Movies-TV

Poor Quality

I'm not going to waste a bunch of my time or yours giving a personally oppinionated review of the movie plot. It's redundant and unnecessary, and whether someone likes the story or not is irrelavent. Only you can form an opinion of whether you like it or not by watching it yourself. Double that with the fact that most movies hardly ever line up with the book that's based on and well...

My gripe is the transition from putting the movie in it's original format onto DVD was bad. The soundtrack is about 1/2 to 1 second off from the video part of film, therefore the voices don't sync up with the lip movement.

Absolute Garbage; Not Worth Watching

This is by far the worst movie adaptation of a Stephen King book. Large chunks of the plot were cut out. The movie is chock-full of TV/movie cliches. The acting throughout is cheesy; one expression would be that the actors are chewing the scenery. The ending is changed around completely - in the book, the good guys don't win, and there is an appropriate apocalyptic resolution to the story; in the movie, the plot changes course for no apparent reason and the ending makes absolutely no sense. Don't even bother renting the movie unless you can't read. The book is a lot better and it will scare the **** out of you.

Why?

There's a hilarious article archived in "The Onion" about Steven King claiming he was drunk when he wrote "The Tommyknockers." All joking aside, the book was regarded as one of his worst. Putting Jimmy Smits in a movie version isn't going to set things right. If you are dying for a good King adaptation, why not revisit Cujo or The Shining, or even the new remake of Salem's Lot? Let's just push this one back under the bed and forget it's there...

Disappointed

THE TOMMYKNOCKERS sounded like a fairly good movie from what I had heard. But one night, I decided to rent it with my relatives and it was close to being the worst show based on a novel from Stephen King. Some scenes are pointless, acting is bad in parts and more than half of it was just the stupid light that kept transforming people to evil. I was very disappointed in this movie. Most likely the only badly-crafted Stephen King movie there is!

Not that bad

I'm surprised how this movie got the lower rate than it should be.I agree it's kinda slow and boring but the story becomes more interesting in every pace.If you feel like watching horror movie but don't want too violent stuff,try this one.

Ridiculous, but has potential

The Tommyknockers is quite honestly the most ridiculous movie I have EVER seen. It's like Buffy The Vampire slayer, gone wrong, kinda like the Buffy movie... But anyway. Beneath the really awful effects, this movie has potential. I mean, if they were to remake it, it would be awesome. I think it's main flaw was that the end was rushed. The whole movie built up to this huge ending that could have been one of those 'omg I had never guessed' twists that is what makes a good horror movie, but it wasn't. It was extremely short, and it never really explained itself.There were good points of this movie though. In general, the cast were pretty good. I mean, I'll admit to watching it because I saw Marg Helgenberg was in it, but she wasn't the only actor that performed well. There wasn't a character you couldn't believe in.The actual novel may be extremely well written (haven't actually read it) but the way the movie was written, honestly wasn't.

WHO'S THAT KNOCKING IN THE WOODS

THE TOMMYKNOCKERS is one of the more unsuccessful of Stephen King adaptations to hit the screen. Originally a 1993 tv miniseries, the movie suffers from lackluster direction, mediocre performances and no sense of true suspense or horror. Typically set in a homey little New England town, the plot centers on the discovery of a mysterious object in the woods by a local writer (Marg Helgenberger) who along with her alcoholic poet boyfriend(a poorly cast Jimmy Smits) decides to keep it a secret until the whole thing is unearthed. Meanwhile, a ghostly green light emits from the object, causing the townspeople to go bonkers in one form or another, whether it be by inventing stupid gadgets or wandering around with glowing green eyes. At three hours, THE TOMMYKNOCKERS definitely overstays its welcome and that is one problem in watching a miniseries in one take; it can become redundant. Tighter direction and a more focused cast could have helped but aside from John Ashton, EG Marshall and Joanna Cassidy in supporting roles, most of the performances seem phone in, and Traci Lords is ridiculously hilarious as the postal slut. A real misfire.

what the hell?

I saw the end of this movie when i was a little kid and it scared me, but a few months ago i rented it and sat threw the hole thing (nearly 3 hours) and the only thing it encouraged me to do was go get some Advile! It gave me the worst headach! it is so lame! don't watch it! it is piecie of crap!

Watch out the Tommyknockers will make you build a typewriter

My theory is that Jimmy Smits got lost, ended up on the wrong movie set, and they wouldn't let him go until he promised to help make this movie. I never read the Stephen King book, but I can't believe it could be anywhere near as bas as this movie. This movie is nearly as bad as "Maximum Overdrive", in its sheer ridiculousness. Nothing scary nor even interesting here. See it to laugh at it and then tape over it.

This is really stupid!

This has to be Stephen King's worst work adapted. This adaptation is even worse than Needful Things. Children Of The Corn (I am talking about the original and not the crappy sequels) was miles abouve better than this garbage. Just a stupid movie adapted from a lame book. Just plain trash.

Another weak adaptation of a Stephen King novel.

Granted, the book in this case was not much better. This movie just did not have the best scenes from the book, it tacked on an ending that was just a bit to happy, and it was horribly miscast as when I read the book the pictures of the characters I got in no way resembled what we got here. Sometimes they get it near perfect, here they were off by a whole lot. The story is basically taken from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with some Stephen King twists and perversions added to the mix, the book has the perversions, the movie takes all that kind of stuff out. In the end the movie is a dried husk of the book which was not particularly strong either. Jimmy Smits is awful in it, but then so is everyone else, and the fact it is a two parter and extended needlessly does not help matters out either. So all I can say is be prepared to see a lot of green light, a very toned down ending (granted I can see why they could not do the whole woman being naked at the end), and also be prepared for a very unmemorable ride. I would suggest reading the book instead, but it is not really all that worth finding either.

Utterly boring

Sitting through this movie is a true ordeal: as with all Stephen King turkeys, this movie is LONG and time seems to stop as nothing ever happens. In the end I couldn't believe that there was simply no purpose to this movie, let alone a plot.Stephen King movies are either hits or misses: while some adaptations of his books have turned into great movies (The Shining, Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile) others can only fall into the category of worst movies ever - Tommyknockers, Langoliers, Cujo, Christine or Needful Things all come to mind.Avoid this movie at all costs. I'd rather sit through 3h of cooking shows than seeing this movie again!

Deplorable attempt

Yet Another Prime Example Of What NOT To Do To A Stephen King NovelThis was not the best Stephen King novel to begin with, but I enjoyed the depth of character and the intricate detailing of small town life in Maine. The character development was exemplary and the writing of this novel was very well done.The premise behind the whole story was that we, Human Beings, are the aliens. Wonderful, thought-provoking and disturbing.What they DID to this story with this, another Made For TV Adaptation of the book, was rob the story of the depth of the character development and eradicate the small town feeling of community and family that you got from the book. Which left ... absolutely NOTHING.The effects are of the pre-Star Wars days, the cast is the most miss-matched combination of miss-cast actors you've ever seen and the performance of the key characters (Bobbi and "Gard") is sadly mis-directed, plasticly hollow and miserably lacking. Not the actors' faults, either. They both have done better both before and after this.One of THE worst adaptations of Stephen King's work I've seen.This movie gets a 2.1/10 from...the Fiend :.

Alien Savants Run Amok!

The book and the miniseries differ, but both are quite good. For the jaded veterans among you, it's essentially Five Million Years to Earth, served up a la King.

Marg Helgenberger trips over an ancient flying saucer in the woods one day while walking her dog, and decides it might make a nice private playground centerpiece if dug out and spiffied-up a bit. She starts experiencing a creative psychic brain-boost during the lengthy process, which is shared by a few of the nearby townsfolk. Her old lover, Jimmy Smits, however, an alcoholic poet of some former reputation with a metal plate in his skull, is left cold by Marg's new pet project - the saucer gives him a headache, literally.

Pretty soon, the nearby isolated small town begins splitting-up into two factions - those who are sympatico with the saucer's psychic space-vibes, and those who aren't. Those who are become inventive geniuses, and those who aren't start more and more looking like dinner. Only Jimmy Smits is sufficiently immune to the nasty thing to exercise his presence of mind, and somehow stop the saucer and its long-mummified occupants from revitalizing themselves off Marg and the other infected townsfolk.

This is a very handsomely produced piece, and sufficiently close to Stephen King's original novel that the changes made in the script - which are only done to simplify (and under-grue) the action, and allow a little alien activity - are more welcome than not. The cast are all terrific, especially leads Helgenberger and Smits. Helgenberger's transformation due to her dangerous alien exposure is nicely counterpointed with Smits' alcoholism, the saucer's influence acting like a drug to those who respond to its emanations. The special effects are great, and the inclusion of the revitalized aliens on the saucer in the finale is a nice touch - they're pretty cool, really. The suspense works well. The only real flaw with this piece is a bit too much padding, but the same can be said of most of Stephen King's work in general, and certainly this production has less of it than the novel on which it is based.

So bad it was almost funny...

This movie was 6 hours of my life that I can never get back. If I hadn't already invested 3 hours in it, I would have turned it off in the middle of the movie. That's what I should have done. Funny, I liked the book and have really loved a lot of Stephen King's books and movies. But this was trash and it should be thrown away.

Reasonably faithful to the book until the disappointing end

When a book is made into a movie, there is no requirement that it follow the plot set out in the print version, but if significant changes are made, these need to seem justified. In this case, the TV miniseries production strayed from the book in ways that were justifiable for most of its (considerable) length. Some of the subplots and characters just would not have translated well to the screen version. But the ending of the story is almost completely different from that set out in King's novel, and is definitely inferior. The incorporation of "dormant" aliens brought back to life by sucking the life-energies of living humans was NOT what occurred in the book, and in this film version seemed really stupid. The female protagonist Bobbi Anderson experienced a totally different fate in the screen version, and this grated on me. And worst of all, the people in the book lost their teeth as part of their process of being transformed into "Tommyknockers." In the movie, people lost their teeth, but the "aliens" themselves had full sets of teeth--so what was the point of the tooth loss by humans?

Still, for most of the way, the production was carried out reasonably skillfully. Yes, at times the plot drags a bit, but that's how the book unfolded, as well. Overall, this adaptation is a nice try, worth seeing, but not likely to be remembered as a "triumph."

Great acting, interesting plot

I really loved this movie. I don't know why everyone disliked it so much. I'm not really into alien movies, but this one was pretty good! The actors were excellent. Jimmy Smitts was great. Marg Helgenberger is one of my favorite actresses and she played her character amazingly. She was really believable and I thought the casting was awesome! This wasn't really a horror film, but it was kind of creepy. There was also some sadness to it at the end when Gard died and part of his poem was recited. If you're looking for a scary movie, don't get this one. If you just want to watch a movie with great acting, an interesting plot and okay special effects then this is the one for you!

The Tommyknockers

Satisfactory miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's novel suffers only from lack of originality and a slightly slow narrative, however the acting is top-notch, the script is decent and the special effects and scares run thick and fast. It's the effective story of a small town turned into alien mutates after a UFO is found in the backyard of a writer and they begin digging it up, unleashing a mysterious green light. Personally, I found this miniseries to be more pleasing than the book, for it is (even though it's still a tad on the slow side) faster in pace, and the characters are felt for more. Better than I was expecting it to be. 3/5Rated R for sexuality, violence and mild language.

It came from out of the sky.

This adaption of Stephen King's novel leaves a lot to be desired. Even the book was a slow read; but some major elements of the novel and lead characters were totally reworked for the movie and King's intent is by the wayside. A UFO crash lands in the forest guarding Haven, Maine and the impact burrows the craft into the ground. Eminent vibrations from the alien craft has citizens creating mechanical gadgets for no good reason, while some of the inhabitants just disappear or gravitate to the dig site trying to unearth the alien ship. Jimmy Smits seems out of place playing the alcoholic writer and eventual hero. His awkward performance still out shines the rest of the cast except for Marg Helgenberger. She is very easy on the eye and plays her character flawlessly. Former porn star Traci Lords still needs a lot of work to move into mainstream movies. Her part was played over the top and becomes quite irritating. Not as abrasive as Allyce Beasley and Robert Carradine. Cliff De Young plays the cheating husband effortlessly. Joanna Cassidy and E.G. Marshall round out the diverse cast.The special effects, namely the aliens buried in the craft are pretty top notch for a made-for-TV project. Stephen King is my favorite writer and I do have to agree with those that think Tommyknockers is no where near his better work. But in this case, read the book first and then watch this presentation. It is not what it could have been...better.

Did you read the book?

Not really worth watching if you read the book. Do yourself a favor and read the book.