Cloak & Dagger

[areaseven]

Cloak & Dagger
Universal Pictures, 1984
Directed by Richard Franklin (1948-2007) (Roadgames, Psycho II)
Based on the 1949 film The Window
Running Time: 101 minutes
Rated PG for violence and mature situations.

Cast
Henry Thomas (Elliott in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Samuel in Legends of the Fall) as Davey Osborne
Dabney Coleman (Dr. McKittrick in WarGames) as Hal Osborne and Jack Flack
Christina Nigra as Kim Gardener
William Forsythe (Flattop in Dick Tracy) as Morris
John McIntire (1907-1991) as George MacCready
Jeanette Nolan (1911-1998) as Eunice MacCready

Synopsis
Davey Osborne is a kid trying to cope with his mother's death while his father Hal is too occupied in his job in military air traffic. This leaves Davey immersing himself into an espionage role-playing game called Cloak & Dagger, fantasizing himself living in an adventure with the game's hero Jack Flack.

One day, while running an errand for his friend's video game store, Davey witnesses the murder of a scientist, who hands him an Atari 5200 cartridge of the Cloak & Dagger game. Inside the cartridge are top-secret documents pertaining to the SR-71 Blackbird. Davey fends for his life as spies all over town are after him, and no one believes him due to his fantasy play.

Lowdown
It was mentioned on a my film review thread for Flight of the Navigator that the '80s was filled with "kidsploitation" flicks that simply had kids as the main protagonists. It was also the decade where Hollywood first experimented with video game tie-ins. Cloak & Dagger was a result of Universal collaborating with Atari, when the latter company was developing a game titled Agent X.

Hot off his role as Elliott in the 1982 blockbuster E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Henry Thomas does a good job playing a kid nobody would believe. Dabney Coleman plays Davey's father, but it's his role as Davey's imaginary friend Jack Flack that steals most of the show. Everybody else is rather average on their performance.

The story itself is rather dark for a kid-oriented film. Very few movies of this kind directly deal with on-screen death. And because of an elderly couple that "befriends" Davey - only to reveal themselves to him as spies, many kids probably developed nightmares about old people. The Cloak & Dagger video game is somewhat misleading, as screenshots are from the arcade unit. An Atari 5200 version was never made due to the great video game crash of 1983.

Overall, Cloak & Dagger is an '80s kids film that doesn't age well like The Goonies, but it still holds its own with its plot twists and Davey's interaction with Jack Flack. Makes a great rental for you and the kids to watch.

"Jack Flack always escapes."

Rating: B+

DVD Extras
Saw it on late-night TV, so I haven't seen the DVD release yet to judge on the extras.

Reference
The Internet Movie Database Edited August 7, 2016 by areaseven

[the white drew carey]

A fun diversion, and you're right that the on-screen death and old people/spies can be disturbing. I agree with the B+.

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Man this movie takes me back. I can't remember alot of it, didn't he end up piloting the 71? i think i'm getting this confused with another one.. what movie was it that the kid got in a SR-71? Blackbird soo so long ago. Yeah i remember the kid had the specs of the Blackbird on the cartridge, one of the main reasons i hired this as a kid coz i was a huge lover of the 71 at that time. I really enjoyed it as a kid, but very scary.

As a kid i watched alot of films that dealt with death, so it wasn't too bad, movies like Blue Thunder and Bev Hills Cop de-sensortized me.

And this movie where a kid gets in the blackbird, maybe he was an android or something... lol maybe it was a dream when i was a kid.

*is not crazy* This movie was around the same time i watched another classic, Frog Dreaming i think it was called. lol Scary as a kid.

Edited October 20, 2008 by ruskiiVFaussie

[Scream Man]

This wasnt what i expected when i read the title. I wondered if Id missed a movie on:

[Hikuro]

Close, tht was D.A.R.Y.L.

which is good nostalgic flick, one of those with this and flight of the navigatot.

I think I still got the tapes to those three.

Man this movie takes me back. I can't remember alot of it, didn't he end up piloting the 71? i think i'm getting this confused with another one.. what movie was it that the kid got in a SR-71? Blackbird soo so long ago. Yeah i remember the kid had the specs of the Blackbird on the cartridge, one of the main reasons i hired this as a kid coz i was a huge lover of the 71 at that time. I really enjoyed it as a kid, but very scary.

As a kid i watched alot of films that dealt with death, so it wasn't too bad, movies like Blue Thunder and Bev Hills Cop de-sensortized me.

And this movie where a kid gets in the blackbird, maybe he was an android or something... lol maybe it was a dream when i was a kid.

*is not crazy* This movie was around the same time i watched another classic, Frog Dreaming i think it was called. lol Scary as a kid.

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Close, tht was D.A.R.Y.L.

which is good nostalgic flick, one of those with this and flight of the navigatot.

I think I still got the tapes to those three.

Ahh thanks for that!

[sharky]

Growing up in Texas it was interesting to see the familiar sites of San Antonio in the movie. This one and Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Growing up in Texas it was interesting to see the familiar sites of San Antonio in the movie. This one and Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Now that's an awesome movie. Truly a king among men.

"The mind plays tricks on you. You play tricks back! It's like you're unraveling a big cable-knit sweater that someone keeps knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting... "