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Reviews
Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001)
Who thought this was a good idea?
This is the first review I have written here, and I was compelled to because this is such a horrible version, people need to be warned.
Who thought this POS was a good idea to make? I saw one review that claimed this was in the spirit of the original and a swan hidden among the geese. How absolutely ludicrous.
This is nowhere near the original Dickens nor any improvement over other, better known versions. This adaptation plays far too fast and loose with the story, some of which was playing down to children, but in other ways just messing with the tale in wholly unnecessary ways. It shows strong-arm ruffian police carting people to debtor's prison (which didn't happen that way in real life, even), an extended part for Belle that messed with the entire point of the story, a too-coincidental connection between Tiny Tim and a Scrooge debtor victim, and on and on. To top it off, they added mice characters who, while they don't actually talk, have super-intelligence and can manipulate/observe proceeding like small humans.
The only real saving grace is they tried to present the Ghost of Christmas past as closely to the novella as anyone could, and it was a valiant attempt, but that ghost - as written by Dickens - is unfilmable, even in animation.
Unbelievably bad. Avoid this version at all costs.
The Prisoner (2009)
No, it really is pretty bad . . .
There is one commentator defending this remake/adaptation, and unfortunately they decided to resort to insult as a result, which is never a good thing. For the record, I a single set the original The Prisoner on DVD, but I do not own any Doctor Who, especially from the 60's - 80's,nor would I. Nor have I owned any other copies of the original in any other format. (And, by the way, A&E aired TWO episodes of the show on the first night, not just one, so the other reviewers have more to work with than was suggested.) That being said, there are two things this version of The Prisoner showed pretty well. 1, Jim Caviezel may be Jesus, but he is certainly no Patrick McGoohan, and does not have even a fraction of McGoohan's strength and presence. 2, no matter what it is, A&E can only mess up remakes.
Lacking the humor, bite, satire, or nuances of the original, this version seems to be stuck in the typical remake rut of overtrying to be deeper and more unique than its predecessor. In doing so, it has missed the target and the point. McGoohan's version is considered a classic for a reason, and those reasons were completely ignored when this half-measure was concocted. There is no real personality, and no general style an audience can grab a hold of, like the original had. Self-absorbed in its own "new" story arc, the entire production has completely overlooked the most vital part of the equation: the viewer.
Unless the arc resolution is a real grabber, and unfortunately we can already predict what it's likely to be, this is going to be one for the dollar bin, along with King Solomon's Mines and The Andromeda Strain.