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"Лангольеры" (1995 ) More at IMDbPro » "The Langoliers" (original title). TV mini-series 1995-
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The aircraft used in the movie (Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar (Reg No. N31018)), first flew on 10/02/1974, and was delivered to Trans World Airlines on 23/03/1974. Following filming of The Langoliers, the aircraft was re-registered as SE-DSC, and sold to Air Ops of Sweden (delivered 18/03/1995). It was broken up for scrap at Bournemouth, UK, 1996.See more »
Continuity: Both times when the plan lands (Bangor and LAX) there are brief shots where the lettering on the plane appears as a mirror image.See more »
Bob Jenkins :Let's say that every now and then a hole appears in the stream of time. Not a time-warm. A rip. A time rip. A rip in the central fabric.
Don Gaffney :That's the craziest thing I ever heard of!
Craig Toomy :Amen!
Bob Jenkins :Mr. Gaffney, the situation we're in right now, this is crazy. So let's say that such rips do occur every now and then. It would be similar to rare weather phenomenons that are reported. Upside-down tornadoes, circular rainbows, daytime starlight.
Captain Brian Engle :The aurora borealis.
Bob Jenkins :[Bob looks to Brian in surprise ] What?
Captain Brian Engle :There was an aurora borealis over the Mojavi Desert when we left LAX. We were supposed to fly right into it.
[. ]
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User Reviews
76 out of 97 people found the following review useful.
Faithful TV adaptation delivers within its boundaries. 4 October 2004
Deep within the video cabinet, my girlfriend pulled out a movie she wanted me to see. I had to watch it, and I couldn't question her choice. And so I watched Stephen King's The Langoliers. Seeing as my girlfriend is a huge mark for King's work, I wouldn't have been surprised by the choice, neither would I be surprised after watching the opening credits that I was in for a low-budget, made for TV effort. While thinking it was a late-80s, early-90s movie I still wasn't shocked it turned out to be a 1995 production. I sat there and expected ropey effects, some dodgy acting and uninspiring production, and again I wasn't surprised. When something like this gets the green light, you have to believe that at least there's a good underlining story. Thankfully that's where The Langoliers delivers. The medium expects you to suspend your disbelief, and you have to do so to get the most out of this, but the premise is strong and the characters, while clichéd which is unavoidable in this type of story, have enough depth to contribute to the plot and tackle the problems ahead.
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.
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