Hook (1991)
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Hook is a family fantasy adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. When Captain Hook ( Dustin Hoffman) captures one of Peter Pan's ( Robin Williams) children, Peter has to remember how to be a kid again.

Synopsis

Peter Banning is a 40 year old attorney who has it all: an understanding wife, two great kids and a job full of wealth and power. But he has lost touch with his family, and more concerned with doing his work than spending time with his kids.

When his children are kidnapped by someone by the name of Captain Hook during a visit to his grandmother, Peter Banning is forced to see his life in a new way, and find a way to get his kids back, even if it means to the end of the heavens and beyond....

Analysis

A re-enactment of the original play at the opening of the movie.

Originally intended to be a play, Hook is a sequel to the original Peter Pan play by J.M. Barrie. After feeling like he was getting out of touch with with his family and his younger self, Spielberg decided to make the film, in which a grown up Peter Pan learns of who he was as a child and goes on magnificent adventures with old friends.

He designed the grown up Peter Pan as an exact opposite of his younger self, a pirate that is afraid of heights. He gave Peter qualities of the friends Steven knew in Wall Street, which he considered modern real-life pirates. Granny Wendy, the woman that gave the orphan Peter his home, was made the same Wendy that appeared in the original play, now a grandmother in the present day.

As with Spielberg's other films, Hook deals with father issues, which mirror his own experiences as a child. The troubled relationship between Peter and his son Jack is based on the troubles Spielberg himself had with his father. Peter's character was written based on his own feelings, which he felt he had lost what he was when he was younger, from being a wide-eyed film director to being a full blown Hollywood business mogul, which he blamed for the divorce of his wife, which he wrote into the film.

Spielberg himself is also afraid of heights, and wanted to give the film a feeling of flight and freedom not yet achieved by previous movies. ILM's visual effects for the movie got it nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 64th Academy Awards.

Music

The film score was composed by John Williams, and features the greatest number of individual themes for any film he has made. Originally made for the play, the film also features 6 new songs, one of them unused. The lyrics were written by Leslie Bricusse.

Throughout the score, music themes will be hinted before their respective subjects happen to tease the viewer of a future event. This score and it's songs was nominated for a Grammy, and is now one of his more memorable film scores.

Production

Julia Roberts in a set designed to make her seem small.

Starring Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, and Robin Williams as Peter Pan, Hook was one of the most hyped movies in production during it's time. Various big names visited by the set to grab a look at what Spielberg was up to, including Bruce Willis (who was booed of the set for talking unfavorably about unions), Prince, Jeff Bridges, and Glenn Close (who was given a small cameo in the movie for fun).

The movie was shot across 9 stages at Sony Pictures Studios. There was a lot of difficulty in shooting the movie, as Julia Roberts, who played Tink, was suffering from a mental disorder after her breakup with Dylan McDermott, stuntman Joey Box was almost killed by malfunctioning stunt machine, causing him to land on his head from a 20 feet drop, and when an earthquake almost collapsed the stage for the pirate ship. This resulted in the filming of the movie to be 40 days over schedule.

Due to the hardships, Dustin Hoffman came on set drunk, and usually started fighting Spielberg and directing the movie himself. Robin Williams was a lot more optimistic, cracking jokes and keeping the mood light. Shots of the production during filming where entirely forbidden, leaving a lot of secrecy to the film. The final sword fight became one of the longest in film history, and was extended, featuring a great number of extras each choreographed with their own moves.

Reception

The Rufio character received a rabid cult following.

The movie was a big success at the box office, and it was the most successful film about pirates until the Pirates of the Caribbean film series were released. Although the immense hype surrounding the film created a backlash from some viewers, the film is now considered a classic, and praised for it's themes, story, characters, and sense of style.

The movie was nominated for 5 awards at the 64th Academy Awards, a Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor to Dustin Hoffman. John Williams was also given a Grammy nomination.

	J.M. Barrie	Characters
	James V. Hart
	Nick Castle
	Malia Scotch Marmo

	Robin Williams	Peter Pan
	Dustin Hoffman	Captain Hook
	Julia Roberts	Tinkerbell
	Bob Hoskins	Smee
	Maggie Smith	Wendy Darling
	Caroline Goodall	Moira Banning
	Charlie Korsmo	Jack 'Jackie' Banning
	Amber Scott	Maggie Banning
	Laurel Cronin	Liza, Wendy's Housekeeper
	Glenn Close	Gutless
See Full Credits

Name	Hook
US Release	Dec. 11, 1991
UK Release	April 10, 1992
AUS Release	March 26, 1992
Runtime	142
Language(s)	Add a new language English
Genre(s)	Add a new genre Adventure Family Fantasy
Theme(s)	Add a new theme
Rating	PG
Alias(es)

	Smashed Alarm Clock
	Untimely Trip
	Baby Carriage in Danger
	Getting Rufio'd
	Children's Story Made Dark and Edgy
	Food Fight
	The Friend You Never Knew You Loved

Domestic	$119,654,823
Foreign	+$181,200,000

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196	All-Time Rank

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