Search - Kidnapped on DVD

Not bad, but not Stevenson

Nightflyer | 08/04/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Kidnapped" by Robert Louis Stevenson is my favorite book of all time. I began reading it when I was a young lad and have probably read it hundreds of times since. I know most of the dialog by heart.

Needless to say, I have been consistently disappointed by the film versions, which deviate needlessly from the story. The only version that respects its source material is the Disney version, which I highly recommend.

The Armand Assante version was made for cable TV and shown over two nights. I missed it and was excited when it came out on VHS. But when I first viewed it, I was terribly disappointed; although it looked great, this version had the same fault as the others--namely, inserting all sorts of extraneous subplots that add nothing to Stevenson's story and actually weaken it.

Recently, however, I re-watched it, and I have to temper my original dislike. This version does have some excellent points in its favor. It's beautifully photographed, and the attention to detail in dress and setting is remarkable. The portions that do respect Stevenson's novel have never been done better, perhaps not even by the Disney version. However, its faults remain. Assante and McCardie are miscast physically as Alan Breck and David Balfour (although Assante does swashbuckle through the film with a vengeance, he looks nothing like Stevenson's description of him, which was based upon historical fact); the film was shot in Ireland, which does not look like Scotland (watch "Rob Roy" if you want to see what the Scottish Highlands really look like); the writers manufacture a love story for David Balfour, and this character does not fall in love until the Stevenson's sequel "Catriona," and then to a completely different girl; Alan visits Flora MacDonald, who lived on the Isle of Skye, not on the mainland; and worst of all, the writers introduce a completely unnecessary subplot centered around a British officer named Reid, who instigates the Appin murder in order to place blame on James Stewart. I could go on and on--there's plenty more--but you get the idea.

So yes, there's plenty in this version to enjoy, but please be aware--it is *not* Stevenson. For that you need to go to the Disney version. Still, compared to the utter abomination that appeared recently on PBS, this version is a masterpiece."

A decent adaptation

Sonny L | New Mexico | 07/21/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoyed this film, and thought it was a decent adaptation of the book. The acting and production values were very good. There were some major plot changes, so a purist would find fault with it. In fact that is why I gave it 4 stars instead of five. However, the spirit of the original adventure remained intact. Some of the action may be a little intense for the under 5 group, depending on the sensitivity of the child, but other than that it was a good family film."