Resurrection (1999 TV Movie) User Reviews (9)

Warning - It's A Film For Females

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 23 August 2005]

Clair Miller and her husband are driving along the road one day minding their own business when they're involved in a accident that maims Clair for life and kills her husband . After being told she'll never be able to walk again Clair shocks everybody by walking again . Even more shocking Claire claims she has healing powers that can cure other people

I went in to this film with a vague knowledge of the plot and even though I knew this was a TVM expected it play out in a similar manner to Stephen King's story THE DEAD ZONE . Can you blame me for thinking this ? After all when someone has the supernatural powers to improve the well being of human beings there's many , many people to want to exploit this and I was hoping we'd see a morality tale , something like the episode called Girl Of My Dreams from the 1960s anthology series JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN , but what I got was a very average female friendly TVM that I have seen far , far too often . There's a romantic subplot and lots of arguing with mom and weepy scenes with sick kids and there's even a scene with a litter of puppies while there's no scenes with a mercenary villain or a bitterly ironic ending where the bad guy gets everything he deserves for being greedy . And before you ask there's no men claiming they're impotent and could Clair place her healing hands upon them

To be fair there are a couple of good points like Clair's healing powers having a scientific rationale . All too often in these type of stories there's either no explanation at all for the healing hands or it's all explained via vague mystical nonsense but here it's down to human evolution and DNA . There's also a very spectacular car crash the likes of which I haven't seen in very many big budget Hollywood movies never mind a TVM so at least the stuntmen earned their fees with this production

See the wonderful 1980 version instead

[AlexMI · 25 December 1999]

Ellen Burstyn's 1980 film of the same name is a far better film. This one left me cold... don't understand why the makers felt the need to do a "TV update" of the original story. If you've seen this TV version, do yourself a favor and rent or buy the 1980 video -- it is terrific.

Fair to poor

[Miles-10 · 4/10 · 13 April 2000]

This remake improves on the original in some ways but absolutely does not in others. The story has potential, but has not been done well. In this version, Clare (Edna in the other version) and her lover have more chemistry, but a crazy guy committing mayhem in the hospital does not work any better than having her lover go berserk in the original version. I have nothing against violence in film, but it does not help the story and is especially confusing in this version.

Rent the original with Ellen Burstyn

[patti_o_ · 1/10 · 20 October 2005]

This is a dreadful remake of the Ellen Burstyn 1980 movie of the same name. I wanted to like this movie because I am a big fan of Dana Delaney and I loved the 1980 movie. Unfortunately, this movie does not deliver and suffers badly in comparison. Delaney plays a character who survives a devastating motor vehicle accident and clinical death event. She returns to her bitter mother and her small town to recover from the accident that has changed her to a widow and a wheel chair bound paraplegic. She soon discovers that she has the ability to heal herself and others, a residual gift from her near death experience. A really meaty role but Delaney misses the mark entirely. Perhaps it's not entirely her fault; the script is poorly re-written. Her character shows zero emotional growth or development. The supporting cast is a no-show as well. It's an OK movie to watch if it shows as a re-run on Lifetime. However, if you want to see the same story in a much better production, rent the 1980 version.

Improves on the original film.

[lumpystv · 8/10 · 4 July 2006]

This is a satisfying remake of the Ellyn Burtsyn film of the same name. It improves on the original by making the familial conflict- a mother/daughter test of wills and rejection, a recognizable one. Brenda Fricker is fine here. In the earlier version, the father/daughter conflict is so harsh and dysfunctional as to appear weird. Who or what is resurrected in the film version?- Ellen Burstyn ends up "buried" in a gas station! In the TV version Dana Delaney gets to redirect her life. A little soapy-but satisfying none the less. Nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately not available on DVD, and not frequently scheduled on TV. NOTE: A chance to see the director's daughter in an early supporting role.

I think this movie is more relevant today.

[easttawest · 8/10 · 23 April 2007]

As we learn more about how human kind is evolving, I think this movie has more relevance as time continues on. I just had the chance to view the original starring Ellen Burstyn, and the original did have a lot of heart but I also felt that Dana Delaney's portrayal of someone coming to terms with this newfound ability was equally realistic and more pertinent to today. I love Rita Moreno as her always positive and encouraging friend. The only part of the movie I could have done without was the over dramatic scene in the hospital. I saw this on TV when it first aired in 1999 and wanted to purchase a copy of it immediately, but was unable to find any for sale. I definitely preferred this versions ending more than the original.

very good

[bejwak · 9/10 · 14 November 2001]

I saw this on TV about 4 years ago and really liked it. It inspired me to buy the movie version on VHS with Burstyn. The other version is good also, but not in my memory as good as this one. Either one is a movie that will move you. Highly recommended.

10 stars INSPIRATIONAL

[skybirdstudios · 10/10 · 30 March 2019]

I LOVE both versions of this movie. I have the 1980 version and I have this one on VHS, but I would like to have it on DVD. They are both inspirational ♥

A better ending than the original film, but...

[dianamaytorres · 8/10 · 24 February 2022]

Okay, so I really loved the original film with Ellen Burstyn but hated the end -- she has a gift that could do so much good, but because she had a scare (her whackadoo boyfriend -- the genius Sam Sheppard -- tries to kill her when he goes spiritually bonkers), she decides to hide herself away, occasionally healing when happenstance provides. Boo on that. And boo on Cal (Sam's nutzoid character) flipping out. I mean, could happen, I guess -- I've met enough spiritual cuckoos to know this is so, but still, it's such a drastic turnabout that it doesn't read. But the quality of the film was high on every other level. And Ellen Burstyn was radiant.

This version had a dreary downbeat feeling pretty much throughout with lackluster performances by most of the actors, including the wonderful Dana Delany. And the whackadoo attempted murder business from Version #1 is translated into this version as well with equally poor success.

HOWEVER, (okay, spoiler alert now -- I'm going to talk about the end...) what Claire does NOT do in this version is hide herself away. In fact, this film's end is so powerful and wonderful and inspiring that it makes slogging through the downbeat rest of this version so very much worth the trip. Weird -- Version #1 was wonderful until the dissatisfying end, and Version #2 was dissatisfying until the awesome end, and Dana, too, picked up speed and ended on an incandescent high. Go figure.