The Prince and the Pauper

The fencing wasn't the best, and the period costume was okay to passable (I think I prefer the one with Oliver Reed and Raquel Welch, personally), but overall this was a pretty good reimagining of the classic tale. It actually had me on edge as to how it was going to end even though I've seen other versions a few times.A pretty good version. Check it out.

Saw this movie a long time ago in a VHS recording with my classmates. Now many many years later I remembered how nice the whole story unfolded in the movie compared to the Disney version of it with Mickey Mouse. I looked up the actors to find this particular version and was surprised to find it in DVD. I saw it with my parents and little brothers and we all enjoyed it! The young Prince Edward, hoping to find some fun, switches roles with one of his subjects who looks exactly like him. On his journey, the prince discovers the unjust surrounding his kingdom and with the help of a man who takes him under his wing, races back to his castle before the wrong boy is crowed King. I loved the cast, the script and the ending was more than satisfying. A great version of a classic story! Highly recommend it!

This was an excellent rendition of Mark Twain's classic story. It captured the not-too-serious tone, yet hinted at the agony that makes this story so compelling - someone who has the ability and compassion to bring justice to the oppressed experiences life from their point of view.At the same time, the dream of being instantly powerful and wealthy comes true.This is a powerful story of hope for truth and justice.One can't help but think of the situations where we could make a difference for others who do not have our privilege.

If you are looking for a good adventure movie to watch with your family, this one definitely rates five stars.If, however, you have read the original novel and have great respect for the writing of Mark Twain, you will hate this movie. Several reviewers have rated this version as the best of all the P&P movies. If this one is the best, I don't even want to think about the others.On the plus side, the movie is, as stated, a good adventure family-type movie. It gives a vivid portrayal of medieval England, both the pomp and the grunge. It has plenty of action, fun, pathos, and a happy ending but also deals with the brutality, intolerance and political scheming of the age. The twins who play Prince Edward and Tom Canty are very good -- much more honestly expressive and far less hammy than most of the adult actors. They are attractive and personable without, thank God, being just-too-cute-for-words kid actors.Now for the axe. I do not and never will understand why people who adapt books for movies think that they are better writers than the original authors and can take whatever liberties they like with the plots and story lines. I do understand that it is almost impossible to film a book without leaving out many details and even characters and I can tolerate that. What I cannot tolerate, however, is the outright changing and destroying of as much of the original story as these screenwriters have done, not only weakening it but making certain situations absurd as well as inaccurate. Thus this movie is simply not Mark Twain's imaginative, sometimes biting and brutally frank, often hilarious statement for social justice.So -- by all means buy the movie or rent it if you want an evening of family entertainment. But avoid it like the plague if you are looking for an adjunct to the reading/study of Mark Twain's wonderful novel.

Package arrived in timely manner, well packed and CD in excellent condition. Excellent performances by twin boys in lead roles. Wonderful music. Would recommend for all ages.

This is the fifth version of the Prince and the Pauper movie that I have seen. It's not bad, but not as true to Mark Twain's book as the others (not including Mickey Mouse, of course!) Aidan Quinn could have been better but seemed to be reading his lines instead of getting into the story. Having seen his excellent performance in A Shine of Rainbows , I was disappointed that he didn't seem to enjoy his character. The twins weren't bad, and the director was clever in how he handled the 4-6 inch difference in their heights, but I still have to give my vote to the black and white version with Errol Flynn as Miles Hendon and the Mauch twins. For villainy, it's hard to beat Claude Rains, but Jonathan Hyde was pretty good. The movie just needed more...something...that the others had, I guess, an intensity of emotion that excellent costumes and period detail just can't make up for. The BBC version adapted by Julian Fellowes seems good, as much as I have watched so far, but of course, that's longer than a normal movie.

It's a very interesting movie. It's for children, but it also has some very heavy subplots. They do their best to keep the harshest scenes off camera, but you can still tell that there is a burning happening. I found it especially interesting that they used so many historical figures. It wasn't just the king that was historically accurate.

This VHS tape arrived in good time. I was happy about that because I was teaching The Prince and The Pauper to my high school special education students. We had done role plays and discussions about the story and they enjoyed it. I wanted to use this to inspire them to do other projects related to the story. Unfortunately, when the video arrived there was some problem with getting it to work correctly. I had not previewed it so the whole class waited while a teacher friend and I tried to figure out what was wrong. There seemed to be something broken inside the VHS tape which interfered with its playing. Well, we took it out and shook it. There was a rattle of plastic and we evidently succeeded in dislodging whatever was causing the problem. The tape then played properly. It's a beautiful production with wonderful acting, costumes, the whole nine yards. The kids loved it. I did not return the VHS tape because it did finally work but I will eventually get another, hopefully on DVD. It makes for a great lesson. It can also give you a heart attack if it's not in perfect shape. That's life.

My five year old son loved this film with its sumptuous sets and costumes and great acting. It's a bit gritty in places with a few prison scenes and a burning at the stake in the background of one scene (not too graphic, more implied than anything).However, it has uplifting moments, goodies, baddies and a few humorous touches. It certainly got my son asking more questions about history, even if he did think the REAL Henry VIII was in this film!This DVD is very good value as well, I would recommend this. By the way, it wasn't made in 1937! I'm not sure why that date is in the description, I think it's more like 2001.

I bought this DVD because I like Mark Twain and the story and I wanted to see the Aiden Quinn version as I like Aiden Quinn too

Really enjoyed this version of one of my favourite novels by Mark Twain which I read over and over again when I was a child.The only negative remark I'd make is that oddly enough, the seller fails to inform this DVD has no subtitles at all: not even in English...I'm hearing-impaired and have missed out on a lot...I'll now have to try and find another version with subtitles so I can share it with other deaf friends.

I am so glad to get this, sorry for taking my time on review of this postage brilliant

Will enjoy watching this again even though grandchildren now grown up.