Rating: 
Summary: Sean Connery sings...........
Review: I saw this movie for the first time when I was young and thoroughly enjoyed it. Many years passed before I saw it again, but when I did, I enjoyed it just as much as when I was little. The plot is pretty simple but the banter is witty and the music is catchy. A young Sean Connery is handsome and smirky and it's a good time to hear him singing such a happy happy song. The special effects are great for their time and it's also wonderfully edited.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Disney Movie of All Time
Review: This wins hands down as our favorite Disney movie of all time. Great acting, beautiful scenery and an imaginative Irish tale make for the best kind of entertainment for all ages. Darby is the caretaker of an estate in a small town in Ireland. He's "getting on in years" but has his daughter Katie to keep him in line when he starts going on about the "little people." When Lord Fitzpatrick sends Michael McBride (Sean Connery!) to take Darby's place, his future is uncertain. As an extra bonus - the special effects are quite amazing (no computers to help out here). I saw a program on television awhile back on forced perspective which highlighted Darby O'Gill as one of the most notable examples. So excited to see that this is finally being released on DVD - in August 2004! Don't miss out.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Disney movie.
Review: There's something about this movie that perfectly captures the spirit of Ireland and the Irish people. Steeped in Irish mythology, and populated by a cast of endearing Irish characters, everyone should watch this movie on St. Patrick's Day--or any other day, for that matter. (Sean Connery, as young as I've ever seen him, plays a decent fellow--nice change of pace.)
Rating:
Summary: Buy only in WideScreen format
Review: Disney is cheating the public with "standard format" versions of some GREAT films. Join a group of us who won't buy Disney films unless they're offered in original screen aspect ratio.
This is critical for such films as this and In Search of Castaways!
Rating:
Summary: Charming, hysterical, engaging.
Review: I have just celebrated my 26th birthday and I have enjoyed this film for 20 years or more! It never grows tiresome. It is the tale of an old Irishman named Darby who is fortunate enough to be in aquaintance with the king of all the leprechauns, King Brian. He and King Brian endure a battle of wits throughout the movie as Darby's stubborn daughter slowly falls in love with a VERY young Sean Connery! It is a RIOT to see Sean so young and SINGING SONGS no less! A word of caution: I freaked out and had nightmares for years thanks to this movie. There is a banshee that would be considered laughable by the current generation of Scream fans. It is also a movie that has a great deal of dialogue, so it is better for children around 7 years and up.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Walt Disney That Stands the Test of Time
Review: I was 8 or 9 years old when I saw this movie. Besides Old Yeller, it is my favorite. Everything is believable, even though
fantasy. I loved all the acting performances in this movie. Darby being my favorite. He is very believable as the caretaker for an estate in Ireland, where his best friend just happens to be "the king of the leprechauns". I was truly mesmerized as a kid, when Darby was swept into the banshee's coach to go on his final journey...very scary stuff for a kid, but exciting. The special effects are perfect for this movie. And Sean Connery..was great, and not a bad singer I might add. So nice to finally see this coming to DVD..I preordered it a month ago.
Have to break out the popcorn and jujubee's and dots and have
fun at the matinee again!
Rating:
Summary: Recommended Purchase
Review: At the age of 53 I saw this movie when it was released in the movie theaters. It was my all time favorite movie then and it's my all time favorite now. I was excited to learn that it will be available on DVD in August.
Now for my review:
The special effects in this movie match any effects produced for movies of this type today.
The story line is of excellant quality and well thought out by Mr. Walt Disney. This movie should be shown on every St. Patricks Day as a classic and placed in a catagory with The Wizard of Oz.
I just can't say enough about this film.
Rating:
Summary: Sir Sean Sings!!
Review: Disney made a slew of films in the early to middle 60's in England, and they are such great whole family films. They are releasing The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, with the brilliant Patrick McGoohan at the same time this one comes out. I hope it's trend from Disney, because there are a lot of costume historicals that I would love to own from their British Period. This film has long be a fav of mine. Back before Connery because forevermore in our mind James Bond, he did this nifty little Irish Drama. He is coming to take over for an Irish lord as factor, displacing an old man and his daughter. Moonlight and Magick has Connery beginning to fall for the daughter and charmed by the old man. But Da is not going down without a fight. He catches the King of the Wee People and plans of getting his three wishes. It's done with Irish faerytale charm, Connery is proper dashing as the new hunk, (even show his South Pacific singing voice), the Irish myths are loving retold, making this a delight anytime, but a must for St. Paddy's day!
Rating:
Summary: One of my all time fav's
Review: This is one of the all time best movies for the whole fam. I have this on Laser Disc and can't wait to get it on DVD. Have been watching this ever since I was a little girl. Bought it on Laser Disc when they were popular & still collect them. Disney did a fabulous job with special effects on the movie & there are very few chances to see such a young Sean Connery. He looks great of course. It's the only movie he ever did where he sang! Great movie.
Rating:
Summary: Sean Who?
Review: I first saw "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" when it was released in 1959 and I was 11. I had seen the promotional episode of "Walt Disney Presents" and fell instantly in love. My friends at the time tried to drag me off to see a "sophisticated" comedy playing elsewhere, but for once I refused to give in to peer pressure and insisted. We went and when the film was over they were all chatting happily about the handsome, painfully young, delightfully callow, pre-Bond Sean Connory, in one of his first films playing Michael McBride--and singing! I smiled inwardly. They could and they can have him. I was in love! Not with the admittedly georgeous Connory but with the tiny, powerful, wonderful and surprisingly compassionate King Brian of the Leprechauns, charmingly portrayed (but not credited) by Jimmy O'Dea. Now, 45 years later, I see no reason to change my opinion. The reasons this film holds up over the decades are its respect for the subject matter (although occasionally it slips a bit by modern pc standards), non-computerized special effects that hold up amazingly well, good pacing and most of all an engaging, delightful story utterly lacking in car chases, explosions, bad language or graphic sex. Darby O'Gill, the title character, could easily have been played to the stereotypes of the fighting, drunken Irishman. But Darby's frequent visits to the pub are, as his daughter Katie (played by the adorable Janet Munro) explains, both for company and because he loves to tell stories. Albert Sharpe plays Darby many layers deeper than one would expect in a Disney movie or a comedy. Even as we laugh at his misadventures, we feel the abiding terror he has at the prospect of forced retirement, the loss of the house he and Katie have always lived in, a drastically reduced income and a diminished standing in the community. Much of the story advances from Darby's misguided attempt to protect Katie from knowledge of the impending changes in their lives. Outside the pub, Darby's other source of entertainment is his relentless pusuit of leprechaun gold. Once he has been told that he must retire from his job and be pensioned at half pay, Darby's quest kicks into high gear. The film only hints at how extremely dangerous this avocation actually is. At first it seems like a harmless way for an old man to get a bit of exercise. However, if one reads Irish folklore, one learns that the leprechauns have little reason to like humans. The stories run riot with tales of how far a mortal will go to acquire fairy gold. Even if you do not know these stories, it's well to reflect that to coerce a leprechaun into giving it up is still stealing and the leprechaun has as much right as anyone to protect himself and his property. With this in mind, our first introduction to King Brian is through Darby's pub tale, in which--naturally--he plays himself as the hero, trapping the little monarch and forcing three wishes out of him. However, as we learn, King Brian is five thousand years old, and quite experienced in tricking avaricious mortals. Moreover, his tiny stature harbors enormous, almost unlimited magical power. I fell in love with King Brian's patience with Darby, the amazing restraint he shows in the use of that power and the indignities he puts up with out of an undeclared affection for the old man he sees as possibly his only friend. And there is no mistaking that those feelings are returned. Indeed, there are subtle hints (you have to pay close attention to notice them) that King Brian has befriended others of Darby's line before and that he has an eye to the future when he offers to take a hand as matchmaker between Katie and Michael. Here, too, the sensitivity of the performance is low-key and multi-layered. Clearly, Brian's restraint is based on his awarness that Darby's desire for the gold doesn't come from personal greed, but from deep, abiding love for Katie. At the climax of the film, the ultimate sacrifice Darby unhesitatingly makes to protect her inspires Brian to make a sacrifice of his own. Do I recommend this film? I think it should be required viewing as a lesson that a film doesn't have to be violent or vulgar to entertain and stay with you for a lifetime.
| 
