Furyworld v5.0 - Christine: The Movie

December 9, 1983, Christine opened up on the big screen, changing how the public viewed movies. Horror no longer required a hockey mask or a 'really big kitchen knife,' but a sleek white-over-red beauty. During mid-summer of 1982, Stephen King sent Richard Kobritz, the producer of 'Salem's Lot' TV miniseries, the manuscript of his soon-to-be-published novel, Christine.

Kobritz: "I contacted Mark Tarlov of Polar Film and said, 'I think we've got the book,' and when I said, 'It's a new Stephen King,' that was that. We made a bid on the book and got it. It was just that simple."

To direct the film, Kobritz had only one man in mind, John Carpenter.(The Thing)

To cast the film's title character, ads were placed across the country offering to buy any available 1958 Plymouth Furys. $500,000 later, the filmmakers were the proud owners of 23 vintage autos, all of which were cutomized to look exactly alike.

Production began on April 25, 1983. Although the novel was set in Pittsburgh, the filmmakers changed the locale to Northern California. For financial reasons, however, the $10 million project was filmed entirely within a 30-mile radius of Los Angeles. Principal Photography wrapped after five weeks.

There's been a question for a long while about where these cars went after filming. Thanks to Aaron Kahlenberg, we know now the true facts. Find out for yourself, here.

Here I'll list some of the mistakes that I've seen, I won't bother noting the obvious which other sites have shown over and over.

In the widescreen DVD, when Dennis' '68 Charger pulls up behind Christine to 'honk for entry,' There is some kind of pole sticking out of the charger's back driver's side window. My guess would be some kind of microphone for the movie. EDIT: I've been informed that in the deleted scenes, the exhaust system falls off Christine, and this is what Dennis picked up and had it sticking out of his window. Thanks, Scott!

In the beginning of the movie, Just before Christine slams her hood down on the worker's arm, you can see her engine dual air cleaners are painted in the correct factory colors. But when you see Christine's mill after Repperton's band wrecked her, the air cleaners and other parts are chromed out with red trim.

When the burnt-out Christine rolls into Darnell's, It's a four-door car!

The movie version of Christine is a well worth-it buy. When I saw it at a local K-mart for $6.00, needless to say I was happy. The picture quality could stand to be a bit higher, but the star of the movie shows herself quite well.

The DVD version of Christine proved to be a masterpiece. Movie owners don't know what they miss without the wonderful widescreen format. In fact, the DVD offers both versions; regular and wide. Also included are interactive menus, English (Dolby surround), Spanish and Portuguese, subtitles in six languages, talent and flimographies, and scene selections.