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Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days (2004)

June. 16,2004
|
5.9
|
PG
| Adventure Action Comedy

A bet pits a British inventor, a Chinese thief and a French artist on a worldwide adventure that they can circle the globe in 80 days.

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Alicia
2004/06/16

I love this movie so much

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Actuakers
2004/06/17

One of my all time favorites.

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Platicsco
2004/06/18

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

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Bob
2004/06/19

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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wes-connors
2004/06/20

Around the turn of the century (19th to 20th, apparently), daredevil Jackie Chan (as Lau Xing) robs the Bank of England. While on the run from London police, Mr. Chan encounters eccentric inventor Steve Coogan (as Phileas Fogg). Claiming to be half-French (on his father's side), Chan assumes the identity of Mr. Coogan's expected French valet "Passepartout". Chan comes from a long line of French valets. After bungling and attempt to break the "human speed barrier," Coogan accepts a wager. He will go "Around the World in 80 Days" in return for an influential position in The Royal Academy of Science. An attractive blonde would improve the trip, so Cecile de France (as Monique La Roche) joins the cast...Director Frank Coraci and his numerous producers go very broad with this version of Jules Verne's classic adventure. Younger children and martial arts fans will find parts of it appealing; however, the film may be too long for both those audiences. They should have taken out the added subplots and filled it up with cameos, as the 1956 version, from Mike Todd; it wasn't an excellent movie, but it was fun to spot the stars. They probably could have gotten Adam Sandler to appear. This version has Jackie Chan's martial arts stunts, colorfully dressed locations and nicely designed sets. We do get to see a wigged-out Arnold Schwarzenegger; arguably the biggest star in the cast, the "Terminator" wears out his welcome in record time.***** Around the World in 80 Days (200-06-13) Frank Coraci ~ Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan, Cecile de France, Jim Broadbent

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weezeralfalfa
2004/06/21

In contrast to the '56 version, this is a very cartoonish 90% Jackie Chan vehicle, obviously aimed mainly at children., whereas the '56 version was aimed at all ages, with minimal slapstick, and a majority of faithfulness in portraying the details of the original Jules Verne story. In contrast, this film departs wildly from the book in many details, emphasizing physical confrontations with agents of the introduced female Chinese warlord Fang, who seem to pop up about everywhere they travel, trying to retrieve the small jade Buddha that Chan stole from the Bank of London(why was it kept there?), that has implausibly great value within the context of this yarn. Whereas the actual journeys between landing points constituted a significant fraction of the total '56 film, they are mostly glossed over in this film, as presumably uninteresting details. For example , the animation after the India portion, suggests they somehow went over the Himalayas, to interior China, instead of going to Calcutta, then Singapore and Hong Kong! In fact, Hong Kong, Japan and the journey across the Pacific are totally skipped, as is the journey across the US, save for the bizarre meeting with the Wright brothers incident.Whereas Niven's Fogg was not an especially imaginative inventor of devices, Coogan's Fogg is an eccentric inventor of 'contraptions', whose inventions have thus far not proved practical. Niven's Fogg excelled in thinking of alternative ways of getting along when the expected means of transport available in 1872 failed, and in mapping out a workable schedule of commercial transport. His most imaginative on-the-spot invention was rigging a square of cloth material he spied to a railroad utility car, to achieve sail power in place of the usual hand pumping propulsion. Supposedly, this achievement is far exceeded in the present film by the construction, within a few hours, of a workable airplane, plus very strong catapult, plus long very high ramp, while aboard a ship, using whatever could be found. It was powered by superman Chan, using bicycle petals, chains and gears(found on a small commercial ship?). Although the resulting plane looks nothing remotely like the Wright Brother's later biplane, supposedly it benefited from the drawings the Wrights bizarrely gave to Fogg, as casual acquaintances! Thus, presumably, the present yarn takes place around 1900, rather than the expected 1872!(except for the Edison light bulb scene!). Incidentally, the first human-powered heavier than air aircraft(without passengers) that flew more than half a mile, and with a mean speed of only 7mph, wasn't proved until 1979! This aircraft weighed only 72 lbs. and had a much larger wing surface area than the one shown in this film, impressively enabling it to cross the English channel.In contrast to the '56 version, there is no highly memorable inspirational waltz, as the theme song. On the other hand, the female(Cecile de France, as Monique), picked up in Paris as part of the expedition, is light years more interesting than Shirley McLain's version in the '56 film, who was characterized as an Indian widow, as in the book. Monique also appears much earlier in the film. Also, there is the introduced Chinese woman(Fang) to add further interest, although I didn't find her very interesting. Lord Kelvin((not present in the '56 film) and his agent Mr. Fix are characterized as much more adversarial to Fogg and his valet than their counterparts in the '56 version, Mr. Fix suffering many injuries and other indignities in his role, which ends prematurely when he is battered in India by Fang's warriors, while handcuffed to Chan. Lord Kelvin, of course, was a famous scientist and inventor around this time. Here, he(as well as most of the other members of the Royal Academy of Science)are characterized as a brotherhood of old fuddy duds, who think everything worth discovering or invented as been discovered or invented. Historically, Kelvin did state that he didn't believe a workable heavier-than-air airplane was possible. However, his characterization in this film would have him rolling over in his grave faster than a spun-up neutron star! After all, steam-powered flying machines had proved impractical. The world awaited a power source that was more powerful, yet lighter(Fogg's bunch didn't provide that.) The overall message of the film, much more so that the '56 film, is that old scientists(and by extension, most old people, except Queen Victoria) are set in their prejudices about what is true and what is possible to invent. Thus, they should be kicked out of important positions of authority, replaced by young people, with fresh ideas and experiences, who are not hampered by the currently accepted laws of physics, be they valid or limited in their applicability.Oh, by the way, how did Fogg and friends continue their journey after all his money was stolen in San Francisco?? soon forgotten!

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joshtbsa
2004/06/22

Bottom Line:Was the Movie worth watching? - KindaWould I watch it again within a month? - Definitely NotWould I watch it again within a year? - NOWould I watch it again within 3 years? - NOHow family friendly was it on a scale of 1-10? - *9*I can't say that much for this movie. Once you've seen the 1956 version, the 2004 remake seems unworthy of the Title. I won't say that I didn't enjoy the movie because that wouldn't be true. I just think that it was a very poor remake.The '56 version followed the book closer, which is important to me. Also, the comedy in the original version was funny, compared to the comedy in the remake which was silly.Overall I will most likely never watch this movie again. If I want to watch Around the World in Eighty Days, I will definitely watch the 1956 version.

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OllieSuave-007
2004/06/23

Based on Jules Verne adventure novel, adventurer Passepartout (Jackie Chan) teams up with time-traveling inventor Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan) and French artist Monique La Roche (Cécile De France) on a journey around the world in 80 days to win a wager with a London Clumb members.During the trio's journey, there is an endless supply of wacky adventures, good guy vs. bad guy action, cheesy romance and dialog, historical fun and breathtaking sceneries of the many countries featured, including England, France, Turkey, India China and the USA. Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan make a great heroic and comedic team in their win-seeking bet and I've also enjoyed seeing the many cameos in the movie like Luke and Owen Wilson in the USA and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Prince Papi in Turkey. He was extremely hilarious in his attempts to woo Monique and to protect his humongous statue of himself from being crushed to pieces by Passepoartout and Fogg.The martial arts seen were a treat and exciting to watch and it was an added bonus to see actor Sammo Hung as martial artist legend Wong Fei Hung and he leads the "Five Tigers" in attempts to defeat the "Black Scorpians" to save the trio. It was also enjoyable to watch each of the trio's different adventures in each of the different countries, giving us a taste of the different cultures, historical settings and people.It's a wild and crazy adventure from start to finish, which I thought gave the plot momentum. The movie's not Oscar material, but it's pure entertainment! Grade B

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