Gulliver's Travels 1996 TV, 188 min. Genre: Adventure
Director: Charles Sturridge Cast: Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, James Fox, Ned Beatty, Edward Fox, Robert Hardy, John Standing, Alfre Woodard, Geraldine Chaplin, Peter O'Toole, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Phoebe Nicholls, Karyn Parsons, Edward Petherbridge, John Wells
An all-star cast, Jim Henson's special effects, and good performances make this made-for-TV miniseries a joy to watch and is probably the most faithful retelling of the Jonathan Swift social satire. Lemuel Gulliver (Ted Danson) returns home to Mary (Mary Steenburgen) after a long absence and acts out his wild adventures that include the tiny Lilliputians, the huge Brobdingnags, the Laputas (the no-common-sense scientists), and the intelligent horses surrounded by wild humans.
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Princess Caraboo 1994 PG, 95 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Michael Austin Cast: Phoebe Cates, Jim Broadbent, Wendy Hughes, Kevin Kline, John Lithgow, Stephen Rea, Peter Eyre, Jacqueline Pearce, Roger Lloyd-Pack, John Sessions, John Wells, John Lynch, Kate Ashfield, Arkie Whiteley, Ewan Bailey
Supposedly based on a true story, this is the tale of a young woman (Phoebe Cates) who shows up in an English village during the early 1800s speaking a strange language. She is taken in by the Worralls (Jim Broadbent and Wendy Hughes) whose butler, Frexos (Kevin Kline) convinces them to have her tried for vagrancy. During the trial, she uses pantomime to convince the magistrate that her name is "Caraboo" and that she is a princess who was kidnapped by pirates but managed to escape by swimming ashore. The Worralls take her back to their home, but a reporter, Gutch (Stephen Rea), still thinks she is a fraud and investigates to find out whether or not Caraboo is telling the truth. Fun, with a good cast and story.
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Rentadick 1972 N/R, 94 min. Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Jim Clark Cast: James Booth, Richard Briers, Julie Ege, Donald Sinden, Roy Kinnear, Michael Bentine, Ronald Fraser, Spike Milligan, Tsai Chin, Kenneth Cope, John Wells, Patricia Quinn
Chaos, along with humor and double crosses, are the order of the day when the bumbling detectives of Rentadick, Inc. set out on the trail of criminals who stole a nerve gas that paralyzes its victims from the waist down.
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| 1. Gulliver's Travels (1996)
2. Princess Caraboo (1994)
3. Rentadick (1972)
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