Great cast, tension, and directing

Amazing performances all around. So tense

Expressive and charismatic performances, I can't say the same about the plot.

I love 90s Sandra Bullock, so I decided to watch The Vanishing solely because she's in it. Unfortunately, I was disappointed because she only has a few scenes in it, and its kidnapping premise is not the most realistic. Jeff Bridges plays an unconvincing psychopath, and Keifer Sutherland overplays the obsessed boyfriend trope. The only saving grace was Nancy Travis's character, who seemed to have the only brain cell in the movie.

The Vanishing (1993) is Hollywood’s shameless adaptation of the homonymous Dutch version, which, then, is also an adaptation of a novel by Tim Krabbé called The Golden Egg or, in Americas, The Vanishing. Quick disclaimer: I didn’t read the novel, nor watched the Dutch version. Though The Vanishing (1993) might have the Super Cinema Machina touch, it feels old and clunky. The cinematography is simply not there, with a weird pacing that feels like disjointed scenes blended together in Microsoft’s Movie Maker. The plot is about a writer named Jeff Harriman that lost his girlfriend some 3 years ago. He is trying to move on, but not only the not-knowing haunts him, life seems to be throwing at him some curveballs. Unaware to Jeff, but the kidnapper is watching his every moves. This story tries to explore certain themes, but exploration seems shallow due to the weird cinematography. Quilty is clearly a light theme at play, due to an argument between characters Jeff and Diane before her disappearance. Other themes include being stuck to the past, not moving on, and, of course, the mind of a psycho. Jeff (Bauer) by awesomely young Kiefer Sutherland is a joke. Kiefe tries, but the acting is a bit off. I never seemed to care enough for Jeff, and I think this is because the pacing of the story is too frantic, there is not enough time to create emotions. Then we have Jeff Bridges as Barney Cousins. Jeff displays superior performance, impersonating a character that we might call a 90s Chigurh. Overall, The Vanishing (1993) might be okay for boomers, but I feel that, in 2024, it is just not recommendable. The movie feels outdated and shallow, too fast and without depth. I heard that the Dutch version is better, but 1988… I’m not sure…

On a technical front there is nothing to really complain about or take notice of. It was a drama that was shot nicely without standing out. There was one great shot inside a coffin though. This is a remake and remains faithful to the original except altering the spoken language. The ending was too happy though considering the dark tone of the story. It is an interesting story; shame that it's a remake as the original did the job. It's quite a slow and intelligent film but that is not my style! Still I quite liked it a little. Not worth watching the original and the remake, they are basically the same so pick one and go with that.

its a good, well, decent movie tbh yall tripin

Saw this when if first came out. The original foreign version by the same director is much darker but the first 2/3 of this movie is good. They gave it a Hollywood ending. Saw Jeff Bridges in an interview about this movie where he wanted to keep the original ending but the director wanted Americans to accept this movie. Anyway, this is very creepy and the idea of being buried alive is terrifying.

♪ Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl... At the coopaaa Coopacabaanaaa ♬ Creepy film. Bullock has a small cringe part childishly dominating her pushover Kiefer boyfriend; it's good once she vanishes. The more engaging characters are Bridges for his kooky psychopathy and Travis for her common sense--something Kiefer lacks throughout the movie and all characters do in the final act that does not do the film justice. Would you really get in the car with a known psycho, would you drink their Kool-Aid to find out what they promise is the truth? Kiefer does, even Bridges drinks his own, under the narrative of "your obsession is my weapon," when really a sane person would fight and beat it outta them, flight, or raise the alarm for help. Travis even shows up to the fight with not only no bullets in the gun, but not even a gun in the gun box. Such stupidity was out of character and just ruined the film, however the wide majority of it is creepy, convincing, and an original plot, if a remake, and despite the purists' opinions, a better one at that.

Great cast, good story. Love the 90s films.

OK, I saw this and the original. This gets a bad rap because the ending isn't as dark as the original. Still enjoyable for a US audience, filled with young stars Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Kiefer Sutherland and Nancy Travis. There is more conflict between characters in this than the original. The original is just a relentless Dutch-French nightmare come to life. In both, there's echoes of Ted Bundy in the plot, creepy for sure. Prince Charming as serial killer. A lot of this movie is shot-for-shot like the first one, which is disconcerting. Uh-oh, I know what happens next! I though of taking away a star, but I'm going keep it at four because it kept my interest throughout. (in my head, I wrote a horror ending which I'm glad didn't happen. Think Halloween ghouls.)

This is very much a film about isolation, guilt and greed. Its fairly sinister and its certainly black - not only in tone but also in terms of lighting, with a few scenes being really quite hard to figure out what's going on, on screen, so its preferable to watch this with the proverbial curtains drawn. I found the plot a little confusing at times but its reasonably atmospheric and the acting is ok in it. Gerard Butler being the angry, mad Scotsman was worth seeing I suppose! if your a fan of him, esp. bearded Gerard Butler(!). I'm not sure if it entirely lives up to the tag line but its an entertaining and somewhat creepy watch, which overall I would still recommend, even though it could be better, yes.

This movie could have been so much more. A talented cast is waste on this by-the-numbers thriller.

disturbing and it has some strong performances but it is also deeply unsatisfying.

I watched this when it first came out on VHS, and I rewatched it online last night (2019) with my wife. Both times, it was enthralling from start to finish. Brilliant filmmaking. Plenty of suspense and twists. Terrific acting. Highly recommended!

This movie really scared me. The whole idea of being buried alive is horrifying.

It's creepy and disconcerting but you keep watching because you want to know what happened to Diane. Jeff Bridges plays his character's madness brilliantly. The ending is satisfying.

This review is for the Original one from 1988. -This is in Dutch originally. Dutch is probably the funniest language I know. It's like German, but less violent, and somehow simpler. -Rex, apparently, is a douche canoe. -This film is rich rich rich with details & local color. -Have you ever been so mad you slammed a car door and the window glass shattered? Rex has. -Why, oh why, are they having a screaming competition? -Oh, because he's testing to see if the neighbors can hear screams. Very shrewd. -Aaaand now he's testing chloroform on himself to see how long it lasts. 12cc=18 min, 54 sec, btw. -There's a whole lot of tension up in here. -And now the creepy guy just admitted he's a sociopath. Like, right out of the DSM-4. -AHAHAHAHAHA! He chloroformed the rag, then blew his nose in it by accident. -In France, if you are claustrophobic, you can get a medical permit saying you don't have to wear a seatbelt. -He was such a nice, quiet neighbor. Kept to himself, mostly. Mostly.

Poor, poor Sandra Bullock!

Stumbled across this movie on an Syfy channel....it's really good and keeps you guessing until the end. Yes it's a bit dated now but certainly worth a watch and a higher star rating.