The DVD of The Wicker Man with Nicholas Cage

I've never seen the 1975 version of The Wicker Man with Edward Woodward. It's supposedly more suspenseful with a creepy atmosphere that's made it a cult classic over the last thirty years. The newer version with Nicholas Cage, I'm sad to say, has very little suspense and none of what I would think of as a creepy atmosphere. Think of the hero running through the woods at night with a thick fog-like mist shrouding the area and something chasing him that he can't see. Nope. I didn't see any of that in this new, unrated version. Though not a total waste, if I were Nicholas Cage, I wouldn't include this movie on my film resume.

Nicholas Cage plays California Highway Patrolman, Edward Malus. On afternoon, while patrolling the back roads of California, he sees a child's toy fly out the window of the station wagon in front of him. He sweeps up the doll with his free hand and pulls over the car. After he returns the doll to the little girl in the backseat, the brat throws it out the window again with the doll landing on the other side of the road. As Edward is picking up the toy again, a tracker trailer rig comes from out of nowhere and swerves to miss him, hitting the parked station wagon instead (I have to admit that this was a great scene). He tries to rescue the girl and her mother, but the car explodes from the engulfing flames, leaving him unconscious. Months later, while on a leave of absence, Edward receives a letter from his old fiancé, Willow, who suddenly needs his help in finding her missing daughter, Rowan. Though he hasn't seen Willow in several years, it's his one chance at redemption in not being able to save the little girl from the burning car. Edward goes to the northwestern pacific island where Willow is now living and discovers a religious community filled with forceful women and rather meek men. No one seems to know anything about the missing child, and Edward gets a different story from everyone he questions. Of course, the story really isn't about the missing child, but rather about Edward and his relationship to the island. As Edward draws nearer to finding the answers to his questions, he gets closer to the truth of why he's really there. Needless to say, Edward won't be a happy camper once he realizes what's in store for him.

I think most viewers of this film knew where the ending was headed about halfway through the movie. I know that very little surprised me, other than the wasted talent in this flick. None of the performers seemed to really be into their roles other than maybe Molly Parker as Sister Rose, who seemed somewhat anxious to get her hands on Nicholas Cage.. One thing I will say is that for a small island, it sure took a lot of time to get from one end of it to the other. Also, at the beginning of the film when the female police officer comes to visit Nicholas Cage at his home and to give him his mail from the office, did anyone else notice the question that was asked of her by Cages' character--"Were the two bodies ever found?" he asked. "No," the female officer answers. "The car wasn't even registered to anybody. We may never know who they were." What was going on here? The bodies of the woman and her little girl disappeared from the burning wreck? Did the island people have anything to do with it? I don't know. The questions were never fully answered. It had me scratching my head in puzzlement. As far as the alternate ending goes on this DVD (the unrated version is on one side of the disc, and the theatrical version is on the flip side), there were only about three or four more minutes of extra footage added, which depicted a more intense, violent ending. I didn't see anything to jump up and down about. I already know that women can be cruel to the male species. To those desiring this DVD for their movie collection, I'd wait several months for the price to drop, or better yet, I'll give you a good price on my copy.