Cloak & Dagger
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Movie Reviews of Cloak & Dagger
Movie Review: suspense/mystery
Summary: 5 Stars
if you are a fan of suspense and mystery on childrens movies, you will love this one.Movie Review: Very Good
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this movie as a kid and bought to share with my children. They love it!Movie Review: The original 'Spy Kids'...
Summary: 4 Stars
Remember that little boy named Elliot from the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)? Well, his name is Henry Thomas, and while that was certainly the role he will probably be forever tied to, he actually did go one to make a number of films after that, including this one titled Cloak & Dagger (1984), and has been working steadily ever since, overcoming the general conception that child stars who peak so early often end up as casualties of The System, their careers, and their lives, on a continual downward spiral eventually ending up as fodder for some sleazy tabloid talk show, but I digress...directed by Richard Franklin (Roadgames, Psycho II), the film stars, as I've mentioned, Henry Thomas, along with Dabney Coleman (Tootsie, Wargames). Also appearing is Michael Murphy (Count Yorga, Vampire, Shocker), Christina Nigra (Twilight Zone: The Movie), the eternally crusty John McIntire (Psycho, Elmer Gantry), Jeanette Nolan (she was the voice of Mrs. Bates in the original Psycho), and William Forsythe (The Rock). Also appearing in a `don't blink or you'll miss him' role is Louie Anderson, in an unforgettable performance in the character credited as `Second Taxi Driver'.
Thomas plays Davey Osbourne, a boy obsessed with role playing games, especially ones featuring a fictional super-spy character named Jack Flack who Davey projects as a real person, often having conversations and receiving advice from throughout the film (the character of Jack Flack is played by Coleman, who also has the role of Hal Osbourne, Davey's recently widowed and somewhat strict, but loving, father). While running an errand for a friend, Davey witnesses a murder, comes into possession a video game cartridge that contains valuable government secrets, and is now hunted by a trio of men, led by a man named Rice (Murphy), who wishes not only to retrieve the cartridge, but also to eliminate the only witness to their crime. Davey tries to tell others what happened, but his story is so fantastic that not even his best friend Kim (Nigra) or his father believes him, chalking it up to his overactive imagination. The situation becomes even more desperate as it seems the men will do just about anything, including kidnapping and more murder, to get back that which they've stolen and since lost. With Jack Flack's help, Davey must now try to outsmart the criminals and be the hero, but he will learn the world of make believe is a whole lot different than real life, especially as the danger poses a threat to not only him, but those around him. He'll also learn that heroes aren't necessarily defined by extraordinary actions, and they often can be found in the least likely places, not confined to ones imagination.
If you're a fan of such 80's films like Wargames (1983), The Last Starfighter (1984), and Gotcha! (1985), then you'll most likely enjoy this film. The story is decent and flows along at smooth pace, despite any number of plot holes that present themselves (there are plenty, but given the kind of film this was, I was willing to not so much focus on details but just have fun). None of the performances here will win any awards, but everyone did well enough, displaying a level of professionalism consistent with their respective abilities. I did feel Michael Murphy was very convincing as the main villain. One thing that seemed a little creepy was the overall eagerness of the villains to do great bodily harm to the kids, specifically the scene where Murphy's character had Davey cornered and is describing all the things he's going to do to Davey for all the trouble he's caused...he spoke in great detail about how he was going to blow off Davey's kneecaps and then shoot him in the stomach just so he could watch him suffer a slow and agonizing death. What was weird about it was the expressive and explicit focus of violent intent to a minor...this is something I'd expect to see in a Quentin Tarantino or Sam Peckinpah film, but not so much in a film like this...I've seen films involving children in danger, but the threat of serious injury or even death seemed unlikely. The film takes place in San Antonio, and makes good use of a lot of visually interesting locations for many of the scenes including The Alamo and a place called the Japanese Tea Gardens. Another element of the film I really liked was the original music score composed by Brian May (not the guy from the band Queen), who has also scored such films including Mad Max (1979), Mad Max 2 (1981) aka The Road Warrior, and more recently Chicken Run (2000), all three films featuring Mel Gibson (Chicken Run featured Mel's voice for the main character, as it was an animated feature). Oh, in case any of you younger viewers are wondering, the game console featured in the film is called an Atari 5200, which came onto the market in the early 80's (1982, I think). It didn't sell as well as the earlier Atari 2600, but know that there was console gaming before PS2s, Nintendo Game Cubes, and your beloved X-Boxes...the graphics shown here were representative of the games at the time, and while they may look crude and rudimentary now, they were good enough for us as we spent (or wasted) many an hour glued to the television in our continual efforts to improve out hand-eye coordination.
The anamorphic widescreen picture (1.85:1) looks very sharp and clean on this DVD, and the Dolby Digital 2.0 audio comes through clearly. There are no special features available, not even a menu, as the film starts playing once the DVD is inserted into a player. As the film ends, it goes back to the beginning and starts over again. Some extras would have been nice, but I can be content with what's here.
Cookieman108
Movie Review: Interesting, but too violent for younger children
Summary: 4 Stars
There is more than one movie called Cloak and Dagger; this is the one from Universal Studios, 1984.
Studio: Universal Studios
Release Date: June 1, 1984
Rated: PG
Stars: Henry Thomas, Christina Nigra, and Dabney Coleman.
Director: Richard Franklin
Writers: Tom Holland and Cornell Woolrich
Runtime: 101 minutes
Family Suitability: Violence. Shows a dead body in a trunk, two kidnappings, several violent deaths, gunfire, an attempt to knife a child, and a child being chloroformed. Themes include death (a parent), presumed divorce (Kim's mother), and a child who feels neglected and fills in with his imagination. I didn't think these were portrayed in unhealthy ways, except I thought it disturbing that a child of about nine is privy to her her mother's "type" in regards to men and helps her mother decide if a certain man (Davy's father) fits that "type." Hopefully most people understand that a child that age is far too young to be embroiled in adult problems. As for the neglect theme, I thought it was useful and poignantly portrayed.
Available as download or on DVD, with a few VHS copies floating around. I saw it as a download, but if you get it on DVD,
Plotline: a young boy with a vivid imagination finds himself embroiled in a case of international intrigue when some spies come to claim a game cartridge with secret information hidden inside. No one believes him, except the spies who have convinced him they are friends, and his friend who gets kidnapped.
Subplot: Davy has lost his mother, and in difficult situations, he takes advice from an imaginary spy friend who closely resembles his father. (Dabney Coleman plays both the father and the imaginary spy friend.)
While the movie stars a child and therefore would be marketed for children, there really is a lot of violence in here. My nephew would like this, but I'm not going to show it to him.
I would also bear in mind that young people with tender affects might be frightened by this, especially if they tend to take what they see too seriously or have a hard time distinguishing between reality and fiction. (Although, with our violent world, children may increasingly have a hard time separating the two if they are exposed to too much at a young age.)
As far as the artistic goes, it's very interesting once you get to the inciting incident, which occurs a bit late. For the first seven to ten minutes I thought this movie was going to be incredibly boring, but once the main characters entered the story, I didn't think that again.
The score is so appropriate that it actually blends in and I didn't notice it until I deliberately paid attention to it. Few movies accomplish that.
As far as the characterization, I hate to say it, but I thought Kim was an annoying character. She's embarrassed playing the spy game in public with walkie-talkies, secret spy names, etc., but she's always griping and chastising and belittling. It gets old. Great to not have her believe Davy for a while; that adds to the tension. But she's supposed to be his friend, and in real life any other kid would have stopped inviting her along. Unfortunately, I didn't find the acting for this character as believable as I'd like either; she's being dangled over a ravine as a threat and is completely unaffected by it. Neither fear in the thick of it, nor afterward when more problems arise.
Otherwise I thought it was well-done. The writers did a great job on the story and script, the casting impressed, and the movie ends on the happy side of bittersweet. Aside from that, I won't spoil it for you in case you decide to see it.
Do I recommend it? Not for young children, but otherwise interesting and there was no language in the download I watched.
I don't own a DVD, so I cannot comment on special features; this was originally released on VHS in 1984.
Movie Review: "Jack Flack always escapes!"
Summary: 4 Stars
Cloak And Dagger is a sweet 80's family movie directed by Richard Franklin (Psycho II). The movie succeeds in being a kiddie suspense/thriller flick without seeming too sappy, like most children's movies are.
The star of this classic flick is Henry Thomas, who played Elliot in Speilberg's E.T. Extra Terrestrial, as David Osborne, a young video game fan who has an imaginary friend, a Cloak And Dagger video game hero named Jack Flack, played by Dabney Coleman (9 To 5), and a real life friend named Kim, played by Christina Nigra (Twilight Zone: The Movie). David's father, also played by Coleman, doesn't spend time with him so he learns to depend on himself. However, his self dependency is about to wear out when his game antics turn real following an incident he witnesses when a game technician gets murdered by a couple of foreign spies but not before the victim hands him a copy of Cloak And Dagger that holds government secrets.
Cloak And Dagger is one of those films that I've probably watched hundreds of times when I was a kid. It kind of scared the heck out of me when I was young (especially the scene when the lady exposes her hand that's missing some fingers). Even though the film has some excusable flaws (now that I'm adult, I realize these things!) because of it's appeal to children, Cloak And Dagger remains to be one of my childhood favorites!
The film also stars Michael Murphy (Batman Returns), William Forsythe (The Devil's Rejects), and the old couple John Mcintire and Jeanette Nolan (previously appearing together in the 1960 horror classic Psycho).
Recommended
B+