Product Details

• Actors: Christopher Lloyd, Michael Jeter, Alan Ruck, Kaitlin Hopkins, Richard Riehle
• Directors: Bob Clark
• Writers: Ed Naha, O. Henry
• Producers: Ed Naha, J. Boyce Harman Jr., Robert Halmi Jr.
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Allumination
• DVD Release Date: June 8, 2004
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002F6AVQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,248 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Ransom of Red Chief" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

In this uproarious action-comedy, two bumbling ne’er-do-wells, Sam (Christopher Lloyd) and Bill (Michael Jeter) kidnap Andy Dorset (Academy Award nominee, Haley Joel Osment), the mischievous nine year old son of Ambrose Dorset, a pompous banker and civic leader. Andy is convinced by the duo that he involved in a madcap adventure and pretends to be Red Chief, a fierce Indian warrior. Andy is known for his wild imagination, so when his father receives a ransom note for only $47.50, he thinks it’s a prank. But when two dangerous convicts have escape from prison, Andy may finally be in real danger...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not too funny comedy., July 9, 2005

By 

R. Christenson "SpaceComics.com" (Pine, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ransom of Red Chief (DVD)

Comedy suitable for the whole family, but unfortunately not too funny. Supposedly based on a story by O. Henry, this was apparently made for TV and later remarketed on DVD to exploit the young Osment's new fame after he starred in Sixth Sense. It takes place in the old west, when Christopher LLoyd (Taxi, Back To The Future) and Michael Jeter think they can make a fast fifty by kidnapping the banker's son (Osment). But the banker doesn't believe them. Meanwhile the kid's having a grand old time playing with his kidnappers. Kind of like Disney's No Deposit, No Return; not as funny.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great for compare/contrast, September 23, 2010

By 

Vmaguire - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ransom of Red Chief (DVD)

I bought this movie to show to my 8th graders in English because we had just read the short story the week before.
The movie surprised me in how far it strayed from the original story. I almost didn't show it.
But, then I thought that this movie was a wonderful example of author's purpose, particularly in how the
writers of this film thought it was more imperative to depict the circumstances behind this child's erratic behavior,
than to preserve the irony from the original story.

Nevertheless, I showed my students the DVD and they came up with excellent Venn diagrams illustrating the extreme differences between the story and the film.

So if you're a teacher, you might want to use this film to do a comparison with the story if you're reading it.
But, be warned of how different it is from the short story.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SOOO FUNNY, November 2, 2007

By 

Little Angel (Sunnyvale, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ransom of Red Chief (DVD)

I love this movie. I laughed so hard when I saw it. I admit it is very stupid but that only makes it more fun. There is no real deep story line and all of the charecters are dumb and dumber. All in all it is just pure good intertainment. Fun for the whole family.