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Stephen King's It

Stephen King's It

List Price: $14.96
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: After the Movie Read the Book
Review: I have read many of the reviews before I decided to put mine into words. I agree with most of them, but so far the other reviewers didn't know the other or read the book (which helps out). The movie and the book IT are both 5 star to me. It took me somewhere beween 3 to 4 months to read the book, and I watched the movie many times before, during, and after that period of time. I still to this day consider IT to be my favorite movie. So far, IT is also my favorite Stephen King novel.

The reason I watched the movie so many times during the time I read the novel was so I could appreciate them both for what they were. The movie does NOT do the book justice to what King's mind tries to impose upon his readers therefore the book scared me far more then the movie. I thought the actors, both children and adult, did a wonderful job at diplaying the emotions and fear that they are supposed to portray. If you like the movie, take a little extra time and read the book. You won't be disapponted.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Don't Watch It If You're Afraid Of Clowns
Review: This was a very good drama/epic/horror thiller. A group of kids are terrorized by a menacing, crazy, killer clown that unexpectedly appears to them individually to scare them and threaten them. Supposedly, it's a vengeful spirit of a man who worked as a circus clown and was killed. The clown is kind of funny, but is really evil. The kids finally get fed up with it and track it down and assume they have killed it in an underground water facility. But it comes back when they are adults and begins it's tactics again on each person. But now it's stronger and much more deadly than before. So they leave their busy lives behind as they return to their childhood Maine town to reunite and confront IT once again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Quite good, but it fails to convey the essence of the novel
Review: Stephen King's It is my favorite novel of all time, and even though this miniseries adaptation of the book is done about as well as it could possibly be done, I can only give it four stars. There are several reasons for this, the two most important being time and money. The novel is an immense work, and no adaptation of three hours can even hope to do it true justice; even ten hours would not suffice for getting at the essence of the story, that essence being not horror at all but childhood. The movie only allows the viewer to take in everything from outside, whereas the painstaking detail, insight, and atmosphere of King's novel make the reader an active participant in events. Thus, a lot of things presented in the movie do not come off overwhelmingly convincingly, and there are more than a few noticeably sudden and seemingly unexplainable transitions even within single scenes alone. The money issue is most evident at the end, as the special effects for the big finale were not very impressive even at the time of the movie's completion. Special effects are not all-powerful, of course, but the B movie-ish visuals unveiled in the movie's climactic moments serve to break the spell of the viewer's suspended disbelief and introduce a touch of camp into a movie that should not really be about the big bad monster in the first place.

The setting for this story is a familiar one to King fans, the disquietingly different town of Derry, Maine. Something lives underneath the town, a malevolent force that adults cannot and will not believe in, but which seven outcast kids recognize, fear, and steel themselves to conquer back in 1960. Thirty years later, the monster they hoped they had killed as children returns, and the one character who never left Derry realizes this and calls everyone back to fulfill the promise they all made to return and kill the thing if it ever came back. The movie is, in a sense, two movies in one, as the action shifts between the parallel actions of the characters as children and as adults. The main character, Bill Denbrough, is played by Richard Thomas, a casting decision I did not understand at the time and still fail to comprehend completely. Thomas does a good job, but he is still Johnboy Walton to me, and I just have trouble believing a pony-tailed Johnboy is Bill Denbrough. Harry Anderson and John Ritter are two additional big names lending their talent to the film, but the best adult performance is turned in by Annette O'Toole as Beverly Marsh, the group's sole female member. As I have said, though, this story is really about childhood, and the child actors are the true stars. Jonathan Brandis is young Bill Denbrough (and like his adult counterpart, just doesn't quite fit the bill as far as I'm concerned), Seth Green succeeds much more ably in the role of Richie Tozier than his adult counterpart, Brandon Crane (whom Wonder Years fans will immediately recognize as good old Doug Porter) turns in a winning performance, and Emily Perkins shines as young Bev Marsh. Tim Curry, it must be emphasized, was born to play Pennywise the Clown.

The monster in It is a conglomeration of everything each individual is afraid of; he is in a very real sense the ultimate monster because he is everything you were ever afraid of. The seven childhood friends who comprise The Losers' Club represent a cross-section of children everywhere: one stutters, one is a hypochondriac with an overprotective mother, one is the victim of child abuse, one uses comedy to hide his fears and to win acceptance, one is overweight, one is a paragon of logic and duty, and one is a black boy in a white community; all of them are outsiders and are tormented by a bully who ably represents all bullies everywhere. Sadly, the movie does not make it possible for the viewer to really get to know these kids and to relive his/her own childhood alongside them. A big problem with the adult actors is the fact that they oftentimes seem to be over-acting; I understand why this almost has to be so, however. It is merely a sign of the intense emotions they must try to convey in a very limited amount of time and space.

It remains one of King's better film adaptations, despite the problems inherent in its production. No movie can capture the magic of the novel, however. The only unfortunate thing about the movie is the fact that it comes off as primarily a horror movie. Certainly, there is great horror lurking in this film as it progresses, but that is not the original story's essence and primarily for this reason the movie falls short of rating five stars in my opinion.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best!
Review: To me, horror should be more than a crazed person with a chain saw or ax. This made-for-tv stephen king adaption performs a 'fun' form of horror that is far better than any other horror around. I don't know about you, but who wants to Buy a movie that just has guts flying all over the screen? Not I. This movie has zero violence, but the horror is just as powerful as any nightmare on elm street.

The story has to do with 7 friends from childhood, who discovered their small town Derry, Maine featured a monster that so horrible it is nameless. They finally destroy the beast, but 30 years later... IT comes back, so once again the friends attempt to kill the darned thing.

This movie is both Fun, by the fact that you can enjoy it without throwing up, and the fact that our slasher is a Clown. But viewing this in the day will be an enjoying experience, viewing it in the night will result in nightmares. a must have for any stephen king, horror, or movie buff.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Like a Crillion Other Stephen King Movies
Review: First of all, let me say that this IS NOT a bad film. However, it IS just like every other Stephen King movie in existence. To explain it, the Stephen King movie system is a three-step process:

1. All of his movies start like a house afire. It keeps you on your toes, just wondering what he'll give you next. You're entertained, you're scared, you're thinking this is going to be a great film. But keep in mind, this is ONLY the beginning.

2. The middle of all Stephen King flicks seem to sag, throwing you in a new direction, giving you things you don't understand and wished they had explained it earlier. This part of the film is usually boring.

3. The last forty-five minutes. These forty-five minutes are famous for their speed. All of a sudden, out of the blue, in the middle of nowhere, the film scurries around tying up loose ends and rushing through to reach the end which is usually mediocre.

"It" follows the same sequence of events I have just explained. In the beginning, the murder of a child, the finding of the picture, the appearance of the clown, and the history of the children are all thrilling and scary. The middle, when everyone meets, is a bit slow and keeps you wondering when it will start up again. The last forty-five minutes desperatley tries to make everything sensible (which isn't possible with a killer clown).

Overall, "It" is worth watching and then watching again to understand it all. Rent it, buy it, whatever.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Well this is...Hm. How to say it?
Review: I would first like to let one and all know that I love the book, Stephen King's It. The book, It, is probably one of the best books he has ever written. Yes it is long, about as long as his redone version of The Stand. The reason for this is the complexity of the storyline. One chapter, then one section, leads to the next, growing more and more frightening and yet also funny, endearing, and charming. I love the book and would give it five stars no holds bar.

The movie. Well the movie. Its not bad, I mean it is not pathetically bad, at least the kid's part of it. The kids fit the part and Pennywise is powerfully done. The problem though is this, they spent too little time with the kids. The heart of the novel was the kid's adventure...concluding with the grow up version of the kids and their climatic battle with the "It".

What would have been good is if the producers had four nights worth of the movie. Yes that doesn't work with tv executives because they are evil pointed hair bosses (forgive my mentioning someone from the Diblert comic strip). Two days worth of the kid's story, two days worth of the adult version. There would have been a whole better story. The true complexity of the story would have been wonderful.

The adult section is where the problem is found. They are all, all, really really bad actors. They stumble along as if trying to remember each and every word of the script. They do not convey the power of the adult version of the characters. You may agree, you may not.

If you dont want to read 1100 plus pages of a novel, then go have at the film in its cliff note version. It has a few good scares, and I really like the kids part if nothing else. It is the kid's part that really touched me from the book, and the first part of the tv version is good enough to make me smile. Thus the reason I gave it 3 stars.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Killer Clown That Is A Giant Spider
Review: Who knew at the end it was a Spider. I thought it was kool as the clown. This movie used to terrify me when i was young. But now when i watch it all i can do is laugh. Get realistic here a killing clown.

Reallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Fun and worth the price.
Review: All right, after having watched this again this weekend, I've come to the conclusion that it just isn't that good. There is a lot of good lead-up, and even some good creepy moments during the first half. However, there just isn't enough background to understand the overall take of the movie. I found the ending was both abrupt and unclear.

If this had been given the full mini-series treatment that "The Stand" received, it probably would have equalled it in quality (which was pretty good). However, this film was just too short to give adequate coverage of the story. If we'd seen more and longer details of the childrens' lives, it might have made more sense in the overall scheme of things - instead we get memory moments for each of them which are fleeting and not very descriptive. They only serve to say "This happened back then," rather than giving you a true feeling of what exactly went wrong.

Tim Curry was good, but because no one really is given enough time to expand a character, his evil clown act comes off as being angry and stupid rather than creepy and threatening.

I can't really say that this is worth buying. If you're a die-hard SK fan and you are curious, rent it. Otherwise, you're better off with another choice. Like The Stand.

T

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: stephen kings IT
Review: this is defenetly one of my fovourite films off all time.
the child actors act it so well and blend into the film fantasticly and the intro to is fantastic. i especally think that tim curry is brilliant at playing the evil clown when the group of kids go looking for him i though that was fantastic no other kids could of done it better. the shower scene was cool!! whn he comes up the drain pipe. this film has to be my number one favourite look out for it on DVD. im dieing to get it. injoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of my favorites
Review: This is one of my favorite movies of all time, it's one of the few movies out there that actually scares me a little bit. I can watch it over and over again and it will never get old. If you're a fan of Stephen King, or horror movies in general you must own this movie. If clowns creep you out I reccomend watching this with the lights on!


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