| The Vanishing | | Cast : | Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland | | Director : | George Sluizer | | Studio : | Fox Home Entertainme | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | February 05, 1993 | | DVD Released Date : | September 07, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | May 26, 2005 | | Summary | The Vanishing (1993) | Content
 | In 1988, director George Sluizer had directed a film entitled, THE VANISHING. The film was all in Dutch and starred Dutch actors, who are nowhere near well-known in this country.
In 1993, director George Sluizer, who had directed the original Dutch film, had decided to direct a remake of his own film, this time, casting a well-known cast that consists of Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, Sandra Bullock, & Jeff Bridges. The film is almost the same as the original Dutch version, but this one is much more worth the time and money.
JEFF HARRIMAN (played by Kiefer Sutherland) and his girlfriend, DIANE SHAVER (played by Sandra Bullock) are driving to the mountains for vacation. They have a little spout, after their car runs out of gas, while in a dark tunnel. Leaving Diane there, Jeff heads off to get enough gas to drive them to a nearby gas station. He comes back to find Diane sitting outside the other end of the tunnel, upset and distraught. They pull into a gas station, where Diane has Jeff, who laughs with cheerfulness, repeat an apology. They kiss passionately, where Diane heads into the store to buy her and Jeff some cold beers. A half-hour goes by and Diane has not yet returned. He searches the store, as well as the whole ground, but Diane is nowhere to be found.
Three years later, Jeff is still on the hunt for his beloved girlfriend. Every month for the last three years, Jeff would renew the posters he had printed of Diane. He has even gone to the local newspapers and national television news stations and pleaded with the person who had kidnapped Diane to tell him where she is. He walks into a diner one night, still very miserable, and meets RITA BAKER (played by Nancy Travis). Rita is instantly attracted to Jeff. Jeff and Rita begin a love affair together. Jeff tries to move on with his life, but he cannot, for he is still searching for Diane. Rita finds out about what Jeff is doing behind her back. She tries to help get over his obsession, but it doesn't work. Jeff receives a letter from a man named BARNEY COUSINS (played by Jeff Bridges). Jeff shows Rita the letter, but she realizes that his obsession is still going on, where she leaves him. She goes to their appartment, packs her things, changes the outgoing message on their answering machine. Jeff returns home and changes the machine himself, but as the recording is still going, Barney appears. Jeff beats the hell out of him, but Barney reveals that he can tell him where Diane is, and that in order for Jeff to find out what happened to her, he'd have to ride with Barney.
While at a bar with her girlfriend, Rita calls her appartment to let her girlfriend her the outgoing message, but Rita hears that Jeff had already changed it, to which she finds Barney's voice on the machine. She realizes that Jeff is in danger and rushes over to help him, but Jeff and Barney are already on their way.
Rita finds out what happened from her neighbor, where her neighbor gives Rita the license plate number to Barney's car. With this License Plate #, Rita finds out where Barney lives and drives off to his place.
Jeff and Barney arrive at the gas station where Diane was last seen three years earlier. Barney hands Jeff a cup of coffee, where Barney informs Jeff that the coffee is drugged. He tells Jeff that in order to find out what happened to Diane, Jeff has to go through the exact same details that Diane had gone through. Jeff, through hurtful tears, drinks the coffee and blacks out. He wakes up to darkness. He flips on his lighter to find himself locked...in a coffin and...buried alive outside Barney's vacation cabin in the woods. Barney had done this to poor Diane, who, after three years of being buried in the ground without anyone coming to her aid, is now dead.
Rita arrives at Barney's house, where she meets Barney's daughter, DENISE (played by Maggie Linderman). She asks Rita to giver her a ride to the carnival, as long as she doesn't say a word to to Barney. Rita asks Denise how to get to the summer cabin where Barney is at. Denise gives her the directions and Rita is on her way. She arrives and has a brief brawl with Barney. She stops when he is about to kill her. She is now seated inside his cabin, talking with Barney, trying to find out what he did with Jeff. She notices the dirt on his shoes, the dirt on a shovel, standing beside the door, and realizes that she had seen a long spot on the ground without grass, and realizes that Barney had buried Jeff alive. She knocks Barney and begins digging up Jeff. But not before Barney awakens and begins brawling again with Rita. Did Jeff suffocate and bite the dust as Diane had done? Will Barney kill of Rita as well? The only way to find is to watch this 1993 remake of THE VANISHING.
I have read the reviews from many Amazon.com reviewers and I cannot believe that anyone would hate this remake. So what? The ending was changed. I do not find that a good enough reason to hate this movie. This movie was just outstanding and was much better than the remake. Kiefer Sutherland, again, proves that he is the best actor on this planet, maybe even in this whole galaxy. This movie is one Kiefer's best starring roles and I recommend it to any Kiefer Sutherland fan who has not yet seen this film. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 16, 2005 | | Summary | Suspenseful, interesting, and mysterious! A must see! | Content
| The film details a young man's (Kiefer Sutherland) search for his girlfriend (Sandra Bullock), who disappeared at a gas station after the couple had a fight. Where the original film didn't reveal what happened to the girlfriend until late into the movie, the 1992 version opens with her kidnapper (Jeff Bridges) plotting his abduction. Over the course of the film, Sutherland's search for Bullock is intercut with footage of Bridges that illustrates his mental illness and his repeated attempts to abduct women. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 16, 2005 | | Summary | Extreme Suspense!!! | Content
| This movie maybe a remake, but it keeps you at the edge of your seat. You don't ever want to get up. You always want to know what is going to happen next. It is a great mystery and it is very realistic! 5 stars for a great movie! |
| Rating | | | Date | February 16, 2005 | | Summary | only one good scene | Content
| The kidnapping scene is particularly good. The girl being lured into the car is a little contrived, but once the chloroform hits the face, SHEER ECSTACY!!! The frontal attack is masterfully done, and Sandra's vocalizations during the ensuing struggle is music to the ears!!! (let's be honest guys!!) |
| Rating | | | Date | February 08, 2005 | | Summary | Embarrassing | Content
| Why did they even bother transferring this movie to DVD? Seriously? The [...] child of a masterpiece, "The Vanishing" sports some of the most half-hearted performances and sometimes downright hilarious performances of the 90's.
This isn't a matter of comparison. This movie, all by itself, just sucks. If I hadn't seen the original I'd just think, "what a brilliant plot, too bad they decided to bury it (no pun intended) with everything else in the movie". Jeff Bridges manages an unintentional bust a gut type performance as the sociopathic professor; his accent is so forced and ridiculous that one wonders occasionally if this a parody of that great, gut wrenchingly disturbing, Hitchcockian 1988 movie. Sandra Bullock and Kiefer Sutherland are themselves, which add nothing to the movie.
And the ending. Oh, the ending. We've been cheated. Totally cheated. All the power that this clunker might have had is torn away in a fervor of "It has to be upbeat!" Hollywood cornball syndrome. Sandra Bullock is RESCUED, the villain is hit with a shovel, and everything is A-OK! Even though Kiefer Sutherland's original girlfriend has been buried alive and suffocated. This is [...]of a great movie. |
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