I've never seen any previous version of "Lassie". I only judged by my feelings for this one, and it's good enough.With beautiful cinematography and gorgeous symphonic music, this film is very easy to get yourself involved inside and wander by the plot. The little boy is not classically handsome, but he's very specially cute, like some character coming to life from a fairytale. And surely the collie Lassie is gorgeous enough to catch everyone's eyes, intelligent enough to deal with humans (both the good and the evil) and fortitudinous enough to run across the island to unite with her families. And many supporting roles were played by great actors and actresses and were played greatly.It's a hilarious masterpiece, though occasionally mixed with bitter and sadness. But isn't it what life should be? In this case, it's a good material to teach children with. They will know all the necessary elements of emotions and respect life and people from of all classes.**(spoiler) However, I just don't get it why the dwarf's little dog had to be dead.** I still think death is too cruel a thing to be shown to the target viewers of such early ages. And some scenes were considered too sentimental, thus may possibly prevent some adult viewers.So overall I'll say it's a masterpiece with flaws. Still it may give many families a great time to enjoy.

This is a superb, authentic adaptation of Eric Knight's novel "Lassie Come Home". It avoids unnecessary, forced sentimentality to tell a straightforward tale of a dog's dedication to "home" (and Master). Structurally, stories like this are potentially problematic because the central plot threads divide once the heroine (Lassie in this case) escapes from bondage and begins her incredible journey. The trick is to make all the characters interesting enough so that when their lives are intercut with Lassie's progression, we don't lose interest in their plights. Thankfully, director/writer Charles Sturridge creates fascinating, complex characters all round and casts every role beautifully. Jonathan Mason is pitch perfect as Joe, the little boy whose devotion to Lassie equals the dog's devotion to him. Hester Odgers is magical as Cilla, the smart, sensitive granddaughter of eccentric aristocrat The Duke. And Peter O'Toole, as The Duke, strikes a perfect chord in every scene and gradually reveals his true, noble heart. John Lynch and Samantha Morton are entirely convincing as the struggling, working class couple who face an uncertain future and are forced to sell Lassie to make ends meet.The uncredited "Mason" plays Lassie, and what a moving, emotion-laden performance it is. It's not often that a male plays a female so utterly convincingly. Every scene the dog is in is riveting, and there isn't a moment that we don't sympathize with her ordeal.One of the film's most touching chapters is the one in which Lassie joins a traveling puppeteer (Peter Dinklage) on the road, performing in shows with another loyal dog. Dinklage, who previously appeared in the wonderful "The Station Agent", is thoroughly fantastic as the pint-sized puppeteer with a heart of gold. How this chapter plays out (in a misty forest) is quite traumatic and dramatic, and is an example of director Sturridge's firm control of the material. Interestingly, the tone of this sequence recalled Todd Browning for me, and was just off-kilter enough to still be suitable for the kiddies while keeping the oldies satisfied.I must also mention the stellar work here of cinematographer Howard Atherton. His understated style perfectly captures the period (pre-WW2) and breathes rich cinematic oxygen into the nasty sequence in the forest while making the montages of Lassie's difficult trek soar. Score by Adrian Johnston is suitably old-fashioned while echoing contemporary scores such as Mark Isham's musical masterpiece for "Fly Away Home", a film this one parallels tonally.A great film in every sense of the word, and one that doesn't resort to flashy tricks or bombastic style. It is a work of great discipline.

I saw this film on August 24th, 2006 in Indianapolis. I am one of the judges for the Heartland Film Festival's Truly Moving Picture Award. A Truly Moving Picture "…explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life." Heartland gave that award to this film.Obviously this is an often-told tale about a boy and his beautiful and intelligent collie. But … this is an especially fine telling of that story and specifically of the loyalty and love that can happen between a boy and his dog.The story is set in England prior to World War II. The boy, Joe, is from a working class family and the father loses his coal mining job when the coal peters out. Lassie catches the eye of a rich Duke played by Peter O'Toole and Joe's parents reluctantly sell Lassie to obtain much needed cash. This causes Joe to go into a deep sadness. But to make things worse for Joe and his parents, Lassie regularly escapes the Duke's dog handler and finds his way back to Joe. Over and over the dog is honorably returned to the Duke because a deal is a deal.Finally the Duke goes off to his other home in Northern Scotland 500 miles away and takes Lassie with him. Lassie escapes again and the rest of the movie revolves around the impossible attempted journey back to Joe.Lassie is obligated to steal the movie, but he doesn't quite do this. There are too many other interesting things going on. Peter O'Toole is a great curmudgeon with a slowly revealed heart of gold. The English countryside is gorgeous. And the rich class- poor class dichotomy is adroitly told.Honor and integrity and human dignity are human traits that can be shown by anyone despite their age or sex or income or social status in life. That's a message worth communicating in a movie.FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.

Everybody likes Lassie. It's a very safe movie for the kids. No cursing. Very little and controlled, mostly off-camera, violence. It seemed a bit boring in the beginning and there was very little action throughout the movie. Peter Dinklage did a very nice job as the puppet master. Lassie was the real star and left us all daydreaming that we owned her. Music and photography was awesome. Even though action was tame, drama was not. The drama of the movie sneaked up on me and took hold during the final 20 minutes of the movie. I started with a little misty eyes and ended up with full scale, non-stop crying for the last 15 minutes. I was not alone. We shared what tissues we had. But, unlike Old Yeller, they were tears of happiness. It took a full hour after the movie for me to regain complete control. Guess I'm just a big softy for families and dogs.