The Black Cauldron (1985)

Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 05/24/2000 Run time: 80 minutes Rating: Pg Product Description

Awful Movie

I haven't read the books though I still plan to.
This movie was simply too dark for kids and to 'cute' for adults. I was scared of this movie when I was a kid and when I was in high school I thought it was lacking a real plot. Gurgie is, in my opinion, one of the worst Disney charactors of all time.
But I'm a long-time believer in the adage "Don't judge a book by it's movie." So I'll reserve judgement. December 17, 2008

Christmas present

The transaction was very fast and handled quite well. As far as the product itself I don't know because I bought it for a christmas present.
Thank you,
Jeanette Covington November 26, 2008

Disney Classic not necessarily for kids

I originally saw this in theaters as a kid and hadn't really seen it since, except once in a great while in the last several years. At the time I didn't realize it was based on a series of books, but its still a good movie. However I must point out that it is not for young kids, due to some parts in the movie. Other than that, its a great find and worth every penny. Good for Halloween, as it also has the Donald Duck short cartoon, Trick and Treat. September 4, 2008

Worst Disney Movie Ever!

I remember many years ago the Disney Channel advertising this new film, full of HIGH TECH animation. Even then it looked boring. Recently I found it in the Clearance section of Half-Priced Books in Dallas Texas. It was marked down to 99 cents. So I bought it. I am sorry to say it wasn't even worth that. This movie took them 12 years and $25 million to make. It only made $10 million at the box office. The characters were incredibly boring and irritating. The animation looked like some cheap 1979s cartoon. It took me three days to watch all of it. Let me tell you, even that was a chore. Most of the negative reviewers are fans of the books. I have never read the books but am I big fan of Disney. This movie was a true disappointment to me. Skip it, if the urge every comes to you to watch it. May 17, 2008

I think it's time for Disney gave this title an upgrade.

I'm not going to go into detail about the movie, its plot, its troubled history, etc. You can find that just about anywhere you look online for this film. I'm strictly going to discuss the DVD. This DVD has several pros and cons that you might consider before buying.

Pros:
-The movie is presented in its original 70MM widescreen aspect ratio for the first time since its original theatrical release.
-The DVD contains an incredible Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track.
-Although not listed ANYWHERE on the packaging, the original theatrical trailer is included, very scratchy and in fullscreen
-The Quest For The Black Cauldron Game is quite a bit of fun. Not as fun as other Disney DVD set-top games, but better than your average trivia DVD game.
-A great still-frame gallery is included - our only glimpse into the making of the movie.
-The DVD includes the great Donald Duck cartoon Trick Or Treat.

Cons:
-The film is presented in a 4:3 letterboxed transfer instead of a 16:9 letterboxed transfer.
-The film obviously hasn't been given any type of restoration, cleanup, or anything of that matter. Dirt, scratches, and flickering, while not a complete nuisance, are more present than one would like.
-Apart from the photo gallery, there is NOTHING on here that gives the consumer any insight into the making of the film.
-Although the theatrical trailer is present, it would have been nice had Disney also included some TV spots and the trailer from the 1985 VHS release of Pinocchio, which is said to contain some of the deleted footage from the film.
-Speaking of the deleted footage, if not restored into the film itself, they could have at least included it as a bonus feature, with some info on why it was deleted and such. Preferably shown edited into where it'd be in the film so as to be placed into context.
-I'm not sure if this is an issue with everyone, but on my RCA DVD player, when chapter 12 ends, instead of simply going into chapter 13, it skips to chapter 14 and I have to skip back to chapter 13 in order to watch it. I wouldn't bother mentioning this, except I returned my first copy in exchange for a new one, and the new one did the same thing. It's a shame that Disney cares so little for this movie that they allowed mass quantities of the DVD to go out with a glitch like this and instead of recalling them and fixing the problem, they just let them be sold. While at least I won't MISS any of the movie, it still ruins the flow of the film to have to rewind to view the skipped chapter. Hopefully, this isn't a problem for most DVD players.

Considering that Disney is starting to reissue some of its Gold Classic Collection discs with new transfers, new bonus materials, etc., hopefully they'll give The Black Cauldron the same consideration. A new transfer shouldn't be difficult, since the film HAS been restored and made into an anamorphic widescreen transfer. (This version has currently only seen the light of day in France.) Despite the fact that The Black Cauldron was one of Disney's most troubled and financially disappointing productions in the history of the studio, it's since developed a loyal, if small, following, and a new DVD release with some additional trailers/TV ads, SOME kind of making-of material, a freshened up 16:9 enhanced widescreen transfer, and all that good stuff (Maybe even a music-only track to show off Elmer Bernstein's magnificent score.) would be a nice way to acknowledge that yes, there ARE people out there who would actually LIKE a better DVD of this film. Meanwhile, I'm not holding my breath for it anytime soon, so for now, I'll make do with this Gold Collection Edition DVD with its passable transfer, all the while being grateful that they at least bothered to present it in its original widescreen format. I guess I'll give kudos to Disney at least for that...and for the fact that it's seen the light of day on any home video format at all in the US. February 27, 2008

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