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Dom Robinson reviews
Columbia TriStar
- Cert:
- Cat.no: CDR 13187
- Running time: 136 minutes
- Year: 1991
- Pressing: 2000
- Region(s): 2, 4, PAL
- Chapters: 28 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Stereo)
- Languages: English, French and German
- Subtitles: 17 languages available.
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras : Scene index, Trailers, Featurette, Filmographies, Galleries, “Lost Treasure” game.
Director:
- Steven Spielberg
(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.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.