Always

Theatrical Release Date: 1989 12 22 (USA)

UPC: 025192055621

Studio: Universal Studios

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language]

Summary: For all its state-of-the-art special effects, Always is essentially a remake of the 1943 Spencer Tracy-Irene Dunne fantasy vehicle A Guy Named Joe--minus the wartime context. Richard Dreyfuss stars as a reckless fire-fighting pilot who is killed in what was to have been his final mission. Ascending to Heaven, Dreyfuss is introduced to businesslike angel Audrey Hepburn (playing the equivalent of the Lionel Barrymore role in A Guy Named Joe). Hepburn instructs the spectral Dreyfuss to pass on his aviation knowhow to his young successor, Brad Johnson. Our ghostly hero also smoothes the course of romance for his earthly girl friend Holly Hunter, who after several months' worth of grieving has fallen in love with Johnson. John Goodman injects a dose of comedy relief as Dreyfuss' faithful buddy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Fantasy

Features: Production notes
Cast & filmmakers' bios
Film highlights
Theatrical trailer
Web links

Always

Format: DVD

Release Date: 07/20/1999

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: 4.1 Dolby Surround 4.1

Runtime: 123 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
0. Chapter List
1. Fire Eaters. [:17]
2. Dead Stick. [:10]
3. Girl Clothes. [2:38]
4. Your Numbers. [6:52]
5. Out Of Love. [8:31]
6. I'm Dead? [3:27]
7. Pete's Project. [4:09]
8. The Reason I'm Here. [7:13]
9. Life Without Pete. [5:15]
10. Pete Gets Through. [2:24]
11. Hello, Dorinda. [3:33]
12. First Impressions. [4:29]
13. Dinner & A Dance. [4:52]
14. To Say Goodbye. [3:56]
15. Firestorm. [:09]
16. Riding The Storm. [3:44]
17. I'm Releasing You. [4:48]
18. End Titles. [2:35]

Derek Armstrong

One of the smaller films of Steven Spielberg's oeuvre, Always still bears many of the filmmaker's trademark elements: otherworldly magic, gorgeous cinematography, and a childlike fascination with the skies. There are plenty of loving shots of aircraft arcing across brilliant blue horizons, but the rest of the film serves more as a support structure on which to hang these images, too neat and predictable to stick in the memory. The result is that Always feels prepackaged, a sentimental exercise with little daring beyond the swooping maneuvers of Richard Dreyfuss' fun-loving pilot. It becomes accidentally noteworthy for having been the last film appearance of Audrey Hepburn, who died four years later; that she plays an angel walking through the cornfields gives viewers a serene last image of her. Always may also serve as a balm for those grieving over the loss of a loved one, unsure how to move on with their lives. But with Dreyfuss so much easier to root for as the object of Holly Hunter's affections than the bland Brad Johnson, this becomes something of a mixed message. Spielberg fans may want to check it out for another chapter in the director's ongoing preoccupation with flying machines, which has marked his career from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) to the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (2001). ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: James Lashly  Actor 
Dale Dye  Actor 
Gerry Rothschild  Actor 
Rick van Nutter  Actor 
Ted Grossman  Actor 
Alan Rachins  Actor 
Joseph McCrossin  Actor 
Jim Sparkman  Actor 
Loren Smothers  Actor 
Brian Haley  Actor 
Kim Robillard  Actor 
Taleena Ottwell  Actor 
Michael Steve Jones  Actor 
David Kitay  Actor 
Ronald Bass  Screenwriter 
Jerry Belson  Screenwriter 
Melissa Mathison  Screenwriter 
Steven Spielberg  Director 
Steven Spielberg  Executive Producer 
Richard Vane  Producer 
John Williams  Composer (Music Score) 
Richard Dreyfuss  Actor 
Holly Hunter  Actor 
Brad Johnson  Actor 
John Goodman  Actor 
Audrey Hepburn  Actor 
Keith David  Actor 
Roberts Blossom  Actor 
Ed Van Nuys  Actor 
Marg Helgenberger  Actor 
Doug McGrath  Actor 
J.D. Souther  Actor 

Country: USA