Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #264 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-04-13
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 106 minutes

Synopsis
In this fantasy adventure based on Cornelia Funke's book, a young girl named Meggie watches as her father causes fictional characters to leap into reality. But a formerly book-bound baddie takes Meggie's dad hostage, and it's up to the junior heroine--and some fictional help--to rescue her father.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic addition to the fantasy genre!
I saw this at the cinema, and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen during the whole feature.

Of course it not EXACTLY like the book. It has taken parts out, switched things around, but all book-to-movie adaptations do that.

It is purely incredible to watch, the characters are perfect, and the special effects are brilliant.

As a huge fan of the Inkworld trilogy, I am definately NOT dissapointed with this film. And am now waiting impatiently for the DVD.

solid little movie
This is a neatly made, solid little movie, very competent, well acted, capable of holding a grown up's attention. I have got (had) to see a lot of these fantasy type films recently, and after the Harry Potters it holds its head up with the best of them. It is more coherent and whole as a story, with better changes in dramatic pace, and characterization than the let-down Golden Compass, say - and absolutely head and shoulders above the utterly dire "Secret of Moonacre" and Bridge to Tarabithia. Better than Five Children and It, and the Water Horse. Better than Nanny McPhee, which was OK itself. It really stands the test, actually. Oh, and the main child character is a girl.

Good, but not great
Brendan Fraser's been having a rough old time of it lately. Both The Mummy 3 and Journey To The Centre Of The Earth were shocking awful. Really, really woeful. And it's a shame because Brendam Fraser is actually very good, and seems to be painting himself into a bit of a corner. (Look at his performaces in Scrubs and The Passion of Darkly Noon to see how talented he really is.)

The trailers for Inkheart make it seem extraordinary - like a The Neverending Story for the noughties - and while it lives up to its promise visually, it falls a little flat elsewise. I've not read the books, and am beginning to understand they have a huge following, so if you're a fan of the books and want a review that will be able to contrast and compare, hopefully one of the other reviews will be able to do that.

Back to Fraser: he's very good. We've grown accustomed to seeing him in comedy roles, and I can't remember him smiling a single time here. Along with him the cast comprises of Paul Bettany, Eliza Bennett, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis and Jim Broadbent - it's an exceedingly British cast - and all play their parts well.

The problem is, aside from the astoundingly good visuals, it's all a little listless. You keep expecting something amazing to happen and it never does. If you've seen Jumper, you'll know what I mean. It always seems to be on the very precipice of something exciting taking place, but it never does; like being on the brink of a sneeze for an hour and a half. It's a little confusing and disappointing.

Fraser is a "silver tongue" - someone who, when he reads a loud, brings the characters into the real world. Reading Rapunzel makes Rapunzel appear, etc. The only problem is, when someone is brought across to our world, someone disappears into theirs. The universe, I suppose, seeks to balance itself out. The person who disappeared into the other world is Risa, Fraser's wife, and the mother of his daughter, Meggie.

She disappeared when Meggie was 3, and he has been surreptitiously searching for her ever since. You would think that would involve huge amounts of adventure and excitement, however, much of the film takes place in the front room of an old castle somewhere. With every fantasy world out there to choose from, setting the bulk of it all in one dusty old room seems like a strange decision to make. And that may well be why the film never really takes off.

It is not, however, a bad film. It's jolly entertaining, and were my expectations not so high, I perhaps would have enjoyed it more. And, again, the effects really are excellent. Having looked up Inkheart as a novel, have discovered it's a trilogy. The film is good enough to make me want to see the other 2 brought to the screen, but if the Inkworld books are as good as they sound, the film-makers may have to do more to make sure the next two do the books justice.