Customer Reviews

Target: Favorite Son [VHS]

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

 

 

When I saw that this title was available, I decided to take a look at my copy from the miniseries' original 1988 broadcast. The six-hour drama is one of the best political thrillers to ever grace the small screen. It is unfortunate the the edited version only clocks in at 115 minutes, far shorter than was intended. It can be imagined that some of the superlative writing and performances have been butchered to accomodate the shortened form.

While stars Harry Hamlin, Linda Kozlowski, and the superb Robert Loggia are magnificent, the supporting performances from "Frasier's" John Mahoney, Ronny Cox, veteran character actors James Whitmore and Mitchell Ryan, as well as a young Jason Alexander are remarkable. Perennial muscle heavy Brian Thompson is there, too, in a memorable role as a professional hitman.

The frequent commentaries about our government and the American public, in general, supplied by Mahoney's "Lou Brenner" really have some "teeth" to them.

The book's author Steve Sohmer wrote the teleplay, and it is obvious that both were labors of love. However, this altered edition is not worthy as a purchase. One should try to catch the original should it ever air on cable.

Rating: 5 stars for the original; 1 star for this version = 3 star average

The original miniseries was a riveting and startling film about political ambition gone frighteningly wrong. It even spun off a wonderful but short-lived series ("Mancuso"). The condensation of the movie down to less that two hours destroys any suspense built up during the original's lengthy running time, and if you view the online "preview" of the movie, several important plot points and the very tricky surprise ending are revealed. I'm going to wait patiently for the day the full movie is on DVD.

Originally this was a mini-series on NBC Television starring Harry Hamlin of "LA Law," Linda Koslowski of "Crockadille Dundee," Stephanie Krammer of "Hunter," and Robert Loggia as Nick Manicuso. An NBC television series was spun off from this mini-series starring Loggia called "Manicuso FBI." "Favorite Son" is the story about a U.S. Senator, "Hamlin" who is shot, but still manages to deliver a very heartfelt speach after being wounded which makes him America's "Favorite Son." As a result, he makes a run for the U.S. Presidency. This movie has some incredible twists and a fantastic ending. If you liked the more recent movie, "Wild Things," you should enjoy this.

I'll just have to read the novel, Favorite Son since the VHS release cut out 3 hours from the original series.

Typical politically targeted official with a dedicated secretary who with guns in hand goes after the trueth.

I saw this movie on TV a number of years ago and taped it at that time for my collection. Somehow, my copy was lost, so I decided to order another copy. I was sorry to see a lot of the original scenes were edited out of the copy I had ordered which takes away a lot from the original movie. I don't understand why they have to edit scenes from the original movie that is on video.

Actually, I am looking for the original 6 hour mini-series from 1988.

The 2 hour VHS I bought didn't quite measure up.

Do you know how I get a hold of the original 6 hours mini series from 1988 ?

Thanks,

Joyce Lange
joycelange@yahoo.com