In 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown... Read allIn 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown.In 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown.
- Won 1 Primetime Emmy
- 4 wins & 2 nominations total
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- GoofsIt seems as if Mike was the last to join the seven back in the 1960s. The day Mike joins them was apparently several days after the other kids had encountered It. Out of the discussion about It, which takes place the day of the Rock Battle, we learn that every single kid in the gang has already seen It somewhere. However, later in the movie, Bev tells a story about the blood in her bathroom, and in the flashback, we see all of the 7 kids entering Bev's bathroom to clean the mess up, the day right after the blood had come out of the washbasin.
- Crazy creditsDuring the opening credits, we see pictures of the "Lucky Seven" from their childhood like in a photo album. The final photo of the Paramount cinema segues into the actual one in Derry. The camera pulls back from the title IT, and it turns from white to red. In Pt 2, the final photo of a hotel segues into the one the "Lucky Seven" are staying at. At the end of both parts, Pennywise's laugh is heard.
- Alternate versionsAlthough released on VHS and Laserdisc in the original two-part miniseries format, the DVD and Blu-ray releases from Warner Bros. are an edited Home Video Version which removes the end of Part 1 and the beginning of Part 2 in order to turn it into one long film. Here is what has been removed at timestamp 1:34:00 (the chapter 28 mark on the Blu-ray):
- THE END OF PART 1: Stan's wife finds that he has slit his wrist in the bathtub and starts to scream, the scream is cut off abruptly and therefore also the final showing of "IT" written in the blood on the bathroom wall, accompanied by Pennywise laughing and "to be continued" along with the end credits.
- THE BEGINNING OF PART 2: Starts with Bill arriving at the Derry cemetery. This completely cuts out his arrival at the hotel, the conversation with the woman at the desk, a short scene in his hotel room, the full ride in a taxi to the cemetery along with the opening credits.
- ConnectionsEdited into Nostalgia Critic: Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2017)
- SoundtracksItsy Bitsy Spider
(uncredited)
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Featured review
Solid adaptation of a great book
This is a very entertaining made for TV mini-series. It does a good job at jamming a book with more than 1000 pages into 2x90 minutes movie running time. The most important parts have been adopted, unnecessary fat was thrown out, little amandments have been made, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. The writers really tried to remain faithful to the novel and even mentioned side characters or story lines in short sentences for those who have read the book. The coolest thing, however, is that director Tommy Lee Wallace somehow managed to transfer that unique spirit of nostalgia, friendship and fear into his movie. Of course, the incredible cast deserves a lot of credit for that, too. Amazingly the child actors of part 1 upstage their adult companion pieces of part 2. The greatest performance of all, however, is given by Tim Curry, who really gives "It" a face, and a very scary one. He makes this movie what it is. In my opinion, it's the role of Curry's career, even outshining his part in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show".
Now for the bad sides of "It": as a made for TV project this movie obviously couldn't get too graphic and violent and that's a bit of a pity. Stephen King's book is awfully graphic and the movie would have been twice as scary if they had shown a bit more gore. Mostly Pennywise just appears and shows his sharp teeth and that gets lame after a while. The other big minus of this film is its ending. It has to be said that the ending in the book is so bizarre it's unlikely it could ever look good on celluloid. Still, those crappy special effects were just disappointing and made me (and everyone else I know) go: "Is that what I've been waiting for the last 3 hours? That is the big climax?"
Bottom line is that for a TV movie with such strict time limits "It" did a very good job at bringing this scary book to life. Nevertheless, I think the story should be retold properly and turned into a mini-series à la "Twin Peaks". The only problem is that it's going to be hard to find someone who can fill Tim Curry's giant clown shoes.
Now for the bad sides of "It": as a made for TV project this movie obviously couldn't get too graphic and violent and that's a bit of a pity. Stephen King's book is awfully graphic and the movie would have been twice as scary if they had shown a bit more gore. Mostly Pennywise just appears and shows his sharp teeth and that gets lame after a while. The other big minus of this film is its ending. It has to be said that the ending in the book is so bizarre it's unlikely it could ever look good on celluloid. Still, those crappy special effects were just disappointing and made me (and everyone else I know) go: "Is that what I've been waiting for the last 3 hours? That is the big climax?"
Bottom line is that for a TV movie with such strict time limits "It" did a very good job at bringing this scary book to life. Nevertheless, I think the story should be retold properly and turned into a mini-series à la "Twin Peaks". The only problem is that it's going to be hard to find someone who can fill Tim Curry's giant clown shoes.
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- Superunknovvn
- Nov 5, 2004
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- Also known as
- Stephen King's It
- Filming locations
- Beaver Lake, Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada(abandoned sewer building on lake)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
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