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DVD The Vanishing
It's not unusual for Hollywood to remake European hits. What is unusual is the director of the original getting the chance to helm the new version with an American cast, which is what happened with this film based on an intensely creepy Dutch film of the same name (both directed by George Sluizer). Kiefer Sutherland and Sandra Bullock are on vacation when, while stopped at a crowded rest area, she disappears. He devotes the next several years to discovering what happened to her, ruining his life in the process. When he does get a clue, it leads him to Jeff Bridges, who plays a bizarre and highly organized individual whose motives are almost as strange as he is. Bridges is spooky, but Sluizer ultimately is undone by Hollywood's demand for a happy ending, which makes this film affecting but far less unsettling than the original. --Marshall Fine
George Sluizer's original Dutch-French version of The Vanishing (aka The Man Who Wanted to Know) offers one of European cinema's most quietly disturbingly anonymous and everyday sociopaths, feeling his way one step at a time towards murder. If you've seen that version, you probably still can't get the final revelation out of your head, but the film had plenty more to offer than that, playing with chronology, subverting the usual cliches of its 'Lady Vanishes' plot (the hero wants to know what happened to his missing lover far more than he wants her to be alive) and throwing in some excellent characterization. I can only assume that for this 1993 US remake Sluizer was so determined that no-one else was going to get the chance to ruin his film when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself, but few people could have anticipated how comprehensively he trashes his own work. His career never recovered.
Chief culprit is an astonishing performance by Jeff Bridges that has been overthought through in every detail to a truly disastrous level. A friend who produced one of his earliest movies noted that Bridges was a great instinctive actor as long as you stopped him thinking about what he was doing, and this film is the proof of the pudding. Every movement is overly mechanical in its precision, making him look like a rusty clockwork toy, while his voice is a bizarre mixture of Tootsie, Latka Gravas from Taxi and a Dalek who have all been taking elocution lessons from Dok-tah E-ville. No banality of evil here, just a looney walking around with an invisible sign over his head saying "Please. Let. Me. Kill. You. Thank you. For your. Consideration.'
But the blame really needs to be shared out here. None of the performances are good: often, they don't even look good - Keifer Sutherland looks more like a baby hamster than a distraught man at his wits end in the hurried scenes at the gas station, Nancy Travis flounders badly and Sandra Bullock makes no impression at all as the object of his obsession. Not that they're given any help by either director or writer Todd Graff. The script is particularly weak. The chronology has been altered to put the focus firmly on Bridges at the expense of the couple at the opening of the film. Worse is the rush the film is in, draining the life and character from each scene in its race to get to the next. Rather than the high/low mood shifts in the couple's relationship or the apparently casual but careful establishing of the feel of the location, we just get a couple of arguments that give you the impression that he's probably better off without her. As for the new and improved happy ending - standard woman chased by nutter in the woods jeopardy stuff complete with lame `let's end on a joke like a TV cop show' moment - best not go there... which is advice that holds for this entire trainwreck of a movie. Even a shockingly bland and uninspired Jerry Goldsmith score can't do anything for this one.
DISAPPEARING ACT
Director George Sluzier has remade his classic of the same name, but Hollywoodized it for our audiences. The result is a mixed bag, blessed with good performances, but with a by the numbers script that suddenly turns ludicrous. Jeff Bridges is effective as the psychopath who kidnaps a then unknown Sandra Bullock right out from under Kiefer Sutherland's eyes. Three years later, Sutherland is obsessed in finding out what happened to Bullock. He falls for Nancy Travis (an excellent performance) and tries to start his life again...supposedly. But he is covertly tracking Bullocks whereabouts and can't shake his obsession. The movie then turns pretty outlandish when Bridges decides to tell Sutherland where he can find Bullock. We pretty much know Bullock's fate, and Sutherland's willingness to follow Bridges is pretty incredulous. A whacked out finale at Bridges' isolated cabin is more reminiscent of a slasher film and ultimately destroys the credibility of the movie's plot. A nice try but not as good as it should have been.
The Vanishing (1993)
In 1988, director George Sluizer had directed a film entitled, THE VANISHING. The film was all in Dutch and starred Dutch actors, who are nowhere near well-known in this country.
In 1993, director George Sluizer, who had directed the original Dutch film, had decided to direct a remake of his own film, this time, casting a well-known cast that consists of Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, Sandra Bullock, & Jeff Bridges. The film is almost the same as the original Dutch version, but this one is much more worth the time and money.
JEFF HARRIMAN (played by Kiefer Sutherland) and his girlfriend, DIANE SHAVER (played by Sandra Bullock) are driving to the mountains for vacation. They have a little spout, after their car runs out of gas, while in a dark tunnel. Leaving Diane there, Jeff heads off to get enough gas to drive them to a nearby gas station. He comes back to find Diane sitting outside the other end of the tunnel, upset and distraught. They pull into a gas station, where Diane has Jeff, who laughs with cheerfulness, repeat an apology. They kiss passionately, where Diane heads into the store to buy her and Jeff some cold beers. A half-hour goes by and Diane has not yet returned. He searches the store, as well as the whole ground, but Diane is nowhere to be found.
Three years later, Jeff is still on the hunt for his beloved girlfriend. Every month for the last three years, Jeff would renew the posters he had printed of Diane. He has even gone to the local newspapers and national television news stations and pleaded with the person who had kidnapped Diane to tell him where she is. He walks into a diner one night, still very miserable, and meets RITA BAKER (played by Nancy Travis). Rita is instantly attracted to Jeff. Jeff and Rita begin a love affair together. Jeff tries to move on with his life, but he cannot, for he is still searching for Diane. Rita finds out about what Jeff is doing behind her back. She tries to help get over his obsession, but it doesn't work. Jeff receives a letter from a man named BARNEY COUSINS (played by Jeff Bridges). Jeff shows Rita the letter, but she realizes that his obsession is still going on, where she leaves him. She goes to their appartment, packs her things, changes the outgoing message on their answering machine. Jeff returns home and changes the machine himself, but as the recording is still going, Barney appears. Jeff beats the hell out of him, but Barney reveals that he can tell him where Diane is, and that in order for Jeff to find out what happened to her, he'd have to ride with Barney.
While at a bar with her girlfriend, Rita calls her appartment to let her girlfriend her the outgoing message, but Rita hears that Jeff had already changed it, to which she finds Barney's voice on the machine. She realizes that Jeff is in danger and rushes over to help him, but Jeff and Barney are already on their way.
Rita finds out what happened from her neighbor, where her neighbor gives Rita the license plate number to Barney's car. With this License Plate #, Rita finds out where Barney lives and drives off to his place.
Jeff and Barney arrive at the gas station where Diane was last seen three years earlier. Barney hands Jeff a cup of coffee, where Barney informs Jeff that the coffee is drugged. He tells Jeff that in order to find out what happened to Diane, Jeff has to go through the exact same details that Diane had gone through. Jeff, through hurtful tears, drinks the coffee and blacks out. He wakes up to darkness. He flips on his lighter to find himself locked...in a coffin and...buried alive outside Barney's vacation cabin in the woods. Barney had done this to poor Diane, who, after three years of being buried in the ground without anyone coming to her aid, is now dead.
Rita arrives at Barney's house, where she meets Barney's daughter, DENISE (played by Maggie Linderman). She asks Rita to giver her a ride to the carnival, as long as she doesn't say a word to to Barney. Rita asks Denise how to get to the summer cabin where Barney is at. Denise gives her the directions and Rita is on her way. She arrives and has a brief brawl with Barney. She stops when he is about to kill her. She is now seated inside his cabin, talking with Barney, trying to find out what he did with Jeff. She notices the dirt on his shoes, the dirt on a shovel, standing beside the door, and realizes that she had seen a long spot on the ground without grass, and realizes that Barney had buried Jeff alive. She knocks Barney and begins digging up Jeff. But not before Barney awakens and begins brawling again with Rita. Did Jeff suffocate and bite the dust as Diane had done? Will Barney kill of Rita as well? The only way to find is to watch this 1993 remake of THE VANISHING.
I have read the reviews from many Amazon.com reviewers and I cannot believe that anyone would hate this remake. So what? The ending was changed. I do not find that a good enough reason to hate this movie. This movie was just outstanding and was much better than the remake. Kiefer Sutherland, again, proves that he is the best actor on this planet, maybe even in this whole galaxy. This movie is one Kiefer's best starring roles and I recommend it to any Kiefer Sutherland fan who has not yet seen this film.
This is a medium whodunit with a twist and then a double twist..but it is NOT that the lead character can see the future through grasping objects, but rather that he can see the events that occurred in the past, but only through the eyes of the user/possessor of that object, which usually happens to be the victim..but naturally the victim never looks completely at the killer's face until...but I won't spoil it...
A good X-Files episode is more satisfying..in fact a good Dead Zone episode is more satisfying..but if it's on cable and you happen to have a couple of hours to kill... go for it. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Paul Marcus DVD Release Date: Released the 24 October 2000 Usually ships within 24 hours
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Sally Field stars in this well-crafted revenge thriller. Eye for an Eye follows Karen McCann (Field) after her teenage daughter is raped and murdered. At first, she sinks into depression and paranoia; but, when the killer (Kiefer Sutherland) is caught, then released on a technicality, she becomes obsessed and begins to track him in his neighborhood. Her single-mindedness begins to distance her from her husband (Ed Harris). Finally, when the killer threatens her younger daughter, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Eye for an Eye is not exactly a balanced examination of justice and revenge--Sutherland's killer is a relentless monster--but it does approach the conflict from many points of view, articulated by a superb supporting cast, including Joe Mantegna,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sally Field - Kiefer Sutherland Director(s): John Schlesinger DVD Release Date: Released the 16 April 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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As a big Fan of Kiefer I have seen this movie several times in german and now bought it in english. Sure, the story is not as exciting as his new series "24", but it's amusing to see Kiefer getting more nervous with each step Pally and Ray do. It shows the funny side of Kiefer's acting and he is excellent. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Mark Malone DVD Release Date: Released the 23 July 2002 Usually ships within 24 hours
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In "The Right Temptation" Rebecca DeMornay plays Derian McCall, a former undercover cop who is now a private detective and who is hired by Anthea Farrow-Smith (Dana Delany) to investigate her husband, Michael (Kiefer Sutherland), who she believes might be cheating on her. Anthea insists that she would be more comfortable with a woman doing the job, which is how Derian gets the gig. But from the start we get a bad vibe about this. There is something about Anthea that does not scan right and if Derian is a bit behind us in her suspicions she does her best to catch up. However, that takes a bit of doing in this film.
Early on in this 2000 thriller I thought I knew what was going on, but I had about as much trouble as Derian did in catching up with what is going on. In fact, at some point... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Lyndon Chubbuck DVD Release Date: Released the 27 February 2001 Usually ships within 24 hours
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In 1989, Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips were teamed up again for the action/adventure/comedy, RENEGADES.
BUSTER MCHENRY (played by Kiefer Sutherland) is an ill-tempered cop. HANK STORM (played by LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS) is a wise Lakota Indian, full of peace and serenity, but lethal. As fate would have it, Buster and Hank are teamed up together on a mission: to track down BOB MARINO (played by Robert Knepper), a vicious mobster, who stole diamonds from a jewel store. Now, Buster was involved in the robbery, but he was there doing his job as the cop that he is to find out which one of his cop friends is involved. Apparently, not one, but two of Buster's cop friends are involved in this crime, which resulted in the death of Hank's brother and father. Now, the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Kiefer Sutherland - Lou Diamond Phillips Director(s): Jack Sholder DVD Release Date: Released the 11 May 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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