The 10th Kingdom

When I first started watching this story, it was a little slow at first. It took awhile for me to get into the overall plotline, although it was quite funny and entertaining at times. Virginia's father (played bytheway by John Laroquette) was the most annoying character in the entire story, but he slowly and surely redeemed himself, at least to me.

Since this whole thing is so long, it has plenty of time for character development. I don't really recall specifics very well of this, but I do remember being impressed with the job done here. I would agree with those who say this is NOT a kids' show, but at the same time I think there's plenty of non-kids'-stuff that would go over the heads of most little ones anyway. Overall, I definitely enjoyed this and plan to buy it myself someday.

We love it, we love it, we love it. We put this one up there with the wizard of oz, and willy wonka. appeals to all ages and genders

While the overall storyline appeals to young kids, it is not for children! According to the story, it is perfectly acceptable for the main characters run off to the bushes to have sex. It is also perfectly acceptable for the main characters to be so self absorbed that they did not help the prince to get his kingdom, but even put him off at times (I don't understand why Prince Wendell didn't complain or run off and find a way to fight the queen himself). With teen pregnancy rates being so high, we don't need another movie that treats sex so lightly. Neither do we need to promote a selfish lifestyle, but rather a life which includes the courage to fight for something bigger than yourself. This movie could have been great...but the authors give the wrong message instead.

my kids and I loved this when it was originally sh own on tv, and we enjoyed watching it again on dvd.

cute show!

I have watched all seven and a half hours (or so) of this miniseries many times, and I still haven't gotten tired of it. And that is from someone who normally only watches even really good movies only once or maybe twice. Why do I love this one so much that it is in my top ten, and is also in my top ten viewed movies of all time?

The very basic plot is that Virginia (played by the very talented Kimberly Williams), a young woman still living with her father (played by the equally talented John Larroquette) in New York City, encounters a dog who is actually an enchanted prince from another dimension, the Nine Kingdoms, in which all our fairy tales actually happened.

The prince came through a magic traveling mirror to get to New York. He is followed by a trio of trolls, Burly, Blabberwort, and Bluebell, who are a bit less than the brightest bulbs in the bunch. These trolls were sent on the behest of, of course, a wicked queen (played perfectly by Dianne Wiest) who wants to take over the Nine Kingdoms, and she doesn't care who dies on the way. She's also sent Wolf (played wonderfully by Scott Cohen), a man who is part werewolf and considerably brighter than the trolls, after the trolls to make sure they do a good job.

Trolls, prince, Wolf, Virginia, and her father all end up back in the Nine Kingdoms. Through various events, Virginia and her father quickly find themselves trapped there, and much of the movie *seems* to be about the two of them, traveling with the prince, trying to find the magic traveling mirror again while being pursued by the trolls and the wicked queen. After many plot twists and turns, the story comes to a grand climax, with everyone getting pretty much what they deserve.

I say "seems to be," because there is a much deeper story line going on, which I won't reveal because it would be a major spoiler. Suffice it to say that it is beautifully developed, makes perfect sense, and rounds the story out even more richly. It is partly for this more serious story line that I love this movie so much. I would love to discuss this story line, but I know a lot of people dislike spoilers. Suffice it to say that it has to do with a theme that not many movies seem to address.

In addition, the writing is unaffected and the story is fun. It can seem a bit episodic at times, but each event contributes to our understanding of the characters and their stories. Some of these are low key and gentle; others are not. And I haven't even touched on some of the characters, such as the frightening Huntsman, played by Rutger Hauer, or others, all played well and convincingly.

There is plenty of humor in this movie (I especially love how the troll siblings take to the Bee Gees!), but not all fairy tales are free of blood, and this one has some truly chilling moments in it. Because of that, and because of the major story line that I am not revealing, this might not be suitable for smallish children who are easily scared. Otherwise, it is an excellent movie.