Posted by Robert Dilley on January 14, 1997 at 17:37:48:
In Reply to: Re: S&A Forever videos: Coot Club and The Big Six [review] posted by Mark Hazen on January 14, 1997 at 17:11:44:
We, too, obtained *Coot Club* and *The Big Six* from Janson, just in time for Christmas. Both were greatly enjoyed by the family (we spent a week on the Broads in 1988, though my two youngest -- now 12 and 10 -- were too young to remember anything) and by non-TARS friends to whom we have shown them. Indeed, I highly recommend the movies as a painless introduction to AR for those unfamiliar with him. It may encourage some of them to go to the books!
Of course, neither movie is perfect (can one ever be fully satisfied with the filming of a favourite book?) I fully understand the need to abridge a long story -- but I do get irritated when the movie introduces unnecessart NEW scenes. Why have Port and Starboard arrive in Beccles on motorbike? It was not in the original, and adds nothing. Why, at the beginning of The Big Six, have Dot and Dick at home being told they cannot stay with Mrs Barrable, to be followed by an invitation from the Dudgeons? At first I thought it was to avoid using the actress for Mrs B -- but there she is, saying goodbye at Wroxham Station and handing William over to Tom. Do directors have to make these changes just to show that they are in charge?
There was unanimous agreement that the twins are almost unbearably *cute* -- but surely they were older than portrayed? I had always imagined them as close to Tom in age. Would any boy of 12? 13? be willing to spend time with a couple of 7 or 8-year old girls, however good they were in boats? They do tend to get sighs of satisfaction from the audience whenever they appear, though -- from children as well as from parents.
Overall, if you are willing to abstain from a line-by-line comparison with the books, there is a lot of fun to be got from these movies. Enjoy!