Product Details

• Actors: Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, Sandra Bullock, Park Overall
• Directors: George Sluizer
• Writers: Todd Graff, Tim Krabbé
• Producers: Larry Brezner, Lauren Weissman, Paul Schiff, Pieter Jan Brugge, Todd Graff
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: September 7, 2004
• Run Time: 109 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002IQLHQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,691 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Vanishing" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

VANISHING - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars For The First Half, Three Stars For the Second, February 16, 2008

By 

Susan K. Schoonover "Sue Yingling" (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Vanishing (DVD)

I'll start out by saying I have neither seen the Dutch film of which this is a remake or read the novel THE GOLDEN EGG that was the source material for both movies. From reading a little bit about the acclaimed Dutch film it sounds like the first half of the Hollywood version of THE VANISHING follows the original movie very closely but then the second half becomes more of a "by the numbers" Hollywood thriller with some action sequences and the requisite happy ending for the survivors.

I'm not giving any spoilers aways by saying Jeff Bridges plays the kidnapper, Barney, as we see him practicing how to snatch a woman in the opening scenes. Bridges looks the part of a Barney who on the surface is a likable if somewhat eccentric chemistry professor. For some reason the American Bridges plays the part with some type of European (I think) accent which is quite jarring when the script states Barney was born and raised in Seattle and at one point even shows his birth certificate. Kiefer Sutherland is quite good as Jeff whose life becomes an obsession filled mess after the disappearance of his girlfriend more because of a burning desire to find out what happened to her then pure devastation at her loss. Nancy Travis plays Rita, Jeff's new girlfriend, whom he meets "cute" by coming in exhausted from his search for the missing Diane to the all night diner where she works. Rita later displays amazing talents as a detective and strategist so apparently was way underemployed in her waitress gig. Sandra Bullock as the very pretty and sympathetic missing Diane is very adequate but does not have a lot of screen time.

The first half of the film creates Diane and Jeff as believable characters caught in a nightmare. The second half relies too much on coincidences to move the plot ahead and pop psychology as motives for the characters' actions. If you like thrillers this is an OK way to spend a couple of hours but it seems the potential promised at the film's beginning is not even close to being realize by the end.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars See the original, April 3, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Vanishing [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I had seen the original before the release of this film. I think it would make an excellent case study on just how badly Hollywood can mangle real cinema. Plot is almost exactly like original except that it has a ridiculous, hoaky, happy ending that was added to the end. The other annoying change is that the eerily 'normal' family-man psycho has been substituted with an obvious greasey slime-ball 'bad guy.' If you can stand subtitles, get the original, because this is drivel in comparison.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Jeff Bridges Fans, September 7, 2009

By 

J.C. (Peoria, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Vanishing (DVD)

I'll make this short and sweet. If you enjoyed "The Big Lebowski" and want to see a different but equally potent side of Jeff Bridges' acting, buy this movie. It is very suspenseful the first time around, and it is great to watch this movie over again for the comedic elements. The only shortcoming in my opinion is that the ending is too abrupt.