The Secret Garden [DVD] [1993]

It's actually a very good movie. The plot itself is quite slow-paced but the movie is made such that there is never an instant of boredom. It is not entirely true to the book however. It showed Mary's parents dying in an earthquake whereas the book said her parents died of cholera. It also made the governess look more evil and mean than was portrayed in the book. I can understand why they did that, because if they tried to present those parts to young children watching, the children might either lose interest in for example the part leading to the Manor's owner's final return - the original book spends quite a while elaborating on how the children spend their time in the Manor before the Manor's owner returns home for the final time...if that was completely played out in the movie, it can get very mundane and kids may lose interest during that. I can also see why the movie chose to show Mary's parents as having died from earthquake rather than cholera because cholera's main symptom is persistent watery diarrhoea - I doubt any movie would want to show how this actually looked like in real life because it is disgusting, so if they didn't show it like it really was, how are children going to know what cholera was and why it was so deadly?? So all in all, my kids had their eyes glued to the screen from beginning to end, which is more than they would do for many of the 3D animated films available today, so I consider this movie a feat of genius from Francis Ford Coppola! It really was very cleverly made and kept my kids mystified and wanting to watch more to see how the plot progressed. The scenes were also really beautiful.

A beautiful tale of friendship, growing up and making up for what is lost, I decided to get this film for a friend, and I think she likes it even if she had read the book on which this film is based beforehand. I personally love it as I used to have it on video, and a full colour book of it, so I kind of grew up knowing the story. It is all those things that make a good family film; fantastic actors (led by Dame Maggie Smith), brilliant scenery, a beautifully composed musical score and a thrilling plot. At some points it is funny, others sad or incredibly emotional, mysterious, and even a little spooky. Mary Lennox, a spoilt ten year old girl and daughter of a colonel and his wife leads an unhappy life in India, until all of a sudden she and all families connected with a calamity within India must leave the country. Thus she is entrusted to the care of her emotionally disturbed uncle, and in his household and the wild outdoors she begins to turn into someone beautiful. That is essentially the main plotline within the book, so even though there are a few things missed out, this film is just right, and a lovely little treasure to keep for all time.

Great film to watch

This is, on the whole, an excellent version of this well-known story. I'm not sure why they chose to have Mary's parents die in an earthquake, rather than by disease. It made no significant difference to anything. Lord Craven seemed rather like a caricature of a Romantic overcome by grief - the word, wimp came to mind. But the key actors, and the heart of the story couldn't be faulted. Mary's voice-over worked very well. It was most enjoyable.

Great movie great actresses and actors this is about a sick boy who cannot walk and is in pain alot but two other children help him to walk again and his father is away alot and is very surprised when he returns home to find his son walking and playing it is also about a garden that is kept locked but is entered by the children. I recommend this a family film very entertaining and I love ❤ it.

The Secret Garden is one of the most enduring stories of all time and will remain a firm favourite. This is a delightful DVD which has brought many hours of pleasure to our 9 year old already and more to come. She is totally absorbed by the characters portrayed in this movie and the child actors are so well cast, you can't help but be drawn into the story yourself. It has been watched so many times that we had to buy a second copy to give to one of her friends. We also bought an illustrated version of the book through Amazon UK and it is equally enthralling.

When I was little I broke the disk of this show, because I watched it too many times. I hadn’t seen it in years, so to find it on here was wonderful. It’s as good as I remember, and made me feel so nostalgic. Loved it!

A lovely film. So many horrible violent dvds now. This was a gift for my Grandson, I hope he will watch it and see a much gentler world and also learn something about what life was like years ago before rubbish Americanised films and cartoons took over . A little gem and very informative. This is the sort of films we should be encouraging our children to watch if only as a punishment! I think given the choice they would think I don,t want to watch this but afterwards I think they may say they were surprised to see what life was like and apart from learning about days gone by they might actually like it!! Hope so.

I received this a long time ago. thankyou

A great movie, but I didn't realize what region 2 meant, and I can't play it on my dvd player, so I can only watch it on my computer.

Davvero splendido film. Lo ho comprato per mia figlia poiché si era innamorata la prima volta che ha letto il titolo,naturalmente lo aveva già visto questo film,e mentre leggeva a mala pena il libro dopo aver visto questo film ha cominciato a leggerlo come una pazza. Ambientazioni in vero e proprio stile inglese,doppiato da dio,foci fuori campo e canzoni fatti benissimo. Il film è sia un drammatico che per famiglie. Se cercate di entrare nel mondo magico anche da adulti questo film vi apre le porte♡

Original eingeschweißt. Schneller Versand. Der Film ist ein sehr schöner Klassiker, nahe an dem Buch von Frances H. Burnett. Untertitel in anderen Sprachen sind nicht einstellbar. Das britische Englisch des Films wird zum Teil mit diversem Landesdialekt gesprochen, hat durchaus Charme. Man man arbeitet sich sprachlich ein.

OK