Gulliver's Travels (1996)

Gulliver s Travels is a brilliant satire and inventive fantasy that basically invented the idea of even-television. With ground-breaking special effects by Jim Henson Productions, Gulliver s Travels is
the story of an 18th century physician who journeys are something of legend he towers over the tiny city of Lilliput, matches wits with a cunning sorcerer, and proves his mettle in a realm where horses rule and humans are beasts. Gulliver s Travels Special Edition now presents the classic for the first time in widescreen picture and includes new bonus features including a Making Of segment and interviews with the cast, photo galleries. Product Description

An Immodest Production

I recall being enormously impressed with this 2-part made-for-TV movie when it was first broadcast in 1996, and the intervening twelve years have not diminished it any. The production is fairly true to Swift's original, and contains many innovative and surprisingly-effective special effects (for the time). All of the cast members give boffo performances, particularly hammy Peter O'Toole in the role of a lifetime. But most impressive of all is the gentle and very sly interweaving of fantasy and insanity, where Lemuel Gulliver's state of mind continuously shifts between frames of reference both in size and veracity.

Swift's vulgar sense of humor is given free expression, and the biting satire of his political wit still rings familiar 270 years later. The film contains the free-wheeling giddiness of Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits" (1981) and the time- and frame-of-reference-shifting vertigo of "Smoke Signals" (1998). Tiny details and thrown-away background elements make it a production for rewarding repeated viewing.

In short this is a film of Brobdingnagian proportions which has received Lilliputian acclaim. This is a gap of Yahooian injustice. October 19, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...