List Price: $14.98 Our Price: $13.48YOU SAVE $1.5!
Buy it
DVD Jack and the Beanstalk - The Real Story
This ambitious miniseries begins with Jack's descendant (Matthew Modine) and works its way backward to the story of the original young man and the beanstalk. Because the first Jack used that towering vine to steal a giant's magic goose and harp, an entire world was reduced to poverty and a bloodline was cursed--all Robinson men die in their 40s, and the modern-day Jack is around that age. Fortunately, Ondine (Mia Sara), a visitor from the giant's alternative reality, has a plan. If she and Jack can recover the stolen items in time, they may be able to solve both problems. The made-for-TV movie boasts top stars (including Vanessa Redgrave and Jon Voight) and Jim Henson's Creature Shop's nifty special effects. Although children younger than 10 may find the complex narrative confusing and the implied violence scary, Jack and the Beanstalk is an inventive retelling that adds new life to an old story. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Review(s): DVD Jack and the Beanstalk - The Real Story
Brilliant, but disorganized and overlong
This film has many brilliant elements, but fails to live up to its potential.
First and foremost, I think it's at least 30 minutes too long.
Secondly, quite a lot of that extra length is taken up with spurious scenes, and plot elements that go nowhere, most egregiously the genetically engineered desert peas.
Were these in the script originally as an alternate means of reaching the land in the clouds? A goodwill gift of food for the cloud folks until the magical items could be returned? And why, for goodness sake, plant the seeds INDOORS? Why not throw them out the window (as in the original tale) or ask someone to plant them? This element reeks of being something sloppily vestigial, never properly removed from the script nor developed either.
Were the cloned geese laying golden eggs? I couldn't figure that out either. If they were, and they had the CD of the harp, then who needs the originals?
Some scenes just stretched credibility way too far. Just how unbelievably silly did Ondine need to be, not to understand what Jack was up to in the treasure room?
I also didn't care for the wisecracking goose, though I suppose it was obligatory to enable the constipation humor.
Having said that, I think the film is worth at least one viewing by those 10 or over, preferably in the company of adults, who will likely get something out of the film as well. Just be prepared to split the viewing over more than one night.
Magical, Brilliant, and Entertaining!
I came across this DVD totally by chance on Amazon and I'm so glad I took a chance and bought it with out viewing it first! I'm very surprised that this movie has not gotten more attention, there is a great cast and a very good plot line. They took the old story of Jack and the beanstalk but warped it into the modern scene and made the audience begin to wonder, 'did it really happen?' I'm 20, and I wasn't sure what age range this movie is for, based on the reviews found here people say 'oh it's not for kids' or 'oh it's a great family movie with high morals' Well this is my own take on it, yeah there is violence and a lot of romance and kissing, maybe not something you want to show your very young children. I think that 10 year olds will enjoy and understand this movie as well as older people. I loved this movie and the main star is soooo hot! The story is complex enough for adults, yet simple morals can be learned for kids watching this movie. If you like Tenth Kingdom, Snow Queen, or any other Hallmark production buy this movie!
Nice twist to the movie
Good acting and scenery and effects, Jack, the distance great great... etc grandson of the original Jack who climbed the bean stalk is the key figure in this, the twist comes in because it gives the Giants point of view.
Very intresting, entertaining and does teach a great since of morals and ethics!
Enjoy!
Related DVD's Jack and the Beanstalk - The Real Story
This epic 10-hour miniseries from the Emmy-winning writer of Gulliver's Travels was a ratings bust on television, but on video and DVD, where it can be enjoyed at one's leisure, it has a better chance to cast its magical spell. Kimberly Williams has never been more enchanting than as Virginia, a waitress who still lives with her janitor father (John Larroquette) and yearns for something exciting to happen to her. Her wish comes true when she and her father are transported from New York City into a dimension that, with apologies to Rod Serling, can only be called the Fairy Tale Zone; nine kingdoms populated by characters from fairy tales of yore. They team up with a dog who's really a prince--Wendell, grandson of Snow White--changed into canine form by the evil Queen (Dianne... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Herbert Wise - David Carson DVD Release Date: Released the 28 May 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $12.99YOU SAVE $1.99!
Buy it
There's a war goin' on in this bit o' blarney, but it's more than the feud between the fairies and the leprechauns, upon which most of the overwrought tale hangs. It's also a struggle between competing, derivative story lines in this bloated, plodding film that can't decide what it wants to be. It's part Romeo and Juliet, via the seemingly doomed romance of the princess fairy and teenage leprechaun; part contemporary romance, with an uncomfortable-looking Randy Quaid in the romantic lead; and a large part unfocused fable that fills out its Irish stew with a feud reminiscent of Ireland's Catholic-Protestant conflict while throwing in fantastical Braveheart-style battle scenes and Riverdance-like interludes. The most stunning scenes are the fairy sequences that take... More Info about this DVD Director(s): John Henderson DVD Release Date: Released the 14 March 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $13.48YOU SAVE $1.5!
Buy it
What begins as a simple, bittersweet tale about a widower's daughter grandly unfolds into a rich, mythical adventure in Hallmark's production of Snow Queen. Based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, this story whisks viewers to a remote mountain town where winter claims a surprising number of lives, beginning with the local innkeeper's wife. Many years later, the woman's daughter, Gerda (Chelsea Hobbs), finds true love when her father hires Kai (Jeremy Guilbaut) as the inn's new bellboy. About one hour into this three-hour production, the mood turns rather sinister as the Snow Queen (Bridget Fonda) bewitches and captures Kai. Scenes of Gerda's search--through the lush temptations of each season personified--are interspersed with downright creepy scenes of Kai held... More Info about this DVD Director(s): David Wu DVD Release Date: Released the 21 January 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $13.48YOU SAVE $1.5!
Buy it
When Sultan Said discovers his wife locked in a passionate embrace with his only brother, he flings his sword at the prince and accidentally murders his adulterous queen. Tortured by his wife's ghost, the maniacal and cowardly sultan must marry another to save his kingdom, but to avoid future matrimonial disgrace he plans to have her executed the morning after the wedding. Fortunately for him, Scheherezade, the grand vicar's daughter played by the lovely Mili Avital, jumps at the challenge and the chance to marry her childhood love. A master storyteller, the newly crowned sultana escapes death night after night with her mesmerizing tales of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Aladdin and his Magic Lamp, countless warriors, supernatural duels, and ferocious genies.
Although the main story... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Steve Barron DVD Release Date: Released the 07 August 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $11.98YOU SAVE $3!
Buy it
One of Jim Henson's finest hours was the Storyteller series that first aired on HBO in 1987. As with his other non-Muppet creations (Labyrinth), Henson fills the screen with wonderful creatures that have a wisp of a J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy. This collection of nine stories (it does not contain the Greek myths arc) were adapted by Anthony Minghella, who became an Oscar-winning filmmaker a decade later with The English Patient. Minghella weaves the narration of the storyteller (played with aplomb by John Hurt) with dialogue from the stories to beguiling effect; the storyteller doesn't simply introduce the tales.
A few of the stories have been available before on video, but this collection starts with the debut, the Emmy-winning "Hans My Hedgehog," the title role... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Steve Barron - Paul Weiland - Jon Amiel - Peter Smith - Jim Henson DVD Release Date: Released the 26 August 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.94 Your Price: $14.96YOU SAVE $4.98!
Buy it
