The Vanishing

Plot synopsis:
A Dutch couple, Rex and Saskia, are on holiday in France. As they drive, Saskia shares a recurring dream in which she is drifting through space in a golden egg. In the most recent dream, another egg containing another person appeared; she feels the collision of the two eggs would signify the end of something.
Their car runs out of petrol and they stop at a rest area, where a man in another car dons a false sling and orthopedic cast. Rex promises to never abandon Saskia and they bury two coins at the base of a tree as a symbol of their romance. Saskia enters the petrol station to buy drinks and does not return. Rex frantically searches for her.
Some time earlier, Raymond, a wealthy family man, secretly plots to abduct a woman. He buys an isolated house, experiments with chloroform, and rehearses scenarios in which he entices women into his car. When his initial attempts at abduction fail, he poses as an injured motorist in need of assistance and goes to the rest area out of town where he will not be recognised.
Three years after Saskia's disappearance, Rex is still searching for her. He has received several postcards inviting him to meet the kidnapper at a cafe in Nimes, but the kidnapper never comes. Unknown to Rex, the cafe is directly opposite Raymond's apartment, where he watches Rex wait. Rex's new girlfriend, Lieneke, reluctantly helps him search for Saskia. One day, Rex has a dream similar to Saskia's in which he is trapped in a golden egg. Unable to endure his obsession, Lieneke leaves him.
Rex makes a public appeal on television, saying he only wants to know the truth about what happened to Saskia. Raymond confronts Rex and admits the kidnapping; he says he will reveal what happened to her if Rex comes with him. As they drive, Raymond says that he has known from a young age that he has no conscience, and is therefore capable of anything. After saving a young girl from drowning, he resolved to commit the worst crime he could imagine to learn whether doing something good felt better. He describes how he kidnapped Saskia at the rest stop by posing as a traveling salesman and enticing her into his car after she asked about buying a gift for Rex.
Raymond takes Rex to the rest area. He dismisses Rex's threats of police action, saying there is no evidence connecting him to the crime. He pours Rex a cup of drugged coffee, and tells him the only way to learn what happened to Saskia is to experience it himself. As Raymond waits in the car, Rex rages, unsure of what to do. After digging up the coins he and Saskia buried years earlier, he drinks the coffee and awakens buried in a box underground. Raymond relaxes at his country home, surrounded by his wife and children.

Tags: flashback

Review:
In this remake of the 1988 Dutch film 'Spoorloos' writer Jeff Harriman (Kiefer Sutherland) searches for his girlfriend Diane (Sandra Bullock) who disappeared from a gas station during a road trip they took 3 years earlier.His new girlfriend (Nancy Travis) tries to help him pick up the pieces of his life but gets increasingly frustrated over his fascination with the mystery.
Diane's kidnapper Barney (Jeff Bridges) has his own interest piqued by Jeff.There still persists the perception that remakes are inferior to originals and that European cinema is artistically superior to Hollywood.
Had they known, there can be little doubt Bullock would have played Rita.The ultimate sin that North American film audiences could not forgive is obvious pandering to their own glaring superficial tastes when it comes to how movies end.
North American film audiences DO prefer happy endings with neat and tidy closure.But expecting them to embrace the glaring implication that they can't handle scary and/or thought-provoking material is an unforgivable insult which could only elicit the kind of derision from reviewers that it has even though the action which leads up to it is far from boring or silly.
When George Sluizer was told he could direct an American version of the book "Het Gouden Ei"/the movie "Spoorloos"(outside Holland, this movie has the name "the Vanishing" too), he was told that this would only go through if the ending was changed - He was told that 'the American Audience' wouldn't approve the original ending.
If you want to know the original ending, watch "Spoorloos" or read the book.
Watch the original Dutch movie, which is one of the best thrillers in the world..
Others have said it already, but since there still seem to be some people who think this remake is worth watching, I feel the need to reiterate: skip this movie and watch the original.
The major difference between the two is an ending on the Dutch film that will chill you to the bone, versus the predictable Hollywood version of the story..
Either the studios think that US audiences must be protected from downbeat endings or hollywood just likes to spit in the face of the cast and producers of the orignal Dutch version (Spoorloos).
I know it's hard for you Americans to find European films on video/DVD, particularly from the 80's but please seek out the original version of the Vanishing - title Spoorloos (1988) - and you'll see why the Hollywood version of The Vanishing screws up bigtime, particularly at the finale.I really like Sandra Bullock, Kiefer Sutherland and particularly Jeff Bridges, but this is just so so lame compared with the original.
Great tragedy is not nor never should be "the feel good movie of the year" but rather takes one or more of the sadly much too frequent tragic events in life and allows the reader/viewer to draw meaning and insight into the human condition.Do yourself a great favor if you're looking for a rental and skip this grotesque garbage and pick up the original made in a Dutch/French collaboration in 1988.
I think The Vanishing is as good as the original or even better, especially Jeff Bridges as Barney is incredible which alone makes it worth to watch this movie.
I mean I only think it's a pity that those who haven't seen this movie and might be interested to watch it get such an underrated opinion of it just because some of you are showing their personal disgust to Hollywood remakes in a such a low way.
This movie is the 2nd movie i watched in my Kiefer Sutherland marathon and by far one of his best movies and this movie is a little bit better then Kiefers movie Truth or Consequences,N.M.And the actor Jeff Bridges does a great job at playing the bad guy named Barney Cousins in this movie.
This is the first movie I have seen Jeff Bridges in and I would like to watch one of his other movies like K-Pax,Tron or The Door In The Floor.And if u are a fan of Kiefer Sutherland or Mystery/Thriller movies u will love this movie to death.Over all this movie is really great and my rating is a huge 8 out of 10..
The true thinking man's psychopath is Jeff Bridge's "Barney" in this story about one man's (Kiefer Sutherland's) obsessive, years-long search for a girlfriend who disappeared during a vacation.
Jeff Bridges goes from sympathetic(you actually like the guy) to scary, Keifer Sutherland does a great job playing a normal guy strung out on too much coffee, but the real star is Nancy Travis.
Though I found The Vanishing a really interesting movie, I recommend checking out the original, the 1988 Dutch film Spoorloos.
Yes, I know, the Dutch original, Spoorloos, by the same director is supposedly far superior, but since I haven't as yet found or seen it, I can only comment on the American remake.
After he goes on TV and pleads for information (you kind of wonder why he hasn't done this earlier, or why there seem to be no other family members looking for her, but I guess these are irrelevant questions) the kidnapper Barney (Jeff Bridges) contacts him.Along with Jeff, we gradually come to realize what happened to Diane, and we are effectively sickened and saddened.
Even when Barney was beaten up by Kiefer Sutherland(Jeff Harriman),"24",'01 TV series, he was still able to talk almost with a broken jaw and a swollen face.(great acting for Bridges)  Sandra Bullock (Jeff Harriman's wife) played a very sweet and loving young bride who ran out of gas and was left in her car, which was in a tunnel.
For me, however, the relationship between Jeff (Kiefer Sutherland) and Rita (Nancy Travis) also takes away the from the original film as to me the feeling of obsession by Jeff on finding his missing girlfriend is totally lost.The character played by Jeff Bridges does not appear as cold and calculating as in the original although I would admit he does give a reasonable performance but the whole feeling of menace is lost early in the film.All in all a very poor remake!
This must be one of the worst remakes of a European film, although made by the same director, and the actors in it have tried their best, but even Bridges, Sutherland and Bullock did not make this movie fun to watch.
The abductor in the original movie (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu as Raymond Lemorne) was creepy, but Barney (Jeff Bridges) was far from that!
The best thing ( and the climax ) about the original was the ending.The whole movie revolves about that moment and in this version, it's totally changed and made into a happy ending.
This remake is utterly disturbed, yet oddly provocative in its slick style and torrential execution.This film waltzes you through the plot without a hitch, taking you from scene to scene in an almost seamless way, which makes the climax all the more climactic for its stylish concepts and devilish innovations.The performances, especially Jeff Bridges, are extraordinary in that you can almost believe you are watching it happen, rather than watching a movie.
The film plays out some years later where, despite a new love interest, Jeff (Kiefer Sutherland) is determined to solve her disappearance.The storyline is definitely intriguing but there have been some really bad decisions made during the making of this film, culminating a pretty shoddy piece of work.OK here we go.
At a stretch, Kiefer Sutherland is the only one to save face with a fairly decent performance.The 1988 original of the same name (changed from the Dutch title 'Spoorloos' for English speaking audiences) was recommended to me, only for an online rental company to send me this later Hollywood version by mistake.
...would Hollywood ask a Dutch director [George Sluizer] to remake his own 1988 film, nearly scene for scene until the end, in ENGLISH.No subtitles please, George.
Jeff Bridges plays Barney the psycho killer and as usual he gives a brilliant performance as does Kiefer Sutherland.
Jeff Bridges had this character type down cold.Oh yeah, and my husband (who is very critical of movies we watch), actually liked this one.
This film is the story of a Seattle man (Kiefer Sutherland) that searches for his kidnapped girlfriend, (Sandra Bullock) for a long time.
This film is the story of a Seattle man (Kiefer Sutherland) that searches for his kidnapped girlfriend, (Sandra Bullock) for a long time.
Bullock disappears and Sutherland spends the next few years trying to find her.Basically what we have here is your basic psycho thriller enlivened by Bridges performance as Barney - a part pathetic part pure evil character that borders on the comic, making him all too real and chilling (he even laughs at himself when he botches a kidnapping).Like The Sixth Sense, the pay-off is what it's all about and when you find out what happened to Bullocks' sweet and naive girl-next-door chances are you won't forget it in a hurry.Sometimes silly (the joke at the end is plain stupid), The Vanishing has a nasty bluntness about human evil to it that you don't usually find in this genre.
I could go on for pages, but instead I'll leave it with one simple point.........Jeff's been lookng for his girlfriend for three years, yet when he returns to the gas station with Barney the abductor, it is the first time he has been back since the day of the disappearance!!!!!!
Barney is "off" - and frighteningly so.Jeff and his girlfriend Diane (an early role for Sandra Bullock, and a limited performance, restricted to the first third of the movie if that) stop at a convenience store while on a trip.
The mystery of Diane's disappearance is somewhat secondary, but it is the engine that drives the character of Jeff, and - like him - the viewer also wants to know what exactly happened to her.
Released in 1993 and directed by George Sluizer from a novel by Tim Krabbé, "The Vanishing" is a crime drama/mystery/horror about a man (Kiefer Sutherland) whose girlfriend goes missing during a trip in Washington State (Sandra Bullock) and he searches in vain for her for years.
The boyfriend (Kiefer Sutherland) of an abducted woman (Sandra Bullock) never gives up the search as the abductor (Jeff Bridges) looks on.What I find so interesting about this film is how much they made it like the original.
A remake of a 1988 Franco-Dutch film, also directed by George Sluizer, 'The Vanishing' does deliver some thrills & an unbelievably menacing performance by Academy-Award-Winning Acting Legend, Jeff Bridges.
I did not know of the original movie when I watched this version, but I really liked this remake.
Now keep in mind, Diane was Sandra Bullock but, she was only on the screen for about eight minutes tops so don't rent it for her.I felt like Rita  because I was ignored as the viewer as well, denied the real life (plot,good acting ) that we wanted.
This US version is apparently gorier and has a happy ending (unlike the original) but I don't see why it should, both the films are directed by the same person, George Sluizer, who shouldn't have changed a winning formula.Anyway for me this wasn't a very good film, it is classed as a thriller but their wasn't really anything thrilling about it.
It has some really good actors in it (The normally reliable Jeff Bridges, 24's Kiefer Sutherland) and that's why i picked it up to start with but they don't add anything much to the film (in fact Jeff Bridges character seems oddly over the top).Watch the original instead** out of *****.
The Vanishing (1993) starts off as two different stories: Preparations for a kid- napping on Barney Cousin´s behalf (Bridges) and a road trip, in which Diane Shaver (Bullock) and Jeff Harriman (Sutherland) drive to Mt. St.
Jeff Harriman (Kiefer Sutherland) and his girlfriend Diane Shaver (Sandra Bullock) are having a less than perfect vacation.
(There are Spoilers) The movie "The Vanishing" starts out interesting enough with couple Jeff & Diane, Kifer Sutherland & Sandra Bullock, driving in the Pacific North West on vacation where Diane later ends up missing when they stop at a highway rest-stop to get gas.
When he wakes up finds himself six feet under in a coffin that Barney prepared for him; was that what happened to Diane three years ago?Instead of ending the movie right there with Jeff finding out what happened to Diane, like in the original and far better Dutch version of the movie "The Vanishing", we instead have Rita coming to his rescue and battling it out with the crazy Barney.
Kiefer Sutherland plays Jeff Harriman, whose girlfriend (Sandra Bullock, who only has a small amount of screen time)is abducted at a service station by Barney Cousins (Jeff Bridges).
Sutherland comes across a little better when his character turns detective with the help of new love interest Rita Baker (Nancy Travis).A major problem with this version of 'The Vanishing' is its obvious need to cater to Hollywood audiences by avoiding the bleak ending of the original film.
For the most part, this version is a paint-by-numbers remake with excellent performances from Kiefer Sutherland, Jeff Bridges, and Nancy Travis.
The American remake of the 1988 Dutch film THE VANISHING, about a kidnaping, used the same director but completely revamped the script to include a much more elaborate and absolutely unnecessary happy ending, right down to a dreadfully unfunny punchline delivered by the two leads.
For three years Jeff (Kiefer Sutherland) never gave up looking for his girlfriend Diane (Sandra Bullock).
The movie had some good moments, and I think Jeff Bridges did an excellent job playing a psycho.
The overall acting of Kiefer Sutherland and Jeff Bridges helped this movie out a lot.
I knew the original dutch movie Spoorloos (of which this is based) had a better rating, but I decided to go with this version primarily because Sandra Bullock is in this and she is one of my favorites.Unfortunately she is not in it a whole lot, instead the movie focuses primarily on the boyfriend 'left behind' played by Kiefer Sutherland.Which could still have been made into a interesting watch but the plot just strays away from the topic at hand way too often in those scenes with for instance Kiefer trying to make it as a writer etc.Jeff Bridges plays his role as a sociopath rather well though, and it would have been a lot better if he was put in the forefront instead of Kiefer but nothing you can do about that of course.It could potentially been cut down to decent 87 minute movie but even then the ending lacks the punch needed.So yeah, I think it's fairly safe to assume that I'd been better off watching the original..
That is why the captor in this thriller stole someone's girlfriend.While on a road trip, Jeff's (Kiefer Sutherland) girlfriend Diane (Sandra Bullock) vanishes from a truck stop where they are filling up.Years later, Barney (Jeff Bridges) introduces himself to Jeff as the man who snatched Diane.But in order to finally learn the truth of Diane's disappearance, Jeff must endure the same torment as her.Unfortunately, that experience includes Jeff having to be drugged, bound, and buried alive.
The American remake of the European original based on the best selling Dutch novel, this 1993 version of the account is as suspenseful and nerve-wracking as its inspiration.With Bridges turn as the sleazy subjugator being one of the film's many highlights.However, sometimes when your girlfriend disappears, it just means you've been dumped.Yellow Light.
Okay Spoorloos Is My Favourite Thriller Film So I Wasn't Expecting Much From A Remake, Despite The Fact That Both Were George Sluizer's Creations, However This Is My Opinion And I Wont Discriminate Anyone For Difference So All I Ask From This Review Is For You - The Reader - To Hear Out What I Have To Say.Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu Was Amazingly Cast As A Villain, He Was Creepy And He Knew How To Portray A Complete F#ucking Psychopath, Now Take Nothing Away From Jeff Bridges, Out Of All The Actors In This Film He Did The Best Job But In Comparison Donnadieu Is So Much Better!
I had several problems with the film as I will detail below.The plot consists of Jeff (Sutherland) looking for his missing girlfriend Diane (Bullock) who vanished on a vacation trip three years prior.
Barney (Bridges) plays the creepy villain in this tale with Rita (Travis) as Jeff's new girlfriend rounding out the cast.
Diane disappears and Jeff is obsessed with trying to find what happened and will do almost anything.bottom line this movie is great I loved it!
I only saw The Vanishing a few days ago on cable and surprised I've never come across it before.The Vanishing reminds me so much of Breakdown, starring Kurt Russell where the movie plods along at a nice speed, nothing over the top happens or anything.Sandra Bullock, although on screen for about 10 minutes is brilliant as Diane, girlfriend of Jeff, played by Kiefer Sutherland.
As a result, the film received the most formulaic of endings, destroying the mood and underlying creepiness that made the original so disturbing.Jeff Bridges character, Barney Cousins, begins by experimenting with chloroform to see how long it takes to render someone unconscious.
Bridges plays Barney as an eccentric character – far more mannered than his opposite number in the Dutch version played by Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu.A young couple enters the story, Jeff Harriman and Diane Shaver, played by Keifer Sutherland and Sandra Bullock.
As a Dutchman I'm ashamed to say I haven't seen the original 'Spoorloos' yet (nor have I read 'The Golden Egg'), but I sure hope it's better than this American re-make.While buying some beer, Diane (Sandra Bullock) is kidnapped by Barney (Jeff Bridges), leaving boyfriend Jeff (Kiefer Sutherland) left in despair.