The Langoliers (1995) (TV-mini)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	PERFORMER	RATING
Nick Hopewell	Mark Lindsay Chapman	½
Dinah Bellman	Kate Maberly
Craig Toomy	Bronson Pinchot
Laurel Stevenson	Patricia Wettig
Brian Engle	David Morse
Albert Kaussner	Christopher Collet
Bethany Simms	Kimber Riddle	½
Bob Jenkins	Dean Stockwell
Rudy Warwick	Baxter Harris
Tom Holby	Stephen King	½

Review

In his short story "The Langoliers", Stephen King tries to give an account of the relation between time and space. He suggests that remnants of the past and the future exists at any time, and that the present continuously sweeps across the future making it the past in the process. Humanity floats with the present, but can occasionally be overlooked by it - something that will leave the people in question in a desolate no man's land. King's clever and rather eerie novella was in 1995 turned into a surprisingly apt TV-version.

One of The Langoliers' major drawbacks, however, is exactly the format. Because it is made as a mini-series, the entire chunk is in excess of three hours, and this affects the narrative form which feels long-winded and too wordy. The special effects are also not of the highest order, and the years since the release of this production has not done them any favours, but the script has thrust and is engaging as a suspense story.

Tom Holland (Child's Play) directed, and his ensemble cast is largely fine, with Bronson Pinchot in particular fine form as the doomed Craig Toomey. Many of the other performances are underdone and suffers (like the script) from being too intellectual and not spontaneous enough (particularly David Morse, Christopher Collet and Dean Stockwell), but when the ending approaches, they all feel like a tightly knit unit, and we share their sensations and relief.