In May of 1927, a single engine bi-plane piloted Charles Nungesser and Francois
Coli attempted to fly from Paris, France to New York. Whether they were successful
or not isn't revealed until later in the movie. From that short beginning, things
pick up in present day right outside of Newfoundland. Katie and her brother Simon
are visiting their grandmother Lydia with their mother Charlotte.
Restless Spirits starts off as vague and takes a while to clear everything
up. Rather than just not giving out the information, things are shown or mentioned
and then not explained. In trying to create a feeling of mystery, too much information
is left out. Challenged by two local girls into visiting the "haunted pond"
at night, she encounters the two pilots from 1927. She discovers that they are
ghosts and returns to the house. Of course, no one believes her and it's left
at that.
After talking to the ghost several more times she finds she's the only one
that can see them and that their plane crashed back in 1927. They continually
relive the event, forgetting it happened every time. In a plan to help them
move on they decide to fix the plane. Being ghosts, they can only touch things
that were present in their time. Things like trees, the planes, and the ground.
New items, tool and people they cannot touch. With a little help from a local
boy, the two set out to repair the crashed plane while trying to evade the archaeologists
who have come looking for the crash site and plane.
It's an entertaining film in parts but there's nothing more to the film than
the basic story. Katie has issues with her father's death and her mother's continuation
of her life and the little boy doesn't talk to anyone. These things aren't addressed;
rather they are just solved at the end of the film. The problems are present
throughout, but go away at the end.
Video: Made for television and originally shown on Showtime, the video
is a decent looking 4:3 transfer. The video is slightly grainy and washed at
times, but typical of television quality.
Audio: The Dolby surround mix is used only sparingly. The voices are
easily heard and the music, when present, isn't overpowering. There is nothing
amazing on the soundtrack because there doesn't need to be.
Extras: Made for TV, there are no extras on this disc with the exception
of four trailers for other similar films.
Overall: Made for TV and it shows. The production values, plot and acting
aren't as good as a big budgeted feature but it's still worth an initial viewing.
I'd recommend scanning Showtime for it or renting it on a rainy day to watch
with the kids. There's no objectionable material and that's a hard thing to
find.
Buy: