Comic-Con coverage on Spout
Advertisement

movies
mavens
communities

Hook (1991)

Hook
Want to see it?
Seen it?
  • 0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Rate this movie.

Buy it now on DVD
Starting at $10.32
Want to buy it?
Write a review
addDiscuss it
Add to lists
addRecommend it
get recommendationsGet recommendations
trailerWatch trailer

Rent it, watch it, find it

Advertisement

Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Steven Spielberg filters J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan through a distinctly 1990s sensibility in Hook. Peter Pan has become Peter Banning (Robin Williams), a 40-year-old mergers and acquisitions lawyer with a permanent scowl on his face and a cellular phone in his belt. Banning has lost any memory of being Peter Pan, and he is also in danger of losing his wife Moira (Caroline Goodall) and two children, Jack (Charlie Korsmo) and Maggie (Amber Scott). Peter and his family travel to London to visit Granny Wendy (Maggie Smith) who recalls Peter's lost youth and asks him, "Peter, dear, don't you know who you are?" With Peter's children asleep in the same bedroom where the original Peter Pan story began, there is a blinding flash. Peter comes into the room to discover a note from Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman), informing Peter that he has kidnapped his children. Granny Wendy now tells him who he really is and encourages him to re-discover his happy thoughts, transform himself into the Peter Pan of the past, and go rescue his children. With the encouragement of Tinkerbell (Julia Roberts), Peter recalls the birth of his son and once again takes wing. Then it's off to Never Land to rescue his kids. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
[more]

Reviews and discussions

Write a review

CinemaRianCinemaRian Hook (1991, USA, Steven Spielbe ...
by CinemaRian in CinemaRian Blog
hasn't rated it.
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
 "Each of the four biographies of Steven Spielberg that I have read says the same thing about Hook- it is the most disappointing entry in the director's canon. Not the worst, mind you, but the biggest disparity between what it is and what it could have been. The reason is that Spielberg is often compared to Peter Pan himself- there is a childlike wonder in his best work that few other directors can equal. From a psychological standpoint, many have analyzed the director as having a Pan-like personality- warm, energetic and easygoing but at times immature, self-centered and narcissistic (then again, it would be hard to find a filmmaker who is not is narcissistic). Many have analyzed Schindler's List as the film in which the director "grew up" and became more adult in filmmaking content (I would disagree with that, as I think 1986's Empire of the Sun is the most cynical, complex and "adult" film Spielberg has made). Regardless, it seem the classic story about the boy who never grew up w ... " [More]
KarinaKarina The Post-Spielberg Olympics
by Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
hasn't rated it.
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
 "TIME has a story about Steven Spielberg’s departure from his post as creative consultant to the Beijing Summer Olympics, and most interestingly, how China will need to scramble to save face in the wake of it. Landing Spielberg in the first place was a coup, considering that China’s main goal with the games is to sell the idea “that China has returned to its rightful place as a world player whose opinion matters.” That’s not necessarily a fiction??????Spielberg, after all, dropped out of his commitment in frustration over China’s “opinion” on their trading partner Sudan and Darfur??????but the idea that China is ready to play on the world stage without facing the blowback of various human rights issues and international political, trade and manufacturing controversies certainly seems like a fantasy worthy of Hollywood. Can they pull off this globalist fairy tale without the guiding vision of the man who brought us Hook? It’s a situtation that’s going to require serious damage contro ... " [More]
SpoutBlogSpoutBlog The Post-Spielberg Olympics
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com
hasn't rated it.
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
 "TIME has a story about Steven Spielberg’s departure from his post as creative consultant to the Beijing Summer Olympics, and most interestingly, how China will need to scramble to save face in the wake of it. Landing Spielberg in the first place was a coup, considering that China’s main goal with the games is to sell the idea “that China has returned to its rightful place as a world player whose opinion matters.” That’s not necessarily a fiction??????Spielberg, after all, dropped out of his commitment in frustration over China’s “opinion” on their trading partner Sudan and Darfur??????but the idea that China is ready to play on the world stage without facing the blowback of various human rights issues and international political, trade and manufacturing controversies certainly seems like a fantasy worthy of Hollywood. Can they pull off this globalist fairy tale without the guiding vision of the man who brought us Hook? It’s a situtation that’s going to require serious damage contro ... " [More]
yallieyallie I Love this Movie
by yallie in yallie Blog
hasn't rated it.
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
 "I've watched this movie many times and I still love it. It's hard not to. Seeing the "new" Peter Pan. The older Peter Pan. The Peter Pan who gave up staying young because he loved someone. But then he has to find the old Peter Pan, the young Peter Pan. The Peter Pan who loved everything except adults. If I keep typing I'm going to give away the movie. " [More]
indieabby88indieabby88 Re:The Most Wonderful Time of t ...
by indieabby88 in I Love Childrens Movies
loved it.
"Okay, I know it's post-Christmas, so I'm a bit late with this one, but I was in Hastings the other day and saw something that reminded me: "Hook," for some reason, is a movie I used to really enjoy watching around Christmas as a kid. Fantasy movies in general are always good fun around the holidays. I realize that "Hook" is not an amazing movie, but if you love something during your childhood, your enjoyment of it is kind of hard to shake. " [More]
KarinaKarina The Fall of the Globes: Spielbe ...
by Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
hasn't rated it.
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
 "Yet more chaos in the wake of The Fall of the Globes: yesterday, we noted that if nothing else, a minimized Golden Globes would spare us the inevitable tribute montage to Steven Spielberg, who is due to receive a Cecil B. DeMille award at the ceremony. Now it appears that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has decided (surely not without some help from the Spielberg camp) that, rather than accept the award at this year’s glorified press conference, “it would be better” (?!?) for the HFPA to just give him the same award next year, when presumably, there will be a four hour telecast to further pad with tributes to Spielberg’s special way with imperiled children, animatronic dinosaurs, animatronic children and imperiled dinosaurs. I got the Variety email alert for this story, and I admit it??????I literally, audibly cried, “Bah!” Other than that, I’ve got nothing. How about you? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » karina " [More]
SpoutBlogSpoutBlog The Fall of the Globes: Spielbe ...
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com
hasn't rated it.
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
 "Yet more chaos in the wake of The Fall of the Globes: yesterday, we noted that if nothing else, a minimized Golden Globes would spare us the inevitable tribute montage to Steven Spielberg, who is due to receive a Cecil B. DeMille award at the ceremony. Now it appears that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has decided (surely not without some help from the Spielberg camp) that, rather than accept the award at this year’s glorified press conference, “it would be better” (?!?) for the HFPA to just give him the same award next year, when presumably, there will be a four hour telecast to further pad with tributes to Spielberg’s special way with imperiled children, animatronic dinosaurs, animatronic children and imperiled dinosaurs. I got the Variety email alert for this story, and I admit it??????I literally, audibly cried, “Bah!” Other than that, I’ve got nothing. How about you? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog " [More]
KarinaKarina Golden Globes, Reborn as Strike ...
by Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
hasn't rated it.
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
 "Nikki Finke says her sources tell her that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and NBC have worked out a compromise to be able to produce a Golden Globes telecast that the WGA can’t picket. Nikki’s using the word “scraped” in her headline, but that doesn’t really sound accurate at all; it seems that the show will go on, just without the montage bloat. The plan is to apparently throw “a news event??where the actors can still get all glammed up”??????basically, a glorified press conference, with most of the “content” stemming from the winners’ ostensibly improvised acceptence speeches.?? Presumably, such a set up would allow NBC to keep their ad revenue whilst the HFPA gets to keep both their licensing fees and a teeny-tiny shred of dignity. Even better for us the viewers, Steven Spielberg will get to accept his Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award, whilst we’ll be spared the clip reel attempt to legitimize Hook. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » karina " [More]
SpoutBlogSpoutBlog Golden Globes, Reborn as Strike ...
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com
hasn't rated it.
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
 "Nikki Finke says her sources tell her that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and NBC have worked out a compromise to be able to produce a Golden Globes telecast that the WGA can’t picket. Nikki’s using the word “scraped” in her headline, but that doesn’t really sound accurate at all; it seems that the show will go on, just without the montage bloat. The plan is to apparently throw “a news event??where the actors can still get all glammed up”??????basically, a glorified press conference, with most of the “content” stemming from the winners’ ostensibly improvised acceptence speeches.?? Presumably, such a set up would allow NBC to keep their ad revenue whilst the HFPA gets to keep both their licensing fees and a teeny-tiny shred of dignity. Even better for us the viewers, Steven Spielberg will get to accept his Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award, whilst we’ll be spared the clip reel attempt to legitimize Hook. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog " [More]
eagle795eagle795 #68
by eagle795 in eagle795 Blog
hasn't rated it.
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
 "I saw this film in college in an old, “historic” theater with two of my best friends. We were literally the only three people in the theater and we had a blast. It’s a favorite memory of mine, which probably adds cachet to my view of the movie. The basic premise is “Peter Pan grows up”. A great cast is headed by Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman (whose Captain Hook obviously had to inspire Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies). " [More]
[More reviews]
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
disliked it.
Turning Peter Pan into an exploration of yuppie angst and a metaphor for rediscovering one's "inner-child," Hook might very well be the worst film of Steven Spielberg's career. The first of many disappointing fantasy-themed family comedies featuring Robin Williams, Hook dispenses with the charm and terror of the original tale in order to revel in some busy art direction and make parents realize they need to spend more time with their kids. Such moralizing would be fine if the film were at all entertaining, but none of the characters make any sense in their modern incarnations. The only character who works in a new way is Captain Hook, who misses battling with Peter, but Dustin Hoffman spends time chewing the scenery instead of acting. This is an artistic dead-end for everyone involved. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Tags: fantasy , family , fairytale , fun , island
View all
 

Community ratings

mavens
Spout mavens
are neutral about it.
most people
Most people
are neutral about it.

Other opinions

pippin06
pippin06
loved it.
tmoney
tmoney
loved it.
lopezdash
lopezdash
loved it.
paul
paul
is not interested.
marincat
marincat
is not interested.
JayP
JayP
is not interested.