Christopher Webster [DVD News 04.29.15] cult thriller drama adventure



Harry Hook's 1990 adapt of Lord of the Flies was a very important film for me growing up. All in, I probably watched it more than Star Wars or Back to the Future, which is saying something. I was just so absolutely mesmerized by the brutality and honesty of the story. Espceially in film, you just don't get children portrayed so honestly.

Book purists balk at screenwriter Jay Presson Allen's attempts to Americanize the story, most notably changing the kids from private school boys to military school cadets, but the story and its themes remain unharmed.

In my eyes, this is the best screen adaption of the William Golding's amazing book.

Olive Films is releasing the film on Blu-ray and, as is there way, there are no extras on the disc. A real shame. I can't even confirm if the original print has been significantly remastered for high def, but I can only assume it's better than the old DVD.




Paul Thomas Anderson's latest, Inherent Vice didn't seem to connect with many viewers. People tell me you have the see the Thomas Pynchon film high or you won't get it. They told me the same thing about The Big Lebowski, a film that seems to be in the same wheelhouse.





Indie darling and Canadian filmmaker, Xavier Dolan's new film Mommy finally makes its debut on DVD this week.

Marina reviewed the film at VFF and absolutely loved it. Can't wait to finally see it for myself.

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Lenny (5 years ago) Reply

I do not smoke and Inherent Vice was my fave movie of last year. There's nothing to 'get" it's just crazy funny.

chuck (5 years ago) Reply

I have to disagree with you here- the 1963 version of Lord of the Flies is so much better than the watered down 90's version. The cinematography is beautiful! Making the kids American also reduces the impact of the original book's criticism of the hierarchical English class system. The Piggy character from the earlier version perfectly nails the British 'stiff upper lip' in the face of disaster perfectly- the latter version seemed like a pale comparison. I haven't seen the 90's version in a while, but IIRC it doesn't address or glosses over the PA element of the original, which made it so much more scary- the world has gone to crap and the kids may never return to normalcy. I remember the final scene with the marines on the beach in the '90 version lacking the stark contrast of the savage kids coming face to face with the crisp civility of a British naval officer in the '63 version. Oh well, to each their own. I'm 43 and I suspect you're a bit younger, which may account for your preference. I'll have to revisit the 90's version to reassess it.

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