i truly enjoyed this film. i think what you have to keep in mind before you turn it on is, this is a made-for-TV-Syfy movie. you can't over analyze it - i just took it for what it was : an entertaining TV movie on a Saturday night.
i'm also not a Verne Purist- i like seeing creative adaptations, so the fact that the movie veered from the original novel didn't bother me a bit. actually i kinda like it, because it meant that i didn't know what was going to happen. i did like that they gave homage to other verne works by including other favorite characters and names - i thought that was an interesting tie in and a great way to work up to a sequel or prequel if that happens.
i also was familiar with the fact that this film had a VERY small budget, and honestly, i think they did a heck of a lot with the amount of money they spent. there were a couple cheesy effects, but for the most part they were pretty dang good - i've seen a lot worse from films that had a lot more money.
i also like the fact that they added 2 women characters, as i woman, i appreciated that. i think it would be very interesting to update other classic novels, and give people characteristics that weren't initially part of the story - what if captain memo was in a wheelchair? or hebert was gay? or they were all hispanic? i think adding new pieces to the story gives it more layers.
i particularly liked the conversations between the girls from modern times and the civil war soldiers, when they were trying to figure out which time period they were from - it really makes you think about how different things are now compared to over 100 years ago. and it provided some comic relief, which is always welcome.
overall i really liked this movie, i thought Mark Sheppard did a fantastic job on directing his first film. i wish the Syfy channel had more quality movies like this on their channel. i DVR'd it and will watch it again.
i'm also not a Verne Purist- i like seeing creative adaptations, so the fact that the movie veered from the original novel didn't bother me a bit. actually i kinda like it, because it meant that i didn't know what was going to happen. i did like that they gave homage to other verne works by including other favorite characters and names - i thought that was an interesting tie in and a great way to work up to a sequel or prequel if that happens.
i also was familiar with the fact that this film had a VERY small budget, and honestly, i think they did a heck of a lot with the amount of money they spent. there were a couple cheesy effects, but for the most part they were pretty dang good - i've seen a lot worse from films that had a lot more money.
i also like the fact that they added 2 women characters, as i woman, i appreciated that. i think it would be very interesting to update other classic novels, and give people characteristics that weren't initially part of the story - what if captain memo was in a wheelchair? or hebert was gay? or they were all hispanic? i think adding new pieces to the story gives it more layers.
i particularly liked the conversations between the girls from modern times and the civil war soldiers, when they were trying to figure out which time period they were from - it really makes you think about how different things are now compared to over 100 years ago. and it provided some comic relief, which is always welcome.
overall i really liked this movie, i thought Mark Sheppard did a fantastic job on directing his first film. i wish the Syfy channel had more quality movies like this on their channel. i DVR'd it and will watch it again.