The Langoliers (TV miniseries)
Encyclopedia
The Langoliers is a miniseries
consisting of 2 episodes of 2 hours each (4 hours including commercials). It was directed and written by Tom Holland
and based on the novella
by Stephen King
. The series was produced by Mitchell Galin and David R. Kappes. The miniseries originally aired May 14, 1995 on the ABC
network.
Brian attempts to radio for help, but receives no response, not even from Strategic Air Command
, which should be on-air at all times. The other passengers discover that strange objects have been left behind in the passenger seats, such as watches, surgical pins and pacemakers. They subsequently introduce themselves; Bob Jenkins is a mystery novel writer, Laurel Stevenson is a schoolteacher on vacation to meet a man from a singles ad in a newspaper (though she omits this part out of embarrassment), Don Gaffney is a tool-and-die worker going to meet his new granddaughter, Albert Kaussner is a violinist on his way to music school in Boston, Bethany Simms is meeting her aunt where she will be taken to drug rehab
, Dinah Bellman is on her way to Boston for optical surgery, a man later revealed as Rudy Warwick remains asleep, and a suspicious businessman remains silent. He is later revealed to be Craig Toomey, a mentally unstable man who has knowingly and proudly caused a $43 million loss to his company. Dinah, who possesses psychic powers, sees through Toomey's eyes and recognises him as a threat.
Brian takes over the plane and announces that, for safety, the flight will be redirected from Boston to Bangor, Maine
. Toomey aggressively protests and announces that it is crucial that he attends his business trip in Boston. In a flashback, it is revealed that Toomey was abused as a child by his overbearing and sadistic father; when Craig failed to make straight A's, his father warned him about the "Langoliers"; creatures that chased down the lazy and devoured them. He is desperate to reach his appointment in Boston in order to announce his willful loss of finances to his boss and be freed of his father's wrath.
The plane lands at Bangor International Airport
and the passengers find that it is devoid of life and electricity; even cars and battery-powered devices are useless. Dinah confesses that she hears an eerie "crunching cereal" sound in the distance that is coming closer and demands that they must leave before it reaches them or they will die; the sound eventually becomes loud enough that all the survivors hear it. Toomey sneaks away from the group while the rest find a restaurant and decide to stop for food. They then find that food and drinks have no flavour, matches do not light and sound does not reverberate. Toomey returns with a gun and takes Bethany hostage while demanding a flight to Boston; in an attempt to rescue her, Albert is shot, but the gun has no force and the round harmlessly bounces off his chest.
Toomey is captured and Bob deduces that, as they flew through an unusual aurora borealis during the flight, they have flown through a rip in the space-time continuum, traveling about 15 minutes into the past, where anything with energy has moved on without them; therefore, jet fuel would be useless. However, using Bob's logic, Albert correctly deduces that, since the plane contains electricity and life, that it contains its own pocket of the present time; therefore, anything loaded into the plane would subsequently regain its energy, even jet fuel. During this period, Nick and Laurel begin to fall in love.
Toomey escapes from his trap; now completely insane, he stabs Dinah in the chest and kills Gaffney, fearing that they are disguised Langoliers. Albert subdues Toomey and Nick plans to kill him in revenge before Dinah insists that he stay alive, to which Nick reluctantly obliges. The remaining survivors return to the plane to refuel it. Toomey regains consciousness, and Dinah communicates with him telepathically to convince him to come to the tarmac, where his Boston bosses have arrived to meet with him. He hallucinates the board of directors are there, along with his boss (Stephen King
in a cameo appearance), where he gleefully confesses to purposely losing millions. He is overjoyed until his boss transforms into his father, who chastises him.
The plane completes its refueling just as Toomey regains awareness and sees the Langoliers approaching. He screams loudly and runs, drawing them away from the plane. Toomey is killed by the Langoliers and the plane narrowly escapes.
Nick and Brian discuss their reasons for traveling to Boston: Nick is an assassin for the British government on a mission in Boston to murder the girlfriend of a prominent IRA
supporter; Brian is returning to Boston to attend his ex-wife's funeral, whom he feels terrible guilt for after presumably striking her in an argument. Soon, Dinah dies of her injuries after telling Laurel that she had no regrets; she was able to use Toomey's eyes to see one last time.
The plane flies toward the time rip once again, only for Bob to have Brian turn the plane away at last second after realising that only those on board who were awake disappeared when first entering the rip. Brian finds that the only way to safely enter the rip is to reduce the cabin pressure to make all the passengers lose consciousness, while one person sacrifices themselves to turn the pressure up just before entering the rip. Nick volunteers, much to Laurel's dismay.
Nick takes Laurel aside and asks her a favour: to travel to England
and tell Nick's estranged father that he was finished with his career as a hit man and that he wanted to atone for what he had done by sacrificing himself to save the lives of the others. He shares a passionate kiss with Laurel before proceeding with the plan; Brian reduces the cabin pressure, all the passengers lose consciousness, while Nick breathes through an oxygen mask and turns the pressure up before entering the rip, after which he vanishes.
The passengers awake and Brian lands the plane at LAX
. At first, it appears to be dead and lifeless, just like Bangor, but not exactly. They hear a noise; not like the eerie, crunching noise from Bangor, but a gentle, soothing hum. They also find that air has scent, food has flavour and sound reverberates. Bob deduces that they have returned several minutes into the future and that the present is moments away from catching up to them. Bob has everyone line up against a wall to avoid the impending flow of traffic. A vibrant flash of colours shines while the present timeline catches up to them and many people appear as the timeline returns to its normal state. Overjoyed, the group runs outside to breathe the fresh air.
in Bangor, Maine
(author King
's hometown) during the summer of 1994.
, 50% of critics gave the miniseries a positive review (out of 10 reviews) with an average rating of 5/10. Ken Tucker
of Entertainment Weekly
gave it a "B" rating, calling it an episode of The Twilight Zone
stretched out to four hours, [but] nonetheless does have its moments. TV Guide
gave it one out of four stars, calling it tedious and boring, criticizing its "dull" script, "cardboard characters," "ludicrous special effects," and its "dishwatery cast" (with the exception of Pinchot).
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
consisting of 2 episodes of 2 hours each (4 hours including commercials). It was directed and written by Tom Holland
Tom Holland (director)
-Early life:Holland was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the son of Lee and Tom Holland. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1962. He is the uncle of Dexter Holland, the singer and guitarist for the American punk rock band, The Offspring, and father of American actor Josh Holland.-Dead Rabbit...
and based on the novella
The Langoliers
"The Langoliers" is one of four novellas published in the Stephen King book Four Past Midnight in 1990.- Plot summary :On a cross-country red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Boston, ten passengers awaken to find that the crew and most of their fellow passengers have disappeared.The ten remaining...
by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
. The series was produced by Mitchell Galin and David R. Kappes. The miniseries originally aired May 14, 1995 on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
network.
Synopsis
A full-to-capacity aircraft, American Pride, Flight 29, is flying out of Los Angeles International Airport at night, heading east to Boston. Later in the flight, Dinah Bellman, a blind girl, awakens and asks her aunt for water. When she gets no response, she calls for help, but only Brian Engle, an airline pilot who is a passenger on this flight, awakens to Dinah's call for help. Other passengers then begin to rise up out of their seats. The mystery begins when these nine people discover they are the only ones left on the plane; not even the pilots are aboard. Brian and Nick Hopewell, a mysterious British man, discover the plane is on autopilot.Brian attempts to radio for help, but receives no response, not even from Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
, which should be on-air at all times. The other passengers discover that strange objects have been left behind in the passenger seats, such as watches, surgical pins and pacemakers. They subsequently introduce themselves; Bob Jenkins is a mystery novel writer, Laurel Stevenson is a schoolteacher on vacation to meet a man from a singles ad in a newspaper (though she omits this part out of embarrassment), Don Gaffney is a tool-and-die worker going to meet his new granddaughter, Albert Kaussner is a violinist on his way to music school in Boston, Bethany Simms is meeting her aunt where she will be taken to drug rehab
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
, Dinah Bellman is on her way to Boston for optical surgery, a man later revealed as Rudy Warwick remains asleep, and a suspicious businessman remains silent. He is later revealed to be Craig Toomey, a mentally unstable man who has knowingly and proudly caused a $43 million loss to his company. Dinah, who possesses psychic powers, sees through Toomey's eyes and recognises him as a threat.
Brian takes over the plane and announces that, for safety, the flight will be redirected from Boston to Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
. Toomey aggressively protests and announces that it is crucial that he attends his business trip in Boston. In a flashback, it is revealed that Toomey was abused as a child by his overbearing and sadistic father; when Craig failed to make straight A's, his father warned him about the "Langoliers"; creatures that chased down the lazy and devoured them. He is desperate to reach his appointment in Boston in order to announce his willful loss of finances to his boss and be freed of his father's wrath.
The plane lands at Bangor International Airport
Bangor International Airport
Bangor International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located west of the city of Bangor, in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is owned and operated by the City of Bangor and was formerly a military installation known as Dow Air Force Base. The airport possesses a single...
and the passengers find that it is devoid of life and electricity; even cars and battery-powered devices are useless. Dinah confesses that she hears an eerie "crunching cereal" sound in the distance that is coming closer and demands that they must leave before it reaches them or they will die; the sound eventually becomes loud enough that all the survivors hear it. Toomey sneaks away from the group while the rest find a restaurant and decide to stop for food. They then find that food and drinks have no flavour, matches do not light and sound does not reverberate. Toomey returns with a gun and takes Bethany hostage while demanding a flight to Boston; in an attempt to rescue her, Albert is shot, but the gun has no force and the round harmlessly bounces off his chest.
Toomey is captured and Bob deduces that, as they flew through an unusual aurora borealis during the flight, they have flown through a rip in the space-time continuum, traveling about 15 minutes into the past, where anything with energy has moved on without them; therefore, jet fuel would be useless. However, using Bob's logic, Albert correctly deduces that, since the plane contains electricity and life, that it contains its own pocket of the present time; therefore, anything loaded into the plane would subsequently regain its energy, even jet fuel. During this period, Nick and Laurel begin to fall in love.
Toomey escapes from his trap; now completely insane, he stabs Dinah in the chest and kills Gaffney, fearing that they are disguised Langoliers. Albert subdues Toomey and Nick plans to kill him in revenge before Dinah insists that he stay alive, to which Nick reluctantly obliges. The remaining survivors return to the plane to refuel it. Toomey regains consciousness, and Dinah communicates with him telepathically to convince him to come to the tarmac, where his Boston bosses have arrived to meet with him. He hallucinates the board of directors are there, along with his boss (Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
in a cameo appearance), where he gleefully confesses to purposely losing millions. He is overjoyed until his boss transforms into his father, who chastises him.
The plane completes its refueling just as Toomey regains awareness and sees the Langoliers approaching. He screams loudly and runs, drawing them away from the plane. Toomey is killed by the Langoliers and the plane narrowly escapes.
Nick and Brian discuss their reasons for traveling to Boston: Nick is an assassin for the British government on a mission in Boston to murder the girlfriend of a prominent IRA
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
supporter; Brian is returning to Boston to attend his ex-wife's funeral, whom he feels terrible guilt for after presumably striking her in an argument. Soon, Dinah dies of her injuries after telling Laurel that she had no regrets; she was able to use Toomey's eyes to see one last time.
The plane flies toward the time rip once again, only for Bob to have Brian turn the plane away at last second after realising that only those on board who were awake disappeared when first entering the rip. Brian finds that the only way to safely enter the rip is to reduce the cabin pressure to make all the passengers lose consciousness, while one person sacrifices themselves to turn the pressure up just before entering the rip. Nick volunteers, much to Laurel's dismay.
Nick takes Laurel aside and asks her a favour: to travel to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and tell Nick's estranged father that he was finished with his career as a hit man and that he wanted to atone for what he had done by sacrificing himself to save the lives of the others. He shares a passionate kiss with Laurel before proceeding with the plan; Brian reduces the cabin pressure, all the passengers lose consciousness, while Nick breathes through an oxygen mask and turns the pressure up before entering the rip, after which he vanishes.
The passengers awake and Brian lands the plane at LAX
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
. At first, it appears to be dead and lifeless, just like Bangor, but not exactly. They hear a noise; not like the eerie, crunching noise from Bangor, but a gentle, soothing hum. They also find that air has scent, food has flavour and sound reverberates. Bob deduces that they have returned several minutes into the future and that the present is moments away from catching up to them. Bob has everyone line up against a wall to avoid the impending flow of traffic. A vibrant flash of colours shines while the present timeline catches up to them and many people appear as the timeline returns to its normal state. Overjoyed, the group runs outside to breathe the fresh air.
Cast
- Patricia WettigPatricia WettigPatricia Wettig is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for her roles in the television series Thirtysomething, Prison Break and Brothers & Sisters...
– Laurel Stevenson - Dean StockwellDean StockwellDean Stockwell is an American actor of film and television, with a career spanning over 65 years. As a child actor under contract to MGM he first came to the public's attention in films such as Anchors Aweigh and The Green Years; as a young adult he played a lead role in the 1957 Broadway and...
– Bob Jenkins - David MorseDavid Morse (actor)David Bowditch Morse is an American stage, television, and film actor. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack Morrison in the medical drama St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988...
– Captain Brian Engle - Mark Lindsay ChapmanMark Lindsay ChapmanMark Lindsay Chapman is an English film and television actor.His credits include: Max Headroom, Dallas ,...
– Nick Hopewell - Frankie FaisonFrankie FaisonFrankie Russel Faison , often credited as Frankie R. Faison, is an American actor.-Personal life:Faison was born in Newport News, Virginia, the son of Carmena and Edgar Faison. He studied drama at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, where he joined Theta Chi Fraternity...
– Don Gaffney - Baxter Harris – Rudy Warwick
- Kimber RiddleKimber RiddleKimber Riddle is an actress. She appeared in the films Love, Honor & Obey: The Last Mafia Marriage, The Langoliers, and Guy. She has also performed in the theatre plays The Good Soup and Tranced.-External links:...
– Bethany Simms - Christopher ColletChristopher ColletChristopher Collet is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Jake Livingston in the 1984 movie Firstborn, and for his lead role in the 1986 film The Manhattan Project....
– Albert "Ace" Kaussner - Kate MaberlyKate MaberlyKate Elizabeth Cameron Maberly is an English actress and musician. She has appeared in film, television, radio and on stage.-Early life:...
– Dinah Catherine Bellman - Bronson PinchotBronson PinchotBronson Alcott Pinchot is an American actor. He has appeared in several feature films, including Risky Business, Beverly Hills Cop , The First Wives Club, True Romance, Courage Under Fire and It's My Party...
– Craig Toomey - Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
(cameo) – Tom Holby (Craig Toomey's boss)
Production
The miniseries was filmed almost entirely in and around the Bangor International AirportBangor International Airport
Bangor International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located west of the city of Bangor, in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is owned and operated by the City of Bangor and was formerly a military installation known as Dow Air Force Base. The airport possesses a single...
in Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
(author King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's hometown) during the summer of 1994.
Critical Reception
The Langoliers received mixed reviews upon its release. According to Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 50% of critics gave the miniseries a positive review (out of 10 reviews) with an average rating of 5/10. Ken Tucker
Ken Tucker
Ken Tucker was an English footballer who played as a left winger....
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave it a "B" rating, calling it an episode of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
stretched out to four hours, [but] nonetheless does have its moments. TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
gave it one out of four stars, calling it tedious and boring, criticizing its "dull" script, "cardboard characters," "ludicrous special effects," and its "dishwatery cast" (with the exception of Pinchot).