Always thought the US critics reviewed this film, feeling the disappointment of not getting the next Mary Poppins, version of Alice, and comparing it to Disneys cartoon as if that was the Original, this follows the Book not the Cartoon - Have to admit as a 17yo when this was released I did fall madly in Love with Alice (Fiona Fullerton) - as I said view it from the Book not Disneys version. At last it has been released from the original masters for too long we had to endure the terrible TV edited version which was always of dubious picture quality.

I am one of those who loves the book, it is timeless and nostalgic. Out of all the film versions, the Disney film is my personal favourite of them all, because it is colourful and I loved watching it as a child. This 1972 film is an interesting if not quite as magical musical take on the classic, while uneven in pace and a little too short, and having one or two tacky costumes(ie. Doormouse) it is well worth seeing. It is also a shame that when it is shown on television, the adverts make the film lose its narrative flow and there are times when the quality of the picture is somewhat grainy. There is much to enjoy though. The sets are wondrous and very colourful, the cinematography is lovely and the film is fairly faithful to the book. The script has its amusing moments, and the songs and score are sweet and memorable. As Alice, Fiona Fullerton does a credible job making a character who could have easily been bland quite innocent and sings tunefully. Though I do think she is overshadowed by her co-stars, Michael Horden's melancholic Mock Turtle, Peter Sellers's hilarious March Hare, Robert Helpmann's(who was absolutely terrifying in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) eccentric Mad Hatter, Ralph Richardson's knowing Caterpillar, Spike Milligan's fun Gryphon, Flora Robson's shrill Queen of Hearts and Michael Crawford's interesting White Rabbit are the definite highlights. In terms of favourite scenes, definitely the tea party sequence, it was fun. Overall, flawed yet interesting. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Even the Disney animated version isn't as cheesy, lame or frankly ridiculous as this live action remake, based on the Lewis Carroll tale. You know the basic story, Alice (A View to a Kill's Fiona Fullerton) falls asleep, and dreams chasing the White Rabbit (Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em's Michael Crawford) into the bizarre (more son in this version) world of Wonderland, meeting a variety of weird and "wonderful" characters, such as the Dormouse (Dudley Moore), The Caterpillar (Sir Ralph Richardson), Tweedledee (Frank Cox) and Tweedledum (Freddie Cox), the Cheshire Cat (Roy Kinnear), the Mock Turtle (Michael Hordern), the Mad Hatter (Robert Helpmann) and March Hare (Peter Sellers), the Gryphon (Spike Milligan), and Queen (Flora Robson) and King (Dennis Price) of Hearts. I don't know if it is the film itself that is ridiculous, or the fact that so many well known TV and film stars are making complete idiots of themselves, and as for the songs, they don't help, oh, Fullerton talks to herself too much. It won the BAFTAs for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design, both wrong choices. It was number 63 on The 100 Greatest Family Films. Pretty poor!

For those who love the Lewis Carroll book, this film version is one to see. Of the many film adaptations of this classic, this 1972 production stays the most faithful to the book. Events happen in the same way, in the same order, and much of the dialog is taken from the book, verbatim. And this really works, as writer Lewis Carroll had a unique way of playing with, and twisting the English language in delightful ways. Fiona Fullerton portrays well, a different kind of Alice here. This Alice is well into her teens, a fact which I thought would sabotage the production; The Alice from Carroll's book was a young child, around 7 or 8 years old. But the gorgeous Fiona Fullerton plays the part with a perfect measure of wonder and innocence, instead of just being an older person foolishly trying to act like a small child. The film has a haunting, dreamlike quality, a certain surreal atmosphere aided by composer John Barry's pretty background score, which is sad and wistful, and dramatic. There are musical sequences in this film, some work better than others to be sure, as this is far from a perfect film. But the songs seem to get better as the film goes along. The thing that really impressed me is the art design, and costume design. The film makers brilliantly designed much of the costumes and landscapes based on those wonderful lithographs that have always accompanied the book. As children, we tend to look to the illustrations to help us get a better idea of how things and people look as we read along. It is quite amazing to see such images come to life, after existing in the imagination for so long. Not all costumes work, as again, this is an uneven production. However certain characters, the King and Queen of hearts, and the Duchess, the cook, the Frog Footman, and of course, Alice herself, dressed in the gorgeous blue dress with white apron;amazing. For instance, watch the scenes with the living cards in the rose garden, and tell me that wasn't how you pictured it while reading the book all those years ago. It is apparent here that the film makers cared a great deal about the material. Perhaps a few scenes fall a little flat, but the good outweighs the bad here, most definitely. Standout scenes, besides the croquet game in the garden, the crazy dance with Alice and the Griffith and the Tortoise, and Peter Seller's funny turn as the March Hare, whose face was mostly covered by his costume, forcing him to utilize his bulging eyes in a sometime s hilarious fashion. Dudley Moore appeared to be drunk as the sleepy dormouse, which I found hilarious as well. The scene where Alice wanders through the dark forest and comes across the bizarre Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum is strange, even a bit scary, especially when the raven comes and the forest turns still darker. Even though Tweedle Dee And Tweedle Dumm are actually from "Through the Looking Glass", this scene fits well into this tale, and is one of the most effective sequences of them all. But my favorite scene has to be where Alice enters the house of the Duchess, where she is bouncing a baby savagely on her knee while the furious cook makes her pepper soup, stopping only to hurl dishes at everyone around her. Absolutely hysterical! Also worthy of mention is the special effects found here. Alice must continually change size, and this looks amazingly real, especially considering that this was made in 1972, long before CGI effects. The unfortunate thing with this title is that there has yet to be an official DVD release. The only available editions on DVD are of extremely bad quality. I am grateful to have any version of this film, but the DVD features colors that are so washed out that at times, the film seems to be black & white. This is a shame, as color is so important here, with sets that are real eye candy. For an idea of what the film looks like, imagine the "Wizard of Oz". The look of "Alice" is very similar to that one. I imagine a restored version with the vibrant colors brought back would be absolutely eye popping to behold. This must have a cult following, and I believe a proper DVD release would be appreciated by many. Recommended for fans of strange cinema!