Product Details

• Actors: Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie, Lyndsey Marshal, Bill Nighy, Geoffrey Palmer
• Directors: David Yates
• Writers: Daisy Ashford, Patrick Barlow
• Producers: Jim Broadbent, Christopher Hall, Laura Mackie, Pippa Harris
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• 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: BBC Worldwide
• DVD Release Date: January 11, 2005
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00062J0ZS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,281 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Young Visiters" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

YOUNG VISITERS - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Missed the point, July 27, 2005

By 

A. Griffiths "Adrian" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Young Visiters (DVD)

This is the second time Daisy Ashford's famous book has been filmed for UK television. Sadly, this is the less succesful version. The whole appeal of the original book was seeing and hearing about the world through the words of a nine year old Victorian girl. Her unique spelling, opinions and ideas - mostly romantic notions about how adults in love behave - make for hilarious reading.

This BBC TV production changes much of the original material to suit it's own purposes, which completely obliterates the artless innocence of the book. Worse still, they have actually made up new lines, supposedly in the style of the original book, and yet actually left out many of Daisy's original and memorable lines of dialogue along the way! They have also added new characters and even devised new mis-spellings that Daisy Ashford never included...what a mistake! It's impossible to embellish a piece of work as original as "The Young Visiters" just for the purposes of padding it out into a full length movie...it's a unique piece of work that sprung from the mind of a nine year old girl, and written circa 1890 - what script writer today could possible emulate that with sufficient accuracy?! So, the overall result is a mildly amusing but perplexing comedy of manners with the characters delivering odd speeches and unfathomable mannerisms, and seemingly unable to spell when they write letters to each other. As a TV programme, it just doesn't make the charm of the book come to life.

The previous version was made way back in 1984 and seems to have disappeared completely now, but it was in fact better than this effort, plus it starred Tracey Ullman, who was hilariously well cast as the pompous Ethel. And the cast got to concentrate much more on the original immortal dialogue, unlike those roped into this mess. None of the humour stands out in the new version, even though it has a stirling cast and a big budget. If you watch this and enjoy it, that's great, but in my opinion the spirit of Daisy Ashford's book has been all but wrung out of it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Family Entertainment at its Best, February 2, 2009

By 

R. Crane (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Young Visiters (DVD)

It is incredible yet true that "The Young Visiters" was based on a book written by a nine year old in 1890 in twelve days. To be so young and have such sophisticated ability, both as a writer and as a social observer, is remarkable.

This is a charming, family oriented movie that is not a Disney production. It is a "feel good" heart-warming story about a lonely "old" man, Alfred "Alf" Salteena, (age 42) and an ambitious social climber, Ethel Montacue. Alf and Ethel meet on a train, and he deliberately entices her by implying that he hob-nobs with royalty and nobility. Nothing could be farther from the truth as he is in fact a butcher's son, lacking proper manners, etiquette and at a loss what to do or say in almost any social situation. However, he is willing to do whatever it takes to attract and marry Ethel.

Ethel decides to visit him for the purpose of meeting eligible nobility, and in turn he keeps his promise by contacting an earl and arranging for them to visit his palatial estate. Through this connection, everyone's life is changed in unexpected and enchanting ways.

This movie is a wonderful experience and should be enjoyed by all ages. Bill Nighy and Hugh Laurie's performances add sparkle to the story. Whether it is true to the book or as good as a previous version, is irrelevant. On its own it is a marvelous way to spend a few hours.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Movie is Hilarious and Heart-Warming..., November 4, 2004

By 

Ehsan Khan "Sonny" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Young Visiters (DVD)

I was delightfully surprised at how funny and touching this movie is. The movie seems as though it is straight out of Tim Burton's mind. Very entertaining and such a fantasy. You need to show your family this movie.