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Jack the Giant Killer

Jack the Giant Killer

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $13.46
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: MATINEE MADNESS RETURNS
Review: God bless Kerwin Mathews. Not really all that great an actor, his dashing looks and his sincerity were the foundation for a series of wonderful "fantasy" films of the late 50s and early 60's: "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad," "Three Worlds of Gulliver," "Warrior Empress," and this little gem. Undoubtedly not as marvelous as Ray Harryhausen's stop motion animation, Howard Anderson's little creations are fun and imaginative, given the time this movie was made (1962). Torin Thatcher is appropriately hammy as Pendragon; Judi Meredith was ingenuishly funny as the princess, especially in her hammy witch sequences; Anna Lee was appropriately British as the betraying witch; and Walter Burke was delightful as the dwarfish aide to Pendragon. The dragon teeth soldiers are hilarious; everyone seems to be having fun and it can be said, they don't make movies like this anymore! Relax, have fun and a lot of laughs!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: MATINEE MADNESS RETURNS
Review: God bless Kerwin Mathews. Not really all that great an actor, his dashing looks and his sincerity were the foundation for a series of wonderful "fantasy" films of the late 50s and early 60's: "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad," "Three Worlds of Gulliver," "Warrior Empress," and this little gem. Undoubtedly not as marvelous as Ray Harryhausen's stop motion animation, Howard Anderson's little creations are fun and imaginative, given the time this movie was made (1962). Torin Thatcher is appropriately hammy as Pendragon; Judi Meredith was ingenuishly funny as the princess, especially in her hammy witch sequences; Anna Lee was appropriately British as the betraying witch; and Walter Burke was delightful as the dwarfish aide to Pendragon. The dragon teeth soldiers are hilarious; everyone seems to be having fun and it can be said, they don't make movies like this anymore! Relax, have fun and a lot of laughs!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The non-musical version is godawful
Review: I am a huge fan of the musical version of this film. It is so deliciously bad that it completely won me over... I found it completely captivating--I was horror-struck and yet completely fascinated by the songs--a curious concoction of faux-opera (think "kill the wabbit")--interspersed with the cornball melodrama. I have no idea why the musical version has fallen into disrepute... the humorless non-musical version will bore you to tears--it is no fun at all. Until they release the MOST EXCELLENT musical version of this film, do not buy this!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The non-musical version is godawful
Review: I am a huge fan of the musical version of this film. It is so deliciously bad that it completely won me over... I found it completely captivating--I was horror-struck and yet completely fascinated by the songs--a curious concoction of faux-opera (think "kill the wabbit")--interspersed with the cornball melodrama. I have no idea why the musical version has fallen into disrepute... the humorless non-musical version will bore you to tears--it is no fun at all. Until they release the MOST EXCELLENT musical version of this film, do not buy this!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Poor Man's Harryhausen Film
Review: I don't mean to berate the great Jim Danforth, but this is an extremely low budget rip-off of The 7TH Voyage of Sinbad. The legend is that producer Edward Small turned down Harryhausen's pitch for 7th Voyage. Ray went to Columbia, and the finished product was a huge hit, making 12 mill in America alone in 1958!!
Small probably kicked himself a few times, and decided to make an exact duplicate of the film at MGM. He hired the same director (Nathan Juran) and same stars (Kerwin Mathews and Torin Thatcher).Unfortunately, the animation models were not of the quality of Sinbad, and the stop motion is rushed (Small had a very tight budget. The result is a fun film for kids, but fantasy film fanatics do not regard this as a classic. Jack (Mathews) must rescue a possessed Princess from an evil sorcerer who wants to take over the Kingdom.
Columbia actually sued Small for ripping off Sinbad, and the film remained in limbo for many years. In the late 80's, MGM turned the movie into a musical!!!!!! They dubbed over dialogue and made it look like the characters are singing! This version was shown on the Disney channel for a few years, and it is a sight to behold. In the mid ninties, MGM restored the film for a VHS release, and now the "widescreen" DVD. There is some controversy regarding the films original aspect ratio (see stopmotionanimation.com).
Kids will enjoy, but stop motion fans regard this film as a footnote in history.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: We have failed master, we have failed.
Review: I grew up and loved the musical version of this film as shown on the disney channel. I was disappointed to learn that only the dry and humorless version has been released on dvd. The masters at GoodTimes DVD made a crippling mistake and failed miserably by not making this version the musical version. This version of the movie is not worth the mere $4.95 that it costs here. The layer that the music adds is priceless...I watched the musical version of the movie with my girlfriend, and it was like falling in love all over again. You don't get that feeling from the original version.

I'm planning on doing my own transfer of the musical version from VHS to DVD (for personal uses only, sorry guys, you're just going to have to wait until they come out with the musical version. I bet you're jealous.) I'm also going to add a special feature that will allow me to loop the songs over and over again, and I'll be singing "a spectacle" until the wee hours of the morning. Non-musical version=1 star. Musical-version=5 stars.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: We have failed master, we have failed.
Review: I grew up and loved the musical version of this film as shown on the disney channel. I was disappointed to learn that only the dry and humorless version has been released on dvd. The masters at GoodTimes DVD made a crippling mistake and failed miserably by not making this version the musical version. This version of the movie is not worth the mere $4.95 that it costs here. The layer that the music adds is priceless...I watched the musical version of the movie with my girlfriend, and it was like falling in love all over again. You don't get that feeling from the original version.

I'm planning on doing my own transfer of the musical version from VHS to DVD (for personal uses only, sorry guys, you're just going to have to wait until they come out with the musical version. I bet you're jealous.) I'm also going to add a special feature that will allow me to loop the songs over and over again, and I'll be singing "a spectacle" until the wee hours of the morning. Non-musical version=1 star. Musical-version=5 stars.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a de light!
Review: I had never heard of Charles de Lint before, but this is an author that I will never stop reading.

I really liked this book. There was a strong story with all the elements that wove together wonderfully. I liked the way the background information got told without it sticking out in the story. I didn't miss any information, although, sometimes there was a bit too much information that wasn't needed. I was capitaved within the first five pages!

Now, a little about the characters. Jacky Rowan is the main character. She is in a rut in life and is/was happy with that. Her boyfriend walks out of her life and that is just the beginning. Jacky is easy to relate to, as she doesn't give herself the credit that she deserves. She is the main character and I just loved the way that would dive into situations. Kate, her best friend, comes along with moral support, and of course the hob, (yes, there is a lot of LOTR feelings in this book) the prince, wizards and other creatures. I loved all the creatures, there is such an assortment.

This paragraph is about the ending, so just a warning. I wasn't happy with the way this book ended, although the story ended the way I wanted it to, but there were things that just stopped, point blank. I know that a couple more chapters would of solved that easily. (If only there was more chapters!)

I did enjoy this book, it was just plain fun. I recommend this book, and enjoy, I hope that you can manage to put it down come 1 am, as I couldn't!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Jack the Giant Killer was a Killer!!!!
Review: I remember seeing this movie back in 1962. I was 8, my little brother 5.

He was so scared by the movie that it gave him nightmares two nights running.

He wasn't the only one. Stephan Arngrim (Barry Lockridge from the "Land of the Giants") said it scared him half to death as well!!

Rumors have it that it the reason the musical version was released was to make it less scary!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: great de lint
Review: i've read this book 10+ times, and i adore it


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