Product Details

• Actors: Tom Davenport
• Directors: Kate Weber
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1988
• Run Time: 40 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1888522178
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #287,202 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This story, set in the Appalachian Mountain area after World War II, is an adaptation of a European folk tale. The plot follows a war veteran named Jack who performs an act of kindness and in return receives two magical gifts: a sack that can catch anything and a jar that can show whether a sick person will live or die. With the help of these gifts, Jack is able to get himself a free house. He also becomes a national hero when he saves the President's daughter's life by capturing Death in his sack. He marries the president's daughter and forgets all about Death and the sack. However, many years later Jack realizes that he must release Death in order to restore the natural balance to life. Soldier Jack is a lush and beautiful production from the Brothers Grimm series. This video is a great way to start a discussion of a difficult subject. (Ages 7 and older) --Peggy Maltby-Etra

Product Description

"Soldier Jack" has won lots of awards including Kids First Award Chicago International Children's Film Festival Best Live-Action Film The National Educational Film Festival Silver Medal The American Library Association's "Selected Films for Young Adults" Best Film for Young Adults at the New York Film and Video Festival Best Short Fiction at The American Film Institute

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Outright Funny Film, April 8, 2001

By 

Heidi Anne Heiner (SurLaLune Fairy Tales.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Soldier Jack [VHS] (VHS Tape)

While this film has some poignant messages about living and dying, it is also chockful of humor and wit.

Jack, a generous and fortunate soldier, has returned from war. When he gives his last sandwich to a strange, wrinkled man, he receives two gifts that he dubiously accepts. Jack quickly learns that the gifts--a bag and a Mason jar--may make his fortune.

In the middle of the film, Jack stays in a house haunted by three poker-playing devils. They cheat and plan to kill Jack once they have won his money. Fortunately for him, Jack knows how to cheat, too, and foils their plans. These scenes are ripe with humor and fun when you first expect to be scared. Children under five may not appreciate the costumes and humor, but older students will.

Soon Jack has all he desires, except for a wife. His next adventure involves rescuing the President's daughter from death when all hope for her survival is gone. He succeeds because he is Jack, after all. He saves the girl and wins her hand. Luck is his until old age makes many people eager for Death to return to the land. Jack knows that he must release Death and finally move on with his own life and death.

This is the eighth and perhaps most humorous offering from Davenport Films. The scenes with three wild turkeys, and later the three devils, are fun. Throughout the film, Jack is a pleasure to watch in his simple good humor and trickery. There is even a tribute to classic film slapstick with a hallway and multiple doors chase scene. Don't miss this one!

4.0 out of 5 stars Another from elementary school, March 1, 2007

By 

John D. Shafer (Durham, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soldier Jack [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Been searching for years for those adaptations of fairy tales I remember watching in elementary school in Charlotte, NC in the late '80s. Finally found this and others (by searching "Jack and the Dentist's Daughter") and knew them on sight. Loved them all, and remember this one well. Can only give it four stars though, since I haven't really seen it since about 1989.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Jack Story, October 23, 2006

By 

Duane Linstrom (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Soldier Jack [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is one of many Jack stories, but unfortunately the only one I know of that has been made into a movie. I'm an elementary school teacher and I like to tell my students the occassional Jack story when we have the time. It's fun to tell them this story, then watch the video and compare the story I tell with the video. During the Great Depression of the 1930s one of the make-work projects of the federal government involved the collection of folk tales from the people of Apalachia. Richard Chase compiled many of those stories into a book published in 1943 titled Jack Stories. This video is well worth the time to watch it. If you can find a copy of the book, its also worth reading. The stories were recorded on records, too. Those used to be available from our local library and might some day turn up on Amazon.