Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Tymon Sutton
The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
Fatma Suarez
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
andy_shorrock
Well that's 4 hours of my life I'll never get back. Shame really as it's a good idea for a film. If only it'd been 2 hours rather than 2 x 2 hours. At one point the film goes so slowly it almost stops.The fairytale of Jack and The Beanstalk was a lie based on the truth. The 15th generation son of Jack has to pay the price for the crimes of his distant relative 400 years ago who stole the goose that lays the golden eggs and the harp that plays for the goose to lay from the big FRIENDLY giant.The land of the giants has suffered terribly, crops have failed because the harp isn't there to play the special music and the climate has changed because the golden eggs where burned in a furnace to power the climate of the land.As I say, nice idea but tooooooooooooooooo looooooooooooooooong!
mijann1972
Jack and the Beanstalk is a movie which you can put in the same category as the 10th Kingdom. Jack and the Beanstalk is a fairy tale, so normally you might think that this is only for children but the makers of this movie or actually TV-series prove that you can even interest adults with a fairy tale. The special effects are very funny and the story does not bore you for any moment and keeps your attention for the full 3 hours it takes. Jack and the Beanstalk is according to my opinion a masterpiece because it is great to make a movie which interests people from you until old and you can find all aspects in the movie like magic, adventure, humor and of course, how we could forget it Romantic. The qualification from me is 9 out 10 and that means.....well done mates !!!!!!!
LeMarchand
Corporate head Jack Robinson is about to discover that fairytales are very real in this revisionist take on `Jack and the Beanstalk'.The film starts off well, with Jack (Matthew Modine) discovering that life isn't as straightforward as he thought. A nice atmosphere is created as a mysterious woman, Ondine (Mia Sara looking very cute), appears dropping dire hints as to his family's secret. Eventually Jack discovers the truth behind his wealth, and finds out that it is up to him to put things right.The `real world' segments of this movie tend to work best, as Jack struggles to come to terms with his discovery that fairy tales are true, with the `fantasy land' segments - mainly due to some variable effects - actually detracting from the sense of wonder. While most of the performances are fine (though Modine occasionally seems to be playing Scott Bakula), the guy playing the original Jack is fairly dire.What really makes the story work is the idea that fairy tales are history dressed up to be palatable to us (and of course not necessarily reliably related history), and the way that we might exploit magic if it were available to us.Well worth a watch for fantasy/fairy tale fans, or if you liked the superior `The 10th Kingdom'.
joktu
***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Brian Henson's remake of this fable is reminiscent of Michael Cohn's 1997 `Snow White: A Tale of Terror' (Starring Sigourney Weaver). I was thoroughly enter- tained by the original overlay of treachery, unrequited love, larceny and homicide. Or is gianticide a word? I also enjoyed the stellar cameos by Daryl Hannah (Thespee) and Richard Attenborough (Magog). Vanessa Redgrave does a great job of setting the tone at the throughout the movie with her grave, atmospheric narration. Mia Sara hasn't aged since `Legend'. The pantheon of Celtic and eastern deities /giants were quite a sight to behold; Gargan with his gaudy head piece, the Stag-headed Cernos and Thor's hefty hammer. This somewhat well-paced movie offers an intriguing challenge to the moral veracity of the standard fables. I said 'somewhat' because the conclusion sagged a little when Magog allowed Mondine to return to earth to live happily ever after with Jack. It seems the ending was conveniently rounded off to meet the status quo. I suppose Henson felt the permanent separation of the two may be a wee bit taxing on the audience. But generally, the movie was a good Sunday-evening fare. Perhaps Brian Henson (and the likes of Michael Cohn) will also care to exhume the other fables from the grimory. That would be highly entertaining.If you had the ill fortune of missing part2, the DVD and VHS is available.
