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Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver washes ashore on Lilliput and attempts to prevent war between that tiny kingdom and its equally-miniscule rival, Blefiscu, as well as smooth the way for the romance between the Princess and Prince of the opposing lands. In this he is alternately aided and hampered by the Lilliputian town crier and general fussbudget, Gabby.
Release : | 1996 |
Rating : | 6.9 |
Studio : | Jim Henson Productions, Hallmark Entertainment, Channel 4 Television, |
Crew : | Director, Writer, |
Cast : | Geraldine Chaplin James Fox Alfre Woodard George Harris Mary Steenburgen |
Genre : | Adventure Fantasy Family |
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Just perfect...
From my favorite movies..
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Not terrible, but mediocre. There's not much worse than a mediocre movie. You can laugh at a terrible movie, laugh at how badly it was made etc. Mediocre movies...you have to survive. this one made me cringe. the acting is really quite...mediocre. that stupid Brobdingnag girl...gaah! can't keep her southern accent away! "Chaaawclaate? Cahn ah have sume chaawclaate??" It also didn't stay true to the book at all. Gulliver wasn't telling the story in the book! He was living it! There are millions of unnecessary changes that only make it worse. Such as leaving out Swift's depiction of the morals of the different people. In the book, the Lilliputians, although appearing small and innocent are actually immoral and mean creatures. While the Brobdingnagians, seeming large and scary, are actually extremely kind and gentile. In the movie, the Brobdingnagians make Gulliver lie to and cheat people for their money. Nothing like that ever occurred in Swift's genius satire. Believe me, this movie is not worth your three hours.
At first i didn't like they way the director was constantly switching from the past (gulliver's travels) to the present (gulliver in the insane asylum). But it really is the best way to film the story even though it took some getting used to. Danson is outstanding as the title character and edward fox makes a wonderful villain. Worst part is mary steenburgen as gulliver's wife. She never has been Hollywood gorgeous and in this film they make her look downright dowdy for some reason. I'll never understand why directors make a woman ugly when it adds nothing to the story! Plus you want to strangle her for being so damn stupid in believing the lies bad guy Bates keeps telling her. Even her son can see thru the bastard. Still a good show and i rate it B+.
Just discovered this one on DVD in the UK and promptly bought it !! Pretty meaty stuff and rather long, clocking in at almost three hours ! Obviously then requires several viewings to take it all in but my first impressions were generally positive. I didn't like the over-frequent to-ing and fro-ing between the present and the past without warning - it's rather tiring on the spectator's brain and if you don't follow the thing carefully you can get rather lost ! That was my main negative point, plus the fact that certain sections were rather slow and chatty. Apart from that, my impressions were mainly on the positive side rather than the negative.I had not heard of the actor Ted Danson before but he puts in a fine performance as does the quintessentially beautiful Mary Steenburgen (whom I've known since 'Time After Time') as his wife. I also noticed other faces, not least those of Victor Meldrew and Rodney Trotter from Only Fools and Horses which made me laugh no end.Technically the special effects were EXCELLENT and there was also quite a lot of humour throughout. I most most amused and intrigued by the talking horses/Yahoos as I did not know this aspect of Gulliver's travels. You could be forgiven for thinking that the protagonist had been taking too much LSD and and gone on another kind of trip !!Overall then, worth acquiring on DVD, above all for the picture quality plus the fact that several viewings are necessary.
Considering the rubbish Hallmark has come up with since, it's easy to forget how good this was. As an adaptation of the book, this is easily the best version, and is the only version to include all four parts of the book. (I do have one reservation, which will be addressed). Obviously, some satirical points are lost, as the book contains many 'topical' references to persons and occurrences from the early 18th Century which would go completely unnoticed nowadays by anyone who has not made an academic study of the book. The book had Gulliver make four separate voyages to each land, but here (as in most versions that include more than one part) Gulliver discovers all the lands in one long voyage. Whilst this removes a reasonably important aspect of the book's framing device (The progressively worse treatment of Gulliver by the ships crews reflect Gulliver's own estrangement from the human race) it does make the film flow better. The films own framing device allows much more information to be imparted, although I do believe too much time is spent on the back-story accompanying it.The Lilliputian and Brobdingnagian segments are very well done- all the major points covered in the book are dealt with very economically. It is with the next part that my reservation arises. Laputa, the Academy and the Glubbdubdrib necromancy are very well adapted, but the depiction of the immortal Struldbruggs show an incredible lack of courage. In the book, the Struldbruggs are cursed with immortality, but not eternal youth and depicts gibbering, desiccated husks millennia old. Here, the 'curse' of immortality is simply blindness, and totally betrays the book. However, this remains the first time (to my knowledge) that the Houyhnhnms section has been filmed, a section that has given Swift a reputation (probably undeserved) of being a misanthrope). Here, the odious Yahoos are kept as vile as they are in the book and, although the impact of the ending has been softened, the blow is still there.The film is very well done indeed, with perfect art design, costuming and atmospheric direction by Sturridge- the Glubbdubdrib section is brilliantly eerie. Ted Danson is nothing short of fantastic, in a studied yet emotional performance. Steenbergen is less memorable, but still effective. The star-studded supporting cast impresses throughout, especially to O'Toole's Lilliputian Emperor and Nicholas Lyndhurst's Clustril (it is oddly satisfying to have a lead actor in 'Cheers' sharing scenes with a lead actor from 'Only Fools and Horses!) The music is perfect, with the rousing theme music, the Indian- influenced but otherworldly Laputan music and the primitive percussion of the Yahoo sections.In summary, this is a great, though qualified success. There will never be a film version that does full justice to the book, but this is as close as we're probably going to get.