The Langoliers (miniseries)

The Langoliers (1995) is a two-episode miniseries in which most of the passengers on an airplane disappear, and the remainder land the plane in a mysteriously barren airport. It is based on the novella of the same name by Stephen King.

Dinah Bellman

• The langoliers are coming.

• 1h36m38s

Dialogue

He said you'd be lying in bed one night and you'd hear them coming towards you—crunching, chomping, and smacking...

Dinah: What are the langoliers, Mr. Toomy?

Mr. Toomy: Well, I used to think that they were make-believe, but I'm beginning to wonder because I hear it too.

Dinah: The sound?

Mr. Toomy: The sound's the langoliers. Well, I don't know what else it could be.

Dinah: Tell me more about them.

Mr. Toomy: Well, my father used to say that the langoliers were little creatures that lived in closets and sewers and other dark places.

Dinah: Like elves?

Mr. Toomy: No. [Laughing] No, not like elves. Nothing quite so pleasant, I'm afraid. He said that all they really were was hair and teeth and fast little legs. Oh, those little legs had to be fast so that they could catch up with all the bad little boys no matter how quickly they scampered.

Laurel: Stop it. You're scaring her.

Dinah: No, he's not. I know make-believe when I hear it.

Mr. Toomy: I think what Laurel means is that I'm scaring her. Well, my dad said there were thousands of langoliers. There had to be thousands of them because there are millions of bad little boys and bad little girls scampering all over the world. Oh, my father loved that word, "scampering". I think because it implies senseless, directionless, unproductive motion. Because the langoliers, they run. They have purpose. In fact, you could say that the langoliers are purpose personified.

Dinah: What did the kids do that was so bad the langoliers had to run after them?

Mr. Toomy: Well, I'm glad you asked that question, Dinah, because when my daddy said someone was bad, he meant that that person was lazy. And a lazy person couldn't be part of the big picture. Because in my house, you were either part of the big picture or you were lying down on the job. And if you were lying down on the job and you weren't part of the big picture, then the langoliers would come and take you out of the picture, take you out of it altogether. He said you'd be lying in bed one night and you'd hear them coming towards you—crunching, chomping, and smacking...

• 1h30m26s

---

[Bob is watching the langoliers eat up the entire airport]

Bob Jenkins: Now we know, don't we?

Laurel Stevenson: What? We know what?

Bob Jenkins: We know what happens to today when it becomes yesterday. It waits for them. It waits for them, the timekeepers of eternity. Always following behind, cleaning up the mess in the most efficient way possible—by eating it.

• 2h16m51s

Taglines

• Prepare yourself for the flight of your life!
• The grand master of suspense transports you to another dimension.

External links

• The Langoliers (film) quotes at the Internet Movie Database