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Stars:
Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Damian Lewis, Timothy Olyphant, Tom
Sizemore, and Donnie Wahlberg
Writers:
William Goldman and Lawrence Kasdan
Based
On The Book By: Stephen King
Director:
Lawrence Kasden
Feature
length: 134 minutes
Extras:
Deleted and Extended Scenes, Alternate Ending, Featurettes, and Teaser Trailer
Languages:
English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Snap Case
Chapter
Stops: 37
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2003/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Home
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Stephen
King feature films are a mixed lot in general. Some can be truly uplifting
experiences while others are disturbing and compelling at the same time. Then
there are some that are mixed bag at best. I tend to prefer the miniseries based
on King’s work instead of the feature films because there is more time to tell
the story and delineate the characters. “Dreamcatcher” is a mixed bag at
best, but not so much because of the talent involved. I have not read the book,
but judging by the amount of characters and plots going on in the film, I think
“Dreamcatcher” would have been received better as a miniseries especially
since the gore is not as upsetting as one might think. In fact the extra time to
tell the story would have probably made for a more spooky sci-fi horror tale. As
it is, “Dreamcatcher” has some memorable moments and some beautiful
photography, but it never draws the viewer in close enough to really be scared
and to really care for the characters all that much. If “Dreamcatcher”
succeeds in anything it is in the combination of practical and computer effects
by ILM that create great eye candy and in thoroughly revolting the viewer with
the “shit weasels” that exit through the anus once the viral like alien has
gestated and emerges as vertical jawed snakelike creature.
The
story is a bit confusing given the limited time to tell it as a feature film.
Basically we have four friends who 20 years earlier formed a bond with a young
seemingly retarded boy with amazing powers that he passes on to them. Taking an
annual trip to a hunting cabin in the woods, our four friends find themselves in
the midst of some strange phenomena. First they come upon a man lost in the
woods with terrible flatulence and a high fever. Then while two of them go out
to get assistance, the other two witness a mass exodus of various forest
creatures. Soon they see armed military helicopters flying overhead and learn
they are quarantined. However they still do not know why until they check the
progress of the man they found wandering in the forest. There is a trail of
blood and feces from the bedroom where they set him to rest to the bathroom. It
is there they discover the true nature of the horror that has invaded our world.
Meanwhile the other two friends get into an accident when they try to swerve
their car out of the way of another lost soul sitting on the snow covered road
and suffering from the same symptoms as the man they found earlier.
Just
outside the perimeter, a general on the brink of insanity is prepared to commit
genocide upon everyone in the quarantined area in order to keep the contagion
from slipping through. Apparently there has been knowledge of the
extraterrestrial threat hidden from the general public for at least 25 years and
the general thinks the crashing of one of their ships is the prelude to
invasion. “Dreamcatcher” borrows a bit from “Alien,” “Invasion Of The
Body Snatchers,” “The Thing,” and even Stephen King’s own book “It.”
In fact the town where the flashbacks take place is Derry, which was the same
town that was plagued by the nightmarish creature in “Stephen King’s It.”
Having multiple stories take place in various fictional New England towns is
nothing new when it comes to Stephen King and a lot of other authors too for
that matter. I suppose when these men were boys was during either during a
hibernation cycle for the creature in “It” or maybe it had already been
destroyed or they were already getting too old to acknowledge its existence.
Some story points are never fully developed and as noted above, it is hard to
sympathize with most of the characters because there is simply too much going on
at once.
I
mean Morgan Freeman’s character is supposed to be a villain of sorts, but call
me what you will, if I were in his position I’d want napalm the entire area to
be sure these creatures are stopped. Quite honestly, who wouldn’t be a bit mad
after fighting aliens for a quarter of a century to no avail? Now the best
villains are those who we can understand why they think as they do and why even
if it is twisted they think they’re right. Freeman’s character is probably
the most sympathetic because after seeing the nature of these beings, I can’t
blame him. However I should not be as sympathetic as I am with his character. I
should be hoping for the four men caught in the woods, but honestly I found
their roles to be wasted. The effects and action are quite good, but the pacing
of the film seems stilted too. Basically I am glad I saw “Dreamcatcher” on
DVD and not on the big screen because if I paid 8 bucks or so to see this in the
theater I think I would have been real pissed off.
At
least on DVD one can see it in the comfort of their own home and just given the
nature of TV and DVD for that matter, an off balance film like
“Dreamcatcher” just plays better on the small screen, but in the end I think
this would have made a better TV miniseries to balance out the characters and
tell a more compelling story than is presented here.
This
widescreen edition presents “Dreamcatcher” with an anamorphic (2.35:1)
aspect ratio that preserves the way the film was presented theatrically as close
as possible for home video users. The transfer is quite nice with a muted tone
that brings the eerie winter woods atmosphere to life and helps make some of the
repugnant scenes with the shit weasels a little bit easier to watch. The detail
is quite good and there is no color bleeding or artifacts to mention. The
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is quite well mixed and with nice
sound separation between the channels. I would have preferred a more aggressive
mix, but as it is, “Dreamcatcher” sounds fine. A French Language Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack and English Captions and Closed Captions for the
hearing impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles are also encoded onto
the dual layered DVD as options.
The
extra value features include an interview with Stephen King (7:27) taped in
September of 2002 after he had screened a rough cut of the film. During the
interview King explains how the car accident that left him in the hospital and
unable to type using a word processor forced him to handwrite the book on legal
pad paper and he explains his reasons for creating the “shit weasels” and
likens their presence in the novel to do the same for the toilet as “Psycho”
did for the shower. I think King does make some interesting points regarding the
bathroom being the last place that has not been truly exploited by horror films.
I mean how comfortable does one feel using a public restroom, especially in an
emergency and the door doesn’t lock? Even worse is when it is all fouled up by
someone else before you and there’s another person outside impatient for you
to finish! Lest we forget that there may be no toilet paper and the sink to wash
your hands is out of service.
Then
there is a longer production featurette (18:33) with cast and crew interview
clips and behind-the-scenes footage from the set. The last featurette focuses on
the effects for the film (8:14). Next are five deleted/extended scenes that can
be either viewed separately or as one reel (13:54) and are labeled as “Meeting
Josie,” “Henry Returns To The Logger’s Shelter,” “Colonel Curtis Takes
Off,” “One Worm Kills,” and an alternate ending. These scenes are
presented in a letterboxed (2.35:1) aspect ratio with English Stereo Sound.
The
theatrical teaser (2:29) and a cast and crew list wrap up the extra value
features on this DVD. The main menu features scenes from the film while the
subsequent menus are all standard interactive still frames that are easy to
navigate. “Dreamcatcher: Widescreen Edition” will debut on Tuesday,
September 30, 2003 at retailers on and offline from Warner Home Video.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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