Rating: 
Summary: Strange Worlds
Review: A widescreen print of this film has been available here for more than a year so the timing of this release is strange - perhaps USAmericans are more tolerant of TV prints than we Aussies are. The film itself is also strange. You can see why Fox bought it - a familiar but also exotic story; the world's most bankable star (CHOU Yunfat, the emperor of Hernggong) with the very marketable Jodie Foster as insurance; & a cheap Malaysian location to build a theme park of a set - but in all this clever dealmaking, noone seems to have ever bothered to decide who this Anna was supposed to be. Master Chou - a contemporary action specialist; who never did fancy dress or martial arts before Hollywood coopted him, which makes his historical martial artist casting here look very odd indeed - plays it as a romantic fantasy & looks more like a Hakkayuan Yul Brynner than the historical King Mongkut. Ms Foster - a thoughtful actor & one of my personal favorites - isn't generally cast as a romantic lead; & here seems to be trying to create a historically accurate portrayal of the woman who called herself Anna Leonowens. The mixture of styles doesn't gel; & with director Andy Tennant wanting a foot in every camp - first encouraging Foster's carefully thought out stuffiness; then filling the screen with elephant shots you last saw in old Disney True-Life Adventures - the result is a stylish mess. At one point in the commentary, Tennant compliments Foster on never appearing to sweat, even though the story is set in the tropics & she's wearing historical clothing that must have made the real Anna sweat like a pig. Clearly he didn't want a realistic take on Anna's controversial Siamese sojourn; so why did he indulge Foster's awkward realism elsewhere? Who knows? That said: in its resolutely old-fashioned story-telling, Anna plays better on a wide-screen DVD print than in the cinema; & in some striking parts rather than in the rather rambling whole. It won't sweep you away either as a romantic epic or as intimate study of a relationship that would never be; but a lot worse films have been a lot more successful.
Rating: 
Summary: Total Bomb
Review: ...I have to relay the truth to you on this one. In one word, this movie was a BOMB!
You want boring?-this movie has it
You want phony accents?-this movie has it
You want the most anti-climactic ending in movie history?-ditto
You want to be nauseated?-watch this movie.
I generally don't oppose action stars trying their hands at dramas, nor comedians doing the same, ala Robin Williams, Tom Hanks, ect. etc, but in this case, in several scenes you expect Chow Yung Fat to pick up a sword and chop someones head off, just to give the story an interesting twist, but no such luck. I'd rather watch rocks deteriorate than every sit through this movie again.
Rating:
Summary: Total Bomb
Review: I would normally put more thought into a review of a movie, but since most/all of the reviewers of this movie gave it five stars, I have to relay the truth to you on this one. In one word, this movie was a BOMB!
You want boring?-this movie has it
You want phony accents?-this movie has it
You want the most anti-climactic ending in movie history?-ditto
You want to be nauseated?-watch this movie.
I generally don't oppose action stars trying their hands at dramas, nor comedians doing the same, ala Robin Williams, Tom Hanks, ect. etc, but in this case, in several scenes you expect Chow Yung Fat to pick up a sword and chop someones head off, just to give the story an interesting twist, but no such luck. I'd rather watch rocks deteriorate than every sit through this movie again. And THAT's the fact Jack!
Rating: 
Summary: The most enjoyable movie in years
Review: When I heard that one of my favorite stories was being remade, I decided not to see it. One day it was on TV, and I saw a bit of AATK and thought it looked interesting. Since renting it, I have watched it 25 times leaving it on during my work day since it elates my spirit. For romantics, this is a movie worth watching. The writing is the kind that I enjoy from movies made 50 years ago. Chow Yun-Fat and Bai Ling (Tuptim) should have gotten awards for their work. Jodie takes some getting used to because of her accent. The rest of the cast is excellent. The musis is outstanding. Please, if you read this, and love a good story and romance, you will enjoy this immensely.
Rating: 
Summary: Retro, spectacular historical romance
Review: The movies have a way of returning to the tried and true, and that includes the many reincarnations of the story of Anna Leonowens, an English school teacher who set off in 1862 to teach the children - 58 of them! - sired by King Mongkut of Siam. The basis of the story is fact. There was an Anna, and there was a King Mongkut. The movies are all more fact than fiction. First there was Anna and the King of Siam, a 1946 version starring Rex Harrison and Irene Dunn. 1955 saw the spectacular, though now dated, The King and I, based on the Rogers and Hammerstein musical. Early 1999 brought an animated version of The King and I, which deservedly flopped. Six months later Anna and the King was released. It, too, failed, though for altogether different reasons, and I doubt we will be seeing much more of Anna or Mongkut at the local multiplex. I do, however, hope many people will buy this 'final' version, for it presents something not often seen these days - true spectacle. When Anna Leonowens arrives in Siam with her young son, Louis, things are not as she expected them to be. It isn't the place, which she knows from having lived in India is a world apart from her native England. After she has been kept waiting for three weeks with nothing to do, she finally meets the king. She demands that she be given something to do. This action stuns both the king and the court, for he is an absolute ruler and considered to be a god. She then reminds him of his promise to provide her with a house outside the palace walls. He angrily refuses to do this, yet, like many people who are used to everyone's doing their biding, he is intrigued and amused by this small woman who dares to stand up to him. He is well educated and thoughtful. He knows a good thing when he sees it. Anna greatly enjoys teaching his children, as well as several of his many wives and concubines. Later, despite being warned, she meddles in some royal affairs, and one of her intrusions leads to tragic consequences. Still, the bond between Anna and the king becomes increasingly stronger and leads to a romance which, under the circumstances, can never be fulfilled. Amid all this, there is the constant threat of English backed Burmese troops, who threaten to topple Mongkat's kingdom. Jodie Foster and Yun-Fat Chow make a striking couple as Anna and Mongkut, and they are a great pleasure to watch. But it is the spectacle which dominates the movie. The sets, especially the royal palace, are monumental. The costumes are lavish and colorful. The photography is as good as any we are likely to see, and the music is first-rate. This version of the story is no more factual than its predecessors, but the makers do at least make the king into an intelligent ruler and depict the British as being rather ruthless, which they must have been in order to have dominated so much of the world at that time. Despite this, the movie failed to make money, and I think this may be because its pluses - the spectacle and the majesty of it - also served to make it seem too old-fashioned to today's young audiences. This makes it a rare treat for older viewers, something to simply enjoy on a quiet summer night.
Rating:
Summary: a really good movie!
Review: I hated the original version of "The King and I" when I saw it in 8th grade, so when my mom took me to see this one in the theaters, it was a breath of fresh air compared to the orginal. I liked this movie a lot! Jodie Foster is one of my favorite actresses, and although I can't say much for Chow Yun-Fat, He was impressive as King Monghut. And the scenery was very pretty.
and I love movies that are based on true stories! I'm really glad I have this movie!
Rating:
Summary: PURE entertainment...as it was meant to be...
Review: I love this movie. I have read others' so called "reviews" here and must dispute any negative statements; especially those misguided fools who insist on "reality" when watching a MOVIE, and have no sense of artistic license or drama. Don't you hate those people who insist on tearing apart a film over the minutest of details; like most Americans could really recognize a "fake" English accent if they did'nt know the actress was American already, OY! For those of you who, like me, are marinating in "reality" 24/7, this was a great escape film, filled with gorgeous cinematography and an entertaining script. Jodie Foster is one of the greatest actresses of our generation and Chow Yun-Fat is a welcome import, a man's man, not a pretty boy who's lack of acting ability is blurred by a dazzling smile. This is an enjoyable film that is loosely based on the diaries of Ms. Anna. It is a remake of the King and I; one that is not an insufferable "musical". It is a great lie on the couch in the evening and turn out the lights and let the film entertain you kind of movie that is well worth the 2 and a half hours.
Rating:
Summary: What A Movie~!
Review: I am sorry to all those who fell this movie is boring or not very good,but in my opionion I would say this movie is very good. This movie is adapted from the not forgotton THE KING AND I. In this movie it is pretty the same plot. Only the story is changed a little bit. For one there is no singing. I won't give away everything so I will just say I love the way this movie goes. Anna is an ambitious women who is not afraid to stand up to anyone. She defys all odds. She comes to teach the King's many childern in school. While she is there she changes the way Siam is and the King of course. As the King's prime minister said,"She think she is equal to a man!" The King replys,"No she thinks she is equal to a king." Jodie Foster and Chow-Yun-Fat are great together on the screen. The costumes are wonderful!
I would say if you love movies that make you feel good this one! Watch as Anna forever changes the King. And the King changes her.
Rating:
Summary: Major Plot Element Missing Here
Review: After a long search, I finally turned up a battered paperback copy of Margaret Leighton's "Anna and the King of Siam", which I read with great voracity because I have always been interested in this story. "The King and I" with Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner was a not infrequently shown entry on "The 4:30 Movie" here in NYC, and sometimes if you stayed up very late on a Saturday night, it was even possible to catch "Anna and the King of Siam" with Rex Harrison and Irene Dunne. The operative point of this little history is that I know the story of Anna Leonowens and her adventures as the British governess to the many children of the King of Siam story quite well. Apparently, they who made this Jodie Foster movie did not. Both the Rex Harrison version and the Yul Brynner version hinge on the clash between two very strong personality types, the governess and the monarch. But the Jodie Foster movie doesn't treat it, at all. There is only mutual understanding at all times for these two: they NEVER are at odds and the The King is NEVER shown to be a despot--which he was! So, it seemed to me a sort of cinematic wish fulfillment: what if Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner's love were allowed to flourish, and he never did the cruel things that mader her upset? Well, I guess you'd have a movie with no conflict, like "Anna and the King". The King is not supposed to be a warm and fuzzy person--he's an absolute monarch acting in a manner unacceptable to the mores of the British governess. Now, a different treatment would have been pershaps to show the situation from HIS point of view: how he went out on a limb to have a personage like this, a woman of independent movement, going around his court, which had to scandalize his courtiers. Anna had a lot more freedom than any Siamese woman, and enjoyed priveleges denied to many Siamese me--why was this so? So, I spent my time in the movie house waiting for the (what I thought would be) inevitable culture clash between East and West which never came. Literature without conflict is boring, and so is cinema. To be sure, my friend to the left of me in the theatre was crying her eyes out at different junctures, but I sat unsatisfactorily unmoved and quite disappointed. If you're looking for a better love story treatment of the subject, see "The King and I" featuring that dizzying polka which demonstrates the power of the repressed sexual tensions between the King and Anna--all the more interesting because it really looks like she will capitulate to his mastery of her until they are interrupted. If you're looking for a better treatment of culture clash, by all means catch "Anna and the King of Siam" to see how Irene Dunne's Anna can't make sense of her surroundings and the people who populate the court and country, most of all her employer, Rex Harrison's King. If you're looking for something else that looks nice and has modern sensibilities which totally miss the point of the story, then watch this Jodie Foster movie.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary and quite breathtaking to see
Review: This has to be one of the best versions of Margaret Landon's book that was published in 1944 from Anna Leonowen's accounts from her regarding her teaching in Siam (Thailand) as a royal school teacher. The other two that I had previous seen over the years were good but somewhere a long the line I didn't enjoy it as much as this one. I don't know probably they found the right place to film the movie, got the sets well presented, the costumes where thoroughly researched and the storyline seem to have been taken into context out of the book instead of it just wondering off dancing or singing whatever I saw in the King and I. Jodie Foster was a great actor in this movie, she was perfect for the role and we could see the emotional side of her which made it more dramatic and not as light-hearted as I though it was supposed to be. There was a seriousness in the air but over all I really liked the role that she played. Chow Yun Fat also played a great king with great expression involved and the manner in speaking as well his Thai I found pretty sharp and good too. However in real life the king would have been around about 60s years old when Anna came to teach the royal court. King Mongkut wouldn't have been this young since he spent most of his life in the monastry and only became king at a late age when his brother died leaving the throne to him. The wives and concubines of the kings were dressed in the exact costumes that I have seen in old photographs in Thailand, therefore showing thorough search and studies went through to try and get everything as accurate as possible. I enjoyed the princes and princess dressed in their court clothes which was very pleasing and wonderful enjoyable. The beginning of the movie was enough, I knew that his movie was going to be better than the others I have seen. The streets with all the busy people, the elephants and the scene where they move from the lower part of the city towards the roofs of houses where you can see the Royal Palace of Bangkok was execellent. Bai Ling playing the role of Tuptim was excellent and she was a very sad character at times but in the trial she was fierce and expressed her other side which was hidden from view showing what she believed in. Overall this movie will make you want to get a box of tissues to wipe your eyes and other times it's serious with a few high-hearted scenes. This is excellent and I wonder if they are going to make another version of this in years to come??? I don't know but I know this will be centre of the stage for a long time before it's replaced. This has lightened and gave a different perception of the movie from the other two which seems to be more focused on Anna and not those all around her.
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