The Langoliers (1995)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Zach B

  
  If there is something of a blessing and a curse with Stephen King, it would have to be the trend of people taking his novels and short stories and turning them into numerous films and mini-series. This is a blessing because it gets his work out their into the masses, making him well… More
  If there is something of a blessing and a curse with Stephen King, it would have to be the trend of people taking his novels and short stories and turning them into numerous films and mini-series. This is a blessing because it gets his work out their into the masses, making him well known among the common people. It is a curse due to how terrible most of these are. With adapting King's work, unless you really know what you are doing (ex. Brian de Palma and Stanley Kubrick), you will destroy and crash the project. This has happened many time and bound to happen even more. With the case of The Langoliers, this is a mix bag. It is not good, but it is bad in the 'so bad it is good' stance. This is one of the few short stories of King's I have not yet read, but after this film, it makes me want to read it so I can see how King had the story in mind. The basic idea of the film is that a group of people are trapped on an airplane with most of the passengers have disappeared like in Left Behind. The idea is one that has been used before, but with how it is presented on film does leave things questionable with Tom Holland's directing. Honestly, he could have made this film a bit shorter than it already is. He uses the three hours to develop that characters, but the problem is that we never truly care about what happens to any of them. I did not care if they were going to be right, if they were going to die, etc. Holland is known for making some okay horror comedies, but this film he does not do that good of a job with. Quite sad due to how much this film has as potential. The acting, I don't know if this was on purpose, is funny as crap. Everyone is overacting, no one is taking this film seriously, and it is just hilarious to see everyone try to act serious about a situation that is illogical and not that well thought out. But, the actor that just steals the show is Bronson Pinchot. I never seen an actor who overreacts, over does his lines, and raises his voice so high it sounds like his balls were chopped off. He is simply fantastic at being terrible in this film. Kate Maberly does a note worthy job in this film playing a blind girl throughout this film. While it is not a perfect performance (there are times when you know that she is faking), it is mediocre and better than most of the stale performance throughout the film. I might be a bit harsh on this film, seeing as how I have never read the original story, but this film is not really that good as a film or miniseries. In a critical sense. The acting is kind of trash, the direction is confusing at times, and the script should have been rewritten about a few hundred times. But, I still like this film because it is fun, enjoyable, and funny as crap in so many ways it is unrealistic. Everything from the over the top acting to the terrible script works as a comedy. Taken a black comedy, but a comedy none the less. If you go into this film looking for a serious Stephen King Horror story, you will be disappointed. Go into this with a comedic mind. You will get far more out of it. Even more out of Bronson Pinchot's performance.

• Jason S

  
  Not a bad tv movie. The book is, as usual, better in telling the story of what happens when time passes but this was done well. The cheesy CGI effects used are pretty bad but forgivable given when this was made and the fact that it was done for tv. There are other Stephen King… More
  Not a bad tv movie. The book is, as usual, better in telling the story of what happens when time passes but this was done well. The cheesy CGI effects used are pretty bad but forgivable given when this was made and the fact that it was done for tv. There are other Stephen King books I would have rather seen given the live action treatment though.

• Anthony L

  
  I loved the book so much, this is a rubbish made for TV film but I give it 3 and a half stars for Bronson Pinchot and David Morse?s performances!

• Cassandra M

  
  I have to say I enjoyed this film a lot. I hadn't heard of it before but I found the film interesting. This film provides an interesting take on time travel not depicted in other time travel movies. To be perfectly honest I did not see this as a scare film. It was not remotely… More
  I have to say I enjoyed this film a lot. I hadn't heard of it before but I found the film interesting. This film provides an interesting take on time travel not depicted in other time travel movies. To be perfectly honest I did not see this as a scare film. It was not remotely frightening to me, but that did not prove to be a negative part to it. The story is brilliantly told, and the sfx weren't that bad. It was clearly an unreal format of effects, but this added to the unique structure. Overall I enjoyed the Langoliers, a story of mystery and adventure crammed with plot twists.

• Nani V

  
  I saw this a couple of years ago and it wasn't too bad. Very interesting and a bit creepy.

• Nicki M

  
  Interesting, and genuinely creepy in the first half, but could have been cut by a good hour and been better for it. The acting is pretty bad, but okay for a TV movie.

• Curtis L

  
  "I saw through Mr. Toomies eyes!" Pretty terrible CG, and some awful acting, but I have a place in my heart for this film.

• Lafe F

  
  A spooky Stephen King science fiction excursion with a missing airplane. Those who were asleep wake up to find most of the airplane passengers and crew vanished. They land at a deserted airport terminal and find more mysteries. Among the survivors are a blind girl and a hot-headed… More
  A spooky Stephen King science fiction excursion with a missing airplane. Those who were asleep wake up to find most of the airplane passengers and crew vanished. They land at a deserted airport terminal and find more mysteries. Among the survivors are a blind girl and a hot-headed businessman. Time is running out for them as their past is catching up with them. Frightening "Langolier" creatures are eating everything up. Great story concept, executed a bit slowly with dodgy CGI effects, but it's all very interesting.

• Dean M

  
  Fascinating supernatural TV movie based on a Stephen King novella about ten passengers on a red-eye flight from L.A. to Boston awaken and find that everyone else has disappeared.

• Stuart B

  
  Not good but not a King fan

• Megan S

  
  This movie was good up until the Chomp-Chomps started devouring the past.

• Steve B

  
  A faithful adaptation of a mediocre story.

• Paris S

  
  Starting off strong, The Langoliers ratchets up a surprisingly powerful batch of suspense in the form of a genuinely compelling supernatural mystery. Things get bad when the CG effects show their age, and the illusion is completely shattered during the film's final acts.… More
  Starting off strong, The Langoliers ratchets up a surprisingly powerful batch of suspense in the form of a genuinely compelling supernatural mystery. Things get bad when the CG effects show their age, and the illusion is completely shattered during the film's final acts. It's a film I immediately wanted to like, if only for the interplay between the characters and 'rule nothing out' nature of the premise. The plot itself reminds me of the kinds of stories me and my friends would make up when we were little, sitting in the front yard late in the afternoons after school. It's a film with an imagination, hampered from flight due to some poor script choices. The dialogue gets a little too saccharine at the very end, with a cringe worthy still frame shot that all but shatters the serious nature of the beginning of the film. I've noticed, being a huge Stephen King fan myself, that when he's involved with the teleplay, screen play, production, whatever- it tends to get a bit hammy. This 'hammy' trend would become a staple in almost every single one of his books after 2002. His son, writing under the pen name 'Joe Hill', writes with the hard edge that King used to have, and draws to light a strange dichotomy in King Senior's before and after approach to tale telling. Even if it gets a little too cheesy, The Langoliers is pretty entertaining and not without some commendable pros. For one, The Langoliers is ambitious for what it is, and the fact that it mostly succeeds, with some better than what you would expect actors involved, its a very likeable effort.

• Matthew Y

  
  The Langoliers is an average TV mini-series based on a work of Stephen King. Like most made for TV programs the acting, directing and writing all leave something to be desired and the production design is is severely lacking. The Langoliers however manages to be a modestly… More
  The Langoliers is an average TV mini-series based on a work of Stephen King. Like most made for TV programs the acting, directing and writing all leave something to be desired and the production design is is severely lacking. The Langoliers however manages to be a modestly entertaining work (if not far too long with it's 3 hour+ run-time) due to it's excellent high-concept plot. Ten passengers in a red eye flight wake-up to find their airport completely abandoned. In fact its hard to find any traces of life what-so-ever. The food is rotten and the beverages are flat. What is going on? It's revealed that they have gone back a few seconds in time and discover that time is a single moment in space. Each passing moment is destroyed by creates called The Langoliers in the most basic way possible...by eating it. Fun and interesting concepts, however probably a better read than a watch.

• Jim W

  
  Tom Holland is the only person who is as bad as adapting Stephen King books as Mick Garris. Hopefully neither of them are ever given the right to make the Dark Tower books into movies.

• Lauren D

  
  Although the Langoliers were bad effects, I didn't realize this was a TV movie until years after I first watched it (when I was like, 9-10). This was my favourite movie when I was younger at one point and I still enjoy it a lot when I rewatch it, which is fairly often.

• Barry L

  
  Bizarre is a good word, watchable run of the mill pap im afraid.

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