Product Details

• Actors: Tom Skerritt, Steven Weber, Annabeth Gish, Charles Durning, Matt Frewer
• Directors: Mick Garris
• Writers: Stephen King
• Producers: Mick Garris, Bruce Dunn, Kelly Van Horn, Mark Sennet, Stephen King
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: August 29, 2006
• Run Time: 131 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000G1R39E
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,217 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Stephen King's Desperation" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Cross-country travelers on an isolated highway are arrested by a corrupt sheriff and jailed in a desolate town whose streets are littered with the dead bodies of local residents. The captives manage to escape, only to discover that Desperation, Nevada, is more than just a town gone wrong—it’s the terrifying source of unbridled evil.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Movie Worked For Everybody But The Audience, September 25, 2006

By 

David Smith (Puget Sound) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stephen King's Desperation (DVD)

So I thought I only saw pieces of the ABC presentation of Desperation. On TV I thought I missed the chapter about the first family, David's family, and how they came to be in the town jail. It turns out I didn't miss anything, that's the way it was filmed. When I heard the film was available on DVD and "R" rated, too, I vowed to rent it and see the movie as it was designed to be seen. Curses, gore, adult scares and, perhaps a booby! One wouldn't expect anything but the most watered down presentation on ABC but the "R" rated version, oh boy!

The DVD, rated "R", was EXACTLY the same presentation word for word and scene for scene with the only difference being the exclusion of commercials. I'm going to say, and prove me wrong, that the "R" rating was slapped on the DVD to intice people to rent it to see the original adult version. What a sneaky rip-off. How can they do that?

Overall, the movie was not great. The ending was completely tacked on and I got a little tired of the sermonizing. The performances were OK, with the exception of Ron Perlman's performance. He was outstanding.

I know Amazon sells this DVD but they also sell the book and the book is much more satisfying. It's hard to believe the same guy that wrote the movie also wrote the book. I'm sure everybody made lots of money on this project but I'd like my money back.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tak! Tak a lah!, June 16, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Stephen King's Desperation (DVD)

Stephen King, as reknowned as he is, has a bad habit of recycling ideas for his books. Likewise, films based on his books, particularly the made for TV ones, are often nothing short of awful. Desperation has its moments, but is too muddy, too weird, and too saccarine sweet at times.


The film feels overly familiar to other King adaptations such as the Langoliers, IT and even the Stand. A group of sundry people are trapped in a Nevada ghost town and are at the mercy of a powerful earth demon or entity known as Tak, who dates back to an ancient, pre-Native American civilization. In the first half of the movie, Tak is played by the woefully underrated Ron Perlman, one of my favorite actors. Perlman chews up the scenery and seems to be enjoying himself. But the problem is that Tak can only inhabit human bodies for short amounts of time as they decompose rapidly, so Perlman isn't really seen in the second act. Lots of familiar actors and actresses show up, including Tom Skerrit as a Vietnam vet writer, Matt Frewer, Anabeth Gish and Stephen Webber. However, things get really muddled in the clash of good vs. evil. There are ENDLESS speeches and pep talks about God and christian faith, its really tiresome. However, the little boy who stands in for Danny from the Shining often finds himself asking if maybe the God he worships might be no less sadistic than Tak, so things aren't all black and white. The atmosphere of the town of Desperation is cool, but suffers from bad lighting. Probably the creepiest scene is a supernatural old film reel of how Tak was released from its ancient slumber.

Its too bad that there wasn't much light shed on what exactly is Tak trying to accomplish. It simply awakens, posseses people, controls animals and that's about it. It would also have been cooler if they delved a bit deeper into the ancient civilization that is connected with Tak. Oh well, if you're a King fan you might eat it up.

Tak!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Desperate, November 25, 2007

By 

Roland (Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stephen King's Desperation (DVD)

This is a bad movie, and no where near the book, since it leaves out the majority of what the book was based on, the characters and their stories. Also, alot is abridged overall, which leaves it feeling to rushed and tenuous throughout. It is like a long Twilight Zone episode more than a big movie or film. One thing for those who are not religious, you may be turned off by the constant "God" theme that runs throughout the film. Even for religious people, you may find it annoying - it feels to preachy to me. TOTALY SUCKED!!!!!!