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Movies / On DVD / Stephen King's Riding the Bullet
Stephen King's Riding the Bullet

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Stephen King's Riding the Bullet (2004)

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Reviews Counted:21

Fresh:6

Rotten:15

Average Rating:4.2/10

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: October 1969. The Summer of Love is over and a winter of hate is about to paint the ideals of the Flower Power Generation black. Alan Parker (Jonathan Jackson) is a young, struggling artist... October 1969. The Summer of Love is over and a winter of hate is about to paint the ideals of the Flower Power Generation black. Alan Parker (Jonathan Jackson) is a young, struggling artist studying at the University of Maine whose work is haunted by images of death. Believing he is losing his girlfriend, Jessica (Erika Christensen), Alan's obsession with the dark side pushes him to try to take his own life on his birthday. Some friends thwart his desperate act, yet events go from bad to worse, as Alan soon discovers he has opened a door letting death literally enter his life. Recovering from his self-inflicted wounds and about to embark on a road trip to a John Lennon concert with his buddies, Artie and Hector, Alan receives crushing news -- his mother, Jean (Barbara Hersey), has suffered a major stroke and is lying at death's door in Lewiston Hospital, over 100 miles away. Rejecting his friends' offer to drive him, Alan decides to hitchhike, hoping he'll make it to the hospital before Mom, his last remaining relative, passes. But it is Halloween night -- October 31st -- and Alan is about to discover that he has started down a nightmare road which will take him on both an odyssey into black recesses of the human heart and a journey that will bring him face to face with Death Incarnate. Trapped in a speeding car with the Grim Reaper, manifesting itself in the guise of recently killed redneck George Staub (David Arquette), Alan is forced into a terrible dilemma -- the Reaper will not rest until it forces Alan to make a life or death choice. Alan Parker is on a date with destiny which will answer the question that has plagued him since childhood. Is he ready to go Riding the Bullet? Based on the phenomenal bestselling eBook novella by Stephen King (over 4000,000 readers worldwide downloaded the story in 24 hours), writer-director Mick Garris, who previously collaborated with King on the movie Sleepwalkers (1992) and the acclaimed TV mini-series The Stand (1994) and The Shining (1997), has crafted a classic coming-of-age tale in which a young man must face his own mortality and the death of a loved one. -- © Innovation Film Group [More]

Starring: Jonathan Jackson, David Arquette, Cliff Robertson, Barbara Hershey

Starring: Jonathan Jackson, David Arquette, Cliff Robertson, Barbara Hershey, Erika Christensen, Matt Frewer, Nicky Katt

Director: Mick Garris

Director: Mick Garris
Composer: Nicholas Pike
Studio: Innovation Film Group

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Reviews for Stephen King's Riding the Bullet

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat

...wholly ineffective...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
05/25/05
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

As obras de Stephen King já renderam alguns ótimos filmes, mas também muitos péssimos. Infelizmente, Riding the Bullet se encaixa nesta última categoria.

comment Comment
03/28/05
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Imagine a feature-length version of the “Large Marge” sequence from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and you won’t be too far off, only that was scarier.

Full Review Source: LYTRules.com | comment Comment
02/03/05
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
LYTRules.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
11/20/04
Los Angeles Daily News

A ponderous, incoherent horror mishmash that turns King's short story into utter nonsense.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
10/21/04
Justin Chang
Justin Chang
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie is so glum and flat-footed there's no reason to care.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/20/04
Kevin Crust
Kevin Crust
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Both the anticipation factor and writer-director Mick Garris' slick adaptation fail to live up to the old hype.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
10/19/04
Michael Rechtshaffen
Michael Rechtshaffen
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An incoherent melange of horror movie gimmicks that's genuinely laughable when it strives for profundity. It induces more tedium than terror.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
10/15/04
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

There are lots of cheap scares and mind games that detract from the main attraction: the interesting family drama.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
10/15/04
E! Online

Overall it doesn't amount to much more than a goofy campfire tale.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
10/15/04
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Goes beyond simply being a bad movie, to the point where it becomes one that insults your intelligence.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
10/15/04
Larry Carroll
Larry Carroll
IGN Movies

Yet another reason to think twice before thumbing a ride, kids.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
10/15/04
Michael Tunison
Michael Tunison
Boxoffice Magazine

As good as any Stephen King movie. Not the profound classics ... and not the classy thrillers... but certainly on par with any effective supernatural tale.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
10/14/04
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
About.com

A better name for the film would be Taking the Bullet, because that's what sitting through this dopey, pretentious mess feels like.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
10/14/04
Randy Cordova
Randy Cordova
Arizona Republic

It's a navel-gazing meditation on death smothered under excess and ham-handed direction, better suited for late-night cable.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
10/14/04
Gary Dowell
Gary Dowell
Dallas Morning News

The ending of which, both on the page and, now, on the screen, lands with an overly elegiac thud. Still, the journey is often fine.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
10/14/04
Chuck Wilson
Chuck Wilson
L.A. Weekly

A barely coherent fever dream of automotive anxiety.

Full Review Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram | comment Comment
10/14/04
Scott Von Doviak
Scott Von Doviak
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

A fairly middle of the road fright film that treads dangerously close to being silly.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
10/14/04
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

Falls short of its source.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
10/13/04
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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September 20, 2004: Exclusive Trailer: Riding the Bullet Opens in new window
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