As far as Stephen King adaptation goes, this one isn't bad. You have to realize before anything that the original novel was basically unfilmable. For one, it was 1000+ pages. I read this monster over a course of four sleepless nights and let me tell you, this book is scary as a mother f***er. There are scenes that give me the shivers just thinking about them. So, to condense this massive story into two parts totaling about three and a half hours and expect it to be a perfect adaptation is to kid yourself. Secondly, there were elements in the story that would not have been able to be presented on the screen in any way that would have made sense. The novel gets really out there in the last hundred or so pages. The teleplay has the It monster as being a physical spider but the book goes further to explain this.
As an avid King fan, there's quite a lot for me to gripe about, especially in regards to the changes made and what was left out. It's actually sad because there was some absolutely terrifying stuff in the book that if it had seen the light of day, would have made the film even better.
What I will say is that the casting in this movie is pitch perfect, especially the kids. That's one of the shining gems in this movie, the fact that they actually found a perfect bunch of actors (and actress) to fill the roles. I thought Seth Green was excellent as well as the late Jonathan Brandis. The adults not as much (though Richard Thomas made for a good lead) but they were all really good in it. Some of the scenes that made it intact from the book were translated really well, especially the beginning scene with Georgie and the newspaper sailboat.
Last but not least, you have Tim Curry as Pennywise the Dancing Clown and believe me, if you have any problems with clowns, you may want to avoid this as his performance creates the scariest clown in any film to date. The only clown I can think of that comes close is the puppet from "Poltergeist" but that was really just a quick scare. Pennywise is so menacing and frightening that he saves the entire picture by himself. I think this is the one thing about this film that makes it worth seeing. The first half of this two parter gave me nightmares in all seriousness, regardless of how faithful it was to the book.
The second half is where it all falls apart, most notably during the climactic battle with It. The special effects are horrible, the giant spider looks, for lack of a better word, ridiculous and it all just becomes really silly.
In the end, you're left with an okay adaptation of an epic horror novel that is actually pretty scary due in large part to Tim Curry but just falls apart in the end. Still, I definitely recommend this film if you want to get creeped out and if you hate clowns, I recommend this film even more.
RATING: ***1/2 out of *****.
P.S. They need to do another adaptation of this but pull out all the stops and give it more than two parts. I'm talking a full, twelve part miniseries on HBO or something.
Also, the music for this film deserves special mention. It may have won a Grammy if I'm not mistaken but regardless, the music is really composed well.
As an avid King fan, there's quite a lot for me to gripe about, especially in regards to the changes made and what was left out. It's actually sad because there was some absolutely terrifying stuff in the book that if it had seen the light of day, would have made the film even better.
What I will say is that the casting in this movie is pitch perfect, especially the kids. That's one of the shining gems in this movie, the fact that they actually found a perfect bunch of actors (and actress) to fill the roles. I thought Seth Green was excellent as well as the late Jonathan Brandis. The adults not as much (though Richard Thomas made for a good lead) but they were all really good in it. Some of the scenes that made it intact from the book were translated really well, especially the beginning scene with Georgie and the newspaper sailboat.
Last but not least, you have Tim Curry as Pennywise the Dancing Clown and believe me, if you have any problems with clowns, you may want to avoid this as his performance creates the scariest clown in any film to date. The only clown I can think of that comes close is the puppet from "Poltergeist" but that was really just a quick scare. Pennywise is so menacing and frightening that he saves the entire picture by himself. I think this is the one thing about this film that makes it worth seeing. The first half of this two parter gave me nightmares in all seriousness, regardless of how faithful it was to the book.
The second half is where it all falls apart, most notably during the climactic battle with It. The special effects are horrible, the giant spider looks, for lack of a better word, ridiculous and it all just becomes really silly.
In the end, you're left with an okay adaptation of an epic horror novel that is actually pretty scary due in large part to Tim Curry but just falls apart in the end. Still, I definitely recommend this film if you want to get creeped out and if you hate clowns, I recommend this film even more.
RATING: ***1/2 out of *****.
P.S. They need to do another adaptation of this but pull out all the stops and give it more than two parts. I'm talking a full, twelve part miniseries on HBO or something.
Also, the music for this film deserves special mention. It may have won a Grammy if I'm not mistaken but regardless, the music is really composed well.