Customer Reviews

Golden Years [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Well, King has strayed from his usual horror story genre to produce a little bit of TV mini-series heaven. Set in upstate New York, "Golden Years" is based around 70 year old Harlan Williams, a janitor working for a top secret government plant. He is accidently caught in an explosion from one of the labs where mad scientist Dr Todhunter was conducting 'regeneration' experiments. Over time, Harlan begins to notice sudden changes in his body. Brown hairs begin to reappear in the place of grey ones, his skin becomes softer, his eyes don't need glasses anymore! He begins to get younger. The accident causes some concern in the government, so the spooks are soon on the scene. Witnesses to what is happening to Harlan begin to disappear after the arrival of government agent Jude Andrews. The heads of the plant, Terri Spann and General Lewis Crewes, grow suspicious of the intentions of the people they have been working for and decide to get to the old man and his wife before the spooks do. A race across the states begins, Harlan and his wife flee for their lives while coping with the effects of his reverse ageing. This is a great little story, and had it not been rushed to an ending, it may have become a King classic. The original ending to the series finished on a cliff-hanger where Jude Andrews and his henchmen may have actually caught Harlan. It ended with the tag-line 'To Be Continued...' But the TV network was disappointed with viewing figures, so a new ending was shot, providing closure for this quite inventive story. The concept is great, the characters are brilliant (especially the play-off between old enemies Jude Andrews and Terri Spann as she manages to be one step ahead of him every time), it is just a shame that the final scene was so rushed. For die-hard sci-fi and King fans, it's definately worth a look.

When this miniseries first aired, I remember getting lost in the world it created. Upon viewing this new DVD transfer however, I'm confused as to how I could've liked it so much.

The story of what would happen if an elderly man was accidentally exposed to some chemicals that made him become younger is very intriguing and full of possibilites. King jumps on those posibilities and can get your mind going, but the execution of them is flawed. I like the languid and reflective pace of the series, but there are too many scenes that don't add to the plot, don't make much sense, or worse, repeat points that have already been covered.

I remembered the strongest element of "Golden Years" being the relationship between the elderly couple Halrn and Gina and I find I'm still touched by it today. The actors do such terrific work that I never once questioned the reality of their love and concern for one another. It's refreshing to see an elderly couple that's so 'normal', 'real' and alive. Most of the other preformances though are a bit too over the top to be believable. The mad scienist especially, seems to be making an entirely different film than the rest of the crew!

The central relationship and interesting premise are almost enough to make up these flaws, but then we get a rushed, tacked on ending that defies all reason. It's a great dissapointment after investing so much time and caring so much for Harlan and Gina. Don't see "Golden Years" expecting too much and you'll find many things to like about it, but it will never be anyones favorite Stephen King project.

I saw this movie when it first aired, and hope they would show it again. The story is about a janitor who is exposed to a substance and he starts to turn younger, he at first does not understand what is happening and then the fun starts. Of course the government wants him for tests but all he wants is to be left alone with his wife. So on the run he goes = there are some neat effects and it ends kind of sadly - but this movie is worth seeing - as i said before I waited, and waited and waited for it to come back to tv - never happened = so now i am going to purchase the viedo -- won't you take a chance? If you love stephen king -- then come on down it's much better than cujo,,,,

This movie was one fun ride. It was so very well done. The acting was so unique, the old man (getting younger) and his wife (who was also in Misery) were so perfect they could never have been better. The Terry chick was so cool, the way she'd pull her gun out to get what she wanted. The general, and the Andrews guy were both great characters, and all the supporting people were fantastic!

So, you may ask, why not five stars? Why have I lowered it from great to really good? Well, the ending. Everyone who's seen the movie remembers the ending. It's horrible! I've read about how different this is on TV, and the ending on the video and DVD is horribly quick and hazy, so very unsatisfactory that people may develop a knee-jerk reaction and go bash this movie. Don't. Aside from the horrid (and I mean HORRID) ending, the movie is a five star expierience. I was riveted in my seat, unable to leave my television set, it was that good!

I got this for Christmas in a Stephen King 5 Pack Collection (The Golden Years, Thinner, The langoliers, The Stand, Cujo), and loved it.

I saw the most of the original series when it came out years back but grew bored. When I was the DVD, I decide to buy it and see how it ended.

The first two hours on this DVD is great. I think it was the two-hour premiere. However, it goes downhill in the next two hours. Things were taken out that made the plot confusing and even worse some thing were left in that did not make the story flow. The last two hours are disjointed and for some reason goes away from the Protagonist. We don't see him.

The ending had to be re-done because the original ending was a cliffhanger for the following season. The ending totally reeks. It is really, really bad. You sit on your sofa for 4 hours and then it ends the way it did was he most disappointing of all.

Buy the Storm of the Century instead. That was four hours of chills.

When this show first aired, it was my absolute favorite. I loved the sci-fi concept, the fugitive-style stay one step ahead story, and of course the titular David Bowie song.

The reason why I've given this dvd 2 stars is that the full story was never allowed to unfold. This is NOT a miniseries. This was a full-fledged television series, meant to play out over a number of seasons. The main character, Harlan, who ages backwards, was played by an actor in his mid-thirties. Had the show been kept on the air for two or three seasons, we would have seen him regress back to that age.

The slapped-together series finale was poorly handled, though really there was no good solution. The show was dependent on having multiple seasons, and no ending could have worked. Better to simply pass it by and remember the show for what it was: an intriguing television experiment that was not allowed to work.

I do think sometimes: In the modern age of cable channels putting out quality shows, wouldn't it be wonderful if a channel like Sci-Fi were to commit to three years of a Golden Years remake, and do it right this time?

Okay, it needed an editor to get a hold of this, but it is King and they don't edit his books near enough, so a tale where he had a hand in production, even directed part of it, was sure to be the same.

Despite that, it is a marvelous tale, not so horrific as most King stories, so most King fans will find it dull. It is more that horror or Sci Fi, it is a gentle tale and romantic, in its own fashion.

Keith Szarabajka (Mickey Kostmayer of the Equilizer; Angel; Nighlight) is a superb, underrated talent. In his middle 30's in real life at the time, he portrays an old man nearing retirement working at a top secret lab as a janitor. There is (UNFORTUNATELY) the mad scientist that King should have been ashamed for creating in the stereotypical fashion straight from 1930's horror films, but there is also so really neat characters that round at the tale and make up for the deficiencies. Ed Lauter is great, in a range of role he does not usually play.

In a lab accident, Szarajabka is accidently exposed to a substance that reverses his age. And that is what makes the tale work so well. The fine, subtle talents of Szarabajka and the amazing Francis Sternhagen as his wife, who is watching her beloved husband grow younger day and day, make up for the uneven writing by King and sloppy editing.

Maybe everyone should forget this is Stephan King, and just judge the film on its own merits and I think you will be surprised.

I nice way to pass a rainy day.

This was not one of his best works, this movie has so much repetitiveness and an exteamly slow story, it did not have to be as long as it was which is too bad this story could have had a lot of potential.

If you looking for a good Stephen King TV movie try The Stand, Storm of the Century, It or even The Langoliers those are so much better and far more superior than the Golden Years.

While this mini-series was not the finest work ever done by Stephen King, it is worth watching. The series also suffers by a change in writers for the finale. The story is quite simple and the biggest suprise is that there are no real suprises. This would be a better purchase as a part of the 5-part Stephen King collector's set (The Stand, The Golden Years, Cujo, The Langoliers and Thinner).

Golden Years features a premise that sounds somewhat interesting, basically about an old man who is growing younger after an accident in a laboratory. Unfortunately, the movie is mostly poorly acted, has TV production values, very pedestrian direction, and an ending that is simply awful. It's also boring, worst of all.