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Posted By: Ralph Wiggum at 9:15pm, November 12, 2008
Did anyone NOT have nightmares after watching this film as a child?!?
IMO this is the film that instigated the trendy fear of clowns that everybody seems to have these days. Although not the first to run with this theme, Pennywise is undoubtedly the most horrific and well-known face-painter.
Okay, so the book is a masterpiece and the film omits a lot, but how often is it that a film does a book justice? How could the 1000+ pages be converted to film without resulting in a 6hr trainwreck such as 'The Stand'? It's also worth remembering that in essence this was a telemovie not a Hollywood blockbuster and at times it shows.
The film is ominous and dread-inducing at best, and a little dated at worst. The opening scene with Georgie and the drain ("Do you want a balloon? They ALL float down here!") still rocks me to this day, however as mentioned, the film loses momentum at the halfway point. Curry's portrayl of Pennywise is disturbing and breathtaking as he manages to capture the dark humour and seediness of King's villain. The kid crew, headed by Jonathan Brandis, convince the viewer that their fear is real, and it probably was once they'd seen Curry dolled up as Pennywise!
Unfortunately the film just wasn't able to capture the complexity of this creature (in essence he isn't even a clown) which results in an embarassing final showdown reminiscent of 1950's creature-features. As mentioned, Pennywise loses a little of his edge on Side B and the film feels somewhat jumpy and patched together from this point on.
My advice? Watch the first half of the film, then borrow the book from your library and revel in its awesomeness!
Posted By: horrorfan25 at 11:43am, November 7, 2008
Stephen King's It is about 3 hours long. No joke. I didn't watch any extended cut or director's cut just the original movie everyone else saw. Secondly the movie "IT" has two parts to it. That's right. The first side of the disc AKA side A is the first part, which is when the adults are little kids with the clown trying to eat them. Side B is the second part, which is when the kids are adults and now they find out what is IT? Third of all this is a non-spoiler review which means I'm not giving anything away. The first part of IT is scary because the kids see the clown and are going to be killed. The second part is average because there's too many weird stuff going on and the clown isn't scary anymore. Overall IT is a good movie, despite some of the second half and really is a strong recommendation from me.
No matter what anyone says, I was pleased with this. Sure, It was like a thousand years long and based on just a clown, but come on. The book was freaking 1000+ pages long, you can't just turn that into a 1 hr. 50min. movie that would suck. I would say watch it if you like King, or are into long movies. Oh, and must because the Mist sucked doesn't mean you won't like this.
one of the best creepy clown movies, and i felt this was a pretty lengthy, but fun movie that has shades of stand by me, and some other king stories, but this one is pretty much a standout by itself. keeps you interested and has a cool villian.
could have shaved off about 30 minutes, but seeing as how it was made for a mini series i see why it was longer.
Posted By: thedescent08 at 1:05pm, September 5, 2008
"While the acting in this version of Stephen King's It, is for the most past good, (who can argue with Tim Curry as the clown), it none the less was stripped of a lot of its themes to be put to television. It follows the general premise of the book but omits huge sections of the occurrences that happen to the children, some of which are vitally important to the character development and plot. We lose some of the most beautiful aspects to their relationships this way. Also, the structure of the novel, which although overwhelming, is supremely successful, and is again lost in the film. While they could have made it much worse, I must urge people to read the book first. It's scarier, deeper, more complex, and a far better story." --Meg (ouija-5), imdb.com
It's crap compared to the book. Normally, I would be able to remove myself and form an opinion not based on the book, but rarely is a novel SO good. There is no way I can separate the two. Read the book. It's long, but it's worth it.
This is the scariest movie i've ever seen and all I like is scary movies. I watched when I was in grade 5 or 6 and I'm in nine now and I still haven't seen it again. I still even get nightmares from it, and now I hate clowns even more.
This movie scarred me....I saw it in grade 4 && WOW who would have thought Tim Curry (Scary movie 2, The Rocky horror picture show) would play Pennywise the clown!?!
If you like 40's horror cliches, this is for you. I can't think of a single redeeming value to the entire movie.
Pennywise was amazing in both the book and movie, but in such a horrible context I cannot even give him much praise.
I've never cared for Stephen King because he is so traditional. As the rest of the world moves on from b-horror cliches, he still sticks to them and their utter cheesiness.
Watch it on Cartoon Network around Halloween time (yes, they play it on there, which should tell you something) but do not buy this cliche in disk form.
