Underrated piece of art!
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Hancock_the_Superb — 19 years ago(January 19, 2007 03:19 PM)
We started watching it in English Lit. at school, but then the class ended. However, I liked what I saw of it so much that I took it home for my own viewing.
Danson was excellent - his shifting from the crazed Gulliver to the more rational, measured one towards the end is magnificent acting. And the supporting cast was a real treat - Mary Steenburgen, James and Edward Fox, Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Geraldine Chaplin, Kristin Scott Thomas, Warwick Davis, John Gielgud, Richard Wilson, Ned Beatty - who else could you ask for? The visuals were spectacular and the story flowed extremely well.
"You're takin' advantage of your cloth, Father!"
"That's what it's for." -
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Sunnydws — 15 years ago(September 18, 2010 01:48 AM)
I think it's borderline brilliant. There is some fine acting from everyone, but particularly Danson. The way he obsessively goes through the story is so convincing. I love the scene where he's just standing out in the rain, yelling at the horses, "Is that it then? Am I just another yahoo?" Or the part where he's struggling with withdrawal from the laudanum. Great stuffVery versatile performance.
And the writing is equally brilliant. The way the stories intertwine and how it leads up to the final act in the hospital's "court room". Truly excellent. I thought maybe if they had saved the revelation of the sheep for the very end, it might have made a more thrilling ending. For the majority of the film, the audience knows Gulliver is telling the truth because of his son's discovery of the sheep. If they had hidden that from the audience and had the boy only discovered the sheep by the end of the film, it would have made for a good debate as to whether or not he was crazy. Of course, this changes the intent of the original novel, but I loved how he seems so eccentric and obsessive that they think he's crazy. Great twist on the original story. -
TemporaryOne — 15 years ago(October 20, 2010 04:30 PM)
Agreed, just watched this again for the third time this year, the entire production, the acting (Ted Danson, brilliant; I never liked him, but I changed my mind after watching Gulliver's Travelers), cinematography, costumes, lighting, lavish and luscious set designs, editing, soundtrack, smooth special effects, the faithful adherence to the novella (with some brilliant improvement and redaction), the ingenuity of weaving the trial throughout his adventures, the little sheep, talking horses, Cubist dreamscapes, Portuguese castles, all of it, utterly meticulous, flawless, dazzling, exquisite.
10/10, and deserves a Criterion release.
