Genres: Drama, Horror,
Sci-fi
Rated: R
Country: USA
Year: 2007
Runtime: 127 minutes
Studio: Darkwoods
Productions
IMDB Page
Amazon Page
Sci-fi
Rated: R
Country: USA
Year: 2007
Runtime: 127 minutes
Studio: Darkwoods
Productions
IMDB Page
Amazon Page
Review done by: Nightmare Child
Starring: Thomas Jane, Andre Braugher, Laurie Holden, Amin Joseph, Marcia
Gay Harden, Toby Jones
Director: Frank Darabont
Synopsis: Based on the Stephen King novel, a freak storm unleashes a
species of blood-thirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of
citizens hole-up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
Review:
Stephen King's The Mist was one of my favorite movies of 2007. It was well
scripted, acted, well cut and to top it all off, it was super entertaining. There
were no dull moments for me, so my viewing experience was unlike any
other. Never have I felt so angry while watching a certain character spit her
dialog and never have I felt so depressed after watching an ending to a
movie. We know The Mist for having one of the most ballsy (and perhaps
original) endings in movie history. A quote about the ending is even displayed
on the DVD cover! If a movie can make you happy, angry, laugh, jump and
sad in a matter of 2 hours, then its doing its job very well. Needless to say,
The Mist is one of those movies that toys with your emotions. As depressing
as the ending may sound, there is a message there. You may have to think
hard to find it, but trust me, its there and once you get it you'll appreciate
Frank Darabont's script a lot more. Stephen King himself liked the ending. He
even went on to say that if he had thought of that while writing the book, he
would have ended the story that way.
Anyways, I'll stop talking about the ending and get straight to the point. We
already reviewed The Mist last year, so it's really pointless for me to go over
the whole thing again. Since I agreed with the last review, I would end up just
making the same points here, so instead I will be reviewing the two-disc
collector's edition of Stephen King's The Mist. We're at a time where movie
studios tend to re-release all their popular franchises on DVD, even if they
have already been released on the format multiple times before. Whenever
you buy a DVD with little to no bonus material, you would naturally expect
some sort of "special edition" in the near future. Its happened way too many
times. Luckily, with DVDs like these, you wont have to worry about selling
your bare bones editions, because this DVD set is jam packed with excellent
features. I can't be anymore grateful that The Mist is getting the treatment it
deserves right off the bat. At this point, I'm not expecting any sort of new
edition or directors cut, because this two-disc DVD has enough content to
warrant this as the "definitive" edition.
If you liked The Mist, then this is the DVD set you must have. While the
bonus features aren't best, their's more than enough content you'll ever
need. This set includes some behind the scenes featurettes which takes you
behind the making of the movie. Watching all of these, you'll be surprised to
know about the pace and budget of the movie. The Mist is loaded with
incredible CGI courtesy of the folks at Cafe FX, who also worked on Guillermo
Del Toro's masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth. With all the CG shots in the film, you
would think that the budget would be through the roof. In this case, that's
not true. In fact, The Mist is considered to be a "low budget" movie. Frank
Darabont took a risk by ignoring his old directing style for a more fast pace
and intense shoot. Pre-production on the film went by very fast, and the
same could be said for the actual shoot. It's not "Saw" fast where it only
took a few weeks, but it's still pretty quick considering the size of the movie
and its source material.
In these featurettes you also learn about the history behind the making of
the movie. It took more than 20 years for this film to be made. Darabont
once had a choice to shoot this or the film we all know and love, The
Shawshank Redemption. We know which one he chose first, but even as the
years rolled by Darabont always wanted to go back and film The Mist.
Darabont has a love for horror movies, and The Mist was one of his favorite
stories. You couldn't ask for a better director. However, there's one question
that comes to mind: Why did it take more than 20 years for a Mist movie to
be made? You learn the answer to that question in a really brief interview with
the author himself, Stephen King. There's some deleted scenes included in
the first disc with optional commentary by Frank Darabont. The coolest
feature in disc one is the "Drew Struzan: Appreciation of an Artist"
featurette. Struzan is a legendary artist who's drawn up some of the best (if
not the best) movie posters for Hollywood.
His work can be seen all over the world and all over the net. This featurette
gives you an inside look at some of the work he's done in the past. Struzan
is an amazing and talented artist, and you'll definitely have more of an
appreciation for his work once you check out this feature. It's great stuff.
The best feature in disc 1 is the audio commentary by Frank Darabont
himself. He's a man full of words and talks about the entire making of the
movie in the commentary track. You'll learn so much information that it just
may inspire you to make your own movie someday. Darabont talks about the
casting, the script, the budget (how he saves money) and the special effects.
You'll learn more than enough by listening to the commentary. The rest of
the material on disc 1 are your average trailers and behind-the-scenes
webisodes which we've already seen online months before. Disc 2 is where
everything gets more interesting. The second disc includes all the making of
featurettes I mentioned earlier and well as a special introduction by Darabont.
I love bonus material on DVDs, and this one has to be the coolest one I've
ever seen. On disc 2 there's a black and white version of the movie, with a
special introduction by Frank Darabont. In the introduction Darabont talks
about how he always wanted to shoot The Mist in black and white. So for the
DVD release he included a colorless version of the movie. Considering that
The Mist is a modern day sci-fi b-movie, it's a perfect fit. It really takes you
back to the 50s and 60s where black and white science fiction films were all
over the place. Personally, I love old movies, so hearing that one of my
favorite Stephen King based movies was going to get the black and white
treatment made me feel like a kid on Christmas. I can definitely say, I got the
best gift a kid could ever ask for. The black and white version of The Mist is
just beautiful. If you're a fan of retro science fiction, then you're going to
love it as much as I did. The black and white version is now the one I prefer
watching, because it really does feel like you've traveled back in time.
Wow, now that I think about it, this DVD set is amazing. If you're one of the
many who loved Stephen King's The Mist, then there's no excuse for you not
to buy this DVD set. The bonus features are great, even though the
featurettes aren't the longest. Still, you get more than enough info on the
making of it. The audio commentary is very informative, the deleted scenes
are basic as is the trailer gallery and webisodes. The featurettes are fun to
watch, especially the KNB FX stuff. The black and white version of the movie
alone is worth the purchase. If you haven't seen The Mist, then I would
recommend renting it first. Watch it, and see if you can understand the
message at the end. It's important, because I know quite a few people who
make harsh judgements based on the ending alone. In order to appreciate it,
you have to understand the reason behind it. If you like the movie, then you
MUST pick up this DVD edition. I highly recommend it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall: 9/10
Gay Harden, Toby Jones
Director: Frank Darabont
Synopsis: Based on the Stephen King novel, a freak storm unleashes a
species of blood-thirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of
citizens hole-up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
Review:
Stephen King's The Mist was one of my favorite movies of 2007. It was well
scripted, acted, well cut and to top it all off, it was super entertaining. There
were no dull moments for me, so my viewing experience was unlike any
other. Never have I felt so angry while watching a certain character spit her
dialog and never have I felt so depressed after watching an ending to a
movie. We know The Mist for having one of the most ballsy (and perhaps
original) endings in movie history. A quote about the ending is even displayed
on the DVD cover! If a movie can make you happy, angry, laugh, jump and
sad in a matter of 2 hours, then its doing its job very well. Needless to say,
The Mist is one of those movies that toys with your emotions. As depressing
as the ending may sound, there is a message there. You may have to think
hard to find it, but trust me, its there and once you get it you'll appreciate
Frank Darabont's script a lot more. Stephen King himself liked the ending. He
even went on to say that if he had thought of that while writing the book, he
would have ended the story that way.
Anyways, I'll stop talking about the ending and get straight to the point. We
already reviewed The Mist last year, so it's really pointless for me to go over
the whole thing again. Since I agreed with the last review, I would end up just
making the same points here, so instead I will be reviewing the two-disc
collector's edition of Stephen King's The Mist. We're at a time where movie
studios tend to re-release all their popular franchises on DVD, even if they
have already been released on the format multiple times before. Whenever
you buy a DVD with little to no bonus material, you would naturally expect
some sort of "special edition" in the near future. Its happened way too many
times. Luckily, with DVDs like these, you wont have to worry about selling
your bare bones editions, because this DVD set is jam packed with excellent
features. I can't be anymore grateful that The Mist is getting the treatment it
deserves right off the bat. At this point, I'm not expecting any sort of new
edition or directors cut, because this two-disc DVD has enough content to
warrant this as the "definitive" edition.
If you liked The Mist, then this is the DVD set you must have. While the
bonus features aren't best, their's more than enough content you'll ever
need. This set includes some behind the scenes featurettes which takes you
behind the making of the movie. Watching all of these, you'll be surprised to
know about the pace and budget of the movie. The Mist is loaded with
incredible CGI courtesy of the folks at Cafe FX, who also worked on Guillermo
Del Toro's masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth. With all the CG shots in the film, you
would think that the budget would be through the roof. In this case, that's
not true. In fact, The Mist is considered to be a "low budget" movie. Frank
Darabont took a risk by ignoring his old directing style for a more fast pace
and intense shoot. Pre-production on the film went by very fast, and the
same could be said for the actual shoot. It's not "Saw" fast where it only
took a few weeks, but it's still pretty quick considering the size of the movie
and its source material.
In these featurettes you also learn about the history behind the making of
the movie. It took more than 20 years for this film to be made. Darabont
once had a choice to shoot this or the film we all know and love, The
Shawshank Redemption. We know which one he chose first, but even as the
years rolled by Darabont always wanted to go back and film The Mist.
Darabont has a love for horror movies, and The Mist was one of his favorite
stories. You couldn't ask for a better director. However, there's one question
that comes to mind: Why did it take more than 20 years for a Mist movie to
be made? You learn the answer to that question in a really brief interview with
the author himself, Stephen King. There's some deleted scenes included in
the first disc with optional commentary by Frank Darabont. The coolest
feature in disc one is the "Drew Struzan: Appreciation of an Artist"
featurette. Struzan is a legendary artist who's drawn up some of the best (if
not the best) movie posters for Hollywood.
His work can be seen all over the world and all over the net. This featurette
gives you an inside look at some of the work he's done in the past. Struzan
is an amazing and talented artist, and you'll definitely have more of an
appreciation for his work once you check out this feature. It's great stuff.
The best feature in disc 1 is the audio commentary by Frank Darabont
himself. He's a man full of words and talks about the entire making of the
movie in the commentary track. You'll learn so much information that it just
may inspire you to make your own movie someday. Darabont talks about the
casting, the script, the budget (how he saves money) and the special effects.
You'll learn more than enough by listening to the commentary. The rest of
the material on disc 1 are your average trailers and behind-the-scenes
webisodes which we've already seen online months before. Disc 2 is where
everything gets more interesting. The second disc includes all the making of
featurettes I mentioned earlier and well as a special introduction by Darabont.
I love bonus material on DVDs, and this one has to be the coolest one I've
ever seen. On disc 2 there's a black and white version of the movie, with a
special introduction by Frank Darabont. In the introduction Darabont talks
about how he always wanted to shoot The Mist in black and white. So for the
DVD release he included a colorless version of the movie. Considering that
The Mist is a modern day sci-fi b-movie, it's a perfect fit. It really takes you
back to the 50s and 60s where black and white science fiction films were all
over the place. Personally, I love old movies, so hearing that one of my
favorite Stephen King based movies was going to get the black and white
treatment made me feel like a kid on Christmas. I can definitely say, I got the
best gift a kid could ever ask for. The black and white version of The Mist is
just beautiful. If you're a fan of retro science fiction, then you're going to
love it as much as I did. The black and white version is now the one I prefer
watching, because it really does feel like you've traveled back in time.
Wow, now that I think about it, this DVD set is amazing. If you're one of the
many who loved Stephen King's The Mist, then there's no excuse for you not
to buy this DVD set. The bonus features are great, even though the
featurettes aren't the longest. Still, you get more than enough info on the
making of it. The audio commentary is very informative, the deleted scenes
are basic as is the trailer gallery and webisodes. The featurettes are fun to
watch, especially the KNB FX stuff. The black and white version of the movie
alone is worth the purchase. If you haven't seen The Mist, then I would
recommend renting it first. Watch it, and see if you can understand the
message at the end. It's important, because I know quite a few people who
make harsh judgements based on the ending alone. In order to appreciate it,
you have to understand the reason behind it. If you like the movie, then you
MUST pick up this DVD edition. I highly recommend it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall: 9/10
Online since: February 20th, 2006
Hosted by: Yahoo!
