Customer Reviews

Don Quixote [VHS]

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

 

 

The aging Alonso Quijano (played by John Lithgow) loves to read the stories of heroic knights who bestrode the world so long ago. Losing some of his ability to tell reality from fiction, he styles himself Don Quixote de la Mancha, dresses himself in rusty old army, grabs neighbor Sancho Panza (Bob Hoskins) as his squire, and rides off in search of adventure. Sadly for Don Quixote, the world has changed a great deal since the time of knights in shining armor. [Color, created in 2000, with a running time of 2 hours.]

I stopped when I saw John Lithgow and Bob Hoskins gracing the cover of this tape, and had to have it when I saw that the screenplay was written by John Mortimer (author of the Rumpole of the Bailey stories). The movie is visually stunning, with Quixote's hallucinations leaping off the screen in vibrant colors. Also, though the tape is marked as "not rated," it contains very little violence, and nothing else that would make it unsuitable for younger viewers.

Now for the bad news: the story is somewhat choppy, and, worse, seems to drag on with no real point. Though my children (7 and 10) liked the scenes with the giants, they became quite bored later and simply wandered away. That said, I did enjoy this movie, and am glad that I watched it, though I may never bother to watch it again. Therefore, let me give this movie a very qualified recommendation.

I really had wanted to watch this when it was on TV, but I missed it. When I saw the video was available, I immediately purchased it. I am a big fan of John Lithgow and this part was perfect to showcase his unique talent. This movie was a pleasure to watch and is a movie that your whole family can watch together. The scenery was incredible and the movie was very enjoyable. While I haven't read the book, I think this movie is worth anyone's time. It's a nice break from all the action/horror/teen sex movies that seem to fill the theatres any more. Highly recommended!

I bought this movie on VHS a few years back, and was hoping that it would eventually be released on DVD. I was in Spain, and saw the DVD version there. The DVD version has scenes that are not on the VHS version and not to mention the option of watching the movie in Spanish!! I really would like to buy the DVD version of this movie that can be played in North America! This movie is very faithful to the spirit of the original book it came from. People who are familiar with this masterpiece of Cervantes and anyone who just likes a good story will be happy with this movie. I highly recommend it!

I have just seen this movie and it was absolutly brilliant. The scenery, the actors the story which is pretty similar to the original Servantes book. John Lithgow is fabulous as the don, sometimes funny, sometimes very serious and sometimas extremely shy. You cannot help but listen to him and you belive him more than the family who tell that the don has only dreams. When the prince and his wife (the beautiful - just like her mother - Isabella) make fun of him, you can really hate them and want to help Quijote and Pansa. John Lithgow has played not just with his body but with his eyes too. His eyes. At the end he has pratically no lines he just look at us and it is perfect. It was a beautiful story with a talented, real actors. Don't miss is if you like films that touch you heart and soul. I give 5+1 stars.

I THOUGHT THIS MOVIE WAS GREAT! This movie is one of the few movies that actually stick to the book, with only a few minor changes! The movie is about Alonso Quixada, an old gentleman who loves reading about chivalry. The books of chivalry change his mind, so he escapes from his home to become a knight-errant, despite his niece and housekeeper's pleas to keep him at home. Alonso, who has renamed hisself Don Quixote de la Mancha, takes Sancho Panza, his neighbor, as a squire. Together, Don Quixote on his horse and Sancho Panza jauntily riding on his donkey, encounter many adventures. For example, once, Don Quixote mistakes windmills to be giants. When he rushes towards the "giant" and is about to strike "the giant," despite Sancho's saying that it is just a windmill, his breath is knocked out of him. When he sees that the giant is really a windmill, he blames and curses the "great magician 'Malfatto'" who is really made up in his mind. While this is happening, Quixote's friends, the curate and the barber, his niece, and his housekeeper seek for ways to make Quixote realize his foolishness. The curate enlists the help of his nephew, Sampson Currasco, to help him cure Don Quixote of his foolishness. Sampson sets out to find Don Quixote and bring him back to his senses. The first time, he pretends to be a knight and tries to win a joust with him. However, Sampson loses. After Don Quixote wins, he sets out for the palace of the Duke and Duchess. There, he is entertained by them. However, he is merely a joke to them. The Duke and Duchess play many jokes on them. One day, the "knight of the mirrors," Sampson Currasco, demands to have a joust with Don Quixote. The terms are that if Quixote loses, he will have to return to his hometown and have no more adventures. However, if Quixote wins, the "knight of the mirrors's" fate is in his hands. This time, Sampson wins, and Don Quixote returns to his hometown. There, he lives until he dies peacefully.

The casting of this movie was great. All the actors protrayed the characters very well. John Lithgow was very able in protraying Don Quixote, and so was Bob Hoskins as the potbellied Sancho Panza. I must say that Amelia Warner as Don Quixote's niece was my favorite character. Amelia's beauty and heartfelt acting really made a spark to her character.

All in all, I give this movie a 10+. This movie is really one of the best, and I liked the fact that it sticked to the book really well. Enjoy the movie!

Ok so the book is better and a lot longer, but this is one rare care where the movie was as good as the book and John Lithgrow is prefect in this role. The filming is great and the setting are wonderful, the only thing I would change is to make in widescreen, but as for a made for TV movie they don't get much better. I would like to see this on DVD with all the extras, but for now the VHS will do. Well worth the money and well worth the time it thats to watch it, a great film for the entire family and those are hard to find. Both young and old well enjoy this film as it full of the adventures of the ever imagitive Quixote and his stead fast loyal and saine sidekick.

I loved the novel, and rented this video for myself. It was wonderful. I was surprised when my husband and children loved it as much as I did. We bought this movie and so far have watched it together at least once a week. The acting was perfect, it could not have been better!

Although I found this film to be light and enjoyable, I would have to disagree with anyone who claims that it is "quite true to the book." True, it follows an outline of the most basic plot, but do not buy into the idea that seeing this movie is anything like reading Cervantes' original work. A lot is left out, both in the extensive storyline and in the complexity of the characters. It is also set in a time period approximately two hundred years after the original book was written.

That said, this is still a delightful movie in its own right. I beg you, however, not to believe that this is an accurate representation of the novel.

This movie completely misses the mark. Notwithstanding the assurances of other reviewers, it does not adhere to Cervantes' story. The instances of deviation are far too numerous to mention in spite of the fact that I was unable to watch beyond the 32nd minute. (The speeding automobile in the background almost forced me to stop even sooner.) It is apparent that these reviewers have either not read the book or have forgotten the details.

To begin with, John Lithgow's performance is condescending and farcical. He behaves like a buffoon. A close reading of Cervantes suggests that Alonso Quijano is respected and taken seriously by his friends, niece, servant, and neighbors. Even though errant knighthood is a thing of the past in his time, deference - however grudging - toward the nobility is not. In this movie, though he is addressed with respect by those he encounters, he is too readily taken for a fool. The book makes it clear that Don Quixote, in spite of his delusions, preserves his characteristic gravity and noble bearing. His interlocutors are, for the most part, inclined to believe and respect him until his excesses refute their initial bemusement. This sequence of reflexive trust followed by sudden realization is part of what makes the book so funny. On the other hand, the erudition that is the cause of the gentleman's mental and physical divagations makes possible his beautiful "Golden Age" speech, delivered to goatherds who are perhaps too pastoral to conclude that something is terribly wrong with their guest. Similarly, his madness does not keep him from discerning the essential truth of Marcela's defense, unlike his simple companions who continue to berate her. Lithgow is unable to bring any of this complexity to life. The role called for someone like the late Richard Harris, who could have provided the seriousness, capriciousness, and labored determination it requires.

As for Cervantes' Sancho Panza, he is so in awe of his master's self-professed greatness that he allows ambition and admiration to subvert clear evidence of the nobleman's insanity. To use an example that few readers seem to proceed beyond - though it takes place very early on - Sancho's faith allows him to dismiss Don Quixote's attack on the windmills as failed perception, not delusion. His goal of seeing himself governor of an island has hardly been dealt a blow. Bob Hoskins' rendition, on the other hand, does not convince us that any of this is going on in the squire's mind. He seems too sly for the role of a faithful rustic.

I wish I could say that this is at least harmless entertainment, but it's not. If you watch this without having first read the book, you are likely to come away wondering what all the fuss is about, and believing that notions of what constitutes humor invariably go out of style - so Chaplinesque is Lithgow's performance. I have not been able to make up my mind as to whether Don Quixote or Hamlet is the greatest story ever told, but had I not read either, Zeffirelli's Hamlet would have encouraged me to read the play, whereas this production, which is barely an improvement on Three Amigos, would persuade me that my time could be better spent.

A really elite cast with Bob Hoskins as Sancha Panza - can't get any better than that unless Akim Tamiroff is still around - a charismatic performance by Lithgow with other great actors in the supporting roles and a very good director (Peter Yates) attached to the project. BUT - the special effects are really cheap and hurt the project bad. I mean really bad. The attack on the windmills was great but as he ventures on a magical horse ride and visits magical kingdoms....yikes!!

That aside, it's funny and enjoyable and the enthusiasm of the cast really does come out. My biggest complaint story wise is the ending. I had just read the book and wanted to watch the film and was shocked at the alternations to the ending. I really wanted to feel for Don Quixote at the end but instead I felt the film tried to redeem a lot of the characters at the end when Cervantes was obviously trying very hard to emphasize the betrayal or deception of Quixote's closest friends which brings on the characters melancholy and of course his broken heart as this cruel modern world contains no place for chivalry and 'Knight-errantry'. I could only see the hand of the producer demanding the story be fit for a modern audience who wishes everyone to live happily ever after...