Tuck Everlasting (1981) User Reviews

Among the loveliest ever - Tuck Everlasting of 1981

[ingalill88 · 9/10 · 28 December 2005]

I also saw this movie - on TV here in Sweden, back in the 80:s - and all I can do is agree with what was said in the comment I read. The Disney version is OK, yes, but still nowhere near this one.

This one is lovely, beautiful, romantic, dramatic, bittersweet... And there I'm at loss for words. Even more so, since English isn't my native language... <:) I loved it then - and misses it sooo much! Why isn't this one available on VHS or DVD??? I'd buy it in an instant! (I do own the Disney version and the book - but, oh, this is the version I really DO want!)

For those of you who haven't yet seen this film/movie: If it's at all possible - do see it! If you have seen the Disney version and somehow are able to see this one also: Do! If you liked what Disney made of it, you wont be disappointed in this one. No way!

Added: Now I own it! I do! And I'm happy as can be about it. I love this one. I do. Granted, it's not quite as I remember it. I think the opening scenes (the fair) takes too long time, but other than that it's lovely. And Paul Flessa - Jesse Tuck - is still ever so cute. ;)(Yeah, my taste has changed during these 20-some years, but apparently not when it comes to him.) Wonder whatever became of him and the other actors...

"It Seems Like Time Is the One Thing We've Got Plenty Of"

[Sturgeon54 · 8/10 · 13 June 2005]

Accepted on its own terms, without all the excess baggage inherent in comparing this film to the famous children's book on which it is based, or the recent all-star Hollywood adaptation, this is in fact a beautifully produced low-budget independent film fable. I have not read the original book, nor does that even matter, as any film should stand on its own merit. For a cast of non-professional actors, virtually all the performances are capable here, with the director's father Fred Keller notable as the Tuck family patriarch. The story is naturally compelling, and I appreciated the director's visual sense, focusing a great deal on the faces of the characters in order to foster a sense of intimacy with the audience. The folk instrumental soundtrack adds additional authenticity. It is obvious that the filmmakers of this now-forgotten film put their heart into the production.

like a summer's day

[oleander-3 · 9/10 · 28 April 2000]

This movie is like a wonderful daydream, with beautiful scenery, and lovely music. It's set in the early 20th century, I think, and it's about a lonely, over-protected girl, named Winnie Foster (in the book she's supposed to be ten years old), who one day decides to take a walk in the woods. There she meets a boy of seventeen, Jesse Tuck, who immediately takes a liking to her. Soon she is drawn into the Tuck family's fantastic (and in a way horrible) secret, and must protect them from a man who's after them. I almost can't explain how magical this movie is. My favourite character was Jesse and I wish the actor (Paul Flessa) had been in other movies. I think almost my favourite thing about this movie, though, was the music. It's written by Malcolm Dalglish and Grey Larsen, who are both exceptional at the instruments they play (the flute, the hammered dulcimer(?), and others). The music sounds rather like a waterfall, and a soundtrack would be amazing, though I realize it's not a popular enough movie to have one. If you love children's novels, you should definitely see this incredible movie.

A wonderful, almost classic movie

[richard-III · 10/10 · 2 January 2006]

Although it has changed some minor things of Natalie Babbit's book, this 1981 film version is a wonderful and very moving film. The acting is good, the simplicity of the locations does wonders.

And it has my favorite music box tune of all times!

The frog has become a turtle is this film, which is okay, too (the 2002 Disney film version almost shows no interest in the everlasting frog story!). It is an everlasting turtle and in the end, after Jesse has seen Winnie's grave, it walks down the road (while we audience see the end titles and hear the music box tune). That ending blew me away.

A total 'A', or ten ********** stars.

Charming and Magical

[pan-10 · 10/10 · 29 April 1999]

This is a great film and should be much better known. It features all amateur actors who are excellent in their roles and generally superior in every way to professional actors. The movie, filmed in upstate New York, is low-key, gentle, and magical.

My favorite CLASSIC!!!!!

[sm1107 · 10/10 · 29 August 2007]

If you have ever had a dream in your life that you think "has to be real" this is a must see movie. It is a very quaint unassuming movie that will take you to a trance-like state at the ending, and leave you there forever. It is sad and happy at the same time.

No matter how many past lives you have lived, this is the one that ended with integrity and a sense of yearning for those left behind. It takes the boundaries of "space/time" to an understandable level of enjoyment and acceptance but leaves a life stuck in eternity at a yearning standstill.

aka: Snow Monkey

Nothing Like The Original

[katzinoire · 9/10 · 23 September 2006]

This movie burned and stayed in my memory for years, the haunting melody of the music box was amzaing-I spent years asking people at various music box stores where I could get it. They must have thought I was NUTS, this 8 year old demanding a song that didn't exist. I suppose nowadays, if I had a recording of it I suppose I could have a music box custom made of it (well, the recording and a ton of cash!).

Disney's version was nice, but lacking the magical mystery of the original film. But it wasn't horrible. It was New Coke to Old Coke, I was expecting something more of the original and it just wasn't it.

The turtle at the end, apparently having lived with Winnie all her life, was kinda a nice touch-my guess is that they used a turtle as opposed to a frog because a frog would have taken off :o) The only reason this doesn't get a 10 out of 10 is that as much as I loved Jesse, he kinda creeped me out wandering around the merry-go-round at the end, granted he was still 17, but even a 17 year old attracted to a 10 year old? NOT good.

Excellent movie worth watching and far superior to the Disney version

[dustybug · 10/10 · 29 December 2011]

I agree will all the positive comments made on this movie. The Disney version must be loved by a lot of Twilight fans. Winnie doesn't even LOOK like a little girl in it and in my opinion they wrecked the movie by remaking it. The original movie really does take you away to a far place in the past when things were a little bit more simple, kind and gentle. As one reader put it so well...The movie kind of put him a trance and swept him away. It did the same for me. I was curious as to what happened to some of the actors in this movie and was able to get in touch with Margaret Chamberlain ( Winnie Foster) She said she starred in this movie just before she started high school and that is was an enjoyable and positive experience for a girl at her age. In the end she became a successful attorney and still practices today. A very kind and beautiful lady. If anything, I would suggest that people watch this one BEFORE they watch the Disney version. You will truly get a better feel of the movie. The original can be watched on YouTube as well if anyone is interested as this movie is no longer in print and never made into a DVD as far as I can tell.

I love this movie

[aquakingman · 10/10 · 30 March 2005]

I don't care if you like it or not this is one of the best movies you will ever see that was made in the early 80s. I think this is the greatest movie I have ever seen because at the end of the movie when time has passed they show a clip of them driving down downtown Medina NY and that is so frickin awesome you could alway go to Medina and check out the location it has changed sense then but that napa store is definitely still there also you could stop at the local library and check out the movie yourself as long as it is in (vhs only). The new movie doesn't compare to this classic they were made in two different states for Christ sakes.

nice. and little more

[Kirpianuscus · 3 October 2018]

I suppose, it is the right choice for the fans of book. Not only as adaptation of it but for a delicate, soft poetry who reminds the lines of novel. It is easy to criticize it but it has a virtue , a beautiful one - it is a story about a way who lives deeper in us. And the perfect manner to present it is the most important motif for see it. Sure, it is not Disney version. That is a good and a bad point from each perspective. But it preserves the old fashion ingenuity. And, in few situations, a turtle is more preferable than a frog.

Old-fashioned family film

[lor_ · 2 January 2023]

"Tuck Everlasting" is a family picture, made as a low-budget regional film. Designed to entertain while telling a moral lesson. It is too quaint for today's theatrical audiences, but could play effectively on television.

Well-shot on lovely locations in New York's Adirondack Mountains region, this fantasy tale unfolds just after the turn of the century. The Tucks, a mountain family of four are immortal wanderers, having drunk from a spring nearly 100 years prior to the story's outset, the waters of which halt the aging process and render one impervious to physical injury.

Visiting a local fair, they encounter an inquisitive young blonde girl, Winnie, who nearly stumbles on the secret spring which is located on her father's land near a forest. Winnie is kidnapped by the Tucks, who enact from her the promise to preserve the spring's secret as they fear its granting of immortality will be corrupted by mercenary interests. A sinister "man in the yellow suit", who blackmails Winnie's father in an attempt to buy the forest and spring, is killed in self-defense by the Tucks, with elder Angus Tuck arrested for murder.

Tucks escape and continue their endless wanderings, leaving Winnie to protect the secret and ponder whether to drink of immortality when she grows up, in order to marry young Jesse Tuck and join the clan.

Fantasy is told at a leisurely pace, with director Frederick King Keller emphasizing the Tucks' preservation of traditional values in a changing, increasingly materialistic world. An epilog set in 1980 clashes with the pleasant, pastoral style of the rest of the piece.

All told, a diverting regional pic that succeeds as traditional storytelling. Acting and technical credits are acceptable within the confines of a tiny budget.

My review was written in June 1981 after a screening at NY's Thalia theater.

what was wonderworks thinking?

[kkrabby89 · 13 April 2003]

This movie was nothing like the book. While the book was attention-grabbing and inspiring, the movie is cheesy and boring! Jesse falling off a ferris wheel? Did they even have ferris wheels back then? And unless Mae Tuck was attempting suicide, there is no way she could have cut her finger completely off just by cutting a damn piece of food! I couldn't even get the first 15 minutes before I literally fell asleep. If you can't fall asleep, this is a good movie, if you want entertainment, don't even think about this poor excuse for a movie.

The worst of the three.

[MoreThanEternity · 16 March 2003]

Of the book, the new movie, and this- this is definitely the worst. I originally saw the Disney movie and fell in love with it. I then read the book and didn't like it as much but it was still good. This was TERRIBLE. It was boring! It kind of followed the book but it changed some really unnecessary things. For example- What is the point of the fair? Why oh why is it a turtle instead of a frog? Where is the "T" in the tree? I didn't care for the acting either, especially Jesse's. I was expecting the same magic from the Disney movie but this movie just tried too hard. Now I know why it's so hard to find.