Product Description

The Missing is the story of Maggie Gilkeson (Cate Blanchett), a young woman raising her two daughters in an isolated and lawless wilderness. When her oldest daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by a psychopathic killer with mystical powers (Eric Schweig), Maggie is forced to re-unite with her long estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones) to rescue her. The killer and his brutal cult of desperados have kidnapped several other teenage girls, leaving a trail of death and horror across the desolate landscape of the American Southwest.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25930 in DVD
• Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
• Released on: 2004-02-24
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .40 pounds
• Running time: 137 minutes

Amazon.com
Cate Blanchett blazes through The Missing, a new Western directed by Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13). The camera truly loves the planes of her face; even dusty and bedraggled, she radiates star power--which is good, because The Missing needs it. When her daughter is kidnapped by renegade Indians, Maggie Gilkeson (Blanchett) is forced to turn to her estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones, Men in Black, The Fugitive), a man who abandoned her as a child to join an Indian tribe. Together, they pursue a malignant brujo (or witch), who sells young girls in Mexico. The Missing features solid supporting performances from Evan Rachel Wood, Eric Schweig, Aaron Eckhart, Val Kilmer, and feisty young Jenna Boyd as Maggie's youngest daughter Dot, who refuses to be left behind. Despite the cast and some gorgeous cinematography, though, The Missing never finds its stride. --Bret Fetzer

DVD features
Most deleted scenes were deleted because they're a waste of time. The Missing's deleted scenes, however, suggest a far more intriguing movie than the one that got released in theaters; almost all of them hint at a less bland visual impulse, or surprising quirks to the characters' personalities. Perhaps because The Missing skips the usual director's commentary, this second disc supplements an hour's worth of making-of featurettes with almost 20 minutes of additional interviews with director Ron Howard. More impishly, Howard includes three super-8 movies he shot as a teenager, all Westerns featuring his friends and family, which will delight his fans. In addition to the various goofy outtakes (in which Cate Blanchett curses adorably as her rifle misfires), the DVD includes three different versions of the movie's ending, which offer an educational glimpse into the decision-making process that shapes a movie's emotional impact. --Bret Fetzer

From The New Yorker
Ron Howard gets down and dirty with a skillfully directed but rather sadistic Western about a vicious Apache brujo (Eric Schweig), or witch, who hangs rattlers in the trees, throws vile colored powders into people's mouths and eyes, and captures young white virgins whom he then sells as slaves to laughing Mexicans. No such trade existed in New Mexico in 1885, but Howard deals in such authentic trials as bullets removed from flesh and teeth pulling. Cate Blanchett is the tough frontier woman whose daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by the Apaches, and Tommy Lee Jones plays Blanchett's muttering reprobate of a father, who long ago "went Injun" and understands their savage ways. The movie might be seen as a degraded version of the 1956 John Ford classic, "The Searchers." -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Not Much Missing from "The Missing"
New Mexico has one of the most beautiful and haunting landscapes in the United States. Desert, arroyo, plains, twisted wood and rock formations, and a sky that is like something out of a dream. In The Missing, this landscape shifts constantly, evoking fantastic and surreal images that lend well to the mood of the story.

Cate Blanchett stars as Maggie, a tough and independent frontier "healer," who is also a single mother of two girls. Her independence is not enough to save her from the nightmare that erupts when a renegade Apache brujo (sorceror/male witch) kidnaps her teenage daughter Lily. The Brujo is selling young women as sex slaves in Mexico. This man is one bad Indian. Like Lonesome Dove's Blue Duck, the Brujo lends this gritty Western authenticity in these days of forced diversity and political correctness. Not to give anything of the story away, let's just say the villian's methods of killing are creative. This makes The Missing a very violent and disturbing movie.

Tommy Lee Jones stars as Maggie's estranged father. He is steeped in Indian ways himself, having lived with the Chirakawa tribe when he abandoned his family when Maggie was a little girl. Consequently, Maggie has intense hatred for her father. One of the very touching elements in the story is young Dot's eagerness to get to know her grandfather over her mother's rage. Revenge is not served up here, rather repentance is. Going after what you love, what has been taken from you, has consequences. Maggie's outright revulsion for Indians also has a terrible and unforseen consequence in the movie. Indian magic and witchcraft is real in this film, blending with the shape-shifting landscape. For further understanding of Native American witchcraft, Tony Hillerman's novel Skinwalkers is good.

The movie's general sequence of events is predictable, but that was not enough to stop me from weeping at the end. Also, the suspense was incredible. I should have known with a Ron Howard movie. I plan on purchasing this DVD, and I think my husband will really enjoy it, too.

Outstanding
I am not typically a fan of historical movies, and I saw it only because I was on vacation and it was one of the rentals available. I was blown away! It was an intelligent thriller, with a great story, and lots of tension. By the end of the movie, I was on the edge of my seat, dying to see how it would all play out. I'm stunned at some of the negative reviews posted here. But, if you want the typical Hollywood no-brainer film, then this isn't for you. If you like an intelligent, gripping story, then this one won't disappoint!

This Was A Good Movie
I find myself shaking my head about the trashing this movie received from some. I am beginning to think many modern viewers have already seen everything on the face of the Earth and can NEVER be impressed anymore by any new movies.

This is a very tense and entertaining movie. It held my attention throughout however I am an adult who can pay attention and some viewing the movie probably cannot. It is exceptionally well acted and the cinematography is great. In short, I give a "well done" to Ron Howard and others who made the film