THE FILM:

The 1988 Dutch/French thriller The Vanishing is intense and devastating; a harrowing portrait of evil. Director George Sluizer remade the film for American audiences in 1993, but this retelling is sanitized, overacted and dull. Kiefer Sutherland and Sandra Bullock star as a young couple whose lives are turned upside down by Jeff Bridges' suburban sociopath. Where the original film chilled with its fear-thy-neighbor nihilism, The Vanishing remake gives the story a Hollywood makeover, complete with an overdone climactic chase scene and an altered ending. For all the talent on screen, The Vanishing is surprisingly bad.

Diane Shaver (Bullock) vanishes without a trace from a crowded roadside gas station while on vacation with boyfriend Jeff Harriman (Sutherland). The Vanishing jumps forward in time three years to show a ragged Harriman has been completely unsuccessful at solving the mystery of Shaver's disappearance. One day, an unassuming Barney Cousins (Bridges) shows up on Harriman's doorstep unannounced and admits that he is the man who took Shaver. Harriman socks Cousins in the face, which provides only temporary relief. Cousins tells Harriman that he will only reveal Shaver's fate if Harriman experiences the same terror that she did three years prior. The two men leave together on a twisted rehash of Shaver's torment.

Bridges might have been attracted to the prospect of such an unrestrained performance, but it does not exactly work. Occasionally brilliant but frequently awful, Bridges' acting is miles from subtle. The killer in the original was frightening because he was so pedestrian, but no one is going to mistake Cousins for a functioning member of society. Although the man apparently decided he was a sociopath fairly late in life, Bridges gives this character so many quirks that it's hard to believe Cousins gets by unnoticed as a family man and professor. Shit, if I saw this creepy-ass guy with a rag and chloroform in plain sight in his Volvo's center console, I would call the police. Sutherland and Bullock do not fare much better, though Bullock is only on screen for a few minutes. Sutherland is kind of one-note here, and does not dive to the depths of misery and torment required of his character. The Vanishing plays up the character of Harriman's new girlfriend, Rita Baker, and actress Nancy Travis gives the best performance in the film.

Another problem with The Vanishing is the lack of suspense. From the opening frames viewers know exactly who took Shaver. The "why" is not parituclarly interesting or frightening here, either, which makes the whole movie feel pretty pointless. This remake simply is not as compelling as the original. Cousins is too odd to produce dread, and I didn't particularly care what happened to Harriman. The film finishes digging its own grave with a lame climactic showdown with more than a handful of logic gaps. The gut-punch ending from the original is white washed here, too. Instead of lingering dread you get a cute, unearned coda that is as superfluous as the material that came before. When blasting Hollywood remakes, make sure to mention The Vanishing.

THE BLU-RAY:

PICTURE:

The 1.85:1/1080p/AVC-encoded image receives a healthy bitrate on a dual-layered disc. The image is surprisingly sharp throughout, and this comes without any false auto-sharpening. The black levels and shadow detail in darker scenes are impressive, and both close-up and wide-shot detail is strong. Colors and skin tones are understated but nicely saturated, and the print is crisp and clean.

SOUND:

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is effective but mostly front-loaded. Dialogue is crisp and clean, and the range is good. The effects and score are balanced appropriately, but there are very few surround effects. A 2.0 English DTS-HD Master Audio stereo mix is also included, as are English SDH subtitles.

PACKAGING AND EXTRAS:

Twilight Time releases The Vanishing as part of its "Limited Edition Series," and only 3,000 units were produced. The disc is packed in a regular case with a multi-page booklet. The only extras are an Isolated Score Track in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and the film's Theatrical Trailer (2:24/SD).

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The American remake of The Vanishing sports a big-name cast but little else of note. This sanitized, dull reimagining lacks the suspense and quiet dread of the original, and actors Jeff Bridges and Kiefer Sutherland give oddly underwhelming performances. Skip It.

William lives in Burlington, North Carolina, and looks forward to a Friday-afternoon matinee.