Customer Reviews

Children of the Stones

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I received this a few days ago and started watching this today, and I'm happy to say that I am glad this classic mini-series has finally made it to North America!
Of course, I first saw this on Nickelodeon's paranormal anthology series The Third Eye (over 25 years ago). It was such an involving, powerful, and terrifying seven episodes of science meeting mysticism -- and even today it still intrigues and haunts me to this day. Given that this British production is actually just over 30 years old, the video transfer looks quite acceptable (if you can stand good ol' film grain in the film segments, and the videotaped segments look quite good). Good mono audio, too -- in fact, on this DVD, I'm hearing elements that I never heard on the Nick broadcasts (this is a good dual-layer disc). The extra materials are quite good and informative, too.
Definitely recommend this to others who know and love this classic. If this sells well enough, we'll also get "Into The Labyrinth" from Acorn Media.

7 episodes, originally filmed for children, star Gareth Thomas as Adam Brake, Astrophysicist, and his son, Matthew, (Peter Demin). They search for modern (1977 standard) clues to standing stones 4000 years old. They find Milbury, a scenic country English village, filled with "happy day" families who are not quite normal. The mystery needs solving.

Matthew is the boy for the job, as he has the gift of seeing into time, through mental images. If it begins to seem a bit far-fetched, the film was intended to be supernatural, sinister, spooky, and paranormal, at least for kids. That is similar to another British author, J. M. Barrie, who came up with children stories of the paranormal and time travel in the form of Peter Pan and Wendy and those evil pirates. Matthew has his own Wendy friend in "Children of the Stones". Sandra (Katharine Levy), daughter of the new standing stone museum curator, Margaret (Veronica Strong), sparks Matt's attention, as Margaret does with Adam. Nothing turns into true romance--after all, it was filmed for kids.

Time travel was the basis for another British step through megalithic stones. Diana Gabaldon, author of the popular and lengthy "Outlander" series, used gems in place of this story's serpent-designed amulet for protection. Her books, never turned to film, YET, are a bit more believable, if paranormal behavior connected to ancient 2-ton rocks can be normalized. Her books are recommended.

One must keep in mind that this science fiction story was created in 1977 and has the gadgetry and special effects capability of the 70's. So, it looks a bit like the earliest action and suspense of Batman TV series of the late 60s. 21st century computer effects are nonexistent but the nostalgic look at British Sci-Fi of the 70's is now more adult oriented than what was originally intended.

No CC or subtitles found which would have helped with some of the stronger accented cast. They can't always be added to older films. The British had not yet learned that America would like viewing British TV.

Perhaps this is not for everyone, but I was intrigued to continue watching episode after episode without a break.

Episode titles: "Into the Circle", "Circle of Fear", "Serpent in the Circle", "Narrowing Circle", "Charmed Circle", "Squaring the Circle", & "Full Circle".

And 7 "circle" episodes are rounded out with extras:
Gareth Thomas interview after 25-30 years with some fun antidotes.
Director/Producer interview, Peter Graham Scott, who admits that Matthew (Demin) was a beginning actor. It shows in some overacted scenes. But the director was thrilled with the other child stars as well as the noted group of British and Scottish adult leads.
Production notes.
Trivia
Photo gallery

Children of the Stones is the DVD collection of all seven episodes of a British science fiction thriller, filmed on location at the Avebury stone circle (which is older than the nearby Stonehenge). When astrophysicist Adam Blake (whose other credits include "Blake's 7") and his teenage son Matthew come to research the standing stones, they discover fascinating and harrowing mysteries hidden in the stones' past. The seemingly druidic Rafael Hendrick holds an inexplicable sway over the entranced "happy ones" of the local village - and why is it said that "nobody ever leaves the circle"? The menace gradually builds up to the suspenseful climax, in this exciting and dramatic saga enhanced with interviews, production notes, series trivia, and a photo gallery. Highly recommended. Approximately 174 min., full screen, color.

I remember reading somewhere the Children of the Stone was among the 3 or 4 series that inspired LOST. And I enjoyed watching this series looking for the similarities:
- Milbury = the island in Lost
- The Doctor and his son = the Dharma initiative that goes to the island to study the effect of the extreme magnetism.
- The villagers = the Others
- The doctor in the village complains that nobody gets sick in the village = People heal faster in the island in Lost.
- New people arriving to the village somehow turn "weird" and they call it as getting infected or sick. They same in Lost.
- In both Lost and children of the stones the conversion of new people to "Other" occurs inside a temple"
- The village and Lost both have something that surrounds it and does not allow people to leave.

Great miniseries taking into consideration that it was filmed when I was a kid.

My husband and I watched this over a few nights and we both had bizarre dreams each night!! I know this show seems cheesy (and it really is at first), but it really pulls you in and creeps you out!! Love the basic story, characters and the setting. Strange, but the clothing is almost back in style!

This mid seventies classic really hold up well. It's intriguing and well acted. This film utilizes both film stock and taped interior set work. The story once you get started is hard to stop watching. What's going on in the ancient village?
Why are people acting like robotic happy people. why do the stones seem to be magnetic and standing inward? are they really people turned to stone? This also features incredible choral music that lends itself to incredible moody filmwork.
The stones seem to take on personalities when this music is playing. The guy who didn't like it probably listens to todays fake music like hip hop. That music has no soul and is without originality. The film looks great and the print is great shape , which is a lucky thing because if you have seen other tv shows from that era many seem rather scratched up. A good example of this is 'flickers" from bbc in 1980, a great movie but it has many lines through it on dvd. I am glad I got this one because it remains a original effort in style and music that really appeals to me. A true classic tv sci fi show that influenced many shows to come. It's also pretty cool to see those seventies clothes and hair styles. Those shaggy hair days are better left behind , even older people went rather unstyled and long in the hair department, but the great music and tv shows live on!

Very enjoyable, if somewhat dated, sci-fi mini-series from the 70s. This show is classified as a children's program but I think adults will enjoy it as much as any child. Gareth Thomas (Blake's 7) plays lead and does an excellent job as does the actor who plays his son. I was drawn into the mystery from the very first episode. The story is made up of 7 24 minute shows, each part ending in a cliff-hanger much like the Doctor Who stories made during this time. If I had to say one bad thing it would be that they didn't really explain everything in the end to my satisfaction but one can make reasonable guesses about them. This is a rare gem of a show that I had never heard of and just happened to stumble upon. Recommended.

Milbury, a tiny little English town, which would seem to be the best place to retire. A wonderful town full of history, with a nice little museum, a nice little pub, lots of nice happy people, and even a nice little cirle of megalithic stone. And everybody is so Happy.
The story is, frankly, every new age idea ever from the 70's, sans UFOs. Anicent power, druid-inspired magic, black holes, everything has been tossed into the pot to make sci-fi drama that forces one to watch it again and again. Of course, it also helps to have seen it as a kid. And also to have visited Avebury where the story was filmed. Avebury's cirle is even older than that of Stonehenge and really gives the series a dark, haunting feel.
I like the way Adam Brake, played by Gareth Thomas, tries to explain everything that is happening with reason and logic. It really gives the story a nice, grounded, almost realtisic feel as he, and his son, use science and math to try to piece together what is going on.
174 minutes, 7 episodes in all, with great actors, a wonderful vocal score, and a solid story.
If you liked this I would also suggest Quatermass and THE STONE TAPE.

I watched this in one sitting (it helped to use the "skip" button on the DVD remote to jump over the running of the credits after each episode. I also used the fast forward a lot to alleviate having to sit through the cliffhangers that ended one episode then were repeated for the start of the next). Even so, it was still overlong and tended to drag in places when the story wasn't advanced quickly enough. It felt like they were killing time.....a lot.
The film transfer is horrific for the location shots but pristine for the interiors. This was especially jarring when the actors walk inside from one of their frequent strolls. Some of the nighttime sequences were impossible to make out: dark on dark with layers of more dark, and some motion. I knew something was happening from that incessant caterwauling, I just couldn't see what.
I felt a lot of the story was stubbornly obtuse, floundering with grand ideas it couldn't really articulate. It tried so hard to be sinister and creepy (less Village of the Damned and more H.R. Pufnstuf). That was it biggest failing, it tried too hard with actors not quite up to the task of conveying the necessary eeriness required. Instead, most of them came across as simply daffy, not "happy." The unseen choir wasn't much of a help either with establishing a sinister tone. I had to fight the impulse to hit the mute button every time they started that grotesque wailing they called singing!
When the story slowly travailed to its unsatisfactory conclusion, all I was left with was the sense that in better hands this might have been something truly special. A classic, this isn't.
Still, I'm glad I saw it and don't begrudge the time it took to see it through. But it's not something I'd ever want to watch again.

I wish I'd researched this film before I bought it. While the story idea is fascinating...something weird is going on with the people in a sleepy little English village surrounded by a megalithic stone circle, it turns out to be the most over-the-top, over-acted, dated movie I've seen in many years. There's a reason film-making has advanced beyond this. It is also accompanied by the most melodramatic, annoying sound-track ever. This one should be put in the archives and left there.