The Tommyknockers (TV miniseries)
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| The Tommyknockers | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Power |
| Produced by | Jayne Bieber, Lawrence D. Cohen |
| Written by | Novel: Stephen King Teleplay: Lawrence D. Cohen |
| Starring | Jimmy Smits Marg Helgenberger |
| Music by | Christopher Franke |
| Cinematography | Dan Burstall David Eggby |
| Editing by | Tod Feuerman |
| Distributed by | American Broadcasting Company |
| Release date(s) | May 9, 1993 |
| Running time | 181 minutes |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Tommyknockers is a 1993 television miniseries, based on the novel The Tommyknockers by Stephen King. It was directed by John Power, and starred Marg Helgenberger and Jimmy Smits in the two lead roles.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The plot of the miniseries follows fairly closely to the spirit of King's original novel. Due to length, certain elements obviously needed to be condensed or left out entirely. The miniseries is set in the fictional town of Haven, Maine. The events of the story begin when Bobbi Anderson (Helgenberger) stumbles in her backyard, and begins excavating the object that she tripped over. This turns out to be an alien spacecraft, which causes the townspeople to undergo a series of changes as it is unearthed. Their appearance changes, as they lose their teeth and their skin takes on a deathly pallor. They are also struck with wondrous ideas, creating many strange and sometimes deadly devices.
Bobbi's best friend, Jim 'Gard' Gardner (Smits) is relatively impervious to the changes taking place in the town, as a result of a large steel plate in his head, a souvenir of a skiing accident. As the townspeople's transformation continues, Gard sees what is going on, and determines to find a way to stop it. After the ship has been excavated and the Tommyknockers themselves have been revealed, Gardner finds his way on to the ship. Powered by his mind, Gardner reactivates the ship and flies it away, killing himself in the process. In a major departure from the novel, the townspeople begin to revert back to their original selves after the link to the ship has been severed.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Jimmy Smits | Jim 'Gard' Gardner |
| Marg Helgenberger | Roberta 'Bobbi' Anderson |
| John Ashton | Trooper Butch Duggan |
| Allyce Beasley | Deputy Becka Paulson |
| Robert Carradine | Bryant Brown |
| Joanna Cassidy | Sherrif Ruth Merril |
| Annie Corley | Marie Brown |
| Cliff De Young | Joe Paulson |
| Traci Lords | Nancy Voss |
| E.G. Marshall | Ev Hillman |
[edit] Deviations from the novel
- Several minor plotlines are omitted from the miniseries. These often include the information that various Haven townspeople found out about each other through their burgeoning telepathic abilities in the novel.
- In the novel Bobbi is killed by Gardner, when she attempts to poison him with Valium, In the movie she never dies.
- In the Novel The Tommyknocker ship is a flying saucer, however the design in the miniseries is quite different.
- In the novel Jim Gardner, actually does start becoming, whereas in the miniseries he is faking to earn Bobbi's trust.
- Several characters were morphed together, The film's verion of Bryant Brown is a combination of Beach Jernigan, Newt Beringer, and Bryant Brown.
- In The Novel it is Beach Jernigan who invents the super-weapons, Not Nancy Voss.
- In the Novel Nancy is represented at around 55, or so. In the film, she is much younger.
- At the end of the novel, the 'new and improved' Havenites die after the ship lifts off from the earth. In the miniseries, they begin to revert back to their 'normal' selves.
- In the novel every character dies except for Hilly And Davey Brown. In the film only Nancy, joe, Bryant, Butch, Gard, and the 2 state cops die.
- David Brown is actually on the Tommyknocker ship in the miniseries, as opposed to the unknown planet 'Altair-4.' He is rescued when Bobbi and Gard finally gain entrance to the ship.
- The scene with Nancy Voss at Joe Paulson's grave is entirely unique to the miniseries.
- In the miniseries, Becka Paulson is a deputy as opposed to a housewife. She does not die after eletrocuting her husband, rather she is institutionalized at an insane asylum.
- In the novel the Tommyknockers on the ship are dead, whereas in the movie they are sleeping.
- In the miniseries the tommyknockers are trying to use people as batteries, to regain life, Wheras in the novel It is revealed that "becoming" Is their means of reproduction.
- All connections to Stephen King's other books/Movies were omitted except for The town of Derry.
- In the Novel all of the people harnessed in the shed, including the dog, die because of puncture in their skulls caused by the computer equipment. in the film they survive.
- In the novel Bobbi completes the becoming, and is actually a Tommyknocker already, when Gard kills her. In the film, she reverts to her pre-becoming self.
