Product Description

From the director of Arlington Road comes a spine-tingling super-natural thriller based on actual events that will rattle your nerves and shake your beliefs. Distraught by the sudden tragic death of his wife (Debra Messing) John Klein (Richard Gere) a journalist for The Washington Post finds himself mysteriously drawn to a small West Virginia town when his car inexplicably strands him. Rescued by the sympathetic but skeptical local police sergeant (Laura Linney) he soon learns that many of the town's residents have been beset by bizarre events including sightings of an eerie "moth-like" entity similar to the one seen by his late wife. Investigating further and having his own terrifying encounters with the creature he becomes obsessed with the idea that this supernatural being can predict impending calamities and is trying to warn the town of one. Is this a psychic delusion brought on by his grief or can he convince the police sergeant that there's a tragedy that must be averted? His life and potentially others' lives depend on his making the right choice before time runs out.System Requirements:Running Time: 118 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396078086 Manufacturer No: 07808

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4009 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2002-06-04
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 119 minutes

Amazon.com
Described by director Mark Pellington as "a psychological mystery with naturally surreal overtones," The Mothman Prophecies begins like an ambitious episode of The X-Files. Richard Gere brings adequate torment, portent, and ambiguity to his role as a Washington Post reporter and grieving widower plagued by a mysterious, unseen urban legend known as the Mothman. Pellington develops subtle doom and gloom that's as effective as the paranoid streak he brought to Arlington Road. As the Mothman terrifies a West Virginia town, he remains an enigma, glimpsed almost subliminally. This--along with a magnificently creepy soundtrack--amplifies the movie's surreal overtones while keeping everything else (unsettling phone calls, prophesied disasters, suggestions of the afterlife) completely unexplained. With Laura Linney and Debra Messing in underdeveloped roles, The Mothman Prophecies feels a bit underdeveloped itself (and ends in desperate need of Mulder and Scully). But if you like your weirdness open-ended, this moody thriller's worth a look. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
Richard Gere vainly attempts the quiet gravity of a spooky Bruce Willis performance in this overcooked atmospheric thriller about a widower whose life turns into an "X-Files" nightmare. The director, Mark Pellington, and the screenwriter, Richard Hatem, trot out the standard psychic visions and paranoia clichés in the well-crafted manner of people just doing their jobs, and nothing more. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Very Strange INDEED
This movie is based on an incident which actually occurred, but the film as presented isn't entirely accurate. What initially drew my interest is my fascination with cryptozoology and unusual, paranormal-type occurrences which appear to be completely unbelievable; however, something out of the ordinary IS going on. Richard Gere and Laura Linney play the lead roles superbly; the rest of the cast certainly make the film BELIEVABLE. The film moves along at a comfortable pace: Despite the bizarre nature of the story, one will not be left behind in confusion as the movie unfolds. (It might be best to say: "Let the movie come to you.") As many have written before in each person's review of MOTHMAN, it is indeed unlike any film one may have seen. What's more, it has been reported that a "mothman" like entity appeared in the Minneapolis area prior to the tragic bridge collapse within the last two years. This film IS worth the time to watch--perhaps two or three viewings might be necessary to grasp a highly mysterious tale.

A satisfying film
I wouldn't categorize this as a horror/thriller or anything of the sort. It's a different type of movie and it's hard to really place it anywhere. It has a dramatic plot with an eerie supernatural element. Its more of a mystery. A pretty decent one at that. Supposedly based off some factual event, the film does a good job of keeping us in suspense and really keeps us guessing. If there really is something called the Mothman, then I really would not want anything to do with that.

The acting is quite fine, the score effective. It is nothing super extrodianary, but it does feel different than many other films in this genre, which is again, hard to really place. Never boring, it will keep your attention, but after it's all said and done, it is probably mostly forgettable.

Don't bother with the movie; read the book!
This movie seems like a purposeful mangling of the Mothman story. The book is fascinating and would have made an excellent movie. It's too bad they didn't put the story in the movie, it could have been great. They should have set it in the time period when it really happened and not made it such a vague concept. It also had nothing to do with the investigator's wife; I don't even remember him mentioning a wife in the book. I was so disappointed in this movie. The book is great though!