Studio: Genius Products (TVN) Product features: - From legendary frightmaster Stephen King and Academy Award nominated director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) comes one of the most tense and terrifying films since The Shining. After a mysterious mist envelops a small New England town, a group of locals trapped in a supermarket must battle a siege of otherworldly creatures. and the fears that threaten to tear them apart
DVD Reviews of The MistDVD Review: And the moral of the story is? Summary: 3 Stars
This is a review of the story/movie, not the disc.
As with many a Stephen King story, there is often a mesh of twisted scriptures, at least one literary Christ figure, horrible things from the unknown, and at least one underlying moral. This has got a blender-full of all of that... but in the famous words of Blendtech, "will it blend?" Not exactly.
After a harrowing storm, the lead character, David Drayton (Thomas Jane) heads to town with his crotchety neighbor and son to get supplies to fix a broken window. A strange mist is seen over the lake, but dismissed as storm after-glow and they head to the local food mart, full of every stereotypical character from the one-horse town.
As the mist envelopes the community, military vehicles are racing to and fro and the air raid siren goes off. A bloodied old man runs to the store, proclaiming that they need to lock the doors - something in the mist took a local. Took them. Yeah- and they believe him. You gotta start this story somewhere.
Enter local loon and Messiah-in-waiting, Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden). As always, Harden is the consummate actress. She couldn't act poorly if forced to at gun point - so bravo for her, but thumbs down for this looney portrayal of a scripture twisting nutjob that half the occupants of the store begin to nearly worship and some end up killing for her on command.
The mob rule mentality - ok, I'll buy that. People are basically evil by nature - we need constant enforcement by society, parents, laws and faith to keep us from killing each other - when threatened by a definitely lethal unknown, with no reasonable hope of rescue, people will sacrifice their own mother if it makes them feel better.
For someone who can quickly turn to the pages of her Bible she had conveniently stowed away with her in her purse, for just such an occasion, Carmody is foul-mouthed and not too hip on scriptures as she purports. She refers to the book of "Revelations" - in absolutely NO VERSION of the Bible is this book in the plural. It's a common mistake, but in a final script, laughable. While Carmody is the voice of chaos, Drayton is the voice of reason - yet he is akin to a John the Baptist at first - a lone voice crying in the wilderness.
A handful of the store occupants go to the loading dock to see why the generator is failing. Despite Drayton's warnings that he heard 'something' eerie outside the door, the testosterone is raging too high for these small-minded country folk who resent education and success, and they must prove themselves by venturing into the mist. I do tire very much so of this stereotype of the simpleton in the small town who has no respect for those with an education, yet those who are college educated are by definition, sound, logical and always right. Uh... no. But ok, we roll with it... the eerie music continues...
As you expect by the music, sweat, testosterone and raised voices, the source of the eerie sound that Drayton heard, comes through the door opening via an extremely nasty set of tentacles that come right out of the worst nightmare you've ever had, after having seen cockroaches, then getting food poisoning. The thing is viciously strong, almost intelligent, full of rage and spikes that will take the flesh off an elephant with merely a love tap. The machismo men that were all hell-bent for leather to fix the generator stand like monuments as the poor lad gets eviscerated by the unknown goblin thing that eventually pulls him into the mist.
Even the remnant of a tentacle chopped off with an axe is not enough to convince an otherwise apathetic crowd. Drayton's crotchety neighbor is delusional in his refusal to even look at the evidence, and races to his death with other disbelievers to prove that they're right, as they march out the door, into the mist. Can you say "dismembered body parts?" Oh yes, the flesh eating monsters know to leave parts behind just to scare the rest of their food - that makes perfect sense.
Night falls, and we're not just talking tentacles anymore. We've got some jurassic freaking mosquitos that can suck the lava out of a volcano for breakfast and some bat-looking things - it's like Pandora's box threw up in this little town. The mist is all kinds of messed up. It's the stuff that Noah purposefully did not take on the ark... and it's attracted to light and these idiots are all pointing giant spotlights out a window at night into a white fog, but somehow they actually see outside instead of their own reflections. Yah - physics takes on unique properties in this store. The phones don't work. No cell phones. No land lines - but the power just goes on for days in this one grocery store. Yup.
Tensions mount. One bathroom, no showers, lots of folks who all have their own issues, all getting mind bent over this house of horrors going on outside - thinking of their loved ones who are likely already being digested and pooped out - not a recipe for normal thinking or calm attitudes.
Considering Anne Frank, her family and 2 other families were hidden away successfully in an attic for 2 years with Nazis constantly looking for people who were hidden away, and they still remained civilized, these people are ready to eat their own young after just 2 days. Well, maybe not their own young, but Mrs. Carmody is more than willing to sacrifice your son to satisfy God's wrath.
Thanks to 3 young military officers (two of which hang themselves... giving you a hint of how well they thought the situation was going to play out) trapped in the store, the truth comes out as to what the mist is, and where these creatures have come from. It's not good, and I don't want to spoil it for you... it's a believable explanation - I mean - other than "you're just having the worst nightmare you've ever had," there really isn't another one that's feasible in my opinion. The concern is, will this ever end? Will the creatures ever leave? Is this a local or world-wide phenomenon? Is there any hope other than just being the last one to be unkown critter vittles?
The morals are many in this tale:
-don't jump to conclusions
-two days is not long enough to decide that this will last forever without end - how about a little more faith & endurance, people?
-suicide is rarely a choice that in the end solves your immediate problem... you're still dead
-let calmer heads prevail
-even the calmest head can lose reality when surrounded by crazies and craziness for days
The special effects are GOOD. The Foley sounds are GOOD and eerie. There's a lot of blood, dismemberment and sinew - not one for kids or for expectant mothers. The story is all over the map. A little less drama in the store would have made more sense. The movie just goes on forever. Tensions are so high, people in the theater laughed out loud when certain characters were killed... out of a sense of relief that their blathering dialog would finally end. The movie loses a couple of stars for the out of balance portrayal of Mrs. Carmody - no one there with sensible counter arguments to her non-sensical ramblings on how this was proof that God was heaping his wrath upon this town for such sins as splitting the atom! Yes, we all remember that one from Deuteronomy! I didn't buy the sudden devotion/following this crazy lady had in just what appeared to be 36 hours. She spoke with authority, but was kooky and over the top - I think in a real world scenario, it would have taken at least a week for her to get that kind of following. When you think you're going to be eaten alive by a hideous, heartless unknown (I mean,it's not like it's a bear that's got cubs to feed or anything), the last thing you want to hear is the nagging, raised voice of a woman... and I AM a woman, and I don't want to hear it. Someone would have strangled her before she had more than a handful of followers were this to (God forbid) play out in real life.
There were also continuation errors - most notably, a revolver that had been used several times, magically is fully loaded after being dropped by the gunman, after he is consumed by one of these instruments of God's purported wrath. I did find myself on the edge of my seat in spots - the acting is very good and the unknown is often far scarier than the known. This movie could have been a lot better. A LOT better. It was worthwhile seeing ONCE. I don't buy a DVD unless I plan on viewing a film repeatedly - this is one I never ever have to see again. It's scary, bloody and insulting on purpose - and in the end, it is ultimately a story devoid of happiness, hope or reprieve. I suppose in a way, as a Stephen King story, it's a resounding success in that it is a story that haunts you - but doesn't real life do that, anyway? In the end, you will leave this film utterly disappointed and depressed - I just don't see how anyone could have a different perspective after seeing it. If that's what turns you on in a movie, by all means - watch with impunity!
More The Mist reviews: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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