Sole Survivor (2000)

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I think whoever tried to interpret this into a screenplay did just a marginally adequate job, even though Dean Koontz is credited as a "co- producer" it is obvious that he had had little say- so in the actual production. The sad part was the attempt to remain true to the story line which was accomplished after a fashion but, sadly at the expense of remaining true to Dean's character development and overall story concept. Casting was adequate but not brilliant. Billy Zane did a fair job at best, while John C. McGinley's portrayal of Yates, which was so very good at first, kind of fell apart at the end as anyone who read the book can see. Both Watchers and Hideaway were disappointing as well, would like to see Life Expectancy but believe the story line would be far too difficult.

SOLE SURVIVOR Aspect ratio: 1.78:1Sound format: Stereo(2 episodes)The trouble with Dean Koontz's literary thrillers is that - for all his undoubted writing talent and his ability to create indelible characters and believable environments through skillful prose - the stories themselves are usually as bland and predictable as you could possibly imagine. Which makes them perfect fodder for the insatiable conveyor belt of American TV, as demonstrated by this little time-waster, co-produced by Koontz himself, and written by Richard Christian Matheson based on Koontz's novel. Clearly in it for the money, Billy Zane (who seems determined to make himself look as unattractive as possible - he doesn't quite succeed, but that HAIR!) loses his wife and daughter in a horrific air crash, only to discover their deaths were linked to disturbing scientific experiments conducted inside a super-secret government research center. Cue the villainous government agents (led by a terrific John C. McGinley, who can do this kind of 'slimy villain' role in his sleep), determined to prevent Zane from discovering the truth, which naturally encourages him to do just that.This two-part mini-series, directed by former cinematographer Mikael Salomon (also responsible for the 2004 update of 'SALEM'S LOT), dangles enough intriguing clues about the film's Ultimate Secret to keep viewers hooked to the very end, but it's bogged down by a series of lengthy dialogue exchanges, and the climactic revelations are hardly the stuff of Great Drama. Production values are polished, but cast and crew are simply going through the motions.

My one-line summary for this movie, and most of this critique, seems to hold for most Dean Koontz books/movies that I have read/seen. They are a combination of Stephen King fantasy, horror and mystery; "supported", sort of, by a Michael Crichton "high tech". The combination works well up to a point, but for reasons that I don't quite understand, it doesn't quite become "great". It seems that Koontz isn't quite comfortable with a good fantasy story, that he seems to "need" some kind of scientific justification, which he doesn't.This particular movie/story rolls along quite nicely, a lot of interest, possibly a little too long before the denouement, when we find out what's really going on. But overall, a "very good" movie. I see strong similarities between this movie and "Phantoms" in particular.I also think that the violence is a little gratuitous. But against that is that there is not a single swear word, not a single glimpse of naked flesh; where there is plenty of opportunity to include that if he wanted to.Having said all that, it IS a good movie. I would always be prepared to hire out a Dean Koontz movie on the strength of his name alone. It's simply that here on IMDB I get to wax philosophical about it...

I have always enjoyed Dean Koontz's miniseries and this is no exception. I saw this with an open mind, and it captured my imagination brilliantly. Everyone was well cast and the filming was very precise. The writing was also excellent and was without flaw. I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys fantasy. Although the miniseries has already aired, you can catch it on video whenever it comes out. This is an exceptional miniseries.