Product Details

• Actors: Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Mara Wilson, Embeth Davidtz, Pam Ferris
• Directors: Danny DeVito
• Writers: Nicholas Kazan, Roald Dahl, Robin Swicord
• Producers: Danny DeVito, Joshua Levinson, Liccy Dahl, Martin Bregman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Live, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: June 25, 2002
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (189 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0800196767
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,455 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Danny DeVito's adaptation of the Roald Dahl book for children is mostly just fine, helped along quite a bit by the charming performance of Mara Wilson (Mrs. Doubtfire) as young Matilda, a brilliant girl neglected by her stupid, self-involved parents (DeVito and Rhea Perlman). Ignored at home, Matilda escapes into a world of reading, exercising her mind so much she develops telekinetic powers. Good thing, too: sent off to a school headed by a cruel principal, Matilda needs all the help she can get. DeVito takes a highly stylized approach that is sometimes reminiscent of Barry Sonnenfeld (director of Get Shorty, a DeVito production), and his judgment is not the best in some matters, such as letting the comic-scary sequences involving the principal go on too long. But much of the film is delightful and funny. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Movie, December 19, 2002

By 

Lonnie E. Holder "The Review's the Thing" (Columbus, Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Matilda (DVD)

Matilda is worth watching, and I think worth owning too. However, let's get the reservations over before all the good stuff.

Miss Trunchbull, played by Pam Ferris, is a sadist. She is definitely mean. At two places in the movie she throws a child out a school window (she is really, really mean). Matilda's parents are self-absorbed and at best ignore Matilda, which occasionally borders on abuse. The images of Matilda's school can be disturbing, especially the "Chokie", a small cramped dark closet with spikes in the door. These images could be disturbing for younger children, particularly those under the age of 7 or 8. However, you have to judge the ability of your child to understand that these images are not real. These are the dark parts of the movie.

Matilda is clearly a genius, as evidenced by her actions from a very early age. Matilda overcomes her not very bright parents and learns how to fend for herself in the world. In fact, after a while she treats her parents as something to be concerned about, because they clearly do not know how to take care of themselves in the world.

Matilda is a positive role model throughout the movie. She learns to read on her own, and finds the value in the library and books. She learns that there are people who understand her (Miss Jennifer Honey, played by Embeth Davidtz) and love her for who she is. She also learns that people who seem scary to her (Miss Trunchbull) can be scary to others. Her desire to protect others and do what is right helps her overcome her fear of Miss Trunchbull and do what is right.

Mara Wilson plays Matilda very well. She has a lot of talent, and makes Matilda come alive. Danny De Vito plays Matilda's father and Rhea Perlman plays Matilda's mother, and every time I see them I cringe because these two are very unlikable characters, and I like Danny particularly. Danny also does a very good job narrating this movie, which somewhat ameliorates his turn as a semi-villain.

This movie celebrates, as it does in most Roald Dahl books, the triumph of right over wrong, and perhaps good over evil. The characters verge on being cartoonish, which is fitting for a children's movie. Having Matilda be telekinetic adds a wonderful element of fantasy with which children will identify. It is often a childhood fantasy to have powers or abilities to make things right, and Matilda obtains such a power and uses it for good.

This movie has a darker side, but the humorous moments and the Matilda's triumph over all the odds against her make this a fun movie. Worth watching again and again, I think this movie is well targeted to 8 to 12 year olds, but those of us adults that want to still believe that good will always triumph over bad and that good things eventually come to good people will find the message uplifting.

74 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars LOVE the movie; the DVD isn't widescreen!!!, June 11, 2005

By 

K. Morrison "arizwldcat" (Ogden, UT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Matilda (Special Edition) (DVD)

WHY, oh, WHY wasn't this made into a widescreen special edition? Some of the special features are even in widescreen. What in the world is up with that?? I enjoyed the special features, but wish there had been more (like a commentary). I don't get why they wasted time in making this without using the widescreen format. I feel like I've been taken.

About the movie: this is a favorite in our family. It's a bit dark, and some people are upset by it, but there's a positive message and a happy ending (oops, was that a spoiler?) I highly recommend it, and probably the best age to see this would be 6 or 7 and up, depending on how sensitive your child is.

52 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nothing special about a 1.33:1 DVD when the film was WIDESCREEN, July 2, 2005

By 

D. B. Spalding (Korova Multimedia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Matilda (Special Edition) (DVD)

Other reviewers are correct. MATILDA, one of Danny DeVito's underrated masterpieces of humor, was released in 2.35:1. Once again, a DVD release crops it to fit "conventional" televisions. The term "conventional" is fast become outdated, since 16:9 widescreen digital TVs are getting increasingly affordable. My humble suggestion: make clear to studios that charging us full price for only half the frame of the director's movie are charging TOO MUCH. Wait for a "real" special edition that presents the film as DeVito intended it to be seen.