Audience Member
Brilliant! An underrated gem with plenty of spark and wit. Robbie Coltrane is fabulous.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
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Audience Member
Roald Dahl wrote in a very accessible way, stories for children, easy to read, and easy to understand. So, one must remember that any film based on his writings is in the main - aimed at children. This is a charming adaptation of a wonderful story. Such simple themes, a story of community and togetherness, and how sometimes the smartest ideas come from the youngest minds. Danny's bright idea saves the day !
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
It can be difficult to fairly judge an older film. I had never before watched this cinematic version of Dahl's novel, directed by Gavin Miller in 1989; but then my six year old daughter happened upon the dvd in a charity shop, shortly after finishing the book.
The film packs some heavyweight actors - Jeremy Irons, Robbie Coltrane, but from the moment the credits began it felt dated. I did my best throughout to suspend production quality judgement and to focus upon the storytelling at hand. Afterall, I still enjoy many classic films, like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins, and The Sound of Music. I doubt it was the lack of spontaneous song-bursts that had me a little less than enthused with Danny, and yet I cannot say exactly what fell flat. It's a heartfelt story about a widower and his son. It's a poor versus the aristocracy themed plotline; and I certainly did feel face creasing into a smile at the end. I suppose it's a sort of lazy tale. It is unlike any other Dahl books because it is not fantastical in any way. It is a piece of moral fiction; and while the message is a profoundly good one, it is not an obvious choice for screen adaptation.
I was most impressed by Samuel Irons, Jeremy Irons' own son, in his portrayal of Danny. He was perfect for the part and most definitely earned his role in earnest. I much prefer Coltrane amongst the wizards at Hogwarts, however!
I wouldn't say the film is unlikeable. I simply much prefer it as a book.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/23/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Young Danny Smith has a life that could be described as idyllic - he lives with his father in a gypsy caravan behind his father's garage and he knows his way around a car engine.
Unfortunately, there are two flies in the ointment in his happy lifestyle. The first is that his father's garage is slap bang in the middle of local landowner Victor Hazell's land and Hazell wants it... by fair means or foul under the pretence of setting up a premium site for pheasant shooting.
The other problem for Danny is that the school term has started and the new teacher is the strict discplinarian, Captain Lancaster, who practices corporal punishment.
When Hazell ramps up his efforts to get hold of his father's garage, Danny has to come up with a plan that will stop Hazell and become the "Champion Of The World" whilst avoiding the punishments being meted out by Captain Lancaster.
As this film is based on one of Roald Dahl's children's stories, inevitably the main lead actor is a child and Danny is portrayed in a wonderfully innocent (in a not "child actor") way by Samuel Irons, son of actor Jeremy Irons who portrays Danny's father - which makes the believability of Danny and his father's relationship more concrete.
The rest of the adult cast fall into two categories that you find in a Roald Dahl novel, or an adaptation of one his films - the sympathetic adults and the villains/disciplinarian types.
I'll start with the villains and disciplinarians first. Hazell is portrayed by Robbie Coltrane and along with his sidekicks, portrayed by Jimmy Nail and William Armstrong, play their roles with pantomime villainy - bluster, hot air and underhand tricks galore - and they make a worthy set of villains to both Danny and his father.
Captain Lancaster is portrayed by Ronald Pickup - and as much as Hazell is a blustering villain, Lancaster is well portrayed as the other "villain" in Danny's life. There are chilling moments (well, chilling for a "Universal" rated film) when Lancaster "canes" Danny as punishment for lying and he is a brooding threat throughout the film.
The sympathetic adults, apart from Danny's father are varied and portrayed the cream of classic British acting talent, including Cyril Cusack as "Doc" (which you can probably guess is the local village doctor), Lionel Jeffries as Mr Snoddy the slightly tipsy school headmaster and Jean Marsh as Miss Hunter, a local council social worker.
Everything in this film - the acting, the direction, the cinematography, the set design, in fact all departments - make for a film which helps you believe that it's the "ideal" 1950's post war Britain, where English villages are quiet idylls, it's always summer, sons have innocent hi-jinks style adventures with their fathers to get one over on the local bad guy and, predictably, they are the victors.
It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but this film can make for a nice diverting Sunday afternoon film - especially in this cold weather!!!
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/03/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Young Danny Smith has a life that could be described as idyllic - he lives with his father in a gypsy caravan behind his father's garage and he knows his way around a car engine.
Unfortunately, there are two flies in the ointment in his happy lifestyle. The first is that his father's garage is slap bang in the middle of local landowner Victor Hazell's land and Hazell wants it... by fair means or foul under the pretence of setting up a premium site for pheasant shooting.
The other problem for Danny is that the school term has started and the new teacher is the strict discplinarian, Captain Lancaster, who practices corporal punishment.
When Hazell ramps up his efforts to get hold of his father's garage, Danny has to come up with a plan that will stop Hazell and become the "Champion Of The World" whilst avoiding the punishments being meted out by Captain Lancaster.
As this film is based on one of Roald Dahl's children's stories, inevitably the main lead actor is a child and Danny is portrayed in a wonderfully innocent (in a not "child actor") way by Samuel Irons, son of actor Jeremy Irons who portrays Danny's father - which makes the believability of Danny and his father's relationship more concrete.
The rest of the adult cast fall into two categories that you find in a Roald Dahl novel, or an adaptation of one his films - the sympathetic adults and the villains/disciplinarian types.
I'll start with the villains and disciplinarians first. Hazell is portrayed by Robbie Coltrane and along with his sidekicks, portrayed by Jimmy Nail and William Armstrong, play their roles with pantomime villainy - bluster, hot air and underhand tricks galore - and they make a worthy set of villains to both Danny and his father.
Captain Lancaster is portrayed by Ronald Pickup - and as much as Hazell is a blustering villain, Lancaster is well portrayed as the other "villain" in Danny's life. There are chilling moments (well, chilling for a "Universal" rated film) when Lancaster "canes" Danny as punishment for lying and he is a brooding threat throughout the film.
The sympathetic adults, apart from Danny's father are varied and portrayed the cream of classic British acting talent, including Cyril Cusack as "Doc" (which you can probably guess is the local village doctor), Lionel Jeffries as Mr Snoddy the slightly tipsy school headmaster and Jean Marsh as Miss Hunter, a local council social worker.
Everything in this film - the acting, the direction, the cinematography, the set design, in fact all departments - make for a film which helps you believe that it's the "ideal" 1950's post war Britain, where English villages are quiet idylls, it's always summer, sons have innocent hi-jinks style adventures with their fathers to get one over on the local bad guy and, predictably, they are the victors.
It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but this film can make for a nice diverting Sunday afternoon film - especially in this cold weather!!!
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/17/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A wondeful adaptation of Roald Dahl's "Danny the Champion of the world. I actually had to buy this dvd from amazon UK, because it hasn't been released on DVD in the US at all. It came out in 1989. I got it for about $10, and it is one of the best dvd purchases I've made in awhile. The movie is a family affair of sorts, Jeremy Irons plays the recently widowed Father, Samuel Irons, his son, plays Danny and his father-in-law, Cyril Cusack plays the country doctor. Everyone does a fantastic job, and you can see that they are having a great time while acting together. The film is set recently after WWII, and Danny and his father own a piece of property in which they run a small gas station in the countyside. This is where they cross paths with a wealthy but unpleasant man called Mr Victor Hazell. Hazell has been buying up all the land around them, but Danny's father won't give in and sell. Alot of adventures happen along the way. Confrontations with a evil schoolmaster, helping his father escape Hazell's hechman in the woods, poaching for pheasents, and of course saving the day for everyone. This film is great for all ages, and it is one of the best children's films I have seen.
Amazon UK link for DVD
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Danny-Champion-World-Jeremy-Irons/dp/B0009W9AB4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=gateway&qid=1202028400&sr=8-1
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
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