Dreamcatcher
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Williams on September 19th, 2003
What do you get when you cross “Stand By Me” and “Aliens?” Not a likely combination, but in this case Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher really delivers. While I am a Stephen King fan, I have not yet read this novel but after watching this movie I am very tempted. Unfortunately, a lot of Stephen King thrillers that have been translated to film have not always worked (case in point “It”, “Salem’s Lot”, and “Tommyknockers”) whereas his non-horror stories turned major motion picture have generally been quite amazing – “Stand B… Me,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” and “The Green Mile.” The question is how would a combination of thriller and buddy film work?
The answer is… great!
Much like “Stand By Me,” Dreamcatcher is a buddy film at heart which focuses around the story of 4 men whom share remarkable powers as a result of a heroic deed they performed as children, saving a mentally challenged boy who was being bullied by older kids. They form a strong bond with this boy whom has special powers. Some of these powers are shared by the four main characters whom later learn that their acquisition of these powers were not by accident, but rather part of their destiny to protect the world from alien invasion. I know that sounds tacky, but believe me it works.
Why does it work? It is very evident watching this film that it really is a labour of love from director Lawrence Kasdan. He has a special place in the hearts of many movie goers as his screenwriting credits include “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” and “Return of the Jedi.” It’s pretty obvious that he knows how to handle action/adventure/sci-fi – and it shows in Dreamcatcher.
The story comes alive in the hands of an all star cast highlighted by performances by the great Morgan Freeman, who plays an aggressive, no nonsense, borderline sociopath general who has been hunting the alien menace for 25 years. Tom Sizemore plays his second in command who struggles with some of the decisions his superior officer makes. There are great performances by the 4 main characters. I was very curious to see how Thomas Jane would handle this type of movie as I am very much anticipating his portrayal of Marvel’s favourite gun toting vigilante – The Punisher – next year. After seeing this, I am very encouraged that he can do Frank Castle justice. Jason Lee as always, steals every scene he’s in. There’s no one in Hollywood better at doing sarcasm than Jason Lee. If you are unfamiliar with his work check out Kevin Smith’s “Mallrats,” “Chasing Amy,” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” Great stuff! Damian Lewis puts in a great dual performance about midway through the movie after he is “possessed” by an alien. Former New Kinds on the Block member Donnie Wahlberg is very convincing as the older “Duddits,” the mentally challenged young man who has a pivotal role to play in the outcome of the final battle.
The special effects go from low tech (puppets) to high tech (a huge CGI battle between the air force and the aliens) without any difficulties and add to the cinematic experience. There are plenty of old fashion shocks to keep the horror fans satisfied but it should be remembered that this is a movie about friendship, loyalty, and courage.
Video
Outstanding 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Most of the movie was filmed during the winter in northern B.C. So during the day scenes the environment is quite bright but there was no distortion of the picture as a result of this. There was a real warmth to the color tones super imposed over the snowy white backgrounds. The night scenes were bright enough for you to see what needed to be seen but dark enough to induce the intended feeling of dread. During the battle scenes, the colors were bright without any bleeding or artifacting when there were a lot of elements on the screen.
Audio
There is a dual Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack in both English and French. There was great separation of sound particularly in the scene where the aliens were telepathically sending messages of peace to the chopper pilots as they were about to open a six-pack of alien butt-kicking on the alien invaders. The orchestral soundtrack was powerfully used to maximum dramatic and horrific effect with a wide dynamic range. The bass effects were well used, particularly in the battle scenes.
Special Features
3 documentaries are available in the extra features. The first is an interview with the always-creepy looking Stephen King as he describes the influences in his life as he was writing Dreamcatcher. He reveals that this was written during his rehabilitation following his severe injuries after being hit by a car. He was unable to use a word processor because of wrist damage and as a result, wrote most of the story by hand! He deals with the trauma of the accident by having one of the main characters struck by a car early in the film. The next documentary looks in the making of the movie through the eyes of the director and cast. It was very obvious that the actors had a great deal of respect for Kasdan, as Morgan Freeman admits that he really did the movie because he wanted to work with Kadsan. That says a lot. Climactic difficulties were documented as a lot of the filming occurred at night when the temperature dropped to –27 degrees but despite that there were no complaints from cast or crew displaying their belief and devotion to this picture. The last documentary chronicled the special effects used, both low tech and high tech (CGI done by the always impressive ILM).
There are 5 deleted scenes which do little to flesh out the story more – so it is understandable why they were cut. However, it also has the ‘original ending’ which is slightly different than the theatrical ending, and a little less far-fetched, but once again harkens to the themes of loyalty and friendship.
Also included is the original theatrical trailer which is quite good in that it hints at the thriller elements without revealing too much of the story.
Final Thoughts
This movie could easily have come off as quite corny if the acting and directing had not been top notch. Luckily they were. It is very apparent that the cast and crew believed in Lawrence Kasdan’s vision of this story, which resulted in a surprisingly good movie. I had no expectations heading into this as I heard very little about this movie before viewing it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. For myself this has been the sleeper movie of the year thus far. As Stephen King translations to film goes, this is one of the best.
Special Features List
- Three documentaries
- Five deleted scenes
- Theatrical Trailer
May 1st, 2005 at 9:12 am
ONLY A DIE HARD FAN WOULD ENJOY THIS SAD ATTEMPT OF A MOVIE… MORGAN FREEMAN AT HIS WORST AND I ENJOY ALMOST EVERY MOVIE HE’S DONE. THIS IS A AWFULL AND UNDIGESTIABLE FILM TO RENT BUY OR TO SEE ON TV BY SOME UNGOD LIKE CHANCE. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK AVOID AT ALL COSTS FLEE AS IT WERE A FIRE. JUST LIKE FIRE IT STARTS OFF TO LOOK BEAUTIFUL AT FIRST BUT IF YOU GET TOO CLOSE IT WILL BURN YOU FOR TIME AND MONEY.