Gulliver's Travels (1981)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Memorable, crazy movie

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This genuinely strange endeavor is a minor technical achievement for its time, but suffers from an unexciting, talky script. Richard Harris does an admirable job reacting to people that aren't really there. Recommended mostly to kids with warped tastes, or adults in need of a weird trip (the fact that "real" miniatures and animated things seem to be interchangeable in Lilliput only enhances the weirdness). **1/2 out of 4.

This is the famous tale of a man called Gulliver who is shipwrecked on an island inhabited by tiny people from a land called Lilliput. Before long he finds himself caught between two warring kingdoms.This version of Gulliver's Travels has to count as being something of a curious obscurity. It was obviously a film that came and went quite quickly at the time and has consequently become largely forgotten. It stars Richard Harris pretty much on his own, owing to the fact that this is one of the earliest films to attempt a live-action/animation hybrid, with Harris playing the part of Gulliver and all the Lilliputians being cartoon characters. I think for this reason it remains quite interesting. The animation is pretty basic, although quite a lot of 70's cartoons were generally, so it isn't alone in this. But it's pleasingly unusual to see Harris interacting with these animated characters and towering over the models of the little city. It's certainly a film aimed squarely at kids though, with the people of Lilliput coming across like creations from a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. There were also a few songs as well, which only added further to the genre mash-up that this movie constitutes. It's a pretty ropey effort to be absolutely honest but it also has a charm and earnest endeavour about it which ensured that it was quite an enjoyable watch.

I have to disagree with the only comment listed. This movie is not the best adaptation of the novel by any means though it is significant in that it was one of the early movies to use animation to the effect seen in this move; that is, mixing real life actors with animated characters. It pulls this off spectacularly. The problem is more to do with the dialogue and pace which is, at times, tiring. I watched this as a child and always had a soft spot for it, as I now know other children to have the same. This isn't a horrible movie, it should certainly not be overlooked in my opinion. It certainly should be bought at a car-boot sale though!

The originality, strangeness, and mild humor that turned Jonathan Swift's novel, Gulliver's Travels into a classic is not captured at all in this poorly made adaptation of the novel. Please, save the risk of runing the book, and avoid watching this film. Trust me.