Tag: VHS Movie Review

Get ready to fly with a middle-aged Peter Pan in our Hook (1991) VHS Movie Review.

Hook Quick Facts
Hook is a Fantasy Adventure film that was released into US theaters on December 11, 1991. Hook was produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by TriStar Pictures. Hook had a budget of around $70,000,000 and grossed about $300.9 million in the box office.

Director: Steven Spielberg (E.T., Jaws)
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy (Jurassic Park, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Frank Marshall (Poltergeist, Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Gerald R. Molen (Schindler’s List)
Screenplay Writers: Jim V. Hart (Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Muppet Treasure Island) and Malia Scotch Marmo (Polar Express)
Story Writers: Jim V. Hart and Nick Castle (Escape from New York, The Last Star Fighter)

Hook’s Cast:
Robin Williams as Peter Banning / Peter Pan
Dustin Hoffman as Captain James Hook
Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell
Bob Hoskins as Mr. Smee
Charlie Korsmo (Dick Tracy) as Jack Banning
Amber Scott as Maggie Banning
Maggie Smith (She was 57 at the time) as Wendy Darling
Gwyneth Paltrow as teenage Wendy Darling, at 19 years old
Caroline Goodall as Moira Banning
Dante Basco as Rufio

Hook Back of the Box Description
A high-flying adventure from the magic of Steven Spielberg, Hook stars Robin Williams as a grown-up Peter Pan and Dustin Hoffman as the infamous Captain Hook.

Joining the fun is Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell, Bob Hoskins as the pirate Smee, and Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy Darling, who must convince the middle-aged lawyer Peter Banning that he was once the legendary Peter Pan. And so the adventure begins anew, with Peter off to Neverland to save his two children from Captain Hook. Along the way, he rediscovers the power of imagination, of friendship, and of magic. A classic tale updated for children of all ages, Hook, nominated for 5 1991 Academy Awards including best visual effects is “a 10. A film that will entertain generations, generations from now.” Gary Franklin, KABC-TV

Back of the Box Quotes
“Get ready for adventure. Steven Spielberg has scored another triumph.”
—Gen Shalit, The Today Show

Hook Trivia
-Spielberg had a personal connection to Peter and Jack’s troubled relationship because it echoed his own life.
-Spielberg considered directing it as a musical with Michael Jackson in the lead. Jackson wasn’t interested in the adult version of Peter Pan forgetting his past.
-This movie almost went into production in 1985 with Paramount Pictures.
-Malia Scotch Marmo rewrote Captain Hook’s dialogue, and Carrie Fisher went uncredited writing Tinker Bell’s dialogue.
-The original budget was set at $48 million but ballooned to $70-80 million after the movie ran 40 days over schedule.
-Spielberg’s on-set relationship with Julia Roberts was troubled, and he later revealed in an interview with 60 Minutes, “It was an unfortunate time for us to work together.” In a 1999 Vanity Fair interview, Roberts said that Spielberg’s comments “really hurt my feelings.” She “couldn’t believe this person that I knew and trusted was actually hesitating to come to my defense . . . it was the first time that I felt I had a turncoat in my midst.”
–Hook had Action Figures and here’s the commercial.
–Hook also came out as a SNES Game and here’s the long play of the game.
-The film was nominated for five categories at the 64th Academy Awards. This included Best Production Design (Norman Garwood, Garrett Lewis) (lost to Bugsy), Best Costume Design (lost to Bugsy), Best Visual Effects (lost to Terminator 2: Judgment Day), Best Makeup (lost to Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and Best Original Song (“When You’re Alone”, lost to Beauty and the Beast).
-Hoffman was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (lost to Williams for The Fisher King).
-John Williams was given a Grammy Award nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.
-Julia Roberts received a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actress (lost to Sean Young as the dead twin in A Kiss Before Dying).
-In a 2013 interview on Kermode & Mayo’s Film Review Show said this about Hook: “I wanna see Hook again because I so don’t like that movie, and I’m hoping someday I’ll see it again and perhaps like some of it.”

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