Rating: 
Summary: King + Kasdan = popcorn movie, who would've thought that?
Review: For a long time, Stephen King book adaptations were destined to be screened only on tv, but ever since The Shawshank Redemption King is hot again to adapt for the big screen. But after all those drama's now comes DreamCatcher, the first horror film to be based on a King novel to be qualified good enough for the cinema. But is it realy that good, or does it only get a big release because of the big names who have worked on it?When you think of Stephen King, you now think of 2 things; touching drama and gory, edge of your seat tension. Since Lawrence Kasdan, director of drama-comedy's such as Mumford and Rushmore, was chosen to direct this project, one would think immediately that Kasdan would focus on the reality of the whole nightmare and the inner emotions provided by the main character Duddits, a child with the syndrome of down. But the novel DreamCatcher is rich, it has got two sides to it; drama AND horror. And it's even science fiction! No wonder King fans all over the world were anxious about how this movie would turn out, especially because Kasdan had never before made a big blockbuster movie. And considered all the special effects, this would become one! So not sure about what I was going to get, I sat down in the cinema open minded and expecting nothing, which is probably the best way to get into it. If DreamCatcher is anything, it's just a fun popcorn movie. Not fantastic, just fun. Which is a bit dissapointing on the one hand, since the novel contains so much more deep stuff and ideas, which could've easily made this an intelligent thriller. Instead of that, Kasdan surprisingly focusses on the action, the horror (although it's absolutely not as gruesome as the book!) and the aliens. I wont tell you a lot about the plot, simply because you have to see it for yourself. But the movie starts off with 4 friends, bonded by a mysterious gift they've got. Each of them is very depressive, but they decide to go hunting in the woods of main nonetheless, something they do every year. In those woods, one of them picks up a lost man, something he better shouldn't have done because it appears to them a ticket to hell. Before they know it they're on the run for aliens as well as the army led by the ruthless general Kurtz (Morgan Freeman) The main problem with this movie which helds it from being as spooky as, say, Signs, is that Kasdan shows the (cliche) aliens way too much and way too clear. There's a lot of action in it and everything is overdone which tones down the tension a bit. But never mind these problems, or the climax, because you can enjoy a lot of other things. This movie contains enough to have a great evening with friends; great action, cool CGI, some exciting scenes, Morgan Freeman who has clearly fun playing his character, realy great dolby surround effects ("don't harm us!")enough humor and even a dramatic subtone. So when you go see this movie in the theatre, remember that it's NOT a scary, but a popcorn movie! Don't expect to see highly intelligent stuff. Although it's got some original, interesting ideas which came from King (like the memory warehouse), the aliens are nothing we haven't seen before.
Rating: 
Summary: ENTERTAINING MR. GRAY...............
Review: SO ...... it weaves a spell closely along the lines of "Stand By Me"; "Andromeda Strain", "The Thing" ..... and more so "Communion" ... but what a ride! Great twists and turns for the Science Fiction Fan, the photograhpy [the overhead snow shots] alone deserve a nod ... only drawback would the the Brit accent of the creature ['alienation effect'??] - and makes you think once or twice about using the bathroom or eating those berries ...... or sushi for that. NOW to say more would be foolish, but it's a close buddy movie with quite a final twist about the handicapped. Highly recommended for those who enjoy USING their minds instead of watching mindless driver! Cannot wait for the DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Very nice cast (carefully selected) veery nice scenario very nice effects.Very touching moving film.I was thinking abouth the film all night.Congrajulations to the actors , Steven king and the director!
Rating: 
Summary: Diassapointing - Avoid It
Review: The other week I read an interview with Stephen King in which he claimed that the film Dreamcatcher was an adaptation of one of his novels that he actually liked. Seeing as I love King's novels and dislike most of the film adaptations (the same as him), I thought I would check this film out, and had high expectations for it. After watching it, I don't know what King was thinking when he made the aforementioned comment, because it was just like most of his movies; the first half hour is brilliant, making you think you're in for a great film, but winds up being a load of over-exaggerated rubbish.
The storyline of the film is roughly similar to It, four friends come face to face with a group of leech-like aliens who are connected with an experience from childhood, and must fight to get rid of it. Although the special effects of the aliens are admittedly impressive, the overall feel of the film is undoubtedly corny. Like most horror films, there are obvious flaws. As those who watched the film would know, why on earth did the character given the job of preventing the alien escaping from a toilet lid by sitting on it, risk his life by repeatedly reaching for the floor to grab a toothpick? I'm sorry - no matter how obsessed someone was about chewing on a toothpick, surely they could wait one minute without one until their friend returned. The film features another sub plot involving the a military group who are also intent on stopping the deadly creatures. They are headed by the usually wonderful actor Morgan freeman, but his character in this film is hackneyed and corny, like one from a B-movie horror flick - which is exactly what this film feels like. It wasn't truly awful, there were some good moments, but overall it was a letdown.
Rating: 
Summary: This Movie Will Stick Terribly In My Dreams
Review: ...I came out of the movie thinking, "What was that?". No way did Stephen King do that. It was so bad. Not one part in the movie was that scary. The main drawback was that it was boring. I've seen Maximum Overdrive (underrated) and Christine. They were great movies and never got boring. This movie was okay until it got into the middle. Nothing good happened from that point on. Here's the horrible plot. Four friends (Beaver/Jason Lee, Jonesy/Damian Lewis, Pete/Timothy Olyphant, and Henry/Thomas Jane) have been together for a long time. When they were young, they saved a down syndrome boy (he turns out to be an alien in the end) from bullies. The boy (Duddits) gave all of them a special power so they could read each other's minds and troubles. Years have passed, and the four friends go up to their cabin where they hunt year round. One day, the friends split up (Henry and Pete together and Jonesy and Beaver). A man stumbles into camp when Jonesy and Pete are there. The man seems to have problems (burping, gas, big stomach, rash). He is carrying an alien. This alien gets lose and kills Beaver (darn). Oh yah, one more thing. This alien looks really bad. Anyway, an alien possesses Jonesy's body and makes his body do his deeds. Henry and Pete have an accident (in their car) by almost hitting a woman sitting in the street. This woman also carries an alien. Henry leaves Pete with the woman. Pete is attacked by the alien, but survives. The possessed Jonesy finds Pete and begins to take him on his snowmobile. Shortly after, Jonesy turns into a huge alien mouth and swallows up Pete. Then the army comes in and tries to contain the situation. This is where the movie gets bad. They are led by Sgt. Curtis (Freeman) and Owen Underhill (Sizemore). The rest of the movie is them trying to kill the alien species. Underhill helps Henry find Duddits. He is the only one that can save the world from the possessed Jonesy. Duddits turns out to be an alien and blows the other alien to pieces. I know, I know. I kinda spoiled it. But, who cares? It's such a bad movie. Nothing really good comes from this. Oh, the ending is so bad. It seems to be a dramatic moment,but then they roll the credits and rock music starts playing. This is a really bad movie and I don't recommend it. I like movies that are bad and you can make fun of. I couldn't even make fun of this it was so bad. I would've given it 0 stars if possible. ... Bad Movie! Rated R for violence, some light gore, and strong pervasive language. G. Mike
Rating:
Summary: Read the Book! Don't See the Movie!
Review: I can't really say I liked this film. I tried to like this film but it was impossible. I only read a bit of the book but of course the book is always better. I think the Little Engine That Could is better reading material than this film was as viewing material. A waste of money! A waste of time for Morgan Freeman who must have just wanted an easy check. This was the worse movie he's ever appeared in and his character wasn't all that convincing to begin with. The film was clearly a rush project because it's like you're watching three movies at once. Back and forth between flashback scenes and the villian Mister Grey was a bit intriguing for a while but the ending was very anti-climatic. In short, if you want to really dig Stephen King, just read his books. There hasn't been a decent film based on one of his novels in quite awhile.
Rating:
Summary: Just enjoyed it !!
Review: Man, I loved this movie. Since I did not read the book, I watched it without making any comparisons. And I loved it. The cast is absolutely fantastic. Up coming star Damien Lewis (Band of Brothers) proves he has come to stay, playing Jonesy. Thomas Jane each day grows stronger as the typical, old-fashioned "hero". He adds amazing credibility to the Henry character. Jason Lee is also top notch, a kind of humorous relief, and this guy is really good. I admit Morgan Freeman is a little bit wasted here, his character is below his capacity as an actor. But he gets away with it very fine. Tom Sizemore plays ANOTHER military man! ThatÂ's how heÂ's making his living nowadays... As for the story, is has a lot of suspence, some humor, a lot of plot curves. As with most of alien plots, you have to forget about sense for a while, as, for example, as some reviewer wrote, why the hell they aliens did not drop the worm in the water by air??! WHy did they have to do some by reaching the reservatoire? Well, anyway, you can enjoy a technically perfect movie (the best of any King adaptation), and watch actor giving their best!
Rating:
Summary: Just Not Good For Some Reason!
Review: I sat through the two and a half hours of Dreamcatcher and the short before it featuring The Matrix but those two and a half hours felt like ten. This film had so many flaws and confused the hell out of me in the head. This movie had too many people who in the head ended up hurt, dead, or physically and mentally damaged which took alot of attention away the film. The movie was about these four friends. Henry, Beaver, Jonsey, and Pete. Every winter these friends go into the woods and hunt, drink, and make sexual jokes. They are lifelong friends and they each posess a great gift. They have telepathic abilities given to them by a mentally challenged boy named Douglas who refers to himself as "Duddits." They saved him from some bullies years ago in there childhood. This winter however is different when it takes place months after a horrible car accident that almost kills Jonsey. While Pete and Henry go to a store Beaver and Jonsey stay at the cabin where Jonsey almost shoots a man named Rick who he brings to the cabin. He is very sick and needs good and rest. Pete and Henry then get into a car accident where they meet a women who is in the same state as Rick. It eventually comes out that the people have alien worm creatures shoved up there......backside leaving one of the four dead and one of them becoming pocessed by an alien named Mr.Gray. Of course this doesn;t seem right to Col. Abraham Curtis(Morgan Freeman) and his right hand man Owen Underhill(Tom Sizemore)who work in the U.S. Army for aliens coming to Earth. They have quarantined an area around the camp so no alien lifeform enters or escapes the area. As the men try to aviod alien attacks the Army tries to kill them eventually leading to the only way that they can stop them and the brutal attacks and bad decisions made by Curtis. In the end Dreamcatcher was just not the film for me. It had too much brutal volence. That can be fine usally but it was useless brutal volence. The effects didn't make it and the story was too desturbing and is not for everyone. I even attempted to read the book but that gave me more discomfront as writer Stephan King said in the prolouge because it was after he was hit by the van...much like the Jonsey character. The music was probally the best part of them ridiculous movie. James Newton Howard has done great scores in the past for such films as Signs and Big Trouble. The score of Dreamcatcher is mysterious and amazing and it keeps the listening attached to the instruments playing in the backround. On a final note Dreamcatcher just didn't do it for me. If you want to see a better film of this genre see Signs. Even though I rated Signs the same as this Signs had better acting which gave it it's extra star. This film was only good in music and acting by Morgan Freeman and Tom Sizemore. Those are the saviors of this film. Dreamcatcher....Rated R For violence, gore and language.
Rating:
Summary: Forget the movie, read the book.
Review: Stephen King is one of my favorite authors, and I absolutely loved his book DREAMCATCHER. It was a riviting tale about four friends who are connected by their shared telepathy and their down-syndrom friend, Duddits. Twenty years after saving his life, they are fighting to save their own, and possibly the lives of every human being on Earth. When I heard that a movie was being made based on the book, I knew that I had to see it. So, having some free time and being near a theater, I decided to see it today. I was disappointed that much of the character developement and explainations were left out (i.e.: Beav's obsession with toothpicks) or exaggerated (the 'memory werehouse' being a room with a spiraling staircase and many levels as opposed to the simple singly room of many many bookshelves in the book). I also felt that a great many things were changed (Mr. Gray doesn't even bother going to Derry; Henry was supposed to warn Jonesy to 'watch out for Mr. Gray' when they spoke; and Morgan Freeman's character is named Curtis, not Kurtz). I was most dissapointed with the ending. First of all, in the book, Duddits dies before Henry even attempts to stop Mr. Gray in the shed. Second, Duddits was NOT an alien in the book, and the implication that he was or might have been was definately not present. Also, the book makes no mention whatsoever about Mr. Gray even knowing who Duddits is. In fact, Mr. Gray is desperate to figure out who Duddits IS, because he feels that Duddits might be able to help stop him. The acting was great, despite the script. I would warn any die-hard King fan to stay away from this movie. If you do decide to see it, see it for the sake of putting some visuals to the written word.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining but overlong and flawed!
Review: DreamCatcher had the opportunity to be a superb horror thriller, but it misses that chance by a longshot. What starts off as an absorbing story about 4 childhood friends with a deadly secret (a Stephen King trait it seems) quickly goes downhill with a government alien invasion cover-up storyline. In Roger Ebert's review of the film he states, "'Dreamcatcher' begins as the intriguing story of friends who share a telepathic gift, and ends as a monster movie of stunning awfulness." I would totally agree. In the first forty minutes of the film, "Dreamcatcher" is absorbing, entertaining, and scary as we meet four childhood friends--played by Thomas Jane (Henry), Jason Lee ("Beaver"), Damian Lewis ("Jonesy") and Timothy Olyphant (Pete) --who share a rather "strange" bond. During a reuinion in a cabin in the woods, things go terribly wrong and the friends begin to get killed by a strange alien force. Enter Morgan Freeman and a truly confusing government alien conspiracy which ruins the wonderful events that had been set up until that point. Most of the cast is good, but Morgan Freeman is wasted, and he seems bored in his role. Freeman, one of the best actors working today, can't even turn the God-awful dialogue into anything worth listening to. It is amazing that a talented writer like William Goldman ("Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid," "All The President's Men," "Misery," among others) and director Lawrence Kasdan ("Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Return of the Jedi," "The Big Chill," among others) actually adapted this mess, which was based off the best-selling novel by Stephen King. If that's not bad enough, the film apparently doesn't like to explain anything. Many things are brought up and then dropped without a single explanation. Perhaps, those explanations are on the cutting room floor. But after the film ended, I didn't care about such plot holes and inconsistencies. I was just relieved that the 136-minute film was finally over (it was just TOO long). Though I must say that it was never boring. There are plenty of blood and guts (as well as some farting and burping) to keep some horror aficionados happy. Those who look for other qualities in a horror film should totally avoid this film at all costs. Though, I should say that not ALL critics had bad things to say about "Dreamcatcher". Lou Lumenick of the New York Post stated that this film is "one of the more consistently entertaining Stephen King adaptations" and would go on to state that the film's special effects were "truly mesmerizing," and that the film features "excellent performances," "some truly arresting images," and a "chilling score". As I wonder "what in the hell was Lou watching?", I also think of Film critic's James Berardinelli's summary of the film. "Dreamcatcher isn't worth the time, money, or effort." I second that. But hey, what do critics know? Be aware, though, that there IS a reason the film dropped by 56% in its second week. Hmmm!!
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