Golden Years 

An elderly janitor hurt in an explosion at a secret army lab run by "The Shop" starts to grow younger. A ruthless operative is sent to cover it up, so the janitor and his wife go on the run with the help of a sympathetic female agent.

Creator:

Stephen King

Stars:

Keith Szarabajka, Felicity Huffman, Ed Lauter

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Keith Szarabajka	...	Harlan Williams 7 episodes, 1991
Felicity Huffman	...	Terry Spann 7 episodes, 1991
Ed Lauter	...	Gen. Louis Crewes 7 episodes, 1991
R.D. Call	...	Jude Andrews 7 episodes, 1991
Bill Raymond	...	Dr. Richard X. Toddhunter 7 episodes, 1991
Frances Sternhagen	...	Gina Williams 7 episodes, 1991
Stephen Root	...	Major Moreland 6 episodes, 1991
Philip Lenkowsky	...	Billy Delois 5 episodes, 1991
Tim Guinee	...	Fredericks 4 episodes, 1991
Graham Paul	...	Rick Haverford 4 episodes, 1991
Erik King	...	Burton 3 episodes, 1991
John Rothman	...	Dr. Ackerman 3 episodes, 1991
Randell Haynes	...	Hawkins 3 episodes, 1991
Mert Hatfield	...	Sheriff Mayo 2 episodes, 1991
Harriet Sansom Harris	...	Francie Wil 2 episodes, 1991
Susan King	...	Nurse 2 episodes, 1991
J.R. Horne	...	Dr. Eakins 2 episodes, 1991
Sarah Melici	...	Mrs. Rogers 2 episodes, 1991
Caroline Dollar	...	Little Girl 2 episodes, 1991

Storyline

Explosion in the most secret laboratory of the USA. The old janitor Harlan Williams is incubated by totally unknown chemicals. Now he changes and becomes younger instead of older. The government is interested in finding out everything about this changes and hunts the fugitive Harlan. A hunt across the USA starts.

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Plot Keywords:

growing younger | reverse aging | freak accident | government assassin | woman in bra and panties | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 July 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stephen King's Golden Years

Company Credits

Production Co:

Laurel Productions,Laurel-King Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

232 min 40 min (6 episodes) 236 min (DVD) 360 min (extended edition) 360 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 widescreen

Did You Know?

Trivia

'King, Stephen' often appears as a cameo in his own movies/series. Here he plays the greyhound bus driver that picks up Gina and Terry

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Quotes

Gina Williams: Harlan, where are your glasses?
Harlan Williams: I see better without them now.

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Alternate Versions

The U.S. video version includes a few scenes not shown on the television broadcast.

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Connections

References Psycho (1960)

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Soundtracks

Golden Years
(Theme Music)
David Bowie

User Reviews

DVD version: A SciFi movie with a truly original premise and glimpses of real people.

DVD version: A SciFi movie with a truly original premise and glimpses of real people.

I've not really enjoyed a Stephen King horror movie since Firestarter. Just so you know my bias I like Stephen King horror books but not his horror movies. I do enjoy his non-horror films. Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, Dolores Claiborne, Apt Pupil, The Green Mile, and Dead Zone (both TV show and movie).

Golden Years is on the slow side, as is to some extent every movie I listed above. Golden Years succeeds like the above movies when it explorers characters in ways we are not used to exploring them.

Golden Years is about relationships, about the love and relationship of an elderly couple. Rarely in any movie or book do we see two characters this rich a history and depth of love. The action in Golden Years is not a lab experiment gone wrong, it is about the world of two people suddenly shaken to its foundation as they both come to realize that they have no control over their future. Golden Years is the story about the fear of leaving someone behind and the story of being afraid of being left behind.

The movie works well when the characters are connecting, unfortunatly not all the characters connect well. All in all there is much to be admired here. All in all this is simply a made for TV mini-series of the type often slapped together in the 80s-early 90s.

Both the TV version and Video version are greatly flawed due to rather odd editing choices. The ending of all three versions is still a bit weak, due I suspect to the last two episodes being written by Josef Anderson. The old age makeup for the lead character Harlen Williams leaves a lot to be desired and is often just plain distracting.

I am saddened that Stephen King feels he doesn't have anything to write about any more. Golden Years deserves to have many of its ideas fully realized in a novel.