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Henry Thomas, Dabney Coleman, Michael Murphy, Christina Nigra, John McIntire ... see more see more... , Jeanette Nolan , Eloy Casados , Tim Rossovich , William Forsythe , Louie Anderson , Norman Bennett , Earl Houston Bullock , Linden Chiles , Robert DoQui , Steve Fromholz , Nicholas Guest , Doris Hargrave , Karen Leigh Hopkins , Shelby Leverington , William Marquez , Corey Rand , Gene Ross , Robert Curtin , John Edson , Gary Moody , Robert Traynor , Wendell Wright , Al Gomez , Charles Beall , Berkley H. Garrett , Eleese Lester

Juvenile actor Henry Thomas, late of E.T., is the star of Cloak and Dagger. Given to telling whoppers, Thomas finds himself in a boy-who-cried-wolf dilemma when he overhears two spies plotting to smug... read more read more...gle valuable info out of the US. When he can't get his own father Dabney Coleman to believe him, Thomas turns disconsolately to a computer game called "Cloak and Dagger" and begins to fantasize, imagining that he is in cahoots with secret agent Jack Flack, also played by Coleman. Finally coming to grips with the fact that the mythical Jack Flack cannot help him this time, Thomas takes on the spies with the help of his schoolmates, who are also "Cloak and Dagger" addicts. Cloak and Dagger is a heavily disguised remake of 1949's The Window; both are based on the Cornell Woolrich story The Boy Cried Murder. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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54% liked it

8,860 ratings

Critics

50% liked it

6 critics

PG, 1 hr. 42 min.

Directed by: Richard Franklin

Release Date: August 10, 1984

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DVD Release Date: November 23, 2004

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Stats: 313 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (313)

  • bbcfloridabound
    February 24, 2012
    bbcfloridabound
    A cute little kids spy film, about military secrets being smuggled out of the county in Atari Game Cartages. Funny to see how basic graphics were in 1983, not a great film but should keep those under 13 amused for more then 5 minutes. I saw it on Netflix Stream. 3 Stars
  • kenstachnik
    February 4, 2011
    kenstachnik
    An espionage obsessed 12 year old (Elliot from ET) fights some really under qualified bad guys who are trying to get there hands on an Atari game with top secret information embedded in it.

    Fairly entertaining, I'd recommend it to kids under 13, but being they don't know what A... read moretari is I'm not sure it'll fly. Definitely worth remaking.
  • ajv2688
    January 18, 2011
    ajv2688
    Amazing, this is kids action movie! I loved it, it's a lot of fun, and very suspenseful.
  • adammahler1
    October 10, 2010
    adammahler1
    It has good cinematography and Dabney Coleman is great in his double role, but the boy lead, Henry Thomas, seems a little autistic at times. This is a brave kids movie in that the hero is so wrapped up in his spy-videogame world that we know it's probably not healthy, even if the... read more stuffy adult world tells him the same thing. Cloak & Dagger is fun because it is serious about murder, with cold Hitchcockian touches that don't suggest the kids will make it out alive. The movie gets bad whenever other little touches make it seem like a Disney TV movie.

    The screenplay seems to suggest that these events could all be his fantasy taken too far, and then not follow through with this idea (which would have given us an ending like Total Recall's), because that might be too frightening a possibility for a younger audience.

    Robert Rodriguez or M. Night S. should remake it or maybe that's too obvious.
  • skactopus
    January 23, 2009
    skactopus
    The "Cloak and Dagger" expression refers to situations regarding secrecy, espionage, etc. "Cloak & Dagger" is also the name of a video game from the early 80s. Both of these are involved in this movie, which is titled, oddly enough, Cloak & Dagger.

    This picture pans ou

    ... read moret like an action adventure mystery. The "Cloak & Dagger" video game plays an intricate part in the story, but this is not necessarily a video game movie. There is a sense of realism throughout the picture, but there are times where things become unbelievable.

    There is a decent amount of action and violence that help this 100 minute production move by pretty quickly. In fact, all the violence puts the PG rating to question because I believe a PG-13 rating is a more suitable fit. Before leaving this subject, I will note that the car driving scene is nicely written, as it is realistic and highly entertaining.

    Henry Thomas, not too long off of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, puts on a respectable performance as Davey. Dabney Coleman does double duty as Jack Flack and Thomas' father. The Flack character is probably the most memorable of the film. William Forsythe has an interesting role as a video game nerd and Christina Nigra is an annoying Kim Gardener.

    Cloak & Dagger is an amusing family oriented film with a nice message to be conveyed. Feel free to check it out.
  • sononothing
    September 15, 2008
    sononothing
    Cloak and Dagger is the story of a young San Antonio boy (Henry Thomas) who becomes so wrapped up in his hero super spy Jack Flack (Dabney Coleman) he mixes the fantasy world of Flack with the reality of being a kid. Things begin to heat up when young Davey ends up in the middle ... read moreof a game of cat and mouse over a video game cartridge containing government secrets.

    Cloak and Dagger is a fun little film that delves into what would happen if those Indians we chased as kids were actually real. It's a great kids film, even though the violence is intense in some parts (this possibly could have been released before PG-13).

    The main problem with the film viewing it 25 years later is seeing how dated it has become. Do kids today know what Atari or a game cartridge is? Why is Dabney Coleman wearing pleather? Is that really William Forsythe as the fat, game playing, slob Morris? Can you imagine a kid running around a building with a toy gun in 2008? We would be calling SWAT to clear is E.T. loving ass out of the building.

    Other than being dated (which those of us who remember the summer of Gizmo and Mola Ran will not think it's dated) Cloak and Dagger is a great little spy adventure/kids flick.
  • deano
    September 4, 2008
    deano
    This is the one of the best dangerously cat-and-mouse thriller movies that makes me exciting to see young actor Henry Thomas (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) as a highly imaginative boy who often plays pretend games of espionage with his fantasy friend finds himself involved i... read moren a real-life-and-death situation when he stumbles onto the evil doings of a group of spies. It's suspenseful and fast-paced but not so scary and violent as to upset the kiddies - it's true when I was 10 years old.
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    February 8, 2008
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    Loved it as a kid.
  • Beefy
    September 24, 2006
    Beefy
    A cheesy project of its time, this was "that movie with the kid from E.T. in it". Interesting as a curio and for the good performance of the underappreciated Dabney Coleman.
  • burgerstar
    August 26, 2011
    burgerstar
    Great kids movie. It's a little dated, revolving around Atari games, but still good.

View All Cloak & Dagger Reviews

Critic Reviews

Renee Schonfeld
November 23, 2010
Renee Schonfeld, Common Sense Media

Fantasy-adventure is exciting, but full of dark mayhem. Full Review

Steve Crum
July 13, 2007
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

So-so Dabney Coleman kid fantasy-adventure yarn.

Scott Weinberg
April 3, 2005
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

The great Dabney Coleman in TWO different roles? All right!

Janet Maslin
May 25, 2004
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
July 23, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Frank Swietek
August 2, 2004
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion

No review available.

Carol Cling
May 28, 2004
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

Leo Goldsmith
August 17, 2007
Leo Goldsmith, Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Click to read the article Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Cloak & Dagger Trivia

  • What city was the movie cloak and dagger filmed in?  Answer »
  • In what city does Cloak & Dagger take place? (Hint: it's one of the ten biggest cities in the US.)  Answer »
  • In 1984's 'Cloak and Dagger,' Davey Osborne (Henry Thomas) accidentally comes into possession of a video game cartridge that contains espionage information. What game system did the cartridge fit?  Answer »
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