Reviews (31)

Needing 2.5 stars
Stephen King adaptations are strictly hit-or-miss propositions, and this supernatural thriller from 1993 is definitely a "miss," based on one of King's lesser novels and starring Max von Sydow as the evil proprietor of a small-town antique shop named "Needful Things." That's the place where anyone can go to find the one thing they cherish the most, but of course there's a price for such priceless keepsakes. Yep, that's right ... von Sydow is Satan, and his customers pay for "needful things" with their souls. The sheriff catches onto this hellish predicament, and, well ... let's just say things go downhill from there, with von Sydow delivering sardonic wisecracks as he wreaks devilish havoc on the town. Lots of stuff gets blown to bits, by which time this movie has long since worn out its welcome. Harris and von Sydow do their best to liven up the dreary scenario, but this is strictly for die-hard King fans, and even then the recommendation is marginal. Not one I'd recommend. It's bad, real bad, but funny. A good laugh is all that this provides, but then again most King adaptations usually end up bad. For good King movies check out The Shining, Carrie, Salem's Lot, and Pet Sematary.

"Needful Things" provides intrigue, depth
Welcome to Castle Rock, Maine, home of many horror fiction tales authored by Stephen King. In this movie, a new proprieter named Mr. Leland Gaunt (played cleverly by Max Von Sydow)has set up shop on Main Street, and he seems to have something for everyone. But Mr. Gaunt is more taken with pranking than with money. The plot is slowly and craftily thickened through character depth and visual revelations. Ed Harris does a decent, if not perhaps a bit too gritty, job as Sherriff Alan Pangborn, and JT Walsh is in his element as sleazy Danforth Keeton. Perhaps the best performance though, has to go to Amanda Plummer (Pulp Fiction) as a nervous maid named Nettie Cobb. Dramatic scenes touched with a growing knowledge that perhaps Mr. Gaunt is more evil than depicted makes "Needful Things" a joy to watch. I wonder what they would have had for me.

Needful indeed
Needful things is a great movie. I base movies on thier originality and you'll be hard pressed to find a movie even close to similar on this. A store called needful things.... All the old stuff that you've lost somehow and a place you can go to get one just like it.. How many times have we said "I'd do anything to get (whatever) back". Here's your answer. The movie takes a few to startup, but you begin to see what's going on and the trouble people get into because of thier needful crap. The movie ends in the longest scene of meyhem In a movie. But the soundtrack is worth the entertainment value.

fun beginning....cheesy ending
One thing I've noticed about Stephen King is that he can have problems ending his stories. He's so good at building you up or drawing you in then it's like what's next, what's the point, what do I do with these people? This movie is not an exception. I found this story to be very fun not really scary. I don't know it may have been in 1993 but in 2004 it's funny. But I was very disappointed at the end. I'd say watch it it anyway especially if you're a Stephen King fan. It makes for a good night in anyway.

MAD MAX RETURNS
I had the pleasure to watch this movie and "The Exorcist" in the same week and could only marvel at the underrated performances of Max von Sydow in both. In this Stephen King adaptation, von Sydow effortlessly goes from charming gentlemen to vicious and sardonic Satan in the Kingesque town of Castle Rock. While in the book, King destroys the dreamy little town, it just gets blown about a bit in the movie version. As usual, they couldn't get all the good stuff in the film version (noticeably absent is the woman who has a thing for Elvis carried to a fatal climax), but writer W. D. Richter captures the essence of the book and with von Sydow's tongue in cheek performance helming the film, I enjoyed it. Ed Harris seemed a little out of place, an actor who felt he needed to bust out of the constraints of the character and become Jack Nicholson; Bonnie Bedelia was rendered pretty ineffective in trimming down Polly's role; Amanda Plummer and Valeri Brumfield as Nettie and Wanda were viciously effective, and JT Walsh did a nice over the top job in his role as the gambling fool.
Director Heston didn't get enough of the real terror of the book in this movie, but it's an okay adaptation and better than "Cujo" or "Christine." ... Read more

Description

Two teenagers journey into the Alaskan wilderness to rescue their father, a bush pilot whose plane has crashed. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

ALASKA
Thrilling mixed emotions is what you'll encounter after and while watching the Alaska a hit family film directed in 1996 by the famous director Fraser Heston. This movie not only has a strong family message but it is packed full of various emotions. The emotions range from totally down in the dumps sadness, example when a polar bear gets shot by pothers to thrilling happiness when the father is rescued. The real reason for watching this movie I think is a totally cute polar bear named Cubby. This young bear's mother is killed by pothers in the area; which I what I was talking about earlier. Cubby plays a major part helping two kids which named are 13 year old Jessie ( Thora Birch )and 15 year old Sean (Vincent Kartheiser ), find there missing father which disappeared during an emergency flight.

A good movie with great visuals
I can't believe that "Alaska" isn't getting better reviews than it is. A movie doesn't have to be one of the best ever to be a great movie. I thought it was a good all around movie. Two teens go on a search for their father after his plane crashes and the police show that they're not willing to search for him as much as the kids think they should be. Along the way, the kids run into poachers and they find a friendly polar bear that follows them the rest of the way trying to protect them. They have to find their father and then figure out a way to rescue him.

"Alaska" works well as a good adventure movie and it realistically shows family drama at the beginning of the movie. Surprisingly, parts of it such as when the kids are trying to save their dad, are even exciting. All the way through the movie you'll see spectacular scenery, which goes along great with the plot. Myself, I liked "Alaska" and I don't see why a lot of people don't like it that much, except for maybe that they're expecting too much from the movie. Just don't watch "Alaska" and expect it to be like a movie blockbuster, just watch it like it's a regular Tv movie, and you should like it pretty well. I recommend this movie for anybody.

Just plain silly without meaning to be.
The problems this movie faces are more daunting than the teenagers' search for their missing father; the plot is paper thin and equally transparent. That a self-centered and disfunctional family is suddenly cured of all their ills in this moment of crisis is patently false. Worse the movie doesn't instill any respect for the wilderness meaning that any impressionable child that watches might be misled as to the dangers of their activities. The fact that polar bears do not frequent high mountains strains what little crudulity remains, reinforced by terrible film editing which reveals the cub at the end rejoining a ploar bear family group which low and behold is somehow no longer in the mountains, but on coastal tundra. The scene, the lighting, and the film quality all demonstrate totally different animals and locations. Any film editor should have been able to do a better job of blending the clips, but it seems the maker of this movie thought those watching were even less informed than they were and just didn't care.

One of the worse films I have seen in ages. My kids even thought this was just plain silly. Those entralled with this movie must check their reasoning powers at the door, because for any thinking person, even kids, it is almost insultingly dumb.

Predictable and unbelievable at the same time
This movie tells the story of two young people, Jessie and Sean, who have moved to Alaska with their father after their mother's death. Jessie is making the best of the move, but Sean is very unhappy that he has been uprooted from his home in Chicago. When their father's plane crashes during what was to have been a routine flight, Jessie and Sean decide to rescue him. What follows is totally unbelievable, but there is some exciting action during the rescue and the scenery is spectacular. Mostly designed as a children's movie, the scenery is probably the best part for adults.

Almost a great kid's action movie
Overall, I really liked watching this movie with kids from 10-13 years old. The bear cub is a cute idea to keep younger children interested but not very believeable since polar bears don't live in the mountains. There is some character development as the boy, Sean, regrets mean things he said to his father and appreciates and uses the skills he has learned from him. There is a strong femaale, the sister, good to see in a kids' movie. The special effects are really quite well done.

I only have two real gripes. First is the needless swearing of the "bad guys". Lots of "dammit" all through the movie.

Second,the climax, where Cubby takes the end of the rope and supposedly saves the father, is a disappointment. Up until then Cubby has just been a distracting side bar. Just when we are engaged in the most exciting part of the movie and there is an opportunity for the children to really pull off a heroic deed, it is Cubby who grabs the tail of the rope and gnaws on it to save the dad.

The scenery is beautiful. There are wonderful shots of a glacier, kayaking on open water, canoeing on a river, and rock climbing that just make me want to hop a plane to Alaska. The writing and editing are well done. The characters are believable for the most part (it is a children's movie, after all).

There are a few other minor problems. The father is in the open on a snowy mountain for 3 days with no blanket but doesn't seem to suffer from hypothermia. The police give up the search way to early. And the kids don't leave a note or anything about where they are going when they take off for the Devil's Thumb Pass to find their father.

I think parents should watch this with their kids and point these things out as they watch the movie. This can be a good way to teach critical thinking.

This is an exciting, beautiful movie with something for everyone in the family. Have fun with it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Stephen King adaptations are strictly hit-or-miss propositions, and this supernatural thriller from 1993 is definitely a "miss," based on one of King's lesser novels and starring Max von Sydow as the evil proprietor of a small-town antique shop named "Needful Things." That's the place where anyone can go to find the one thing they cherish the most (the town's aging jock finds his old, high-school letterman's jacket there, for example), but of course there's a price for such priceless keepsakes. Yep, that's right ... von Sydow is Satan, and his customers pay for "needful things" with their souls. The sheriff (Ed Harris) catches onto this hellish predicament, and, well ... let's just say things go downhill from there, with von Sydow delivering sardonic wisecracks as he wreaks devilish havoc on the town. Lots of stuff gets blown to bits, by which time this movie has long since worn out its welcome. Harris and von Sydow do their best to liven up the dreary scenario (directed by Charlton Heston's son, Fraser), but this is strictly for die-hard King fans, and even then the recommendation is marginal. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (31)

Needing 2.5 stars
Stephen King adaptations are strictly hit-or-miss propositions, and this supernatural thriller from 1993 is definitely a "miss," based on one of King's lesser novels and starring Max von Sydow as the evil proprietor of a small-town antique shop named "Needful Things." That's the place where anyone can go to find the one thing they cherish the most, but of course there's a price for such priceless keepsakes. Yep, that's right ... von Sydow is Satan, and his customers pay for "needful things" with their souls. The sheriff catches onto this hellish predicament, and, well ... let's just say things go downhill from there, with von Sydow delivering sardonic wisecracks as he wreaks devilish havoc on the town. Lots of stuff gets blown to bits, by which time this movie has long since worn out its welcome. Harris and von Sydow do their best to liven up the dreary scenario, but this is strictly for die-hard King fans, and even then the recommendation is marginal. Not one I'd recommend. It's bad, real bad, but funny. A good laugh is all that this provides, but then again most King adaptations usually end up bad. For good King movies check out The Shining, Carrie, Salem's Lot, and Pet Sematary.

"Needful Things" provides intrigue, depth
Welcome to Castle Rock, Maine, home of many horror fiction tales authored by Stephen King. In this movie, a new proprieter named Mr. Leland Gaunt (played cleverly by Max Von Sydow)has set up shop on Main Street, and he seems to have something for everyone. But Mr. Gaunt is more taken with pranking than with money. The plot is slowly and craftily thickened through character depth and visual revelations. Ed Harris does a decent, if not perhaps a bit too gritty, job as Sherriff Alan Pangborn, and JT Walsh is in his element as sleazy Danforth Keeton. Perhaps the best performance though, has to go to Amanda Plummer (Pulp Fiction) as a nervous maid named Nettie Cobb. Dramatic scenes touched with a growing knowledge that perhaps Mr. Gaunt is more evil than depicted makes "Needful Things" a joy to watch. I wonder what they would have had for me.

Needful indeed
Needful things is a great movie. I base movies on thier originality and you'll be hard pressed to find a movie even close to similar on this. A store called needful things.... All the old stuff that you've lost somehow and a place you can go to get one just like it.. How many times have we said "I'd do anything to get (whatever) back". Here's your answer. The movie takes a few to startup, but you begin to see what's going on and the trouble people get into because of thier needful crap. The movie ends in the longest scene of meyhem In a movie. But the soundtrack is worth the entertainment value.

fun beginning....cheesy ending
One thing I've noticed about Stephen King is that he can have problems ending his stories. He's so good at building you up or drawing you in then it's like what's next, what's the point, what do I do with these people? This movie is not an exception. I found this story to be very fun not really scary. I don't know it may have been in 1993 but in 2004 it's funny. But I was very disappointed at the end. I'd say watch it it anyway especially if you're a Stephen King fan. It makes for a good night in anyway.

MAD MAX RETURNS
I had the pleasure to watch this movie and "The Exorcist" in the same week and could only marvel at the underrated performances of Max von Sydow in both. In this Stephen King adaptation, von Sydow effortlessly goes from charming gentlemen to vicious and sardonic Satan in the Kingesque town of Castle Rock. While in the book, King destroys the dreamy little town, it just gets blown about a bit in the movie version. As usual, they couldn't get all the good stuff in the film version (noticeably absent is the woman who has a thing for Elvis carried to a fatal climax), but writer W. D. Richter captures the essence of the book and with von Sydow's tongue in cheek performance helming the film, I enjoyed it. Ed Harris seemed a little out of place, an actor who felt he needed to bust out of the constraints of the character and become Jack Nicholson; Bonnie Bedelia was rendered pretty ineffective in trimming down Polly's role; Amanda Plummer and Valeri Brumfield as Nettie and Wanda were viciously effective, and JT Walsh did a nice over the top job in his role as the gambling fool.
Director Heston didn't get enough of the real terror of the book in this movie, but it's an okay adaptation and better than "Cujo" or "Christine." ... Read more