Stoutor
It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
Billie Morin
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Tyreece Hulme
One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
donizoladz
This is a great film-I watched the film as a child, and I actually played it for my kids tonight, they loved the songs, and I fell in love with the movie all over again! As I watched I thought about being a child and remembered all the actors that performed during the movie with a VERY small number of them STILL ALIVE.It is very hard for me to watch much TV, with reality shows, and not much family shows that I grew up on. I loved the cast, my husband even forgot about all the stars that filmed the movie, and was excited to see it.It would be great if today there could be an all-star cast for a TV movie just like this, but I doubt egos could coexist long enough for fans to have that chance. Great movie, great memories!
johnstonjames
it's weird to think of a nine-year old kid as being the most solid thing about a major all-star production like this, but really, Natalie Gregory is the only thing that keeps this Hollywood Squares mess-up from falling apart. her performance is sure-footed,appealing and more than satisfactory as Lewis Carroll's heroine. she brings a element of quality and consistency that keeps the whole production together and moving forward.i wish i could say the same for the rest of the incompetents here. some of the cast hams it up and mugs for camera time so badly it almost seems like they're intentionally trying to sabotage and shut down the production. sure not everyone is bad, Ann Jillian has some nice moments,and LLoyd Bridges, Imogene Coca and Martha Raye are really pretty good. but mostly the cast over-acts terribly. Carol Channing gives the hammiest, most over-done performance ever when she sings "Jam Tomorrow Jam Yesterday" it's so bad it's good. the others in the cast, Anthony Newley,Sammy Davis Jr.',Scott Baio,Eydie Gorme and so on, all over-act and ham it to the extreme.the worst performances in the film were Telly Savalas as the Cheshire puss (meow baby) and Ringo Starr as the Mock Turtle. Telly Savalas was really stupid in that kitty outfit. a tough guy can work in the role of the cat. Whoopi Goldberg as a tough guy cat in the Nick Willing version a few years ago was great. Telly Salvalas just stunk and his song was worse. as for Ringo. this really was a egregious offense. offensive because i like Ringo and his reputation is of a higher caliber than this kind of TV variety show material. the other celebrities were the types that regularly appeared in this kind of hokey TV junk. you would think Ringo could do better than headline with a bunch of Hollywood Square wash-outs. it was like when a good rock performer like Jane Wiedlin appeared on 'The Surreal Life'. do some celebrities really want to perform in the limelight forever and so badly they would be so shameless? obviously Ringo really wanted to be in a movie so much he would wear the stupid turtle outfit they gave him. the feet look like fuzzy bedroom slippers. the song was awful. i thought the Telly Savalas song made my ears bleed, this was way worse. Ringo's performance is so astoundingly putrid that you wonder if an actor should be water-boarded for giving a sucky performance. if so, i nominate Ringo.since i'm so critical why did i give this movie ten stars? because it is sooo bad it's really, really entertaining. also if you check the film's critical reception online you'll find that this version is very popular and well liked. i like it. except for Ringo(who should be beaten and forced to eat those stupid bedroom slippers) the movie is good natured fun. the Steve Allen songs are likable enough with Martha Raye's Duchess song "A Lot To Be Said For Hatred" being one of the best. you gotta love this ditzy film. except for Ringo. no love for Ringo.
moonspinner55
Irwin Allen presents "Alice in Wonderland"--and it's another disaster movie, although not as intended. With gloomy songs by Steve Allen and a redundant teleplay by Paul Zindel, this "Alice" is about as far removed from Lewis Carroll's fantasy as one can imagine. Zindel reduces Alice's adventures down to elemental deductions (the viewer is told exactly what is happening when we can see for ourselves), and Carroll was anything but elementary. In the lead role, young Natalie Gregory chatters away to herself, berating her own behavior, but playing the role constantly on the verge of tears (and always with a disgusted look on her face); she finds all the magically nonsensical characters shockingly rude, suddenly doing an about-face when she spots the Mad Tea Party and exclaims, "Oh goody!" Alice follows the White Rabbit down a thunder-and-lightning enhanced cavern two minutes into the production, and three minutes later is already whining about wanting to go home. Irwin Allen happily filled the many eccentric roles with most of his Hollywood pals, but the cronyism doesn't pay off: everyone looks terribly aged and fatigued. They also appear to have been over-rehearsed, and nobody's actions are spontaneous or exciting. Even Alice's cat Dinah looks non-plussed. The whole production, probably expensive for its time (and for TV), is like canned magic, with a set designer who went crazy with the shrubbery and the stepping stones. Most likely, Irwin Allen meant this to be a treat, but the star-cameos come off like vaudeville turns and Natalie Gregory is childish without being child-like. What happened to all the wonderment?
nmbrelloch
I love this movie!!! I can remember watching it over and over and over again when I was little. My aunt taped it for me when it was on TV in 1985. If you can believe it, I still have the tape! I could hardly believe it when I saw it on DVD. I watched it again and still loved it. All the songs are still with me. It just proves that it is a timeless story and a very cute movie. I hope that one day my children will enjoy this same movie. It is full of all sorts of famous people and the costumes are wonderful. Keep in mind that this came out in the 80's. If you like "The Never Ending Story" 1984 or "Labyrinth"1986, you should give it a try. It is the closest to the book that I have seen. I also like that it has two parts just like the book. I hated the Disney version and thought this was far better. The little girl was the best Alice I have seen yet.
