Customer Reviews

5 Children & It

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I recommend this clean movie which kept us all entertained--ages 6 to 14 and Mom as well. We were so engrossed that we forgot to make popcorn!

First, a caveat: if you recently saw Narnia, you might think the movie is "copying"--two boys and two girls (and their toddler brother) are sent to an uncle's house in the country as their mother is a WW 1 nurse and their dad is a fighter pilot. There are similar issues (the older brother "in charge" and the younger brother not happy about it), but the stories aren't copies of one another and didn't intend to be! They are both just movies of really good children's books.

We are big fans of E. Nesbitt, and were a bit dubious about seeing this movie. As to staying true to the original novel, there are liberalities. However, there are a number of scenes which are similar and some which are just for the movie. The wise-cracking psammead (sand fairy) makes some amusing comments, but thankfully, none of his jokes (or anyone else's) descend into that crude humor which is so prevalent in children's movies today.

Yes, the acting is a bit weak; the kids seem to always have smiles on their faces for some reason. And the girls aren't developed very well as characters. And I never really enjoy talking puppets in my movies. But, with all that said, we still enjoyed the movie quite a bit!

What a disappointment! This dreadful little movie has practically nothing in common with the classic book of the same title by E. Nesbit. If you're a fan of children's literature and enjoy the wonderful tone and content of Five Children and It (the book) then find the other movie version of it, titled "The Sand Fairy." I believe it was done by the BBC. There is also a second, called "Return of the Sand Fairy."

Like everyone else, I loved Freddie Highmore in Finding Neverland (and as Charlie) and he's just as charming here, as Robert, the second oldest boy and the starring role in this version (Freddie gets top billing and Robert's part is much more central than in the book). It's not Freddie's fault that this script is a bad jumble of kid-movie cliches brought together by someone who obviously never read E. Nesbit's classic, or if they did, cared nothing for it. Nesbit is a wonderful children's writer, full of wit and magic. C.S. Lewis himself said he was inspired by Nesbit's work when he created his Narnia books. However, in this production, it's Lewis' classics that seem to lend most of the plot. The kids here are evacuated during the war (WWI in this case) and live with a "mad uncle" and his very odd son in a castle by the sea. It's as if they took several Lewis books, tried to add a Harry Potter feel, and then CGI'd a character (the sand fairy) for that modern flashiness. A few of the wishes from the actual story occur (wings, spending money) but the entire tone is one of "wacky adventure" as the kids run rampant and the sand fairy cracks jokes. Freddie has his touching moments, missing their father, which is supposed to lend a depth that this movie could never quite hold.

I have a high tolerance for children's entertainment, happily watching many a kiddy film, however I was bored from the first fifteen minutes. I did watch to the end, bound and determined to get it over with. As I did, I wondered what sort of person might be entertained by all this. My guess: one who has not been previously exposed to any of the great works that were badly ripped off here. One who is easily amused and has no need for consistency of tone or quality of script. One who has never heard of the E. Nesbit book and never intends to read it. If that's you or your kids, enjoy.

Finally, a movie about goodnes, loyalty, faith, hope, and love. And one in which the parents aren't made out to be bufoons...especially the dad. And the mom/wife loves and respects the dad, and this is reflected in their children's relationship with their father. All thumbs up!

Cute little movie :) I enjoyed the book as a kid and was delighted by the fun of the DVD just a few weeks ago.

5 Children and It / B0009S4ILA

*Spoilers*

If you haven't read Nesbit's book, 5 Children and It, then likely this review will mean little to you and you will find better information in some of the other reviews. If you are like me, however, and remember Nesbit's charming tale from childhood, you may be considering this movie based on your love of the book.

Do not be fooled. This book jettisons everything lovely about Nesbit's tale in favor of a blatant Narnia rip-off that is painfully obvious. Like Narnia (the movie, not the book), the movie starts with the children being shuffled off to the countryside in a train, longing for their parents and their familiar surroundings. The countryside house looks like a replica of the Narnia film house, and the sandpit with no sea (which the children find so pointless and boring) is not here. We'll get to that later.

The house caretakers are, a la Narnia, quirky and old and eccentric. A good deal of film is wasted on this portion of the movie, detailing how boring it is at the house, how much time is to be spent on maths, how long the chores lists for the children is. There's a abhorrent cousin added here for unnecessary conflict.

One day, on a rainy day, the children are bored and cooped up in the house and they find a magical doorway to another world. You'll note that 0% of that is in Nesbit's book, but 100% of that statement describes Narnia. Fine. The other world has a luxurious beach, complete with a large ocean, and the children take this in stride - no disbelief, no wonder, no worries.

When they unearth "It", the voice......stings. "It" sounds like...Eddie Izzard. There's no other way to put it. (Eddie Izzard is also a voice in the Narnia series. Do we see a pattern here?) It wisecracks, It sounds like a wise guy. When the children feign disinterest in It, he practically begs to be paid attention to. And the whole twist of the book, the drama of "Is It ruining the wishes on purpose?", is immediately tossed to the winds (and incorrectly) by making it very clear with supernatural spying and smirking that, yes, It is ruining the wishes deliberately and on purpose.

When I tried to enjoy this movie apart from the radical changes in the storyline, I found I could not - the dialogue is boring, the action predictable, and the story "twists" are painfully bad. I don't doubt that a small child may like this, but if you're looking into this for literary nostalgia, as I was - Stay Away!

This version provides a closed caption option for the hard of hearing.

~ Ana Mardoll

I bought this book for my children in the 1980s as they became old enough to read. I read it back then and found it pleasant. In April/May 2008 I re-read it after noticing E. Nesbit was honored in the pages of one of my favorite books, Half Magic. My youngest daughter, as an 8 year old, read Five Children and It and told me she pretty much loved it until she saw this movie a year later, May 2008. Then she said she loved the movie more. Good for her. She isn't wrapped up in "rules" as I am.

The movie was shockingly different from the book, and I found myself endlessly comparing it to the book and being frustrated. I could've enjoyed the movie a lot if I had relaxed.

Did the movie include as much as 2 percent from E. Nesbit's book? Does anyone know? There was nothing about a war in the book. There was no train, tramp with suitcases, mansion, relatives, forbidden room, beach, and no enormous shell containing the sand fairy who tried running away.

The sand fairy's appearance, character and words were all dramatically different. He was endearing in the book. I missed his wisdom and vulnerability. You know how important it was that Gollum in Tolkien's books be done well for the movies? I feel like that about E. Nesbit's sand fairy. The movie sand fairy was lively and sarcastic and funny but he wasn't the book sand fairy.

The book had no crazy chore list, no clones, no broken vase, no testdrive of a car, no Germans, no ice cream man.

Everything having to do with wings in the movie differed from the book. In the book, the children agreed on wings and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. It was supremely glorious day. No problems until they got hungry and fell asleep. The book had charming realistic, practical dilemnas for their wings adventure. I loved that part of E. Nesbit's story. Sigh. The movie invented some conflict and drama and danger with their flight, but I much preferred the book's simple realism and good heart during that day's wish.

Everything to do with the children's father and his compass, birthday picnic, the near dissection, and the dinosaur didn't exist in the book.

I was especially bothered by the movie character played by Freddie. The movie character was rebellious, angry, passionate, and clearly the lead character. Not so in the book. I don't blame Freddie. As Jessica Rabbit would say, "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." I don't see why the story wasn't "modernized" to win a new generation, retaining the best the book had to offer. Who made the decision to change 98%?

E. Nesbit deserves to have her books made into first class movies. This can be done without having her plot and characters butchered/annihilated. How far can movie makers go with their "adaptations" and still credit a source? What a dilemna. She deserves the recognition.

I recommend you enjoy the book and enjoy the movie. They both are worth owning and worth re-reading/watching over and over. Just let go of thinking the movie will do justice to the book.

A delightful fantasy/adventure/comedy based on the children's classic by E Nesbit. 5 children are sent to spend the summer holidays during the First World war with their loopily obsessive uncle (very well played by Kenneth Branagh). Some excellent set pieces, such as when for example "IT", the odd creature they discover on the magic beach, succeeds in cloning the 5 children to perform the tedious household chores devised by their barmy Uncle, and some splendid clashes between the occasionally irritatingly sensible children and their nerdish overweight cousin.
I'm sure if this film had been made in America more would have been made of the absent father fighting in the trenches, who is only slantingly referred to in a rather stiff-upper-lip sort of way, but this is after all a British film and very faithful to the period.

This is a fairly faithful (in concept) retelling of E Nesbit's moralistic children's classic, although the story is reset in the first world war period. This film is very gentle and occasionally moving to watch, although it is more amusing than laugh out loud funny (at least when Eddie Izzard isn't about). It's more 'The railway children' or 'The secret garden' than 'Spy Kids' (hardly surprising as Nesbit also wrote The Railway Children).

The stalwart British adult actor's Zoe Wannamaker and Kenneth Branagh are in good form and all the children are excellent and likable leads, particularly the young Freddie Highmore - now the new Charlie (in Charlie & the Chocolate factory) and his 'nasty cousin' Horace (Alexander Pownall). The wise & witty old sand fairy naturally steals all his scenes (and Eddy Izzard is really great as his voice). The only downside is the rather naff static dinosaur sequence, more than made up for though by the breathtaking Zeppelin scene (best viewed on the big screen). There are some other famous UK faces as well, including Norman Wisdom in a micro cameo. The film hasn't got the depth or historical accuracy of the three hour BBC's TV adaptation of the book from 1991, and is far less faithful to the book's plotline set in the earlier late Victorian/Edwardian period. However the film is quite acceptable fun and has the advantage that it can easily be viewed as a sequel to the superb BBC adaptation (if you can find it). The actual sequel to the book though is BBCs later 'all star' serialisation 'The Phoenix and the carpet', at present only available highly edited as a region 1 'Disney film' from Amazon (and this DVD is also highly recommended - until a proper BBC DVD set appears).

On release, my 10 y old daughter and I chose this 'Five Children and it' film over Sharks Tale and didn't regret it. My daughter was absorbed throughout it (and cried a bit). My 8 y old son and mum really enjoyed this DVD later. So well worth couple of viewings on quiet winter Sundays.

Okay, I will say that I've never read the book, although my 9 year old wants to after this movie! We have watched movies every Friday night for over 2 years (4 kids, current ages 9, 7,4 and 9 months), and this is one of the best ones by far. No questionable language at all, and the sand fairy has some hilarious dry humor and off-the-wall comments (but entirely appropriate for a kid's movie). It's not rated, which worried me at first. I'm still not sure why it didn't get a rating, however, I'd say it's a definate "G". There's some scenes that younger kids might think is scary, but is mostly suspense. I really enjoyed the learning process the characters go through (even if the characters were a little underdeveloped); I thought for children they were decent actors.

Yes, there are a lot of similarities to Narnia, especially the opening of the film. However, if you enjoy each movie for what it is, and not compare the two, it's very enjoyable. As for the review that slams the graphics and audio, we watched it on our 32 inch tv with no problems... maybe he had an HDTV or something. My daughter commented at one point how life like the sand fairy looked. I do think a commentary or trailer would have been a nice touch, but as for the movie itself, it was one of the best we've seen. I don't say this often, but this time, enjoy the movie first and THEN read the book!

My twelve year old who read and loved the E. Nesbit book Five Children and It hated this movie. I have also read the book, and the movie has very little in common with the original story. There is no eccentric uncle and cousin Horace or secret door in the greenhouse. The children are not sent to the country because of the war. Even the wishes the children make are not true to the book. My nine year old enjoyed the movie because she had not read the book.
So, although it is pleasant, clean, family entertainment, I think E. Nesbit would have been disappointed at the adaptation of her book. It seems to me that the producers of this movie merely plagiarized E. Nesbit's idea of five children and a sand fairy and then totally wrote their own story borrowing from C.S. Lewis' Chronicle of Narnia series.