When a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Boston slips by means of a rift within the cloth of time, a handful of sleeping passengers get up to discover a world fully devoid of humanity. That is the plot of ABC’s “The Langoliers,” a miniseries based mostly on Stephen King’s 1990 novella of the identical title, which was initially featured in his acclaimed assortment “4 Previous Midnight.” The title of the story comes from the time-eating, razor-toothed creatures that inhabit the world the passengers discover themselves in.
The 2-part TV adaptation was written and directed for the display screen by Tom Holland, the person behind Eighties horror classics like “Fright Evening” and “Kid’s Play.” The ensemble forged contains Patricia Wettig as instructor Laurel Stevenson, Dean Stockwell as thriller author Bob Jenkins, David Morse as airline pilot Brian Engle, Mark Lindsay Chapman as a British undercover agent, and Bronson Pinchot because the unhinged company govt Craig Toomy. King himself makes a cameo look as Toomy’s boss.
When the horror miniseries first premiered on ABC in Could 1995, it was a rankings juggernaut for the community. In line with the Los Angeles Instances (by way of Web Archive), the published was the top-rated film of that Sunday night time, pulling in an estimated 17.5 million households. Whereas these numbers little question make made community executives glad, the vital reception to “The Langoliers” wasn’t as spectacular, with even Stephen King himself left unimpressed.
What did Stephen King say about The Langoliers?
On Rotten Tomatoes, “The Langoliers” holds a middling 48% critic rating. Viewers had been simply as lukewarm on the collection going by the viewers rating, which is a smidge decrease at 46%. The Seattle Instances stated that the script suffered from clunky dialogue and that the course inspired the forged to overact, whereas the San Francisco Chronicle stated that viewers had been spending hours watching cardboard characters solely to be rewarded with a payoff of tacky particular results. Leisure Weekly provided a considerably extra forgiving take, giving the mission a “B” grade for its eerie setup earlier than the painfully apparent CGI creatures present up.
Stephen King TV diversifications have confirmed to be a blended bag all through the years, with miniseries like 1993’s “The Tommyknockers” being panned as a inventive misfire, whereas others like 2017’s “The Mist” with Morgan Spector and 2020’s “The Stand” each acquired comparable 50s-range scores on Rotten Tomatoes. King himself has by no means been shy in terms of sharing his candid ideas about how Hollywood interprets his work. Throughout an interview with Fangoria (by way of Discuss Stephen King), the creator gave his blunt opinion on “The Langoliers,” telling the outlet, “I wasn’t loopy about it. That was extra of a TV factor. However given when it was, it was effective. The most effective factor about it was that it gave Tom Holland and Richard Rubinstein the bona fides they wanted to get Spelling Productions to go forward with ‘Thinner.'”
For these curious to witness the toothy CGI meatball monsters firsthand, “The Langoliers” is presently out there to stream without spending a dime on The Roku Channel.
