Mio in the Land of Faraway (1987)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This largely unknown film is okay, although flawed. Has influences from several countries, as it isn't a one-nationality movie, which makes it a mix of cultures and film-making (for good and for bad). Not just this, it also heavily "drank" inspiration from other fantasy movies in details.This is one of those films that make me wanna be taken to a world of fantasy, especially now when things only get worst every year. If that could be possible, that would be an excellent escape from reality. I am pretty sick of reality and probably many of us are.The cinematography is astonishing and so is the pan flute music (including a song which was composed by ABBA's former members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus - 'Mio my Mio', performed by the Swedish band Gemini).As it was said in another review, the film doesn't deliver a lot of action, but to compensate it offers decent amounts of adventure, although without being too intense or exciting. The main villain is creepy and so are his intentions and way of talking. But he doesn't have that much of a role, so he ends up seeming less scary that he is.Nicholas Pickard and Christian Bale steal the show as the main actors, both in double roles, but still Christian Bale is the best of the two. Nicholas Pickard is not a familiar name to most (myself included). However, Christian Bale soon would become a famous and highly praised actor. Christian Bale starred in 'Empire of the Sun' in the same year as this (1987) and that was when he began to draw attentions from the public and press thanks to his amazing performance. He grew up to be a successful adult with a successful career, even if he's not as good as he was when younger.In each of the two roles played by these boys, they are good friends. Actually, their friendship is very sincere and humble. They have mutual respect and help each other. Whatever happened to friendships like this these days, when everything is so changed for worst that almost nothing seems to make sense any longer?

I have 5 things in my house that if it were burning down I would risk my life to save them; The Land of Faraway is one of them. I have a VHS copy from the U.S. that I got in 1989 when I was 3 years old. I'm 22 now and I still love the film that much, I'm actually watching it right now.This review may contain spoilers! The Land Of Faraway or Mio Min Mio, as most people know it, is the story of a boy named Bosse. His adoptive parents hate him and let him know it, the older kids bully him, and he only has two real friends: Mrs. Lundin a nice young woman who works at a local store and Benke a boy from school. Bosse greatest dream is to have a father that loves him like Benke. One day Mrs. Lundin gives Bosse a golden apple and asks him to mail a post card for her. The post card is to the King of the Land of Faraway and says something like "the one you have been looking for is here; he will have an apple of gold in his hand". Then out of a bottle on the ground a giant head/spirit emerges and takes Bosse away to the Land of Faraway. Bosse finds out that he's really Mio the Prince of the Land of Faraway! But there is a great evil man named Kato who steals children and turns them into birds, legend says that only a Prince can kill Kato and save the children. So Mio/Bosse sets of with friend Jum-Jum/Benke on an awesome adventure to defeat Kato! The music in the film is so beautiful and haunting; you will be humming it for days. The acting by Nick Pickard as Bosse/Mio and Christian Bale as Benke/Jum-Jum is outstanding. I particularly love the lighting in the film; firelight creates creepy shadows across the sets and really sets the mood for the darker scenes. The copy I have is old so the sound is really bad and since the movie was made in the late 1980s the video quality looks sort of fuzzy and out of focus compared to new DVDs.I would recommend this movie to every kid I have ever met and to adults who are fantasy fans.~*Leah

I have no idea why previous comment said that this movie is bad, bad, bad... I believe it has a lot better plot then lots of late American kids movies. I absolutely love this movie. I have seen it when I was just a teenager and now I have found it again. I used to relate myself to it and imagine that the Spirit will someday come for me too... What an imaginative kid I was!!! Nowadays I have two kids myself and am sure they will enjoy watching it too. I couldn't believe that it was so expensive to purchase since it is out of print for 5 years, but my husband had spoiled me this Christmas, after hearing my nostalgic story. :)

When I watched ''Mio min Mio'' for the first time, I was a kid with 7 years old. It was one of my childhood's favorite movies, and until the present days I found it magical in a certain way. Reading here in IMDb I discovered that it was based in a book, but sadly I never read it, and I also discovered that the famous music played in the movie that get stuck in your head ,is called "Mio, Min Mio". I didn't remembered that Christian Bale worked in this movie, so it was a real pleasure to see him in the screens.( I like him a lot). I was very afraid as a child about Kato and all that dark atmosphere near his castle, not to mention the kids who were kidnapped and transformed into a bird; the last scene where Kato dies was terrifying, and at the same time very satisfying.It's a pity that this movie isn't very well know. I guess many people would love to have watched this movie as a kid.Ps: Don't forget that this movie was made in a time where Harry Potter didn't exist. But it is funny, since you can see some references to HP's books. The invisible cap that Mio uses, Kato, that always remembers me Voldemort, magic, an orfan who is hated by the people who takes care of him...well..I guess you got the point! :)