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Something Wicked This Way Comes

Something Wicked This Way Comes

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A rare version of the book
Review: Ray Bradbury is one of the greatest writers of all time - and I don't mean just science fiction. His poems are some of the best around with their internal rhythm and universal themes. The book opened like the movie - a glimpse of an America of the past. We are in middle Americana on a late summer day and it's time for the county fair.

Will and Jim, best friends, are excited about the upcoming event. Will's dad is the old, unexciting librarian who becomes a hero to his son. This is a great tale for the whole family since it is not drenched in obscenity nor blood. It's not really a whodunit since we all know that the evil Mr. Dark is the bad guy.

The ending is magnificent and the respect Will has for his dad - and the new self-respect his dad has for himself - makes this movie a morality story as well as an engrossing tale.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Something Great this way Comes.
Review: Ray Bradbury wrote the Screen-Play, based on his novel. This film is Disowned by Disney, Anchor Bay Entertainment is Digitally Remasted, Disney`s and Universal, these two studio give away the rights to the films,don`t want to Re-relase on Video or on DVD,Anchor Bay is Producing These films on Video and on DVD.

Johantan Pryce(Brazil,Torrorow Never Dies) in a Dark Performance as Mr Dark. Jason Roberts(Parenthood,Quick Change) is always great as Usual. Pam Grier(Jackie Brown) as Miss Beautiful in a good and strange role. Vidal Peterson as Will Halloway and Shawn Carson as Jim Nightshade in a Good Performances. Royal Dano(House 2) as Tom Fury and Diane Ladd(Wild At Heart) in Small Supporting Performances.

Strange Disney film to be sure.

This film is great in some way but there`s is no surprise on the plot but Thanks to a Well-Written Screen Play by Ray Bradbury,A Good Cast and Directed By Jack Clayton help this film work, Highlight-James horner(Aliens,48hours,Titanic):Terrific Score is Great and Some of the Film Visual Effects. Grade:B+.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Love Bradbury! Not so much love for screen adaptation -
Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes - staring Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce. A screen adaptation (1983) by the author, of his own novel. The film is good only during scenes with Pryce and Robards (it's VERY good). Yet, the plot is motivated by the actions of the characters of the two boys, Will Holloway and Jim Nightshade who, were inadequately cast (it's hard to find good child actors). Along with not being shot very well (Director of Photography, Stephen H. Burum [the writer of this review simply can't tolerate the day-for-night scenes.]), it seems 10 to 18 pages of the original script are missing from the final cut (the whole Tom Fury, B-Story). Much of the special effects scenes are cut in such a way as to reveal they simply didn't work and had to be cut out all together &/or "cut around." Much to my dismay, the story simply falls apart. Somehow, a beautiful script ended up as a film that, "...had to be saved." That's Hollywood...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Good vs. The Evil
Review: Something Wicked this way comes is a movie that shows the effect of evil in persons and how people can be seducted by their temptations. There are two very important characters the representant of good that is Mr. Halloway, and the evil side, Mr. Dark.
These two characters are a complement of each other, and at the same time they have a total different personality. Mr. Halloway is the person who always wants to do the right thing, and always tries to make everyone follow the right way. He kind of represents the light and the person who is brave enought to fight evil and destroy it.
Mr. Dark is the person who has the evil inside him. The evil and all the bad and dark creatures have reincarnated in him, as a way to persuade good people and make them follow the path to their own destruction.
In the movie they have to fight agains each other representing the light and the dark, showing the power that each one of these have. Mr. Dark with the power of fear, badness,and envy. And, Mr. Halloway with the power of love, happiness,and succedd to follow his believes and dreams.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The perfect Halloween movie
Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes is a movie that the whole family can watch for Halloween. It will scare kids, but who cares, I grew up with Disney animated movies with villains that terrified me(Sleeping Beauty's villain for instance was heavily satanic in look). This movie also has terrific special effects, and a great cast with Jason Robards and Johnathen Pryce. The best part: the library.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A movie well worth seeing again
Review: The first and only time I had seen this film was in the theater when I was 13. That is until I purchased it from Amazon. I remembered it as a GREAT movie when I was a kid and thought I'de give it another viewing. I was pleasantly surprised. It was better than I remembered. If anyone reading this has seen the film adaptation of the Stephen King novel "Needfull Things", you might want to check out this precurser. The film is beautifully shot and acted. Probably one of the best scenes in the film is the exchange between Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce in the library. It is wonderfully written and very compelling. This film would be a bit scary for younger children, but the older ones will get a kick out of it. The special effects for it's time are fantastic. I highly recommend this film to all fans of Science Fiction.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I still enjoyed the book more...
Review: The movie version of Ray Bradbury's classic novel does total justice to this great story. Jason Robards as the town Librarian who must learn to confront his timid past and Jonathan Pryce as the sinister and scary carnival master give expert performances. Then add the wonderful narration of Arthur Hill, great cinematography and special effects that capture the colorful yet eerie moods of Autumn in small town USA just as two curious young boys discover that a 'dark carnival' is about to blow into town and you have a guaranteed classic. Great for the family to enjoy at Halloween or any time for that matter. The effects are right on target without being too far beyond what is needed to make the scenes work. You'll enjoy this one over and over again!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Nice music,poetic writing,but the kids were miscast.
Review: This film has a beautiful style with great photography,great music and a poetic writing style(typical of Ray Bradbury)and the movie really lights up when Jason Robard's character confonts Johnathon Pryce's villian.But,unfortunately the children are hopelessly miscast and have no presence at all,therefore there is no reason to care about their characters.This spoils an otherwise good film.The ending was refilmed(ordered by interfering Disney executives)despite the director's objections and seems to clash with the rest of the films poetic style.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Flick that delivers without huge names or budget.
Review: This is a perfect example of what a movie should be: a simple setting and plot with very good acting...no huge budget and overpaid actors who don't deliver as in most of today's movies. Jonathan Pryce delivers as the eerie Mr. Dark and his stare is enough to make you keep the lights on at night. Jason Robards also performs well as the ageing father filled with regrets. This movie is a must for Halloween and a nice addition to anyone's personal collection.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: "Be careful what you wish for..."
Review: This is an underrated gem. I recall watching it for the first time when I was twelve, and the scene in the library, where Will's father utters the titular line, scared me out of my wits. Sixteen years later, it still scares me out of my wits.

The theme of evil visiting a small town has been done many times, but seldom as effectively as this. Whoever cast Jonathan Pryce deserves an award, because he is truly frightening as Mr. Dark. When Mr. Dark finds and exploits the hopes and fears of his prey, he is both ruthless and humorless (most movie incarnations of evil fall back on humor at least once), but somehow the movie never takes itself too seriously. It also manages to weave in another plot which is just as important as the carnival of evil's arrival in town: the feeling of alienation between the boy Will and his aging father.


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