(1941, Amistad, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial, Hook, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Jaws,
Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List)
Producers:
Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Gerald R. Molen
Screenplay:
Jim V. Hart and Malia Scotch Marnio
Music:
John Williams
Cast:
Captain Hook: Dustin Hoffman (All The President's Men, American Buffalo, Billy Bathgate, Dick Tracy, Family Business, The Graduate, Hero, Hook, Ishtar, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Lenny, Little Big Man, Mad City, Marathon Man,
The Messenger: Joan of Arc, Midnight Cowboy, Outbreak, Papillon, Rain Man, Sleepers, Sphere, Straw Dogs, Tootsie, Wag The Dog)
Peter Pan/Peter Banning: Robin Williams (Awakenings, Being Human, The Best Of Times, Bicentennial Man, The Birdcage, Dead Poets Society, Father's Day, The Fisher King, Flubber, Good Morning Vietnam, Good Will Hunting, Hamlet (1997),
Hook, Jack, Jakob the Liar, Jumanji, Moscow on the Hudson, Mrs Doubtfire, Nine Months, Patch Adams, Toys,
The World According To Garp)
Tinkerbell: Julia Roberts (Conspiracy Theory, Dying Young, Erin Brockovich, Everyone Says I Love You, Flatliners, Hook, I Love Trouble, Mary Reilly, Michael Collins, My Best Friend's Wedding, Mystic Pizza, Notting Hill,
The Pelican Brief, The Player, Pret-a-Porter, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, Satisfaction, Sleeping with the Enemy, Something To Talk About, Steel Magnolias, Stepmom)
Smee: Bob Hoskins (Brazil, The Cotton Club, Cousin Bette, Felicia's Journey, The Long Good Friday, Michael, Mona Lisa, Nixon, The Secret Agent, Shattered, Super Mario Bros., Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Hook
is the name of Dustin Hoffman's Captain, in Steven Spielberg's
take on the J.M. Barrie Peter Pan fantasy tale.
In the present day, mild-mannered Peter Banning (Robin Williams) is
so wrapped up in his middle-aged lifestyle that he's forgotten who he used
to be - Peter Pan. He has to head back to Neverland after his children have
vanished and are taken prisoner with some other kids by Captain Hook.
Peter's only aide is Tinkerbell (a diminutive Julia Roberts) and
Hook has his own aide in the form of cockney-torking Smee (Bob Hoskins).
Also along for the ride is Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy, Caroline
Goodall as Peter's wife Moira and, heaven help us, Phil Collins
as Inspector Good.
It's difficult to know who Spielberg made this film for. It makes no sense -
but then it's a fantasy film - and is a U-certificate, so you'd think it was
for kids, but then it's way over two hours long and kids have very short
attention... erm.. somethings.
"My Dad's bigger than your Dad"
The picture is framed in the original anamorphic 2.35:1 ratio and looks
great, but for some reason it doesn't look quite as sharp as I expected it
would. Perhaps that's intentional, given the fantasy tone? The average bitrate
is 5.58Mb/s, often peaking over 8Mb/s.
The sound fares well too. It's not the sort of film where explosions take
priority, but there's a number of loud moments to be found, such as when
Peter's children are inexplicably kidnapped early on.
"I'll have what Daniella Westbrook's having!"
Extras :
Chapters :
Another Columbia DVD, another 28 chapters, which is a good number, but I never
say no to more.
Languages/Subtitles :
Dolby Digital 2.0 (Stereo) in English, French and German, plus subtitles in
SEVENTEEN languages: English, German, French, Dutch, Arabic, Czech, Danish,
Swedish, Turkish, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish,
Finnish and Greek. Phew!
And there's more... :
There are Trailers for not only Hook, but also Bicentennial Man, Muppets From Space
and Stuart Little which is released in UK cinemas in July.
The Talent Profiles contain cast filmographies for the main four
actors listed atop this review, plus director Spielberg. A 7-minute
Featurette isn't much to shout about as it's a fairly generic item
but it does include comments and chat from Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman
and Julia Roberts.
There are three Photo Galleries: an alternative advertising campaigns
photo gallery containing 10 Original theatrical art campaigns, a brief
production design photo gallery and an even more brief costume design photo
gallery.
Finally, there's a "Lost Treasure" game. The PR blurb stated this to
be "a unique extra feature unavailable on any other DVD previously - the
first set-top game: 'The Lost Treasure.' This is an exciting 3-D interactive
treasure hunt through a mysterious pirate island in search of The Pirate
Captain's Treasure. By navigating with the DVD remote control (direction button),
players must collect themed items on Pirate Island to find the hidden treasure
and unlock the chest. Winners of the game receive the magic of Peter Pan -
FLIGHT"
Erm..well, it's not quite how I'd describe it. Either selecting left, right
or back, you can 'explore' three parts of the island in pre-rendered sequences
- so the items will be in the same place each time - and I found that a couple
of left turns wouldn't take me anywhere. In the end I only came across one
item of treasure - in a boat - and I couldn't pick it up, it just highlighted
the boat and did nothing else.
And it's not the first ever DVD game. I've seen a few others on DVDs before
such as the 'Find the Joker' on the
Robbie Williams: Angels DVD EP
Menu :
Upon booting up the disc, you'll see a newly animated menu with an opening
video splash and transitions featuring video clips from the film, plus options
to start the film, select a scene (another animated menu), view the extras
or select the languages.
"At last I have found Gormenghast.., er, I mean Neverland."
So, Hook is well-presented with good sound and picture quality, but
shame about the film itself. However, if you did enjoy the film then this
is certainly worth a purchase.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
