Customer Reviews

Young Sherlock Holmes

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fans of Harry Potter should check out this Victoriana fantasy ; in style and tone, they have much in common. They share the classic English boarding school setting, and are filled with magic and monsters, jaw-dropping sets, and wonderfully crusty and unusual British personalities.

Chris Columbus, who helmed the first two Harry Potter movies, wrote the script for this bouncy marriage of a Sherlock Holmes detection story and an Indiana Jones-style cliffhangers. This odd combination received a lot of criticism when the film was first released, but ultimately the mixture of a Victorian detective story and an ancient Egyptian cult is charming and a lot of fun.

Nicholas Rowe is perfect as the snotty, elegant young Sherlock Holmes, and Sophie Ward is absolutely radiant as his romantic interest. Alan Cox as Watson (a dead-ringer for Daniel Radcliffe who plays Harry Potter) is less effective, but tolerable. The effects were groundbreaking in their time, featuring the first computer-generated characters -- animated by Pixar before they became a household word -- and still hold up nicely. They actually have more charm than most modern CGI effects. The film does suffer from slow patches and a premise that could have been pushed even further, but this is still a good family film and most older kids and adults interested in special effects should enjoy it. (Be warned, however: younger children may find parts too frightening.)

Sadly, as far as extras goes, the DVD is "Elementary, my dear Watson": nothing, not even a trailer. That's a shame, since many special effects breaththroughs were made on this movies, such as the computer animated stained-glass window character, and early work from Pixar (yes, Pixar!)

P.S.: Make sure you watch all the way through the end credits for the quick bonus scene.

Originally planned as the first of a series, Young Sherlock Holmes was a bit of a misfire at the box office. It cost $18 million and only grossed about 20 per cent of its budget back. In the years since its release it has become a cult film for those who can appreciate it for the blockbuster it never was. I personally discovered it on a Christmas Eve showing on BBC in the late 80s. Even then, I thought it was great despite it being a darker Christmas film than we're used to.

In a snowy and sinister December at the height of the Victorian Era, Watson, as a teenager, is sent to Brompton, a private school in a fogbound London, when his old one is shut down due to lack of funding. Upon arrival, he meets a violin-playing smart-Alec who deducts his character from his mere appearance. It's the beginning of a life-long friendship.

Holmes' life on campus is rather cosy. He has a pretty girlfriend Elizabeth (Sophie Ward) and her uncle, Professor Waxflatter, is a crackpot inventor of the Doc Brown variety who lives in the school attic with all of his crazy inventions. At first, Watson and Holmes have fun getting up to mischief on campus but a series of bizarre suicides soon distracts them.

The local Inspector Lestrade is too lazy to do anything about it, leaving them free to investigate. Apparently the victims are all sane, happy men who seem to go suddenly mad with fear and hurl themselves to the nearest oncoming death. Things get personal when Waxflatter suffers the same fate and stabs himself in fit of madness.

Why are ordinary men going crazy? Who is the mysterious black robed person hiding in the shadows? What dark secret was Waxflatter hiding? All questions to which Holmes demands answers and he drags along the nervous Watson and Elizabeth as he scours all the dodgy areas of Wapping talking to loads of cockneys and people who call you 'Govna'. What they discover is an ancient blood oath and a huge conspiracy brewing in the spooky alleyways.

In the 80s, Chris Columbus penned a string of imaginative movies from Gremlins to The Goonies and later he directed the Home Alone films as well as Bicentennial Man (yes, I like it) and the first two Harry Potters. He's one of those writers who can hide a surprising amount of darkness in a kid's film and Young Sherlock is a fine example of his most sophisticated writing.

With strong direction from Barry Levinson and enchanting production values from Steven Spielberg there's no denying that this movie looks absolutely great. But it's how it sounds that'll really impress you. Bruce Broughton - a tragically under-rated composer who has talent equal to John Williams - has been unfairly slumming most of his career in TV movies. Here, he delivers one of the most spellbinding and Gothic scores you have ever heard. There are dozens of themes, moments of real magic, evil menace and breathtaking action. If this film had been a hit it really would have become as famous as themes for Jaws, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter.

And speaking of Harry Potter, one cannot deny that JK Rowling was inspired by this film in many ways when creating her Potter universe. I'm not crude enough to list all the similarities in this review but let me just say that while there may not be anywhere near enough to call it plagiarism there sure is more than enough to call it a coincidence. Watch the film and you'll know what I mean.

Originally the critics dismissed Young Sherlock Holmes as another effects-filled Spielberg fantasy, but that's an unfair judgement. The visual effects (really quite something for its time) are essential to the story as well as being pioneering. You may not believe it but YSH was actually the first ever film to feature a fully CGI character (a stained-glass knight who comes alive), created by Pixar. Future Toy Story director John Lasseter was even one of the computer wizards who helped bring it to life. Unfortunately it lost its well-deserved Academy Award to the inferior effects of Cocoon.

Even 20 years on a sequel definitely needed. Chris Columbus has stated he was upset that a sequel never got off the ground and that the series never took off. He shouldn't sell himself short. Of course it would need new actors but so many have put on the hat and coat of Sherlock Holmes that the role doesn't belong to just one man. There is still life in this spin-off franchise. All it needs is the right story and some of the magic that is missing from most kids' films these days.

And when I say kids' films I should really play-down the negative connotations of such a label. As one of the first PG-13 rated films, YSH has a bit of a savage edge, a hardness unfamiliar the condescending kids' films of today.

Sir Arthur would be proud. He may have felt indifferent towards his most famous creation, but if he were alive today he would have loved this film. And it well and truly deserves 5/5.

Young Sherlock Holmes is an overlooked gem. The story focuses on the school days of Watson and Holmes. Watson is transfered to a new school where he meets the young Holmes. Wuickly they become involved in a case. It appears that a mysterious cloaked figure is poisoning victims with a blowpipe. Once poisoned, the victims suffer terrible hallucinations and commit suicide. Unfortunately, one of the victims is Holmes' own mentor at school. Can they find out who did it?

The effects are a little cheesy and they show their age, but there are a few good ones. The hallucinations are really creepy and are very well done. One of the freakiest is when Watson is attacked by the very pastries that he loves. If you only see this scene, it's worth the price of this DVD. Overall, the tone is dark, so it is very watchable even though it's a children's movie. As for the actors, they do a good job, especially the kid playing the role of Watson. This one is really worth checking out.

This movie has been repeatedly underrated since it came out in 1985 and for no good reason. It has strong writing, directing, acting and setting, and a balanced dose of mystery, fantasy, reality and adventure.
Sherlock Holmes, a young man still in school, faces a mystery that involves an old religious cult that may be responsible for the recent, strange murders taking place in London. Watson is the narrator of the story. He has just arrived at Sherlock's school, and fascinated by the charm, intelligence and wit of his soon to be good friend, follows him along on his adventure. Poisoned darts, DaVinci-like experiments, mysterious acquaintances, seemingly unexplained events, and ghosts from the past make an appearance and very soon "the game is afoot".
It has a solid script that combines the mundane environment and events of high school with an interesting mystery/adventure plot penned by Chris Colombus in the well-known Conan Doyle style. It has equally solid main characters that not only accurately portray younger versions of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, but also behave believably and in accord to the books written by Conan Doyle.
The realistically reproduced sets and costumes (you will even get to see the iconic cape, hat and pipe) and the speculative twists on the origins of the characters make this movie more than just enjoyable and entertaining, it makes it as charming as Holmes and Watson's personalities.
If you are a Sherlock Holmes fan or simply enjoy an old-fashioned, well-crafted, surprising mystery, buy this movie. You won't be disappointed.
--Reviewed by M. E. Volmar

Young Sherlock Holmes is the perfect film for young teenage audiences and old Holmes fans. With its clever plotting, tragic climax, and double ending (one before and one after the credits), this film deserves to be on DVD. Can we start a campaign to get a special edition release?

Sherlock Holmes is one of the best known detectives in the world -- so famous in fact, that 221B Baker Street in London continues to get mail addressed to this fictional character almost a century after he would have died had he been a real person. There are groups of people -- Sherlockians and Holmesians, the distinction between which is rather subtle -- who delight in retelling the tales; it has become somewhat traditional to try to fill in the gaps, things left out of the 'canonical' stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- 56 short stories and 4 novels. The official tales allude to happenings beyond them -- some authors take up the point there, and others create fanciful tales altogether. These have been made into films, television programmes and radio programmes for most of the history of their publication.

This film, 'Young Sherlock Holmes', derives from the mid-1980s film of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Barry Levinson as an homage to Holmes and Holmes fans. The screenplay, written by Chris Columbus, was adapted into novel form by Alan Arnold. This story fills in the gaps of Holmes' childhood and education.

There are many wonderful pieces here -- it breaks with the canon in that it introduces Holmes (then 16 years old) and Watson as school mates at a private school. Holmes is struggling to learn to play the violin (a canonical piece), and already displays prodigious powers of observation and deduction. He is a loner for the most part, a bit of trouble with authorities and often underestimated. Lestrade is also introduced here, as a junior policeman.

The game is afoot in short order when Holmes' favourite, highly-eccentric professor dies mysteriously; this death mirrors in a fashion several other deaths, which leads Holmes and his new sidekick Watson on a merry chase, along with Elizabeth (this early relationship and its outcome is meant to explain the later absence of women in Holmes' life). The headmaster is generally supportive of Holmes, but is his support all that it seems?

The chase leads Holmes through the London underworld he will later come to know very well, tracking down a mysterious cult with Egyptian origins. Arnold's researching into the Egyptian lore, as well as details about London and Holmesian detail is impressive. Arnold holds Holmes as an ideal, stating in an author's epilogue that Holmes is as much the chivalric medieval knight as a Victorian and Edwardian gentleman.

This is a mystery very much in the spirit of Conan Doyle. The clues are there -- one merely needs to follow them to a logical conclusion. Some purists may balk, but this is an intriguing addition to the body of post-Conan Doyle literature, a worthy pastiche.

The lead is played by Nicholas Rowe, an actor deserving of more recognition. Alan Cox plays John Watson - had the Harry Potter stories come about twenty years earlier, he might well have been cast in that role. Sophie Ward plays the love interest for Holmes - Holmes is noted in the stories for not being particularly amorous of nature, and this story attempts to explain that. Anthony Higgins is the villain (do be sure to see the final bonus scene after the credits for the transformation of the villain), assisted by Susan Fleetwood as his 'moll' of sorts. Rounding out the cast is Freddie Jones as Cragwitch and Nigel Stock as Waxflatter, an eccentric (possibly mad) scientist/academic who is friends with Holmes.

The CGI graphics stand up with to time - the walking stained-glass window knight is reminiscent of the knight in 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'. The sets, costumes and other effects of the film are really well tended, as is the care taken to add elements faithful to the original stories of Holmes.

Despite a twist of almost unbearable sadness and grief within the twisty plot of this enchanting thriller, this movie is a perfect family adventure, filled with thrills, joys, humor, fantasy, absolutely amazing special effects and some wondrous performances from all involved. Yes, the Indian/Egyptian tomb sequences are eerily reminiscent of The Temple Of Doom, but it hardly matters. Sherlock Holmes, here seen in his youth, is apparently both a super-sleuth and a dashing young swashbuckler. Mix into this mystery wonderfully imaginative, and horrific, hallucinations brought on by poison darts; flying machines; a sweet romance, and the answers to all of your questions regarding Holmes' character as a man, and you have yourself one dandy entertainment as directed by Barry Levinson. It is a shame that this film was not a bigger hit, it deserved to be, and had it been, we would have finally been treated to the sequel this movie so richly deserved.

I saw this film when it was released in theaters while I was a teenager living in London, England. My whole family and I were instantly smitten by it. With an engaging storyline, strong acting and memorable characters, this has become one of the favorite films of my youth.

Now in my 30's, I still enjoy watching this film whenever I can. Nicholas Rowe plays the young, intelligent Holmes and Alan Cox plays his sidekick, Watson. Beautiful Sophie Ward plays Holmes' love interest, Elizabeth. The story takes place in Holmes' and Watson's school days in London. Old friends of Elizabeth's uncle mysteriously die one by one, all caused by strange hallucinations caused by poisoned darts. Soon enough, Holmes and Watson embark on a wonderful tale of revenge, mystery and deception.

I do wish this film would be released on DVD soon. It would certainly be a great addition to any mystery fans DVD/video collection.

I teach 6th grade Reading/Language Arts, and I always do a mystery unit with my students. We read several Sherlock Holmes stories, such as "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" and the unit culminates with the kids writing their own versions of "The Strange Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes". I am always on the lookout for quality DVD's for this unit because the old Basil Rathbone films just don't cut it with the kids. The movie "Young Sherlock Holmes", directed by Steven Spielberg, is fantastic. Holmes is a teenager in the movie, and the audience learns how he first met Dr. Watson and acquired several of his iconic items: his peaked hat, pipe, magnifying class and cloak. The film is as exciting as it is informative and accurate in period detail. It's reminiscent of a Indiana Jones-type thriller. All in all, my students loved it and asked to see it again! I highly recommend this film for classroom use (It's rated PG-13, for some mild violence, I guess.)

I remembered seeing this movie when it first came out and I thought that it was great. I bought the DVD recently. My son and I watched the movie and I must say that I was still just as entertained as I was when I first watched it. My 15 year old son really like the movie too.

I also liked how Steven Spielberg envisioned the early meeting of Holmes and Watson as teenage boys.

Don't miss a chance to see this DVD.