83 Hours 'Til Dawn (1990)

This movie was okay. I read the book when I was in high school and saw the first movie, The Longest Night. There were some factual errors and liberties taken for dramatic purposes which kind of ruined it for me since I had read the book first. When I saw the remake, I was expecting a more accurate version, but was disappointed that this movie also took liberties and dramatic license. Comparing the two films, The Longest Night is the better of the two overall. The design of the capsule bothered me in the second movie. It was very crude, shown as a large open space with the battery and wiring all in the same space occupied by the girl. In real life, the battery and wiring and fan was housed in an area that was sectioned off behind screens. The capsule in the first movie was an exact replica of the real one. The first movie also spent more time showing Barbara in the capsule and how cramped it was. The second movie never showed any shots other than her upper body. You never saw her feet and her trying stretch out.

The only thing that the second movie depicts better is the character of Ruth Eiseman Schier. In the Longest Night she is depicted as a strong,equal accomplice when, in fact, she was not. Elizabeth Gracen's portrayal was much more in line with the real woman than Skye Aubrey's sexy vixen portrayal.

It's a great crime story of survival and criminal madness. It would be great if someone would make a more gritty, realistic feature film that would be more factual. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before that happens. Also, a movie that doesn't use fictitious names would heighten the realism. There's a episode of FBI: The Untold Stories with Pernell Roberts that tells the story through narration and re-enactments. They use the real names, so I don't know why that couldn't be done in a movie version.