Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: The Vanishing [Blu-ray] [2020]

There are 0 reviews and 2 ratings from Australia

Monty Marwood

The Vanishing (Spoorloos) - the original and the best (by far)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 June 2020

The Vanishing is hard to talk about without giving too much away and uncovering a dreaded spoiler. It revolves around the simple premise of a young Dutch couple who go on holiday in France, only for the woman to mysteriously disappear. Cut to three years later - the woman’s disappearance remains unexplained and the man is still trying desperately to find out what happened to her. He (and we the audience) duly find out over the course of this riveting and disturbing thriller.

A Dutch/French co-production released in 1988, the movie’s main themes are the nature of obsession and the everyday mundanity of evil. These themes are expertly explored here by the late director, George Sluizer, who unwisely remade the film five years later for the American market – this US remake should be avoided at all costs, as the original release is by far the better film in every department (but especially so in the writing and acting on offer).

The version of the film I watched was the recent Studio Canal Vintage World Cinema blu-ray release. The image quality and sound on this blu-ray release are definitely an improvement on previous versions of the film available on DVD in the UK. Disappointingly, however, no extras are included.

To conclude, Stanley Kubrick was reportedly a huge fan of The Vanishing, so recommendations don’t come much higher in my opinion.

18 people found this helpful

Tee Double You Bee Esq

Five star film, one star package...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 June 2020

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Spoorloos is a great film. Like an autoroute Wicker Man directed by Michael Haneke. The characterisation is nuanced and complex, the atmosphere can swing from comical to intensely creepy in the blink of an eye. Even the dated fretless bass and sax soundtrack can't mar the overall feel. However, the vanilla presentation of the film is criminal - no extras whatsoever, cheap-looking packaging and you'd be hard pushed to notice any discernable restoration that has gone on - some of the darker scenes are very grainy, almost like a knock-off dvd. It's a massive shame as it's great to have this superb film available again but this feels beyond rushed and opportunistic.

8 people found this helpful

Niko

The box info is wrong

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 June 2020

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This is a UK version. The box specifically mentions the options for the audio: english, german, dutch. Except there’s no english track on the blu ray. How to spectacularly drop the ball.
Also: restored version?! Really? The ilage quality is terrible with noise and artifacts, particularly of course in the dark scenes. The tunnel scene during the opening is painful to watch, and the whole thing is a botched job. A semi-old movie having grain is fine, but this goes beyond that. Whatever the source for this « restoration » was... it didn’t do the job

6 people found this helpful

Cameron Cullen

Highly rated thriller that was remade in Hollywood.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 July 2022

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THE VANISHING (1988) – Highly rated thriller that was remade in Hollywood. The premise is simple enough. Man loses girlfriend at motorway service place and then gets taunted by a mysterious abductor. The criminal responsible is introduced early. Not a violent and unstable thug, but an impulsive, obsessed, thrill-seeker with a family, but himself completely heartless. What’s rather unsettling about this movie is that it’s not particularly graphic, as much as morally dangerous. It is a sort of parable about trusting strangers – or rather not trusting them. The villain appears rather stupid at times, but his mistakes are almost an admission that the character doesn’t think too much of what he is doing. He's a psychopath. This is an important point, being that he cares so little for other people, his own plans are a bizarre mixture of overplanning and also contradictory randomness. The film makes this point well. It confirms the banality of evil, and the take it or leave it actions of people who have no conscience. It’s still a disturbing film, and a cautionary tale.

Sebastian Rolfe

The ending?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 November 2020

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This is a reasonably intriguing film which looks like it came from the early 70s or late 60s. Simple story of woman being abducted and kidnapper goading the victim's partner. It's quite intriguing but the emphasis on the ending is over blown. It's hardly earth shattering and given it's reputation it creates a sense of disappointment which casts a shadow over the rest of the film. It's an okay film - just don't expect too much. I also have to say that the soundtrack is astonishingly bad - some sort of avant garde screeching. And the fretless bass that only Jaco Pastorius could make bearable.

One person found this helpful

Matilda

Great film, shoddy release.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 April 2021

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No questioning what a masterpiece this is, however this supposed upgrade in picture quality seems non existent. I've watched this on VHS, DVD and blu-ray now over the years and this has more in common with the VHS version. The tunnel scene at the beginning is almost unwatchable. I understand grain happens in movies but it was absurd. Definitely try and find a better edition that truly showcases this movie at it's best.

2 people found this helpful

john

Shocking??

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 December 2021

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Wanted to see what all the fuss was about with this film especially regarding the 'shocking' ending which I had read made lots of folk very uncomfortable. Ultimately for me the film is a decent well made TV movie. The story kept me invested up until a certain point where I couldn't help but think (about the main character) that nobody would ever do this, but the film does a fairly good job of making it seem believable. The ending for me was not as shocking or uncomfortable as I had expected and i was ready for the film to be over. One time watch for me.
The blu ray copy was OK in my opinion. It looks like it was made for tv in the late 80's.

G_Wode

Utterly terrifying

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 September 2021

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One of the very best psychological horrors I've ever seen. The conclusion will crush you utterly and stay with you forever. Don't hesitate to see it.

NB - In Dutch with English subtitles. Don't let that put you off or you will be missing out!

Bobby Needs

Do yourself a favour & ignore the remake. . .

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 April 2020

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Even if for some unfortunate reason you've chanced upon or even watched the remake & thought it terrible (it IS) i implore you not to be put off in watching this, the original & in my eyes a classic film which only improves with each watch - in a word? Masterpiece!!!

2 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Another great release by Studio Canal

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2021

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Another great release by Studio Canal

One person found this helpful

5 star		75%
4 star		16%
3 star		4%
2 star		2%
1 star		4%

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