Crap compared to the original by the same director. How could a clearly talented director screw up such an intense and masterful story? Perhaps it was the language barrier.

Anyways, if you haven't seen either version, absolutely start with the Spoorloos, the original 1988 Dutch film - it's a true horror masterpiece...

This was an interesting movie, though pretty much in the throwaway category in terms of most aspects (acting, writing... pretty much everything, lol). I did like some of the ideas toyed with here, and there was some interesting details that made it fun and entertaining. The story had potential that is apparently met in the original, which I definitely want to see now.

It isn't bad for an afternoon film, but nothing to write home about.

C+

Sutherland was good, as was the supporting cast. Maybe it was Bridge's horrible accent that hurt this film for me. Definitely not as balsy as the original, but on its own, it does have some interesting things. Not really ever scary though.

C+

I do think the score was creepy enough, though. Semi-suspenseful. I liked Bridges here, but thought Travis' character was horribly acted out. Just awful.

I've never seen the original. Thought this was a very good thriller though. Nancy Travis was great.

8/10 (B+)

One of the worst remakes ever.

I know it's not as good, but I always found the cast effective, and Bridges while goofy extremely creepy. Also that shot of the shovel actually separating like half his head at the end has always been very disgusting for me to watch.

The Vanishing

I thought this was really good. The ending could have been better. It's got some merit, but I envisaged it being pulse-pounding with an actual revelation. Jeff Bridges is creepy as fuck, and I think he did a bang-up job as Barney, Nordic ESL accent included. I loved the preparation and attempts he made to kidnap. All-in-all, The Vanishing is a severely underrated 90s thriller.

B+

It's a bit of a mess. Though it has some mildly entertaining moments, definitely no where near as good as the Dutch original. Particularly the score is quite different for the worse and the ending is bastardized. Even though the plot, for the first half at least, is mostly the same, the whole film just feels different. It's nice to see young(er) versions of Sutherland, Bullock and Bridges in this and the latter actually dials up a pretty zany and memorable character. The Rita character is totally out of place though, not familiar with the actress playing her, and didn't like the performance either.

C+

Seems like you wanted a same-make, not a remake.

Yeah, it's weird watching a story I know and it then going different than that. Probably it will be easier to enjoy this not knowing about the original, it's like book and video game adaptions too I guess. There would be no point remaking this just in English, so the changes at least make it somewhat stand on it's own, just with the original out there, this, though bigger budgeted, feels like the B-version of it.