It on DVD
It can be just about anything.
If your biggest fear is spiders, thats what It is. If
youre terrified of things going bump in the night, thats what It
is. Whatever It happens to be, however, It can kill you.
A small New England town is being terrorized by an evil taking the
form of Pennywise the Clown. It lures children in with its clown-like
abilities, and kills them. It goes on for some time, until a group of
youngsters decides to fight back. They venture into the creatures lair,
confront it, and kill it.
Or so they think.
Thirty years later, theyre all very successful (with the
exception of the librarian who stayed behind in their hometown), and they soon
discover It has come back. They fly back to Derry, Maine, in order to kill It
once and for all. But It has other plans for them. It remembers them all, and
wants some revenge.
So our heroes have to fight their greatest fears in order to
overcome the evil that has taken over the town.
Originally produced as a made-for-TV miniseries in 1990, It is
fairly good. It looks pretty dated now, but for the time Im sure it was
quite impressive for made-for-TV. It even features a pretty good cast,
including Harry Anderson, John Ritter, Annette OToole, Tim Reid, and a
perfectly cast Tim Curry as Pennywise.
These days, It is not very scary. In 1990 It was probably quite
terrifying, for a TV production, but these days the most It can achieve is
being a little bit creepy. Its fun to watch, however, because its a
fairly well written piece of TV horror, but watch only if you have the time. At
187 minutes, its long and very, very s-l-o-w.
But if youre a fan of this not-quite-classic miniseries, the
DVD is definitely worth a look.
Speaking of the DVD, its clear this was not planned as a
huge release. Both the audio and video are sub-par, and the one extra
doesnt add much of an incentive. Although advertised on the disc itself
as having widescreen and standard versions on either side, its actually
only presented in anamorphic widescreen, but the movie is split into two parts,
one part on each side. The picture quality is not that great. It looks better
than It would look on TV, but it still looks a bit dated. Theres quite a
bit of grain, though on the other hand it actually adds a bit to the feel,
especially during the flashbacks.
The audio is presented in Dolby Surround, and theyve done
the best they can with what they have.
The only extra on the disc is a commentary by director Tommy Lee
Wallace, Dennis Christopher, Tim Reid, John Ritter and Richard Thomas.
Its not a bad commentary; fortunately there are enough participants that
there arent many lulls, and you learn a thing or two about the
production, writing process, characterization, and casting.
It, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
187 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) 16X9 enhanced, Dolby Surround
Starring Harry Anderson, Dennis Christopher, Richard Masur, Annette OToole,
Tim Reid, John Ritter, Richard Thomas and Tim Curry
Teleplay by Lawrence D. Cohen and Tommy Lee Wallace
Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace
Tell us at TechnoFile what YOU think