Reviews (113)

Gilliam achieves much with little
Worth it for Gilliam and indie film fans. A group of renegade shrubbery-designers on the lam from the Supreme Being stumble through a hole in space-time into the bedroom of a small boy, whom they abduct to help them steal the treasures of history. Okay, Gilliam fans, rejoice. Python fans, rent it first. Indie filmmakers - here's how to make a plausible looking fantasy film on a (still big) budget. The executive summary: 1. Acting - well done and believable. Appropriately over-the top in places. 2. Plot - fun fun fun and I want that map! Touching in places, and the non-Hollywood ending is perfect. 3. Production design / special effects - good enough. On par with Monty Python episodes / Holy Grail film. Notable exception - everything to do with "Evil". Bonus: see the origins of the "insidiously cheesy machinery" look Gilliam later perfected in "Brazil" and "12 Monkeys". Sets and props are extremely well-used (pay attention to the kids' room at the beginning!)and add richness to the film. The DVD has commentary by the now-grown child lead, as well as some Gilliam miscellany. For fans, well worth the extra investment, even if you already own the VHS edition. Key issue - this is only a date movie if your date can handle "silly." Most American ladies (in my experience) find Monty Python really unfunny. This film is not true Python when taken as a whole, but anything with a little slapstick and cockney accents seems to get painted as such. Warning: I thought that since one lady friend of mine liked Adam Sandler, she'd like TB - I was wrong! Be warned! Overall - fans, buy it. Others - rent it or ask for it for a gift.

PYTHONESQUE ADVENTURE
From a script written with fellow Python Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam's TIME BANDITS Divimax Special Edition (Anchor Bay) is a certified cult fave of wonder, wit and unbridled imagination. A school boy is sucked into a crime spree by a time travelling gang of dwarves who have a map to the holes in the space-time continuum. Along the way, they encounter Napoleon (Ian Holm), Robin Hood (John Cleese), King Agamemnon (Sean Connery), Evil Genius (David Warner) and God (Sir Ralph Richardson) -- who almost answers one of the supreme theological questions.

This new two-disc edition in Divimax is a state of the art hi-def transfer. The bonus disc features interviews with Gilliam and Palin and a career retrospective that includes Brad Pitt, Shelley Duvall, David Warner among others.

Pretentious junk
Save your dough.

A british kid goes on adventures with a bunch of hammy-acting little people. At the end, his parents die for no apparant reason. (Before some film school moron e-mails me with the reason, I got it. It was just dumb.)

Get "Brazil" or "Munchausen" instead. Gilliam's off his game here. Or try "12 monkeys." That's a great film

A Concept Film that Doesn't Know When to Quit
Like a big candy bar. Eye-popping but unfulfilling. Momentarily pleasing but undernourishing. Couldn't help but think this could have been so much better. It's kind of a Monty Python reimagining of The Wizard of Oz. More mature and cleverer. A plucky resourceful child is transported to a parallel world where the child must make things right before he/she is allowed to go home. The Munchkins are the stars this time. The Supreme Being is, of course, Oz. Evil is the Wicked Witch. Instead of the fantasy world sing-a-long; Gilliam goes with Sci-Fi time travel. Either the movie should have been longer to allow for more story & character development or some of the great ideas should have been shelved for other projects. There's a certain episodic feel to the proceedings as the time travelers jump from time to time but don't really get anywhere; much like the film itself.

an interesting film for older mature children.
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

This film was marketed as being for children. I thought that this film is too morbid for small children and recommend that children be at least 8 years old to watch it.

In this film, a young boy joins a troupe of dwarves who travel through 'holes' in time with the aid of a time map stolen from a deity. They rob famous historical figures such as Napoleon and Agamemnon. Later they are captured by an evil sorceror who takes the map from them.

This film has several creatures in it that I think would frighten younger children I urge parents to watch the film by themselves before showing it to their children.

The Criterion Collection has special features including a theatrical trailer, a slide show of production photos and a video, and full-length audio commentary by selected cast & crew. ... Read more

Reviews (113)

A compelling ghost story
I liked this movie a lot. The atmosphere, the woman in black, the story, but it didn't scare me at all. I think I've been ruined when it comes to ghost stories. I can't find anything that scares me anymore. When I was a kid I had the daylights scared out of me by the Exorcist. Now when I watch it I don't even flinch. Strange how things change. I love ghost stories and this one delivers quite well for being a made-for-TV movie. I especially liked how the movie immerses you in the period and the house is so interesting I wish I could have walked through the set. Maybe it's just England, but the creepy atmosphere really adds to the movie. I agree with other reviews: They could have used more of the house to further the story and they could have gotten more in-depth with the story of the woman in black. This movie would have been a lot better if there had been more story and more scary scenes. As it is, it's an excellent film, but it just didn't scare me like I wanted. Maybe that's not saying much. 4 stars for atmosphere, minus 1 because I wasn't scared at all. Just because it didn't scare me doesn't mean it won't scare you. It's definitely worthy of any horror collection.

A vengeful ghost story that defines the genre!
Oh how I wish they would re-release this movie on video. With the current success of THE RING as well as the classic selections from the British 1960's (THE HAUNTING, THE INNOCENTS, THE UNINVITED, et al)...THE WOMAN IN BLACK is the perfect tale of a ghost hell-bent on revenge and mayhem.
This movie is very subtle in it's portrayal of horror because it has the viewer experience the ghost in little bits and off kilter glances, slowly building up to the inevitable confrontation. Imagine a black silouette void of all color...begging to be seen (in order to scare you to death) but always thwarted by the victim's doubt of the experience. However, the victims resistance breaks down eventually(with the viewer) while the observations become closer,and closer...clearer and clearer, UNTIL... .
There is one specific scene that literally caused my wife and I to scream(no joke)where we get an up close in-your-face look at the woman in black's body and maniacal face!! My wife refuses to watch this movie again. I'd love to buy this film for my collection. It's a must have. A classic if there ever was one.
Please re-release this!

Dont expect.....
...blood, gore, monsters, jumping out of your seat nonsense. Just expect a slow, creeping sense of dread and you'll love this film. One of the few films that really scared me.

Fabulous.

Atmopheric and menacing
Lovers of the splatter-type horror flick will be left cold by this film. Of course, they miss the point: they don't really like HORROR, they like GORE. Some few films can deliver both gore and atmosphere, but they are genre-hybrids. The essence of classic horror is atmosphere: the creation of a sense of dread, of looming evil, of lurking malevolence-- and inexorably increasing it to a point of crisis. By nature, this cannot be accomplished at a pace more proper to an action flick. Hence the negative reviews of this film and other classics of the horror genre (such as The Haunting and the even greater book that is its source, The Haunting of Hill House, for example.) Gore films -- Friday the 13th and Evil Dead and that ilk-- are about as subtle as a bludgeon, and subtlety is indispensible in creating atmosphere. The Woman in Black succeeds admirably in creating an oppressive atmosphere of dread and immanent malevolence that few films have ever matched, let alone surpassed. The sense of looming evil is almost palpable. But it requires active watching, and if one wants a film to leap out and club them over the head, they should stick with Freddie Kruger. For lovers of intelligent and chilling, classic horror, this will be quite a find. If you love Shirley Jackson or Algernon Blackwood, you'll be impressed. If you prefer Friday the 13th, wait for the next (and seemingly inevitable) sequel.

Not even worth one star
I love scary movies so one day while searching for a good scary movie I came across The Woman in Black. After reading the reviews about how awesome this movie is I got is as a gift. Words cannot express how dissapointing this movie is. It starts off incredibly slow and does not pick up for the whole entire hour and a half that it is on. There is no real suspense in the movie and the ending was stupid. I do like
British horror movies but trust me this is not one of the good ones. It's not worth the money you spend on it. The only scary thing about this movie is that I'll never get the hour and a half back that I spent watching this garbage. ... Read more

Reviews (113)

Gilliam achieves much with little
Worth it for Gilliam and indie film fans. A group of renegade shrubbery-designers on the lam from the Supreme Being stumble through a hole in space-time into the bedroom of a small boy, whom they abduct to help them steal the treasures of history. Okay, Gilliam fans, rejoice. Python fans, rent it first. Indie filmmakers - here's how to make a plausible looking fantasy film on a (still big) budget. The executive summary: 1. Acting - well done and believable. Appropriately over-the top in places. 2. Plot - fun fun fun and I want that map! Touching in places, and the non-Hollywood ending is perfect. 3. Production design / special effects - good enough. On par with Monty Python episodes / Holy Grail film. Notable exception - everything to do with "Evil". Bonus: see the origins of the "insidiously cheesy machinery" look Gilliam later perfected in "Brazil" and "12 Monkeys". Sets and props are extremely well-used (pay attention to the kids' room at the beginning!)and add richness to the film. The DVD has commentary by the now-grown child lead, as well as some Gilliam miscellany. For fans, well worth the extra investment, even if you already own the VHS edition. Key issue - this is only a date movie if your date can handle "silly." Most American ladies (in my experience) find Monty Python really unfunny. This film is not true Python when taken as a whole, but anything with a little slapstick and cockney accents seems to get painted as such. Warning: I thought that since one lady friend of mine liked Adam Sandler, she'd like TB - I was wrong! Be warned! Overall - fans, buy it. Others - rent it or ask for it for a gift.

PYTHONESQUE ADVENTURE
From a script written with fellow Python Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam's TIME BANDITS Divimax Special Edition (Anchor Bay) is a certified cult fave of wonder, wit and unbridled imagination. A school boy is sucked into a crime spree by a time travelling gang of dwarves who have a map to the holes in the space-time continuum. Along the way, they encounter Napoleon (Ian Holm), Robin Hood (John Cleese), King Agamemnon (Sean Connery), Evil Genius (David Warner) and God (Sir Ralph Richardson) -- who almost answers one of the supreme theological questions.

This new two-disc edition in Divimax is a state of the art hi-def transfer. The bonus disc features interviews with Gilliam and Palin and a career retrospective that includes Brad Pitt, Shelley Duvall, David Warner among others.

Pretentious junk
Save your dough.

A british kid goes on adventures with a bunch of hammy-acting little people. At the end, his parents die for no apparant reason. (Before some film school moron e-mails me with the reason, I got it. It was just dumb.)

Get "Brazil" or "Munchausen" instead. Gilliam's off his game here. Or try "12 monkeys." That's a great film

A Concept Film that Doesn't Know When to Quit
Like a big candy bar. Eye-popping but unfulfilling. Momentarily pleasing but undernourishing. Couldn't help but think this could have been so much better. It's kind of a Monty Python reimagining of The Wizard of Oz. More mature and cleverer. A plucky resourceful child is transported to a parallel world where the child must make things right before he/she is allowed to go home. The Munchkins are the stars this time. The Supreme Being is, of course, Oz. Evil is the Wicked Witch. Instead of the fantasy world sing-a-long; Gilliam goes with Sci-Fi time travel. Either the movie should have been longer to allow for more story & character development or some of the great ideas should have been shelved for other projects. There's a certain episodic feel to the proceedings as the time travelers jump from time to time but don't really get anywhere; much like the film itself.

an interesting film for older mature children.
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

This film was marketed as being for children. I thought that this film is too morbid for small children and recommend that children be at least 8 years old to watch it.

In this film, a young boy joins a troupe of dwarves who travel through 'holes' in time with the aid of a time map stolen from a deity. They rob famous historical figures such as Napoleon and Agamemnon. Later they are captured by an evil sorceror who takes the map from them.

This film has several creatures in it that I think would frighten younger children I urge parents to watch the film by themselves before showing it to their children.

The Criterion Collection has special features including a theatrical trailer, a slide show of production photos and a video, and full-length audio commentary by selected cast & crew. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Nothing like Woolf's "To the Lighthouse"
I couldn't bear to watch the whole DVD--it was too different from one of my favorite books, Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse." Like the recent "adaptation" of John Galsworthy's "The Forsyte Saga," this seemed to have little in common with the literary masterpiece behind it except for the setting, the title, and the names of the characters. Very disappointing!

Sweepingly beautiful photography
Starring two-time British Academy Award winner Kenneth Branagh and Emmy and Golden Globe Winner Rosemary Harris, Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse is the 115 minute, full color, visually impressive DVD adaptation of Virginia Woolf's classic novel about treasuring the moments in this mortal world, where war, illness, sudden accident, or the simple passage of time inevitably brings about loss. Sweepingly beautiful photography, and the heartfelt treasure of family and friends sharing a summer before going their separate ways makes for a lasting tale of emotion and love. DVD exclusives include notes about the author, about the cast, and about the novel itself, as well as a variety of discussion topics.

Captures the meloncoly mood of the Virginia Woolf novel
This 1983 British made-for-TV adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel begins with the Ramsay family vacationing in their summerhouse in Cornwell shortly before WWI. Rosemary Harris plays the mother, the ideal woman of the time, who forgives her husband's outbursts of temper and is loving to her six growing children, summer guests, and neighbors. Michael Gough plays the husband, an educator who is frustrated by the confines of family life, and Kenneth Branagh plays a graduate student with strong political beliefs.

Constant throughout is the six-year old son's request for a trip to the lighthouse, but the weather is never quite right. It's symbolic, of course, as it stands off in the distance, a future adventure that keeps being postponed.

The essence of the Woolf story is well captured although some of the characters were left out. But we get to see a piece of the seemingly idyllic world through the eyes of the family and the resultant effects of the following ten years, which are filled with tragedy. Cinematography is excellent, capturing the mood and beauty of the English countryside. It's a melancholy story that keeps getting sadder as it moves through time. And so, when the coveted trip to the lighthouse actually happens, it seems anticlimactic although this act is the glue that holds the story together.

I watched the first half of this video on one day and the rest of it on the next. In this way, I was able to enjoy the acting and the atmosphere. As I had read the book, there were no surprises and my interest was less in the storyline than how it was presented. This kept me from being bored because the story is really very slow. Virginia Woolf fans will like it. Others might wonder what all the fuss is about. I enjoyed it.

To the Lighthouse
Anyone who understands Virginia Woolf cannot but enjoy this adaptation of one of her most famous and well-known writings. It is a study of a family on their annual holiday. Transition is afoot as one observes the time-held tradition of that holiday against the world on the edge of World War I. Throughout the film, the juxtaposition of old world versus new world is evident: the aging professor (Mr Ramsey) and his wife versus their children who are coming of age at a time when their world will be shattered by WWI; Mr Ramsey's young student guest for the holiday (who so reminds Mr Ramsey of himself) so full of science, yet stuffed and conservative versus the daughter who questions her lot in life in; another guest - Lily the 'spinster' versus Mrs Ramsey the matron. It is also a film about the modern woman (Lilly) versus the old-world woman (Mrs Ramsey). Mrs. Ramsey can never understand a world outside the confines of her husband and children; Lilly on the other hand, dreams of being a great painter among a world of men. This is a film of coming of age - both personally and worldly. This isn't a film about any "star" or Hollywood hoopla. If you are looking for this element, you best look elsewhere. This a mindful look into human frailty and the gaps each generation tries to bridge.

Plain boring. But this may be just me...
As a person who knows or cares little about Virginia Woolf or her novels, I did not like this movie. There was no story to follow, and it was plain boring. I should mention that I watched this movie to see some early work of Kenneth Branagh, and his screen time was little. So I would not recommend this movie to people who are watching it with a similar reason. ... Read more

Reviews (113)

Gilliam achieves much with little
Worth it for Gilliam and indie film fans. A group of renegade shrubbery-designers on the lam from the Supreme Being stumble through a hole in space-time into the bedroom of a small boy, whom they abduct to help them steal the treasures of history. Okay, Gilliam fans, rejoice. Python fans, rent it first. Indie filmmakers - here's how to make a plausible looking fantasy film on a (still big) budget. The executive summary: 1. Acting - well done and believable. Appropriately over-the top in places. 2. Plot - fun fun fun and I want that map! Touching in places, and the non-Hollywood ending is perfect. 3. Production design / special effects - good enough. On par with Monty Python episodes / Holy Grail film. Notable exception - everything to do with "Evil". Bonus: see the origins of the "insidiously cheesy machinery" look Gilliam later perfected in "Brazil" and "12 Monkeys". Sets and props are extremely well-used (pay attention to the kids' room at the beginning!)and add richness to the film. The DVD has commentary by the now-grown child lead, as well as some Gilliam miscellany. For fans, well worth the extra investment, even if you already own the VHS edition. Key issue - this is only a date movie if your date can handle "silly." Most American ladies (in my experience) find Monty Python really unfunny. This film is not true Python when taken as a whole, but anything with a little slapstick and cockney accents seems to get painted as such. Warning: I thought that since one lady friend of mine liked Adam Sandler, she'd like TB - I was wrong! Be warned! Overall - fans, buy it. Others - rent it or ask for it for a gift.

PYTHONESQUE ADVENTURE
From a script written with fellow Python Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam's TIME BANDITS Divimax Special Edition (Anchor Bay) is a certified cult fave of wonder, wit and unbridled imagination. A school boy is sucked into a crime spree by a time travelling gang of dwarves who have a map to the holes in the space-time continuum. Along the way, they encounter Napoleon (Ian Holm), Robin Hood (John Cleese), King Agamemnon (Sean Connery), Evil Genius (David Warner) and God (Sir Ralph Richardson) -- who almost answers one of the supreme theological questions.

This new two-disc edition in Divimax is a state of the art hi-def transfer. The bonus disc features interviews with Gilliam and Palin and a career retrospective that includes Brad Pitt, Shelley Duvall, David Warner among others.

Pretentious junk
Save your dough.

A british kid goes on adventures with a bunch of hammy-acting little people. At the end, his parents die for no apparant reason. (Before some film school moron e-mails me with the reason, I got it. It was just dumb.)

Get "Brazil" or "Munchausen" instead. Gilliam's off his game here. Or try "12 monkeys." That's a great film

A Concept Film that Doesn't Know When to Quit
Like a big candy bar. Eye-popping but unfulfilling. Momentarily pleasing but undernourishing. Couldn't help but think this could have been so much better. It's kind of a Monty Python reimagining of The Wizard of Oz. More mature and cleverer. A plucky resourceful child is transported to a parallel world where the child must make things right before he/she is allowed to go home. The Munchkins are the stars this time. The Supreme Being is, of course, Oz. Evil is the Wicked Witch. Instead of the fantasy world sing-a-long; Gilliam goes with Sci-Fi time travel. Either the movie should have been longer to allow for more story & character development or some of the great ideas should have been shelved for other projects. There's a certain episodic feel to the proceedings as the time travelers jump from time to time but don't really get anywhere; much like the film itself.

an interesting film for older mature children.
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

This film was marketed as being for children. I thought that this film is too morbid for small children and recommend that children be at least 8 years old to watch it.

In this film, a young boy joins a troupe of dwarves who travel through 'holes' in time with the aid of a time map stolen from a deity. They rob famous historical figures such as Napoleon and Agamemnon. Later they are captured by an evil sorceror who takes the map from them.

This film has several creatures in it that I think would frighten younger children I urge parents to watch the film by themselves before showing it to their children.

The Criterion Collection has special features including a theatrical trailer, a slide show of production photos and a video, and full-length audio commentary by selected cast & crew. ... Read more