Any 'Alice In Wonderland' movies like this? - Return to Oz (1985) Discussion

[–] rmcrae_deluxe 11 years ago

There's a Czech adaptation titled Alice that came out in the late 80's. I never saw it, but heard it's pretty twisted and dark.

Don't eva let nobody tell you you ain't strong enough

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[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 11 years ago

I just came back from watching this film...Fellini, Bergman and Tarkovskiy in a bag couldn't be this unusual. It has freaky as hell imagery and strangely enough, there is something about this film that works well in context with Alice In Wonderland. All I can say about this film is that if Lewis Carroll was on Shrooms when he wrote those books, the director of this film was on crack.

My overall verdict may confuse people but 7/10.

"If you don't like your ideas, stop having them!"

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[–] rmcrae_deluxe 11 years ago

"I just came back from watching this film...Fellini, Bergman and Tarkovskiy in a bag couldn't be this unusual. It has freaky as hell imagery and strangely enough, there is something about this film that works well in context with Alice In Wonderland. All I can say about this film is that if Lewis Carroll was on Shrooms when he wrote those books, the director of this film was on crack.

My overall verdict may confuse people but 7/10."

I've gotta check it out now.

Don't eva let nobody tell you you ain't strong enough

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 11 years ago

My review is on the internet already. If you want to read it, its the url below.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095715/reviews-76

"If you don't like your ideas, stop having them!"

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[–] pilar-narvaez 11 years ago

the Czech adaptation you are talking about is: Alice, done in 1988 by Jan Svankmajer, a stop motion master. This movie is a classic if you are into animation. Czechoslovakia has being a very important country in animation, specially in stop motion. The Czech animation school was one of the most important in the world. Some Tom & Jerry episodes and Popeye were done there. Alice the movie is quite dark. Believe or not, there is a big amazing world beyond Disney...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095715/?ref_=nm_knf_i2

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 11 years ago

Yeah but I went into this movie thinking that a) it would be for kids and b) it would just be another adaptation with nothing that special. For a non Czech audience the Czech Alice is a mind *beep* of stop motion hell and it confuses the line between "creative" and "insane". Maybe in some twisted way, thats why I like it. I mean I respect the animation because it is unusual and that works to the film's advantage but I didn't expect it to be as insane as it was.

I liked the film but it is also my vote for the most insane movie I've ever seen.

"I have always valued my lifelessness."

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[–] RipperRoo28 11 years ago

The only one I know of besides the Disney animated one and the newer one is a movie called "Phoebe in Wonderland", which also deals with a mental illness of a girl the same age as Dorothy in this film. I honestly think it was Elle Fanning's (Dakota Fanning's little sister) best work :)

You got what you wanted but you lost what you had.

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 11 years ago

I just came back from this film. I actually really enjoyed it. I love what the movie stands for as a whole, in fact I actually liked that aspect more than I did the rest of the movie. You're absolutely right about Ellie Fanning. My god can she act. Overall I really enjoyed this film.

8/10.

"If you don't like your ideas, stop having them!"

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[–] RipperRoo28 11 years ago

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I honestly think it's a real shame that the film isn't more well-known. And yeah, the fact that Elle was able to act like that at only nine or ten years old really blows my mind. She's definitely got a great future ahead of her!

You got what you wanted but you lost what you had.

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 11 years ago

She didn't impress me as much as Fairuza Balk in this. Although Elle Fanning is still a great actress, to be fair, though, Fairuza is actually my favourite actress so to compare is kinda harsh on Elle.

My review for that film is up and it is on my profile but, like the other guy who suggested that Czech adaptation, I'll copy the url to the review below.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034325/reviews-40

I actually found out that my mother owns a copy of this film and I put it in my collection without thinking twice. Enjoy the review.

"If you don't like your ideas, stop having them!"

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 11 years ago

Bump

"If you don't like your ideas, stop having them!"

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[–] rmcrae_deluxe 11 years ago

I just remembered that I never got around to watching the crack version of "Alice in Wonderland". I'll check it out on Youtube this weekend and then read your review.

Don't eva let nobody tell you you ain't strong enough

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 11 years ago

http://blip.tv/brows-held-high/brows-held-high-alice-5184130

This is a video review, you'll see clips from the film and possible spoilers (because that film actually doesn't have a plot) and you'll also see some of the crack fantasy aspect of it.

"If you don't like your ideas, stop having them!"

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[–] rmcrae_deluxe 11 years ago

Thanks Morbius! The guy giving the review was hilarious and judging by the clips shown the movie was certainly made with loads of crack rather sugar and spice and everything nice. Had I seen it when I was a kid I know I would've had nightmares for years. And this is coming from someone who was never afraid of the villians in Return to Oz or Tim Curry's role in Legend.

Don't eva let nobody tell you you ain't strong enough

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 11 years ago

My favourite part of the review was the baby turned into a pig scene. Partially due to his screaming at the thing that answered the door (I'm actually not sure what it was). Partially due to the line "thank all the God's in existence they used a real live pig instead of something on loan from the natural history museum."

"If you don't like your ideas, stop having them!"

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[–] rmcrae_deluxe 11 years ago

And the way it answered the door cracked me up. Like "TAH DA!"

Don't eva let nobody tell you you ain't strong enough

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[–] Dragonsonic 11 years ago

Maybe not a remake of "Alice in Wonderland," but "Coraline" is similar to "Alice in Wonderland" as it also has the main character go into a different world from her own.

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 11 years ago

I just finished watching it and I don't really know why it took me that long to see it. Anyway, this version is not technically Alice related but I did enjoy it. Henry Selick directed it and that sold me immediately because he directed a film I have loved for nearly 1 and a half decades; The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Overall I love the dark atmosphere of this film and its message for kids of "you should appreciate what you have". The thing that I didn't like is that for what everyone has said about the movie, I expected it to be a lot darker.

7/10

"I have always valued my lifelessness."

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[–] surfingthechaos 11 years ago

I can't believe no one has mentioned the 1966 Jonathan Miller tv play of Alice in Wonderland. That one is the trippiest, most book accurate, and all around best version of the story that I have seen.

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[–] johnlukeconcannon 10 years ago

Yep, I was going to suggest Coraline too.

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[–] Ponies_in_Jumpers 10 years ago

I always thought that the 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' film from '98 was really trippy; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167758/
I think that's the right one anyway, I don't think I've seen it in a decade.

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 10 years ago

I actually have a copy of that buried somewhere. Its one of those films where, despite buying it, I never got round to watching it. It has sat on my shelf for nearly half a decade (my DVD collection is HUGE!) and if you suggest it...okay.

"I have always valued my lifelessness."

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[–] Ponies_in_Jumpers 10 years ago

I don't really know what to say about it. I haven't watched it since I was a kid. I don't know if it's any good but I remember liking it and thinking even then that it seemed like it was made on drugs. It's quite weird.

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[–] fountaincap 10 years ago

A dark take on Alice in Wonderland? I have just the thing for you, if you're into video games. Check out American McGee's Alice and Alice: Madness Returns. The series is a dark and twisted continuation of the classic story, similar to Return to Oz.

Alice is now a teenager and she's gone mad after the rest of her family perished in a fire. She revisits Wonderland, fighting enemies with twisted weapons such as a hobby horse hammer and a teapot grenade launcher. Or, if you don't play video games, you could always check out videos of the games on YouTube and just enjoy the story and artwork.

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 10 years ago

I have played Alice Madness Returns but not American McGee's Alice...and...Alice Madness Returns is actually my favourite game.

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[–] werkis2002 9 years ago

Films no but there is awesome - very very dark Alice In Wonderland PC games

American McGees - Alice 2003
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_McGee%27s_Alice

And Alice Madness Returns 2011
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice:_Madness_Returns

If you are not interested in video games or just dont play you can watch gameplay videos on youtube.

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 9 years ago

As I said to someone elses response, I actually played Alice Madness Returns, and as someone who isn't that big on video games...its my favourite. I can't find a copy of the first game, though.

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[–] silver-starlet 9 years ago

Spirited Away. It's not Alice in Wonderland, but it's a similar setup. (young girl is transported into twisted land) The animation is flawless and it has it's dark moments.

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