Customer Reviews

Pagemaster (Widescreen/Full Screen)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For me this is one of those films that every time it's suggested as a film to view I don't initially want to watch because I think it will be cheesy but then end up enjoying a lot.

The story is about a very cautious young boy who is afraid of just about everything he comes in contact with. His father, who wants both to spend some time with his son and help him get over his fear, is building him a tree house. His dad sends him out to buy more nails for said tree house, but Richard (the boy) gets caught in the middle of a rain storm on the way and runs into the nearest building for shelter, and this building happens to be a library. When he enters the library he is bombarded by a very passionate librarian who is more than willing to help him find any number of stories, but Richard is just looking for a telephone and goes on his way to find it. As he is walking through the stacks he comes across a huge mural on the ceiling of a rotunda. As he's admiring this mural the paint starts to melt off the ceiling and drop onto the floor, turning everything it touches into a cartoon. Richard of course runs away and this paint chases him until both he and the entire library have been turned into a cartoon. He meets up with three books, Adventure, Fantasy, and Horror, and with their help, face three challenges (found within some classic books from each genre) as they make their way to the exit sign.

This plot of this movie sounds so cheesy, like one of those direct to film movies designed to make a quick buck, but instead it's one of those hidden gems that encourage imagination and self- confidence. Christopher Lloyd plays the librarian as well as The Pagemaster, and I think he was one of the best actors for the job. He speaks with a mixture of both a hushed and an explosive passion that could make you see the magic in a wet dish towel and draws you in so completely to the plot. It inspires both reading and imagination and is a fast paced adventure, to be enjoyed by young and old.

Like I said (a million times), I was shocked and surprised by the negative reviews I would see on the web, I thought it's a great film with a excellent soundtrack score by the James Horner (An American Tail,Krull,Titanic,Troy,etc), and a wonderful blend of live action and animation; And this film became one of my favorite live action/animated films along with Disney's Song of The South (and the new Enchanted), and Arthur and The Invisibles.

The film starts with 10-year-old Richard Tyler who is scared to do anything that might endanger him, like riding his bike, or climbing into his treehouse. While seeking shelter from a storm in an old library, he is mystically transported into the animated "wonderful and quite unpredictable world of books." I love the main title sequence with the clouds that was awesome! and the mural in the library too.

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...in terms of the actors and energy devoted to a potentially exciting idea, spoiled by lack of true imagination on the part of the writers, producers, and directors of this movie. When anticipating theatrical release, the kids in the family were excited by the trailers, but they were excruciatingly bored by the film itself, which proved to be unimaginative, uninspired, and without the sort of spark to be expected of the collection of voice and acting talents participating therein.

And I could determine in '94 why the movie was bound to suck. Note that the three genres of fiction instantiated in *The Pagemaster* were:

(1) Fantasy

(2) Adventure

(3) Horror

Not a whiff of Science Fiction, kiddies. Of course. Proverbs 29:18 all over the place ("Without a vision, the people perish"). The mark of the mundanes is all over this movie. Ostensible credits notwithstanding, if there was a genuine science fiction fan involved in the production of *The Pagemaster*, he was kept drugged and trussed up in a trunk somewhere on the set so he couldn't interfere with the process of turning perfectly good ingredients like these into a flat, uninteresting, drooling dollop of witlessness.

Beware the mark of the mundanes, my people! In this as in everything else in life, they are walking Black Holes of vapidness, guaranteeing in every spoiled celluloid square of *The Pagemaster* an overwhelming dose of major suckage.
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Macaulay Culkin plays a young man named Richard Tyler, who, thanks to his obsessive calculations of the statistics of accidents caused by anything and everything, is afraid of everything including heights, darkness, fire, etc.,etc. One day, his father (after falling off a short treehouse he made for Richard) assigns him to go and buy some new nails for the completion of the house. Richard protests at first, but eventually, regretfully goes. On his way he encounters kid "bullies" (too bad acting for their own good) and speeds off on his bike through a tunnel, and due to the darkness the storm creates, crashes into a tree. He then seeks shelter in an old, deserted (for the night) library where he meets the head librarian, slightly-mad (as always) Christopher Lloyd. who immediately tries to find a way to get Richard to check out a book. Richard says he doesn't have a card, but Lloyd, like magic, whips up a brand-new library card for him to rent books with. Richard then goes looking around the huge library, almost just to get Lloyd off his back about it, and after getting turned around, slips on a little puddle of rain water, leaking in from the roof of the library. He gets knocked unconscious, and is greeted afterwards by the greatest man in the world of books: the Pagemaster, who explains to him he will have to conquer his greatest fears with the help of 3 types of literature: Fantasy, Adventure, and Horror. When he meets these 3 books he faces each of his fears by conquering over literatures' greatest and darkest characters including Long John Silver, Moby Dick, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, and a haunted cemetery. When he awakens from his unconsciousness, he checks out the 3 books that helped him during his adventures and lives without any fears, firstly by sleeping in his new treehouse. A charming, wonderfully crafted, however dull it may be, children's fable that never fails to delight. And will definitely cause any viewers to want to read more.

I like the part where tyler gets anamated i recomend this movie for people who like live and anamation.

I am rating this a good family movie, because my girls loved this movie alot! They saw it on tv a few times, and I had to buy it for them. It about reading and magical lands and imagination, which is what kids should be all about. I thought it was cute,but Im an adult and this is a kids movie, but my daughters thought it was great! I think your kids wont be disappointed.

This movie is great especially for kids with vivd imaginations. It takes them from the real world to the world of fantasy, adventure and intimidation. It leaves a great message for the kids to think about. I have probably bought it three times over in rentals at our local video store before I bought it.

Richard Tylor is a timid little boy who is concerned with safety. He runs into a library when a strom comes up, and enters an animated adventure. There, Richard must find the EXIT to the animated world and get to his home. Along the way, he befriends three books who can talk: Adventure, Horror and Fanasty (spelling?). To find the exit, Richard must get passed three worlds which are named after the talking books. He meets Long John Silver, Moby Dick, and a dragon that's guarding the exit.
The animation is so-so, not the best in the world and not the worst. Worth watching once.

Despite the poor reception of this movie, it is very good.

Richard Tyler is a boy who is afraid of almost everything until he is forced to flee into a large library due to a storm. Once in he finds himself in an animated world where everything is ruled by the magic of books. In order to get out he must travel through the worlds of Horror, Adventure, and Fantasy to reach the EXIT.

The movie is short, as most animated features are. The animation is decent enough, but not not quite up to par with the Disney animation during 1994. And the plot is simple.

BUT!!! I grew up on this movie when it was first released! I remember seeing it in the theaters and then going over to my friend's house to watch it all the time when it was released on VHS. It's NOT a bad movie. The cast is pretty well known. My favorite part is the music, composed by James Horner. My mother bought me the soundtrack on cassette and I still have it. Gorgeous orchestrations!!! The movie has a mystical feel about it. During the storm and the library scenes I was entranced!

MY BIGGEST CONCERN: I hope they clean up the film for the DVD release, most of all the animation. Taking into consideration that this movie wasn't released when DVD first came out, because most that were released in the beginning had very BAD quality, it should look nice. Maybe all of this time they were making it up nice. *Crosses Fingers*

Anyway, I do recommend this movie for children, and most of all, readers. If you like Matilda then you should like this movie.

Like the Amazon.com review, this movie does try to get kids to pick up books, which is why most like it. I'm 16 and I have this movie on VHS already and really look forward to have it on DVD. It may sound childish and sentimental for my age, but I don't care. This movie gives me a good feeling and I am anxious for the DVD.

Hope I have helped ^_^