Dreamcatcher (2003)

Friends on a camping trip discover that the town they're vacationing in is being plagued in an unusual fashion by parasitic aliens from outer space.

Director:

Lawrence Kasdan

Writers:

Stephen King (novel), William Goldman (screenplay)

Stars:

Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Morgan Freeman	...	Col. Abraham Curtis
Thomas Jane	...	Henry
Jason Lee	...	Beaver
Damian Lewis	...	Jonesy
Timothy Olyphant	...	Pete
Tom Sizemore	...	Owen
Donnie Wahlberg	...	Duddits
Mikey Holekamp	...	Young Henry
Reece Thompson	...	Young Beaver
Giacomo Baessato	...	Young Jonesy
Joel Palmer	...	Young Pete
Andrew Robb	...	Young Duddits
Eric Keenleyside	...	Rick McCarthy
Rosemary Dunsmore	...	Roberta Cavell
Michael O'Neill	...	Gen. Matheson

Storyline

Four childhood friends, Jonesy, Beaver, Pete and Henry all share a special secret. Each year, they take a trip into Maine woods. This year is different. A blizzard occurs, and they recover a man found wandering around. Unbeknownst to them,this wandering individual isn't the only being to be found. Now they must act fast to stop the outbreak developing and to prevent the world from its doom

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Plot Keywords:

alien | derry maine | quarantine | mind palace | snowstorm | 

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Taglines:

Based on the book by Stephen King

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, gore and language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [Germany] Warner Bros. [UK]

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 March 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

El cazador de sueños

Filming Locations:

Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$68,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,027,423, 23 March 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$33,715,436

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$75,715,436

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment, Village Roadshow Pictures, NPV Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The flashback scene where the boys first meet Duddits is the barrens from the Stephen King film It (1990), which also takes place in Derry.

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Goofs

When Col. Curtis in firing the mini-gun at Lt. Underhill from the helicopter, the sound it emits is a conventional machine gun, not the unique whir of a mini-gun.

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Quotes

Pete: Bingo... Did you say bingo like the game in church basements?
Beaver: Well there's trim there.
Pete: oh, Beaver.

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Crazy Credits

The Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow logos are covered in snow, while the Castle Rock Entertainment lighthouse beams its light across a lake covered in snow.

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Alternate Versions

SPOILER: The DVD contains the original ending, in which Duddits defeats the alien using a special power, but is NOT revealed to be an alien. He then succumbs to his leukemia and dies. Jonesy and Henry then visit his gravesite in the final scene and sing "Blue Bayou."

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Connections

References The Tommyknockers (1993)

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Soundtracks

Scooby Doo, Where Are You
Written by David Mook & Ben Raleigh

User Reviews

Begins beautifully-ends poorly

I have read Dreamcatcher and think it is one of King's most under-appreciated books. In an interview, King said his wife didn't care for it. King wrote it out on a yellow legal pad while he was recovering from getting hit by that van.

I have also listened to the audio version of Dreamcatcher, so all that remained for me was to see this movie. While I knew there were things in the book that probably wouldn't make it to the screen, I was pleasantly surprised by how many did. However some scenes were so brief they were little more than tributes.

The cinematography was beautiful from start to finish, but where the first half of the film felt paced to perfection, the last half felt rushed. The ending was different than the book, so be prepared for a shocker.

The acting was good, I particularly enjoyed Jason Lee as Joe 'Beaver' Clarenden and Damian Lewis as Gary 'Jonesy' Jones.

A real disappointment was Thomas Jane as Dr. Henry Devlin. Pretty woody acting there.

Before seeing this movie, I would not have believed that Morgan Freeman could play Kurtz. I was wrong. That guy can play anything. Unfortunately, He didn't get enough chances to flesh out this crazy S.O.B.

Jonsey's dual nature was handled differently in the movie than it was in the book. Too bad. It was just right in the book, and was given a more "Hollywood" treatment in the movie.

Note to the director: This movie failed because not enough time was spent introducing these characters and making us care about them. The notable exceptions to this where Jonesy and the Beav.

Remember: SSDD.

No Bounce, No Play.