SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

TheLittleSongbird I saw Jack and the Beanstalk:The Real Story on the SyFy Channel, and I wasn't expecting much. But it was actually very entertaining, while a tad too long and Jon Voight did have an accent and mannerisms that did fall flat sometimes, it did have a lot of good points. The characters are engaging, with only Siggy being written clumsily more in how he was developed rather than the lines. The production values are colourful and enchanting in their look, there is some quirky writing and the story is as magical as can be. The pace is very brisk mostly with only the last thirty minutes or so feeling as though it was meandering, and the acting is mostly above decent with Jack being a likable hero and Vanessa Redgrave coming off best. Overall, fun and entertaining. 8/10 Bethany Cox

haxson When I saw "Jim Henson" on the cover I thought of Yoda and Kermit and expected a puppet movie, entertaining but a bit cheesy and very artificial. Well, being a fantasy fan I couldn't resist buying the DVD. Boy, was I wrong about the film... Jack and The Beanstalk is a great fantasy movie. It starts out as an ordinary movie. Then you are told the well known fairy tale. Then you are told the tale from *their* point of view, and the movie just takes off from there. It's a lovely mix of modern life and the classical fantasy world.No movie is perfect, and of course this one does have it's flaws, but they aren't big and as a family movie it is a great weekend treat. Beware of the length though, nearly three hours.

rpons9 starlet86 from edison NJ hit it on the nose...some not so consistent story telling...good movie but if you have the DVD - and watch over again - you will see the incosistencies...i'm not much for sappy endings...but even that was inconsistent...if they went back to giant land - she said they had 7 days which equaled 7 years in earth time - then he said there could be several new robinson's when they get back to earth - how could that be? they still spent only 7 days on giant land? don't understand that...i also saw parallels to the movie Hook - which was much better told than this one...peter grows up and all...but in all - i am still a sucker for these types of twists on fairy tales...7 is good enough...

LeMarchand Corporate head Jack Robinson is about to discover that fairytales are very real in this revisionist take on `Jack and the Beanstalk'.The film starts off well, with Jack (Matthew Modine) discovering that life isn't as straightforward as he thought. A nice atmosphere is created as a mysterious woman, Ondine (Mia Sara looking very cute), appears dropping dire hints as to his family's secret. Eventually Jack discovers the truth behind his wealth, and finds out that it is up to him to put things right.The `real world' segments of this movie tend to work best, as Jack struggles to come to terms with his discovery that fairy tales are true, with the `fantasy land' segments - mainly due to some variable effects - actually detracting from the sense of wonder. While most of the performances are fine (though Modine occasionally seems to be playing Scott Bakula), the guy playing the original Jack is fairly dire.What really makes the story work is the idea that fairy tales are history dressed up to be palatable to us (and of course not necessarily reliably related history), and the way that we might exploit magic if it were available to us.Well worth a watch for fantasy/fairy tale fans, or if you liked the superior `The 10th Kingdom'.