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Bedknobs and Broomsticks (30th Anniversary Edition)

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (30th Anniversary Edition)

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Short Sumarry By Da Zeus
Review: Recommended for younger veiwers. Anyone Over 13 shouldn't watch this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I COMPLETELY Love this movie
Review: This movie, is about an eccentric witch, played by Angela Lansbury(One of my Favourite actoresses)who gets landed with three orphans(Ian Weighill,Roy Snart,Cindy O'Callaghan) during 1940, World War II. Who meets her teacher Mr. Emelius Browne(David Tomlinson)in London, Who later Fall in love, and adopt the three orphans.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Treguna, Mekoites, and Tracorum, Satis, Dee!
Review: When Walt Disney was haggling for rights over "Mary Poppins" with P. L. Travers, he already had secured the rights to the Mary Norton book upon which this film was based and intended it as a backup should the rights to "Poppins" fall through. Then the success of "Poppins" made sure this film was made anyway after Disney's death with much of the same creative team since the story is so similar. The disappointing thing about this film is that it just doesn't quite have the magic that "Mary Poppins" itself did, despite the fine special effects (especially for the time), the cute child actors, the exciting witchcraft plot and the superb voices of Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson in the leading roles. There's absolutely no chemistry between the stars (Tomlinson was just too old by this time to be much of a romantic lead), and the music is TOO similar to "Mary Poppins," which was always the fault of the Sherman Brothers: you can basically sing either of the two best songs in the score, "Eglantine" or "Substitutiary Locomotion," in counterpoint to "Spoonful of Sugar." The story is also too similar, with an animated sequence in which the humans participate, a scene where magic makes simple things in the household run amok, etc.

The film will still be enjoyed by children but will of less pleasure for adults, although you do really have to hand it to Lansbury. Even though her part is underwritten--all she seems to do is page through books and look puzzled--, she's still a big enough star that when she makes all of her songs absolutely terrific. After her first two verses of "Substitutiary Locomotion" you basically want to stand up and applaud like crazy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pre-CGI Triumph
Review: Continuing along nostalgia road we go, this time with an old favorite that can be watched over and over by all ages.

Given that this is an old movie, the special effects are much better than could be expected, especially the underwater ball in the lagoon, the football match, and the military force powered by substitutiary locomotion. The musical numbers are also well choreographed, especially Portobello Road.

If this film were to be remade today, I would shudder to think of the cost with all the computer generated images (cgi), with maybe Meg Ryan, Ashley Judd or Sandra Bullock as Eglantine Price, and Tom Hanks, Bill Murray or Steve Martin as Professor Emilius Browne, but I digress. No attempt to remake this movie would be as successful as the original, despite its simple story line and cheesy acting of the time. The passion and energy put into its production shines right through and catches you firmly in its grasp until the very last frame flickers by.

Every time you watch this movie you will see things that you hadn't noticed before, or hadn't remembered from the first time you saw it way back when.

Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson are outstanding, and this movie is definitely rated 5 thumbs up!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Angela Lansbury and this film are terrific.
Review: This restored version is fantastic, and Angela is superb. I saw this as an 8 year old child in 1971, and still totally enjoyed it in 2003. Angela Lansbury and the entire cast are terrific. She is one of the finest, most versatile actresses of this century.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: My Kids Loved This One!
Review: Because I dimly remembered loving this movie as a child, I recently got it to entertain my two boys, ages 5 1/2 and 8 1/2, on a 2000-mile road trip. They both loved it, so much so that they chose to watch all or pieces of it over and over again rather than watching other movies we had on hand. It manages beautifully to entertain both the older one, a Harry Potter fan who finds many cartoons too "babyish," and the younger one, who is frequently scared of live-action movies and finds even Mary Poppins, for example, too dark. (The bird lady disturbs him, and I can't convince him Mary's leaving at the end isn't a tragedy. I wouldn't even attempt to show him Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!) This one is a delightful mix of fantasy and reality, with just enough suspense and a triumphant ending--not to mention the wonderful performance by Angela Lansbury.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Eglantine Eglantine oh, how you shine!
Review: This is a lovely film and although it is compared alot to Mary Poppins, i believe these are the creme de la creme of childrens films. This tale is set in the country during the war. At first we are welcomed into the movie with some rather boring local old folk, but then we hear the wonderful sounds of banging in the distance and yellow smoke, it's Eglantine Eglantine is there and this woman is no ordinary woman she is a, witch, All gasp!And then they go on all the outings that bring back happy memories of Mary Poppins. This movie has alot of connections with Mary Poppins, for example, Robert Stevenson, Irwin Kostal, the Sherman Brothers, David Tomlinson (George Banks in Mary Poppins) and Reginald Owen (Admiral Boom in Mary Poppins)you no the old soldier at the beginnig of the movie and the the leader in the spirited march at the end. I do not believe that Mary Poppins is better than Bedknobs And Broomsticks, neither viser vurser as they are very similar with lovable, exciting and realistic characters. That can not be said however about another "similar" (well thats what most people think, I do not agree!) picture named Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a certain winner for those who love vintage Disney
Review: If you enjoy the look and tone of vintage Disney (Mary Poppins, Pollyanna), you will probably like this utterly wholesome (and a bit bizarre) tale of an apprentice witch and three London urchins flying on a bed under the ocean, facing an animated animal team in soccer and, with the aid of rekindled armies, repulsing a Nazi invasion. Roddy MacDowell makes comic appearances as a young minister, and David Tomlinson is the British Dick van Dyke..

DVD extras are excellent and include: featurettes, stills, 4 trailers, 4 promotional trailers, a reconstructed "lost" song, a Donald Duck cartoon and a Mickey Mouse cartoon! The film can be viewed with closed captioning or French subtitles, if desired.

Great fun and all very well done.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Angela Lansbury in yet ANOTHER exquisite performance...
Review: I remembered this from several years ago, when I decided to purchase the DVD. I always loved it(especially Miss Price. To me she was a strong character, and it's probably due to the fact that she was portrayed by the exquisite Angela Lansbury...no one can top her.) It gave me chills when I was little!
The songs are catchy, and everytime I watch it(which, is usually every other day), I walk around singing "Substitutiary Locomotion" "Beautiful Briny Sea" and "Eglantine!" The tunes spread to everyone in the house!
It's hard to say what my favorite part of this DVD is, but I really do enjoy the "Music Magic" documentary with the Sherman brothers (as well as comments from the glorious Ms. Lansbury). It had been so long since the last time I watched it, I didn't really notice what was new and what was there before. Being a music lover of sorts, I also immensely enjoyed what footage they found of Angela Lansbury's song, "A Step in the Right Direction!"
The ONLY thing that took my rating down, was the dubbed voices. It would've been okay if it had been one of two lines, but, at one point...there was almost a whole scene with a totally fake, dubbed "David Tomlinson" voice, which sounds nothing like him--and he's not the only one that been dubbed. Oh, no...Charles, the 11-going-on-12-year old boy...at one point sounded like a four year old!
However, it IS a splendid movie to watch, and it's easily enjoyable!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Compelling
Review: I remember seeing this movie almost 15 years ago and falling in love with it. When I saw it on the store shelf the other day in DVD finally, I couldn't resist. I didn't even realize new footage had been added until I started watching it, and I began seeing all these strange new scenes.

I tend to agree with other reviewers about the full-length edition kind of dragging the movie out. There should be an option to see it either in full, or as it was cut. That would have taken a minimal amount of effort, as they did for Independence Day.

The worst part I thought was the shoddy attempt to dub the audio in the newly restored scenes. Not only were the characters mouthing (syncing) something different than what you heard, but the new voices weren't even close to the originals! I don't expect perfection, but they could have found more accurate dubbing voices if they really tried. It was quite distracting, but those are my only complaints, which calls for the absence of one star in my rating. The rest of the movie is a treasure to watch. I like the 2 new songs that they originally left out.

Not everyone may like the movie as I do, as it wasn't that popular to begin with. If you are hesitant or unsure, I would recommend renting it first before you consider adding it to your collection.


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