The Onionheads Movie Club had it's inaugural movie premier on August 8, 2008, the luckiest day of the year. But maybe not so lucky for this 1984 "Family Action" movie staring Henry Thomas (E.T.) and Dabney Coleman (War Games). I have to admit that I watched this movie fully expecting it to be a "lost classic".
The basic plot is that Davey's hero is an imaginary spy named Jack Flack who is played by Colman. Coleman also plays Davey's military father with whom his relationship is strained. Davey witnesses a murder, but before the man dies he gives Davey an Atari cartridge ("Cloak and Dagger") and tells him to protect it because it contains secret FBI files. Davey must protect the files with the help of Jack Flack and naturally his father, Hal, doesn't believe any of it. In the end Davey realizes that Jack Flack is no substitute for his real father and his father learns to believe his son.
The Good:
Henry Thomas and Dabney Coleman are very good actors, probably too good for the surrounding cast (more on that later). Coleman's Jack Flack is a cool character, played well, and wears a sweet grey leather jacket. The plot is very nice with a great ending scene were Davey's hero comes walking away from a huge explosion. However, as he walks slow motion from the fire you can't see whether it is Jack Flack or his father Hal. It's his father, of course, which leads to a touching embrace...freeze...credits.
The Bad:
I realize that Christina Nigra was just a young actress at the time, but man was she terrible. In fact this movie is full of terrible actors. I guess as a kid you don't notice that so much. Just as an aside, they keep calling the Cloak and Dagger Atari game a "tape" through the movie. I don't know if they thought that kids wouldn't know the word "cartridge", but there is no tape in an Atari game. It is solid state electronics.
The Dated:
Aside from the constant Atari references, the only real dated part of the movie was the idea that the kids could just roam all over the city and no one seems to care. At one point Davey has a toy squirt gun full of fake blood and he's just running around a bunch of security gaurds and they could care less. Davey's dad also leaves for a "double shift" at work and just leaves Davey at home and tell him to stay out of trouble. That'll get you 5 to 10 these days.
The Surprising:
This movie rolls along with typical "family movie" jokes and style. Then all of a sudden people are running around shooting each other with silencers on their guns (uzzies). At one point Davey actually kills one of the bad guys. Kids films in the 80's were violent!
Rating from my memory of this movie as a kid: 5 out of 5 stars
Rating from watching it again as an adult: 3 out of 5 stars
I liked it, but probably wouldn't watch it again unless my son wants to watch it some day.
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4 comments:
Cloak and Dagger was a solid 80's children's movie. The acting (with the exception of Kim, played by Christina Nigra) was good enough. They didn't use a whole lot of lame special effects. The storyline was decent, although aimed very much at kids aged 12 and younger. The only major problem I had with it was the fact that it was based on an Atari game that was actually never released. This stood out as the only thing that really dated the movie to me (besides seeing a young Dabney Coleman). I had never seen the movie before and while it didn't blow my mind, I did enjoy it. Cloak and Dagger receives a 3 out of 5 stars from me.
i thought it was very GI Joe ish... which i liked. i gave the movie a 3.5 (i know not allowed) because i liked it ok but it was not one i could compare to childhood because i never saw it as a kid. i probably would have liked it. the acting was ok, not so horrible i could not watch and it definitely would entertain a boy... but i didnt like all of the shooting and blood. i know u cant see it but it is inferred. i would like to know if any of the actors went on to do anything else? i liked that it had the dad be the hero even though the kid acted like he hated him the whole movie he really relied on him in the end. i would watch it again but its not an every month type movie for me.
As a kid I probably would have enjoyed this movie, but as an adult, it doesn't stand the test of time as a great movie. The movie felt unrealistic and the acting left something to hope for, but the plot--I mean the underlying plot--dealt with a boy who lost his mother and a father who did not know how to deal with his son. I like how the writers continually tied this in to the main plot and made the dad a hero in the end. The movie had some exciting moments and I enjoyed the fact that they did not use special effects that would have dated the movie even more. I did like the 3-fingered lady--creepy! I probably wouldn't watch it again, but it was enjoyable enough to keep my attention for 90 minutes or so. This movie gets a solid 3 out of 5.
The movie was exciting as a child and brought memories as an adult. Watching the movie today 2013. Feb. I realized how old I was and how that movie was filmed in San Antonio where I live. This movie was cool, cool enough to watch again and would watch again, kids roaming the streets without parent care and getting into situations, brought memories of my childhood in that era and it was correct, in that time parents did leave the children alone for a hours and expected them to stay out of trouble, weird, cuz you cannot do that any more ' bought the movie for my friends to watch, 4 out of 5.
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