Customer Reviews

Survivor [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An Australian film with British leads, made by the Fayman/Ginnane team, The Survivor is based upon the book by James Herbert. When a 747 crashes shortly after take-off, the sole survivor is the pilot. Virtually unhurt, he and the investigators look for the answers to the disaster. Meanwhile mysterious deaths occur in the community and only a psychic, in touch with the supernatural, can help the pilot unravel the mystery surrounding the doomed plane. Directed by actor David Hemmings(Blow-up), The Survivor manages to create an eerie feeling throughout and although the pacing lags in places, the opening scenes are gripping, the acting is top-notch and there is a great shock ending(a la Twilight Zone).Robert Powell(Jesus of Nazareth) gives an intense performance as Captain Keller, desperately searching for answers to the crash. Jenny Agutter(American Werewolf in London) is also convincing as Hobbs, a psychic plagued by the spirits of the diaster. An aging Joseph Cotten is cast in a small role as the priest and he plays it well. If you're looking for monster,slasher,special-effect laden babe-fest science-fiction,this movie will not be your cup of tea. However, if subtle, well-crafted film that requires thought from the viewer is for you,The Survivor might just do the trick.

A pilot of a 747 jetliner, Captain Keller, who's 747 suffers a bomb blast shortly after takeoff and 300 passengers are incinerated as the plane explodes into flames. A short time latter, keller is found wandering unharmed and quite unable to understand how he has survived. The mystery deepends as Keller is taken down the path of both the "Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" have followed.

Capt. David Keller (Robert Powell from Asylum) is the only survivor of a tragic explosion aboard a 747 filled w/ 300 passengers and crew. He walks away from the flaming wreckage, dazed, and unable to remember what happened. A series of strange, fatal "accidents" befall those who get involved w/ the disaster, including a nosey photographer and his wife. A mysterious, ghostly girl appears to lead them to their doom. Meanwhile, Keller is joined by a psychic named Hobbs (Jenny Agutter from An American Werewolf In London), and together they must figure out why the dead are so ticked off. The answer to this question fuels the big finalé, where all is revealed, and the restless spirits receive the justice / vengeance they demand. THE SURVIVOR is a tasty crawler of a movie w/ mystery, suspense, and a fair amount of ghoulishness...

This film doesn't even deserve one star, but as I had to choose SOMETHING I rated it thus. It certainly does no justice whatsoever to the author of the original novel, James Herbert.

Most of us bookworms are very critical of films based on the writings of our favourite authors. But I understand that turning a novel into a screen play must be a very difficult task, and try to appreciate the effort. I've seen some well done novel-turned-screenplay films along the way, including "Fluke", which was also based on a book by Mr. Herbert. It was excellent.

The Survivor, however, is not. In fact, it's downright awful. Anyone who hadn't read the novel first would likely have little or no clue as to what is taking place. It's also likely no one would WANT to read the novel after seeing the film, which would be to their great loss. The novel is brilliant!

Not only is the plot nearly impossible to follow, but to make it worse the scenes are filmed as though the whole world were drenched in blackness. A few scenes made me wonder if my telly was going on the blink. The dark images made it even more difficult to understand the story line or become acquainted with the characters. Not that there's any character development in this film anyway.

The screen writers deviated from the novel in ways that seemed to serve no purpose. The crash survior in the novel was the co-pilot. In the film it is the pilot. Uh... okay... so what's the point?

Another seemingly useless change was that the clairvoyent in the novel, Hobbs, was a likeable little bespectacled man - in the film Hobbs is a very pretty young woman. There is no way of knowing either character, and no building sexual tension between her and Keller (the pilot) so again, what's the point?

There also is no way whatsoever to tell that the pilot had been involved with the co-pilot's wife, because the only hint at it was in one scene that leaves you wondering "Who WAS that woman?".

This film is one not worth wasting your time watching. I read that James Herbert himself didn't like the film, and I viewed it only to see how much they had slaughtered his novel.

It's bleeding dead.

Read the novel.