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Matilda - Special Edition [1996]

Matilda - Special Edition [1996]

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Director: Danny Devito
Actors: Danny Devito, Rhea Perlman, Mara Wilson, Embeth Davidtz, Pam Ferris
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Category: DVD

List Price: £15.99
Buy New: £3.59
You Save: £12.40 (78%)

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Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars 13 reviews

Format: Collector's Edition, Pal, Widescreen
Languages: Czech (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), Dutch (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled), Greek (Subtitled), Hebrew (Subtitled), Hungarian (Subtitled), Icelandic (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), Polish (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Russian (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6

EAN: 5035822451292
ASIN: B00026WBBS

Theatrical Release Date: August 2, 1996
Release Date: June 21, 2004
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Go on you know you want one gZoop it NOW!! All gZoop products are dispatched from the Channel Islands & take approx 3-5 working days (excluding weekends) from order to delivery.

Similar Items:

  • James And The Giant Peach [1996]
  • The Witches [1989]
  • Danny, The Champion Of The World [1989]
  • The Secret Garden [1994]
  • Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)

Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.co.uk Review
Danny DeVito's adaptation of the Roald Dahl book for children is mostly just fine, helped along quite a bit by the charming performance of Mara Wilson (Mrs Doubtfire) as the eponymous young Matilda, a brilliant girl neglected by her stupid, self-involved parents (DeVito and Rhea Perlman). Ignored at home, Matilda escapes into a world of reading, exercising her mind so much she develops telekinetic powers. Good thing, too: sent off to a school headed by a cruel principal, Matilda needs all the help she can get. DeVito takes a highly stylized approach that is sometimes reminiscent of Barry Sonnenfeld (director of Get Shorty, a DeVito production), and his judgement is not the best in some matters, such as letting the comic-scary sequences involving the principal go on too long. But much of the film is delightful and funny.--Tom Keogh


Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A funny, appealing, and truly enjoyable film.   September 20, 2000
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

This is the top favourite video in our house just now. I was initially nervous of buying it, thinking that Roald Dahl can often be scary for children and having seen a clip of the terrifying "Miss Trunchbull". But all the children who have seen it - from aged 4 to 9 - have loved it without reservation, distinguished easily between the good and bad characters, and seem to have learnt only from the good ones! Mary Wilson, as Matilda, is a delight, and the "grownup" cast play their roles impeccably. We love this film!


5 out of 5 stars Little and Large   July 1, 2006
Louise Stanley (Reading, Berkshire United Kingdom)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

This film is so good - for both kids and adults - that I think Dahl himself must be looking down from Heaven and smiling - after the rumours of what he felt about the production of The Witches. Some of the characterisations, sets and costumes could have been put together by the master of kitsch, Baz Luhrmann, and this is a testament to both Dahl's eye for detail and Danny DeVito's wicked sense of humour - and vice versa. Although in many ways the story has been changed and not least Americanised, Dahl's original book was rather short on substance, despite the fantastic plot, and DeVito's adaptation suits it much better than setting it in phlegmatic old England. Plus Miss Trunchbull as an Englishwoman adrift among Americans makes her character even more grotesque as she brings her curious brand of "English" discipline to an ordinary American suburb, and the way she mimics the cutesy American accents adds much more to her character than if the film had stayed set in England. And since it ends in the way Dahl intended it to - and indeed for fans of Quentin Blake's illustrations, the handwriting on the board is absolutely spot on to that pictured in the book itself, which shows DeVito is paying attention not only to the original but to critics of Americans making films of English children's classics - there is nothing for that peculiarly English snobbery about "disneyfication" to latch on to as there might have been with The Witches.

Although DeVito's additions of the stupid FBI cops enhance the story (and prove that Matilda is just as smart with people who are supposedly on her side, which I loved and which makes her the sassiest heroine for a long time), there is sadly one bit that really annoyed me - Miss Honey. In the book she is down-to-earth, practical and nonchalant about her fate. In the film...ugh, I needed to do my teeth afterwards lest they fall out from all the sugary-sweet acting. From the moment she turns up on screen the film - while not completely ruined - takes a turn for the "unrealistic". I guess Miss Honey had to live up to her name, but Miss Saccharine would have been more appropriate. The stomach-churning episode with the doll and the chocolates is disappointing, but I suppose the film manages to pull it off - just about - with more of Dahl's refreshingly grim humour injected into it just as Honey becomes Honey Monster. I suppose for an American audience the heroine has to be whiter-than-white, but since I was raised on Quentin Blake's gawky bespectacled blue-stocking, I suppose someone coming to this film without the backhistory might not mind.

But...the best thing about films of children's books, like with Narnia, is that the silver screen gives the chance for the characters to really come to life and details which would crowd a hundred-page novella can be added, and the film manages to create a whole world that is just as believable from Matilda's point of view as the Dahl version, without losing any of the master's sparkling wit or erudite points dropped in at a moment's notice. Bravissimo!



4 out of 5 stars great film!   June 9, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is a great childrens and family film. a fantastic adaption of rhol dahls famous book. Has fun extras and bonus features including a little home-made by Mara wilson, who plays matilda of behind the scenes of the set. This is a fun make believe film!


5 out of 5 stars "matilda" rocks!   April 9, 2006
bensondog (australia)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I love the movie Matilda, it rocks! I saw the movie on TV first then read the book and I love it. The movie's very true to the book and devito has done a good job there. With out a doubt the 2 stars that really got my attention and did a really, really good job where Pam ferris (trunchbull) and mara wilson (matilda). Mara did a great job with Matilda. She wasn't too cute and cuddly which better suits the role of Matilda and Pam's way of putting humor into the trunchbull and also still making her terrifying was awesome.

Any way get the special edition because ive got the plain DVD and it's only got the movie. All the special stuff rocks! You'll love it!



5 out of 5 stars Matilda   December 18, 2002
carly (United Kingdom)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful

Matilda

Matilda is a very smart kid. But her parents don't appreciate her. She has only one thing on her mind REVENGE!!! For example her parents didn't even know her age and when she was only three her mum went to bingo and her dad sold used battered cars for unfair prices and her brother went to school. Which left Matilda all alone in the house. One day Matilda set off to the library where she learnt everything, after a while, she begged her dad to let her go to school but her dad said she was only 4 but really she was 6 and a half.
A brilliant story and it makes you think what's going to happen next.

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