Kidnapped

First off. You got these not so well known great actors from EU, who are fantastic and pay a lot of respect on a theater level as far as maintaining the integrity of the story.Allan Brek was the original bad guy in judge dredd. You might know Davie from Speed 2, or Ghost in the darkness. Fantastic Actors. (not cool or sexy, just great cinema) I've read the book which is one of my favorites. I've seen the countless remakes. I love how the story unwinds, as it really captures this struggle between liberal and conservative views, and relates it to history. Everything about both of their lives is captured so well. From the rural folk who always look out for each other. the liberal folk who amass and take over, and stays true to the book in how they take power. While we love Davie and he's really the hero of the story. And he never really changes his perspective. He does at a point realize, what his city people are about. And what's given to him by the people who fought for his country, and tried to maintain his way of life, well he appreciates it, but in the nature of a liberal still doesnt change his ways. Its telling, and truthful and follows history, and shows the results, while still a powerful enough story to allow you to care about both characters. The evil ones, and the ones trying to just live their lives... (who are killed) and finds a balance in teh story to describe exactly how things occurred, and how they lead to current day scottland.Prime note. Braveheart, and The betrayer king, were still decades before this story. After braveheart scottland wasnt just free. There was an entire struggle between french and english rule. The screenplay explains a lot of what was going on, as if you were there for it. Thinking its fantastic the entire time along, while you start meeting people who are persecuted over and over along the way for them to gain power.A riveting story with sword-fighting, friendship, honor, values, and realism all wrapped into one.Its dialogue driven. Its not transformers. But if you like a good story well told. These two actors do a fantastic job, as to their support. One of my favorite movies.

The made-for-TV film is excellent. Its historical and story setting is enchanting. Set in Scotland, you will really get a feel for the time and culture, as well as beautiful views of the land. The story is engaging and stirring with wit and poise. There is intrigue, adventure, fighting, and romance. Acting is superb. Alan Breck Stewart (Armand Assante) and David Balfour (David Blessed) are a dynamic pair. Their juxtaposition showcases the classic opposites - a hot-headed Highlander and level-headed Lowlander - thrown together and united as common Scots. The direction and soundtrack were good. The music will have you humming and is well timed onscreen.I had first watched this movie several years ago on VHS. I watched it many times. I have long waited for a DVD release. While I am glad that this is finally on DVD, I am somewhat disappointed. The video and sound are not remastered, so they are not up to par in quality. It is still in stereo. It could have at least been remixed to Dolby Surround. Special features are lacking. Commentaries, featurettes, and documentaries are lacking. For a movie that has such a rich historical background, this lacking is a sin. A redeeming feature that is not documented on the box or anywhere as far as I can see, is that the scenes have been integrated better and new footage has been added amounting to at least 10 minutes according to my estimates. When a TV-movie is released for home video, a scene would fade back into itself, denoting the in-between slot for commercials. In this DVD, this has been eliminated. The new integrated transitions are alright, though sometimes interrupted the short-term flow of the movie. As for the other new footage, they are nothing ground-breaking, but add a litte more content to the movie.To sum things up. if faced with the choice, I would still give up the cash for this DVD anyday. The film is excellent.

This is a TV film (3 hours in all) made in 1995 starring Armand Assante and Brian McCardie, based on RL Stevenson's classic adventure novel. You can also see the veterans like Brendan Gleeson ('28 Days Later') and David Kelly (Waking Ned').The original story is changed not by cutting short the book, but rather adding extra materials to it, mainly about the background of Alan Breck Stewart (played by Armande Assante, replacing Christopher Reeve who met the accident while riding a horse). The film starts with some episodes about Alan, political refuge in Scotland, brave, dashing and charming fighter for the cause.Then we see the book's hero David Balfore (Brian McCardie, one of the hapless guys in silly actioner 'Speed 2'). As you see David traveling to his uncle's in Scotland, you know this idealistic young man who lacks the worldly knowledge is going to have some troubles, like being 'kidnapped' by the sailors. When Alan accidentally crosses the path of David, it is the beginning of the adventure story of the two, who come to realize that they must rely on each other to survive.Now the original story is changed to give a stress upon 'the bad and the good,' so the historical event (The Appin Murder') upon which Stevenson created part of his world sits slightly uncomfortable beside the simplified characters. The film tries to merge the historical aspects of the Jacobites into the actions, but not everything succeeds, making the story of David less memorable than the original. After all, you know it's his story, not Alan's, if you read the book, and the viewers might forget that 'Kidnapped' refers to David's experience.Shot in beautiful ... Ireland (!) -- yes, not Scotland, but still beautiful -- the film needs perhaps some more trimming. Still, it stands on its own as pretty entertaining film if you don't care the addtitional episodes that Stevenson perhaps have some tough time to accept as his own.

This movie is exactly what I was looking for, a favorite of the family's since I was young. It was a gift for my sister who was delighted to receive it.

good story

Great Seler

This is an excellent adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel about loyalties, honour and bravery. Notwithstanding that some alterations were made from the original script (which producer doesn't do that?), the reworking was done in the spirit of the book, and the whole experience was most enjoyable.