|
|
Regular
Price $14.98
Starring:
Tara Fitzgerald,
Freddie Highmore,
Alex Jennings,
Jonathan Bailey,
Jessica Claridge,
Directed By:
John Stephenson (II),
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Release Date: 2004
Studio: Warner Home Video
Format:
AC-3,
Closed-captioned,
Color,
Dolby,
DVD-Video,
Full Screen,
Subtitled,
Widescreen,
NTSC,
|
Customer Reviews for
5 Children & It
Read the Book Once a Year, watch the movie and enjoy both
I bought this book for my children in the 1980s as they became old enough to read. I read it back then and found it pleasant. In April/May 2008 I re-read it after noticing E. Nesbit was honored in the pages of one of my favorite books, Half Magic. My youngest daughter, as an 8 year old, read Five Children and It and told me she pretty much loved it until she saw this movie a year later, May 2008. Then she said she loved the movie more. Good for her. She isn't wrapped up in "rules" as I am.
The movie was shockingly different from the book, and I found myself endlessly comparing it to the book and being frustrated. I could've enjoyed the movie a lot if I had relaxed.
Did the movie include as much as 2 percent from E. Nesbit's book? Does anyone know? There was nothing about a war in the book. There was no train, tramp with suitcases, mansion, relatives, forbidden room, beach, and no enormous shell containing the sand fairy who tried running away.
The sand fairy's appearance, character and words were all dramatically different. He was endearing in the book. I missed his wisdom and vulnerability. You know how important it was that Gollum in Tolkien's books be done well for the movies? I feel like that about E. Nesbit's sand fairy. The movie sand fairy was lively and sarcastic and funny but he wasn't the book sand fairy.
The book had no crazy chore list, no clones, no broken vase, no testdrive of a car, no Germans, no ice cream man.
Everything having to do with wings in the movie differed from the book. In the book, the children agreed on wings and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. It was supremely glorious day. No problems until they got hungry and fell asleep. The book had charming realistic, practical dilemnas for their wings adventure. I loved that part of E. Nesbit's story. Sigh. The movie invented some conflict and drama and danger with their flight, but I much preferred the book's simple realism and good heart during that day's wish.
Everything to do with the children's father and his compass, birthday picnic, the near dissection, and the dinosaur didn't exist in the book.
I was especially bothered by the movie character played by Freddie. The movie character was rebellious, angry, passionate, and clearly the lead character. Not so in the book. I don't blame Freddie. As Jessica Rabbit would say, "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." I don't see why the story wasn't "modernized" to win a new generation, retaining the best the book had to offer. Who made the decision to change 98%?
E. Nesbit deserves to have her books made into first class movies. This can be done without having her plot and characters butchered/annihilated. How far can movie makers go with their "adaptations" and still credit a source? What a dilemna. She deserves the recognition.
I recommend you enjoy the book and enjoy the movie. They both are worth owning and worth re-reading/watching over and over. Just let go of thinking the movie will do justice to the book.5 Children & It
5 Children & It
This is a great fantasy story for children ages 8 and up. I found it to be very entertaining myself. The movie starts out with a family having to leave their home during the bombing raids of World War I and, at their new place of residence, the children encounter a creature that can grant wishes. But they soon learn that you have to be careful about what you wish for. The become attached to "IT" and the story plays out from there. A great comedy with themes of hope and love.5 Children & It
Cute, clean fun
My daughter chose this movie during a recent visit to the local library. I sat down to watch it with her with no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. We both laughed our heads off at "It's" wise-cracks and the story was a heart warmer. Best still, the movie includes zero violence, zero foul language, the bad guy (kid) learns his lesson and all ends well. Oh, and the cinematography was well-done, just beautiful! Nice movie5 Children & It
Very British and well worth a watch
This is a fairly faithful (in concept) retelling of E Nesbit's moralistic children's classic, although the story is reset in the first world war period. This film is very gentle and occasionally moving to watch, although it is more amusing than laugh out loud funny (at least when Eddie Izzard isn't about). It's more 'The railway children' or 'The secret garden' than 'Spy Kids' (hardly surprising as Nesbit also wrote The Railway Children).
The stalwart British adult actor's Zoe Wannamaker and Kenneth Branagh are in good form and all the children are excellent and likable leads, particularly the young Freddie Highmore - now the new Charlie (in Charlie & the Chocolate factory) and his 'nasty cousin' Horace (Alexander Pownall). The wise & witty old sand fairy naturally steals all his scenes (and Eddy Izzard is really great as his voice). The only downside is the rather naff static dinosaur sequence, more than made up for though by the breathtaking Zeppelin scene (best viewed on the big screen). There are some other famous UK faces as well, including Norman Wisdom in a micro cameo. The film hasn't got the depth or historical accuracy of the three hour BBC's TV adaptation of the book from 1991, and is far less faithful to the book's plotline set in the earlier late Victorian/Edwardian period. However the film is quite acceptable fun and has the advantage that it can easily be viewed as a sequel to the superb BBC adaptation (if you can find it). The actual sequel to the book though is BBCs later 'all star' serialisation 'The Phoenix and the carpet', at present only available highly edited as a region 1 'Disney film' from Amazon (and this DVD is also highly recommended - until a proper BBC DVD set appears).
On release, my 10 y old daughter and I chose this 'Five Children and it' film over Sharks Tale and didn't regret it. My daughter was absorbed throughout it (and cried a bit). My 8 y old son and mum really enjoyed this DVD later. So well worth couple of viewings on quiet winter Sundays.5 Children & It
"It" is on DVD
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's Charlie, Freddie Highmore, Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh and er... Eddie Izzard's voice star in this remake of "Five Children and It", orignally based on E. Nesbit's novel of the same name. I haven't read the book (though I'd like to), but I grew up with the old TV serial, which I thought was great. Though it's great to see the story with a bigger budget and some fine actors, and its fine family entertainment, I wish it was more like that old serial.
In the midst of World War I, a father goes to war and five children are sent into the country until things cool down a bit in England's south. The kids are sent to their Uncle Albert's (Kenneth Branagh), an eccentric writer of maths textbooks who likes his rules and dislikes distrubances. One of the rules of the house is that they are not allowed into the greenhouse. Robert (Freddie Highmore) who is a bit of a rulebreaker, goes in anyway and discovers a beach beyond an old doorway. On that beach, he finds a sand fairy, the Psammead (voiced by Eddie Izzard). Sand fairies can grant wishes, which is a pretty good thing to have access to, even if the wishes often go wrong and only last until the sun sets. Still, the kids get up to all sorts of adventures thanks to the Psammead's power.
The film is very well cast for the most part. The boys are as they should be, the girls are loving and sweet, and Kenneth Branagh makes a brilliant Uncle Albert. I can't say I really like the idea of Eddie Izzard as the Psammead. It's the voice he chooses that bugs me. It's kind of British, kind of French, which kind of makes him a bit zanier and cartoonish than the sagely plump puppet from the TV serial. Doesn't make him seem as wise and ancient, which is something I used to love about his character. It might be just the script, but this film's sand-fairy is a bit more wise cracking too, which usually annoys me, but its pretty restrained here, so it isn't too bad. Like I said, I haven't read the book, but I'm sure the TV series wasn't as "Narnia" as this. A beach in a greenhouse cupboard? Was it really like that? I don't know...
Special features include an hour long making of documentary, featuring interviews from all the actors (Freddie Highmore, Kenneth Branagh, etc), and a couple of interviews from the crew on the more technical side of things. The kids seemed really nice from their interviews. There's also an outtakes montage, some unused audio improvs from Eddie Izzard's It, a featurette on merchandise from the film (pretty much a commercial), a storyboard gallery, a design gallery, a photo gallery and a series of trailers from both TV and the theatres.
A reasonable kids film, but I do prefer the old TV serial. Three and a half stars.5 Children & It
|
