Customer Reviews

The Snow Queen

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I recently took this off the shelf at my local video rental store because the picture on the box showed a white haired Bridget Fonda dressed in a beautiful sparkly white dress and a snow white cloak made of feathers. It looked to me like Hallmark Entertainment was going to at least try to do this film up right.
As it turned out, a lavish budget did provide many beautiful costumes, sets, and location scenery, but the simplicity and innocence of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale got lost in three hours of so-so acting, a poor screen play, dreadful dialog, bad film editing and lousy direction from David Wu.

In the original fairy tale the protagonists are two children named Kay and Gerda. In this film Kay has been changed to Kai and both Kai and Gerda are young adults who are in love.

One day Kai gets beguiled by the Snow Queen who rules the season of Winter and he is kidnapped and taken to her Ice Palace. Gerda begins a long (and in this film I do mean LONG) quest to discover his whereabouts and to rescue him. In order to do this she must travel through the lands of the other Seasons. She meets with the eccentric denizens of Spring, Summer and Autumn and each of them attempts to kidnap her. The idiosyncratic Andersen's take on the seasons was odd enough in the original story, but in this film is all the more exaggerated.

Kai has a talking Polar Bear (crafted with skill by Jim Henson's Creature Works) for a prison guard. His involvment with the polar bear is one of the many reasons this movie drags. Several ridiculous minutes are spent with Kai teaching the bear to ice-skate, for example.

The actors portraying Wolfgang, the father, Gerda, and Kai are tolerable if not note-worthy. Bridget Fonda, in my opinion, was not right for the part of the Snow Queen. Her performance is lackluster and she delivers her lines as though she's LaFemme Nikita rather than a character in a fairy tale. She looks the part but she doesn't seem particularly frosty or seductive as the script calls for her to be. Her lines are delivered in a flat emotionless way that I suppose is meant to be icy, but comes off as dull. You really wonder how in the world Kai could have been beguiled by such a person.

The interior sets, the costumes, the lighting...all the cosmetic trim of this film are beautiful and they are what made me so want to love this movie, but the magic is missing and I was never able to get swept away by the story.

At three hours in length and with a plot that focuses on mature themes of love lost, grief and seduction, even suicide, this film is most decidedly NOT for children of any age. Yet, with the corny talking bear and a talking reindeer and some really silly robber characters, I can't say it is a film for adults, either.

There is some really cheesy dialog that is too much like modern slang for example when the Summer Princess comments on Gerda's dress by saying, "That peasant look is so last year," or later when she asks Gerda, "Do I look a porker in this dress?"

There is a whole lot of trite symbolism featuring red roses that further takes up time for no real benefit. In the original story Andersen has a "demon" creating havok with a magical mirror but in the film the minor league demon has been changed to Satan himself and they actually say the mirror is crafted in Hell. They make the devil look really cliche in this film and I feel it was too heavy-handed and out of sync with the rest of the picture. Sadly, this production just doesn't work. Even with a big budget, lavish decorations and costumes, talented actors, and a story that has enchanted people for over a century and a half, it still falls flat. I'd say skip this one...and for sure, do not try to make your kids sit through it. It's no fun.

I bought this DVD because I enjoy the Hallmark productions of various fantasy tales, not because I was familiar with the original Hans Christian Anderson story. Therefore, I'm not equipped to judge it based on it's adherence to the original story but only as a bit of television entertainment.

The basic story is about how the Snow Queen wants to dominate all the seasons so that it is winter year-round. Part of what we see in the movie is how she attempts to do this and how the heroine attempts to stop her. The way in which the story unfolds in regards to this plot is where a lot of the entertainment value lies so I won't spoil it.

The main problem lies in the pacing of the story. The first hour, which is largely dedicated to establishing the characters and relationships between them, moves far too slowly. While I believe time dedicated to character development can be of great value, some of the scenes are unnecessary or unnecessarily long (such as the ice skating scene where pro skater doubles perform twirls and other manuevers real skaters would never bother with). The odd thing is that I believe the extra time spent showing us how the hero and heroine fall in love actually undermines the credibility of the passion they supposedly feel for each other rather than enhances it. The languid pace shows a slow build of affection rather than a rapid burn which might incite the heroine to face great danger on her love's behalf.

Unlike other reviewers who believed Bridget Fonda's portrayal of the snow queen didn't explain the hero's attraction to her, I simply concluded it wasn't her beauty or her behavior that drew him to her but simply magic. Nonetheless, I think that there should have been a clearer explanation of the "mechanics" behind what she was doing, particularly when she behaved so cruelly at times and still was able to hold those around her in her thrall. Perhaps such an explanation wouldn't have been necessary if she had been portrayed in a more sensual manner. However, I think that these family-oriented presentations seek to avoid too much sexually-driven content.

There are some beautiful scenes and the story has a satisfying ending but it seems disjointed at times and I could easily see some viewers growing bored waiting for the story to move along. The overall "feel" of the movie was also disrupted (for me personally) by the relatively modern music that was used at times. All in all, I think that the father and son producers (the Halmis), who have made a lot of these types of productions for Hallmark, dropped the ball on this one. They had a lot of good pieces but put them together wrong.

Wow, I didn't know you could still find good mainstream movies without vulgarity or massive amounts of sex. This was really good.

The plot was good. Seeing the main characters overcoming their long-lived sadness at the death of the main character's mother was worth the whole movie. The scenery and characters were a delight. I especially liked the polar bear who was in love with the Snow Queen.

The only things that kept this movie from getting five stars are as follows:

1. The "Fall Robber Queen" and her daughter. The former just didn't seem to fit and the latter was just plain annoying.

2. The movie was rather long. Around three hours, actually. This is a little much for the "whole family," as younger children will probably not keep their attention focused for that long. And, if they do . . .

3. The scene where Satan is forging the mirror was a bit creepy for an adult. I can just imagine how a child will react to it.

But it is still a wonderful alternative to the stuff that normally comes out of Hollywood.

Gerda is our beautiful, but unhappy heroine. Her mother died in a freak winter storm when she was a young girl and her father has become a cold and distant stranger. Then her father hires a new bellboy to work at his hotel. Kai is full of life and fun and Gerda is quickly drawn to him. Kai teaches Gerda how to skate, how to laugh,and even how to live. Their friendship turns into a strong first love...but it is short lived.

A lovely, but cold woman mysteriously turns up at the hotel, even though a winter storm has closed most roads. She is gone the next morning...and so is Kai. Everyone believes that Kai is dead, but Gerda suspects that that is far from the truth.

Gerda, on the slim chance that Kai is out there somewhere and needs her, sets off on a quest to find her one and only true love. Her journey takes her through mysterious lands where she encounters strange and wonderful people and faces many dangers. But finding Kai is only her first problem...

Lovely and romantic movie! It does justice to the well loved classic fairy tale. Don't miss it.

As Hans Christian Anderson's fairytale "The Snow Queen" is one of my favourite fairytales ever, you can only imagine my delight at learning Hallmark Entertainment (who is well known for creating lavish, beautiful visual productions) was adapting it for a movie. However, despite the beautiful costuming, makeup and set design, the faults found in the story and the acting don't quite make this a movie to treasure always. Though I certainly didn't loathe it, I continually grieved during my viewing of it at the opportunities lost to bring a potent fairytale to life.

Whoever wrote the screenplay must be well aware of the original fairytale, as several times there appear tiny details from the tale, such as the shadows of dreams appearing on the wall, and the words of the hidden roses in the garden. And yet, with all the beautiful material that Anderson has to offer, they insisted on changing large portions. Gone are the Lapland women, the talkative Crows, the helpful Prince and Princess and the children's beloved Grandmother. Perhaps they would not have been missed so much if they had been replaced by equally intriguing characters and a strong plot, but instead we get a strange jumble: the mirror whose part in the book serves as a simple and poetic reason as to why some people are determined to see the world as an ugly place becomes the focus of the drama: Kai does not have to write "Eternity" with shards of ice, but piece together the mirror so that the Queen may cover the world with Winter. Though he does get a shard in his eye, its effects are dubious - he's rude to Gerda and throws a snowball, but apart from that it seems to have little purpose, and is removed not by Gerda's warm tears, but the Snow Queen's icy kiss.

There are several new characters present, including a travelling Conjurer and a band of huntsmen who briefly use Gerda for target practice and then disappear. Other characters are warped beyond recognition: the magnificent reindeer who gallops through the snow in his delight at being freed is now a decrepit beast with a silly name. The nurturing, yet subtly overwhelming old woman becomes a psychotic personification of Spring with a bizarre taste in clothing. The children's beloved grandmother becomes a middle aged housekeeper who for some reason speaks in an Irish accent, which quite baffled me.

But despite contradicting several other reviews, I must say I enjoyed Bridget Fonda's performance as the Snow Queen. She is the only professional actor in the cast, and manages to bring to her character something I never perceived in Anderson's fairytale: a sense of vulnerability. It was a fascinating twist on the archetypical "ice-queen" and one cannot help but feel a twinge of pity for her at times. She carries herself like a true queen, and the cool tones of her voice perfectly match her appearance. Other notable performances include Kai, who is quite the sweetheart, and despite the distain of other reviewers, I found the Robber Girl's performance quite refreshing and very true to the book, with her spoilt and temperament nature. And the polar bear who works as the Queen's guard and in love with her himself is a fascinating creation (due credit given to Jim Henson's Creature Shop), and one of the changes to the story that worked for me. The ambiguity of his transformation at the end may confuse some viewers, but I liked the extra touch of mystery it brought.

But a few performances bring this production screeching to a halt. It is said that eyes are the window to the soul, and forming expression within them is certainly one of the most important thing an actor can develop. But Chelsea Hobbs, who plays Gerda displays only one thing in them: complete and utter boredom. Though the fault may lie with the abysmal dialogue she is given, it hardly helps that she wanders through every scene as if in a stupor. And since the entire movie revolves around her as the protagonist, the core of the story cannot hold. If one does not care about the hero/heroine, one does not care about the movie and she is hardly helped by the actor playing her father Wolfgang, whose portrayal of grief is to sulk in a chair.

Likewise, the context of the story is in doubt: though it should have taken place in an "olden day" setting, the time placement is rather confusing to behold. The villagers search the wood with lanterns, yet on Wolfgang's desk is an electrical desk lamp. The Snow Queen's white sled is replaced with a flying snow-mobile. And as another reviewer pointed out, the use of modern slang, especially when its coming out of the mouths of the fairytale characters, is very jarring.

Despite beautiful visuals there is something severely lacking in this production, and I can only hope that one day someone will tell this story on the screen the way it ought to be told. If I could, I would give it two and a half stars, making it an exact balancing act between lost potential and complete mess.

Fans of fairy tales and fantasy will absolutely adore this new version of THE SNOW QUEEN, loosely based on the original Hans Christian Andersen tale but filled with a lot of new symbolism and romantic touches. Gerda (Chelsea Hobbs) lives with her widowed father in a luxury hotel, still mourning the mysterious death of her mother. When the handsome Kai (Jeremy Guilbaut) is employed as the new bellboy, love begins to bloom, but when a beautiful, nameless woman arrives at the height of winter, Kai becomes infatuated and follows her into a world of numbing ice and snow. Grief-stricken Gerda throws herself into a river and wakes up in the care of the Spring Witch (Jennifer Clement), but despite all her best efforts at brainwashing and derailing the quest, Gerda escapes her clutches, and must travel through the rest of the four seasons, all the way to edge of the world, to rescue Kai from the clutches of the woman Gerda calls the Snow Queen...

Although the original Andersen fairytale did not include the characters of the Autumn Queen or the Summer Princess, the entire "Four Sisters" idea is fantastic and emphasizes the amount of time Gerda is away from home. The cycle of the seasons and the rhythms of the earth provide the core ideas in this treatment of THE SNOW QUEEN. Bridget Fonda is mesmerising in the title role, a woman whose glacial beauty is enough to seduce any mortal man. The amount of Jungian symbolism in this version is great to explore too. The costume and set designs are mind-blowing and the entire film is flawless in terms of screenwriting and casting. Highly-recommended.

Also starring Robert Wisden (Gerda's father), Wanda Cannon (Minna), Rachel Hayward (Gerda's mother), Meghan Black (Robber Girl), Kira Clavell (Summer Princess), Suzy Joachim (Autumn Robber Queen), Alexander Hoy (Chen) and Jessie Borgstrom (young Gerda). Originally shown on television in two parts. Hallmark Hall of Fame.

I really enjoyed this movie. I actually rented it based upon the cover of the DVD itself. Love it ... beautiful cover. The movie was great too though. I have seen other versions of this fairy tale, Snow Queen, and loved those ... but I must say I am partial to this one.

SNOW QUEEN seemed like a VERY long movie, but I kind of liked that about it. It was like you were going through the different seasons with the characters. It made you better feel what they were going through. Kai and Gerda are the 2 main characters ... both are great actors. I believed they were truly in love. The story line is excellent, as is the setting and dialogue. For this type of "innocent" movie, it doesn't get much better than this.

The script keeps you entertained ... love the Snow Queen (exceptional acting on her part), and the psycho sister Queen, (I think it was Spring?) was OK too, but I didn't much care for the "Robber/Gypsy Autumn Queen." It didn't quite fit. I'm guessing the directors did this because they wanted each season to be distinctly different from one another. For a "children's" movie, as a 20 something year old, I really enjoyed watching Snow Queen. I would say it's OK for children 8 years and older. If you like fantasy/fairy tale movies, SEE SNOW QUEEN. It will melt your heart.

I find that epic movies whether Hallmark or any kind sometimes end up being too cute or boring or just over the top for no reason.The Snow Queen was none of these things, starting out as a simple romance between two teens entering adulthood, (she's 17 he's 18) it slowly moves into the magical realms of the seasons as the main character, Gerda, attempts to save her first and only true love from the Snow Queen. The scenery is very lush and beautiful but the thing that truly makes this a fine epic movie is the acting, which is superb. All the characters hold their own weight and I would reccomend this movie to anyone who enjoys an engrossing tale which deals with temptaion, love, and loss, although I agree with the other poster who considers this for the 8 and up set, some of the darker themes may be a little ovewhelming for those younger then eight.

This is a wonderful movie that is maybe not suited for any kids under 10 years old. I think anyone under 10 may not understand the morals or the underlying messages presented in the story. I wasn't sure if I should buy this movie, I had never seen it but my best friend reccommended it to me so I followed through with her advice. The romances going on in the movie are fantastic and yeah the younger actors aren't going to be as great as Bridget Fonda but they're pretty damn good. I loved the ending, I wish they would have expanded more on the snow queen at the end. I love the way the snow queen is portrayed, she's wicked sometimes but she has a heart too. The special effects are amazing, and the costumes are fabulous!
What I didn't like about this movie:
*The 'devil' scene when satan is making the mirror. It makes no sense and should be removed, why would the devil make something and the season's accept it? The movie has more of a Pagan/Earthy feel to it and they should have just went with that.
*The corny song they have for Kai and Gerda's theme, it's got a really bad pop sound.
*The end leaves too much to the imagination for the snow queen, and I was expecting a lot more skating of just Kai and Gerda at the end since they had a huge scene in the beginning of them skating. Would have been a much better way to end it.

Overall, the good parts of the movie outweigh the bad, this has become one of my favorite movies of all time! If you love fairy tales, see and buy this movie!

I had never seen or heard of the Snow Queen Fairy Tale before, so this movie was unique in my eyes. Two characters in this movie are in love and the snow queen tampers with that. So the movie is basically about a woman searching for her love. She goes through the seasons to do this. EAch place she has to go through is magnificent. The visual of each season is very appealing. Hallmark has a way of taking you to a different place with their fairy tales, and this movie is no exception to that.
On the down side: the begining of the movie is boring, and you start wondering what is this movie about. You also start hoping that its not another one of those old fashioned hallmark movies. Well it only drags in the begining of the movie...just to set the story up. After the snow queen steels her man, the movie is fantastic and exactly what you would expect from hallmark.
Overall, its still a great movie, but not 5 stars for starting off slow.