Customer Reviews

Get a Clue! [VHS]

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

 

 

If you are one who doesn't change and you have read The Westing Game (which I highly recommend) you may not like this video. The movie varies from the book in a few ways, most of which are character names, descriptions, & occupations. I read The Westing Game to my Sixth graders (even my non-readers got excited about the author Ellen Raskin). We then watched the video. I had them make two columns on a piece of paper and while watching the video they compared the book to the video. They noticed many of the differences that I did and even more. They even wanted to watch it again!

I especially liked the cast- recognizing Ellen Burstein and the man from the TV show, My Favorite Martian, in this low budget movie was a treat. I enjoyed the smartness of the main character who solves the mystery. I have shown this movie 2 years now and will continue to do so believing that it is good for the children (and adults alike) to get out of the thinking that all movies should be exactly like the book. Or that if it's not it's not worth our time. After all if this was the case who'd read anymore?

I loved this movie. It is totally exciting and fun. Turtle and her friends ( and enemies) have to solve a mystery before it is too late. They are paired up and each pair has a set of clues. They must solve the mystery before they run out of time.It is a thrilling and laughable movie which will make you wonder: Who could it be? If you want more fun, try the book: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

Get a clue is my favorite mystery movie ever! It's so cool how all the clues fit together for a very surprising ending! also, great casting! I've watched it again and agian and never get tired! It's the best!

There is a lot of confusion online between this movie (based on the book The Westing Game) and the 2002 Disney Channel original movie Get a Clue which stars a young Lindsay Lohan. It doesn't help that the Amazon listing is incorrect. The Disney/Lindsay Lohan movie was directed by Maggie Greenwald and was aired on the Disney Channel in 2002, but that is not the movie on this page. The poster for *this* version of Get a Clue (aka The Westing Game) is used often beside the description for the Linsday Lohan movie and is very misleading.

This version of Get a Clue (also known as The Westing Game) is from Showtime & Hallmark Entertainment. It was made for TV in 1997 and directed by Terence H. Winkless. The young girl in this version is played by Ashley Peldon, and in this version you will also find Ray Walston, Diane Ladd, Shane West. (With a little effort, all of this information can be found on IMDB.com)

The Disney Linsday Lohan movie has not as yet been released to video (as of 2004). Even though Amazon lists this movie with other Linsday Lohan movies, it is NOT the Disney/Lohan movie. Disney has not (at this time) released a date for the release of their Get a Clue movie.

I used this with my 7th graders and they enjoyed the similarities to the book.

Based on Ellen Raskin's great J mystery "The Westing Game" the film "Get a Clue" is faithful to the story ( with the exception of a few missing characters that doesn't really affect the plot). The story- required reading for many middle schoolers- is a neat puzzle and the actress who plays Turtle is very good- as is the rest of the cast. After viewing the dvd I donated to our library (whose much-loaned video copy had to be withdrawn awhile ago!)

This movie is not at all as good as The Westing Game. I bought it for my Reading Class to compare the novel to the movie. All my eighth graders hated it, and I wasn't too keen on it. Simple little things were changed for no good reason and without very good explanation: Why would Angela marry Plum? And therefore, why would he have anything to do with the Westing case? Connections were made that were never explained, and thus the kids ended up more confused than anything. As a movie alone, perhaps it would be okay, but I'm not too keen on this being compared at all to a great novel like The Westing Game.

Great kids movie! Not exactly like the book, but it is lots of fun to read the book first and then note the differences one finds in the movie. This is a movie that will be enjoyed by all who take the time to watch it. It is about a family who moves to a new neighborhood...right next to a haunted mansion. I'll let you watch it to find out the rest.

Just for clarification purposes: THIS IS NOT THE 2002 DISNEY CHANNEL ORGINIAL MOVIE WITH LINDSAY LOHAN!!

I would not recommend this movie because it was slow starting out. I also did not like it because it was very different from the book The Westing Game. I had to watch this movie for a project for school. This is really not my type of movie.