not only was this imaginative television movie ahead of Disney's 'Narnia' films by a few years, it's also a lot about how a low budget encourages creativity and can lead to inspired visual solutions. so much of the interesting, 'OZ'/Sid & Marty Kroft retro look was due to obvious budget limitations. good. i thought the visuals were lots of fun. i get a little tired of all the CGI realism in the Disney 'Narnia' films.this also seemed to have a good underlying, Christian message for Christians, much like the C.S. Lewis stories. especially evident in the quote and musical theme, "Faith Proceeds the Miracle".this was a good wholesome action fantasy for families. it features some charming and quaint visual effects that should also amuse most cinema fans.i would also highly recommend this film to Christian audiences because of it's wholesome content and overtly Christian metaphors.

It's great to see a fun, entertaining fantasy story with a positive message of faith and hope. There are many kinds of faith shown in this movie, such as faith in one's self, faith in a higher power, and faith in the goodness of others. Our heroes show a willingness to help others and lift even their enemies to a better way of life.The sets and costumes didn't quite reach the artistic standard of James Christiansen's beautiful artwork, but they certainly tried. The music and dance elements are nicely done, and the girls' kindness and purity are positively represented. Christiansen's Mormon heritage shows through in the message that "Faith precedes the miracle". Imagination and mythology are used as metaphors for spiritual things, and I loved the message about life after death.

A couple of years ago, I got a book from my parents call "Voyage of the Basset", which I fell in love with completely (as I'm a huge fan of mythology). Then, last summer, I came across this movie on my TiVO listing and decided to record it, recognizing it immediately as being based off one of my all-time favorite books. However, I was soon disappointed.The original story takes place back in the 19th century, when a professor is fired for teaching mythology and preaching the use of imagination. Then, he and his two daughters board the Basset, which is run by multiple dwarfs (in the movie, there are only two). Many elements are still the same (including the minotaur and Medusa joining the voyage, though the sphinx joins early on as well, andso does a manticore). Also, the plotline with Oberon and Titania is really bizarre and has nothing to do with the original story.Overall, the movie isn't half bad, but if you're expecting it to be just like the story, it's really a waste of time and rather annoying.

Although Beau Bridges is getting a little long in the tooth to play the father of teenagers, much less a swashbuckler, he once again provided us with good entertainment. Thank you Beau. The rest of the cast was up to the job as well. Some,(but not all) of the makeup was a little mask-like, but the overall effect was pretty good. The only low point was a sequence involving the older daughter which looked like a music video produced by a seventh grade drama class. Fortunately it didn't last long enough to make me go for the remote. All in all it is a good watch and a lot of good clean family entertainment. A few parts may be a little scary for the younger kids (Tho I've seen seven year olds play video games that scare ME) but if you explain to them ahead of time that its only a fairy tale they should be o.k.. Its well worth watching. I'll give it a score of eight.