Battleground - King's Corner Review
Welcome to King's Corner. A recurring series of reviews based on the Film and TV adaptations of Stephen King's novels and collections, reviewed and released in order of the original source material publishing date.
Director: Brian Henson
Starring: William Hurt, Bruce Spence, Mia Sara, Jackie Kelleher
Written by: Richard Christian Matheson
Produced by: Jeffrey Hayes, John McMahon
Cinematography by: John Stokes
Original Score by: Jeff Beal
Synopsis:
An assassin is besieged in his apartment by an Army of toy soldiers after killing their maker.
Thoughts:
War has been a topic that has been prevalent throughout King's work. Be it an internal war like Jack Torrence with his addiction to alcohol in 'The Shining' or an all out war between good and evil in the post apocalyptic world of 'The Stand', these large or small scale conflicts have always been at the heart of the majority of his work. One such story that looks at conflict in a very fantastical sense is 'Battleground' which sees a hitman face off against a retaliatory army of little green men in his apartment.
First published in the 1972 edition of Cavalier magazine the story would later be added to the 1978 short story collection, 'Night Shift'. Surely inspired by the Vietnam War, it strangely feels like a version of 'Gulliver's Travels' where Gulliver arrives in the jungles of Cambodia in the late 60s/early 70s rather than the land of Lilliput. The story follows a hitman, John Renshaw (renamed Jason in the adaptation) who has just arrived home from carrying out a hit on a toy maker. Upon his arrival home he receives a mysterious gift in the form of a foot locker of green army men and vehicles. Initially bemused at this he soon gets a sudden rush of fear as they come to life and attack him, thrusting him into a battle for survival.
Alongside many other short stories from Stephen King, 'Battleground' would be adapted for the small screen as the first episode of the anthology TV series, 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes'. It was written by Richard Christian Matheson (son of legendary writer Richard Matheson) and directed by Brian Henson (son of the great Jim Henson). In an interesting creative choice the episode is dialogue free and sees William Hurt in the role of Jason Renshaw who is in a reality defying battle for survival with the foot locker army, after assassinating the owner of the Morris Toy Company.
When it comes to anthologies it is a given that you should always start strong to generate as much buzz as possible and with 'Battleground' the show puts it's best foot forward with what might be one of the best short stories from King that has been adapted for television. It opens with a prologue that is an addition for the show as Renshaw breaks into Morris' company headquarters. It is a great scene that exhibits his skills and his ruthless nature as a hitman. It is the perfect way to set up the kind of person Renshaw is but also raises the question of "how does someone that methodical in their work cope with something beyond their comprehension?"
Henson does a great job here at establishing the geography of the apartment when Renshaw returns home, so when the action kicks into gear we have a clear idea of what is happening and where, despite the chaos. Before he can settle in for the night a few strange occurrences happen. A curtain unfurls, the wire of a lamp is cut and then Renshaw is stabbed in the foot with a bayonet. It slowly dawns on him what is going on and the war begins as they fire upon each other.
A lot of credit has to go to William Hurt for making this adaptation work. He takes the material seriously (whilst having some fun with it) and really commits himself to the role as he racks up multiple injuries and battle scars throughout. It is like a reversal of what you would get in an action film like 'Die Hard' where the battered and bruised hero has to rise to the occasion to save the day as it is a case of a battered and bruised villain who has to find a way to survive. Thanks to the physical nature of Hurt's performance we feel the range of emotions he is going through without him needing to say anything at all.
What really makes the episode tick is the escalation in action from Matheson's script as we go from an initial attack to a vehicular assault to an attack from the air which leaves the audience wondering how they're going to top the previous scene. Henson does some great work in realising the action in Matheson's approach with lots of creative visuals. The most impressive scene is the initial helicopter attack where the camera pans inside the helicopter allowing us to see the assault from the point of view of the soldiers. A massive amount of credit also must go to the special effects team in how they manage to make it look so believable. By compositing actors dressed as green soldiers acting next to a blue screen and shrinking them through visual effects the results for a 2006 television show are excellent. Without this top work the episode could have so easily unravelled into the ridiculous.
If you were to look at the long list of short stories from Stephen King that could be adapted for television, 'Battleground' certainly comes across as being one of the most challenging not just in terms of realising it through special effects but in constructing it in a manner to make audiences believe in it all. From Hurt's performance, to combining the visual effects to live action while executing the tension and excitement of Matheson's script, Henson perfectly ties all of these elements together making it one of the stand out adaptations from 'Night Shift'.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
-Joseph McElroy
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