The Vanishing (1993)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

George Sluizer

Writers (WGA):

Tim Krabbé (novel)
Todd Graff (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 February 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

If someone you loved mysteriously vanished how far out of your mind would you go to find them?

Plot:

The boyfriend of an abducted woman never gives up the search as the abductor looks on.

Plot Keywords:

Gas Station | Fall Down Stairs | Spiked Drink | Missing Person | Passed Out

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Barney Cousins
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Jeff Harriman
Nancy Travis	...	Rita Baker
Sandra Bullock	...	Diane Shaver
Park Overall	...	Lynn
Maggie Linderman	...	Denise Cousins
Lisa Eichhorn	...	Helene Cousins
George Hearn	...	Arthur Bernard
Lynn Hamilton	...	Miss Carmichael
Garrett Bennett	...	Cop at Gas Station (as Gareth Bennett)
George Catalano	...	Highway Cop
Frank Girardeau	...	Cop at Apartment
Stephen Bridgewater	...	TV Host (as Stephen Wesley Bridgewater)
Susan Barnes	...	Colleague
Rich Hawkins	...	Stan

MPAA:

Rated R for terror and violence, and for language.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:M | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Netherlands:16 | Italy:VM14 | Argentina:16 | Chile:14 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bellevue, Washington, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

With a budget set at $20 million, this US remake cost over 10 times what George Sluizer's original Dutch version had in 1988.

Goofs:

Continuity: When in the tunnel, Jeff closes the door when Diane is looking for the flashlight. In the next shot, the door can be see open without anybody opening it..

Quotes:

Rita Baker: She's gone, Jeff. She's gone. You may never know how or why, you just have to learn to accept that.
Jeff Harriman: If Diane were here right now, I'd ask you to marry me. But the truth is, if I could turn back the clock to that day at the gas station just once, I would. Just to find out.
Rita Baker: It's not good enough. If you ever want to move on with your life, if you ever want to be happy again, if you ever want to really live,then this is your chance! I love you! But I have to know you feel the same or else I'm gone forever. Let her go,Jeff.Let her go.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Sandra Bullock: In the Driver's Seat" (2005)

Soundtrack:

COPACABANA

A Horrid Mess

Skip this Hollywood version, a real piece of garbage. A cheap insult to the brilliant original "Spoorloos", or by the English title also called "The Vanishing". It completely misses the mark in typical, grotesque Hollywood fashion, usually due to a bunch of talentless, corporate bean counters who haven't the vaguest idea about anything artistic, they just look for the "successful formula" and want it applied to everything to glean a profit. Much like the awful "The Scarlet Letter" made in 1995, which twisted the original story around so much to suit the MacDonaldsland crowd, that it became an aberration, not even a bastardization, but a pile of goop that has been sort of shaped similar but does not look, feel or even remotely resemble the spirit of the original. Except that movie at least had Gary Oldman, who is interesting to watch in anything he does. This dog has nothing going for it, even the usually very talented Jeff Bridges is an embarrassment. Great tragedy is not nor never should be "the feel good movie of the year" but rather takes one or more of the sadly much too frequent tragic events in life and allows the reader/viewer to draw meaning and insight into the human condition.

Do yourself a great favor if you're looking for a rental and skip this grotesque garbage and pick up the original made in a Dutch/French collaboration in 1988. That is a great film. This is a horrific mess.