Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

TheLittleSongbird The book by Jules Verne is a masterpiece, and of all the three versions of it I've seen(this, 1956 and 2004) in my opinion this mini-series is the best version. There are some scenes that are not in the book, but they didn't bother me, they were just as entertaining as the ones that were. I had no problem with the length either, to give the book justice I personally think it works better as a mini-series. On its own terms, the mini-series is very entertaining too. The costumes, photography, geographical locations and sets are wonderful, the various scenes and going-ons are consistently entertaining and interesting completely with some fun references to various historical figures and the writing is excellent and has the feel of Verne's style too. The acting is right on the money, Pierce Brosnan and Eric Idle are both superb, and spotting familiar faces such as Robert Morley, Roddy McDowell and Peter Ustinov is a sheer delight in itself. All in all, excellent mini-series and for me the best version, if more deserving of a better DVD. 9/10 Bethany Cox

theowinthrop This is the 1989 miniseries with Pierce Brosnan and Eric Idle that retold the story of the 1872 Jules Verne novel that was the subject of the 1956 Mike Todd film that won the Oscar for Best Picture that year. The 1956 film is a little better than this because of Todd's showmanship and the work of Cantaflas and Robert Newton (and David Niven and Shirley Maclaine). But the 1956 film is not as great as it seemed in 1956 - the cameo performances which helped bring many people to see that film now seem a curiosity to modern film audiences who may not know who A.E. Matthews or Col. Tim McCoy were.This version has it's weaknesses too. Although Brosnan and Idle are quite good, the best is Ustinov as a fat-headed Detective Fix (even in his final moments in the film his last revelation of "genius" is like an annoying gift of a migraine headache). But the mini - series tried to up-date (or back-date) the film a little with dollops of reality. So Louis Pasteur, Sarah Bernhardt, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Jessie and Frank James pop up in the film. Verne would not have liked that - he prided himself on his ability to invent characters (as all novelists do). None of the changes were necessary. Still it has some rewarding aspects. Robert Morley (who was in the 1956 film as an official of the Bank of England, and a member of the Reform Club) reappears here as a more eccentric looking head of the Bank of England (abetted by Roddy MacDowell as his assistant). In the novel's plot, Fogg is suspected of being a man who robbed the Bank of England. In the end Morley and MacDowell meet this gentleman (he does not appear in the 1956 film) and finds he is a very weird thief indeed. Also, there is a choice moment when (while traveling across the U.S. by train) Fogg/Brosnan starts giving his low opinion of America's treatment of it's Native American tribes as organized theft, degradation, and destruction. Unfortunately, in talking about the American Indians, he raises the interest of Princess Aouda, a genuine Indian from India. And she starts bringing up some pointed comments about another Anglo-Saxon country's treatment of Indians. This was not in the novel or in the 1956 film, but it was nice to see that Aouda for a change had a mind of her own - and could be critical and even a little icy toward Phileas (Brosnan's embarrassment and apologizing is priceless).For all it's defects, the television version was well worth watching too.

dkiltz *Potential spoilers*I guess I'm echoing what others have written. This is truly a 'classic' adaption of the book. The characters are, of course, a little over-painted, but that's supposed to be so. It doesn't rely on slap-stick gags or the like but is extremely funny nevertheless. The key story, namely that of Mr. Fogg finally getting out of his corset of punctuality and distance, facilitated by the unconditional devotion of Passepartout and love of the Princess is being put to the audience in a remarkably unpretentious and delicate way. Excellent!

cmyklefty Pierce Brosnan plays Phileas Fogg and Eric Idle plays his traveling companion Passepartout. Phileas Fogg's gentlemen club put a bet for on him to go around the world in eighty days. He travel with his companion on the journey of a lifetime. They go through a series misadventures and lucky chances on their trip. Robert Morley is the only actor to act in both the 1956 and 1989 version of this classic story. The 1989 version in longer and better than in 1956. It is almost like reading the book, but watching it on TV.