Those of you who have already watched "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" will easily find similarities with "The Pagemaster". Both films are about a young boy, frightened by life in general, who becomes more courageous after an extraordinary experience.
And while Elliot met a friendly extraterrestrial, Richard Tyler (Macaulay Culkin, in his most memorable role after the first two "Home Alone" movies) became the main actor of a much more special and elaborate adventure.
Richard is presented as an ultra-nerdish young boy, who seems to know every statistic by heart. It's the necessary background for such a movie. It needs a kid whose characteristics make that he would not be able of doing anything in life. And add to the situation that almost everything known to him scares him, especially heights.
During a bicycle ride, Richard finds himself stuck in a thunderstorm (and also ridiculously pursued by blue lightning) and he finds a shelter in a library.
While he searches for the exit after he met eccentric librarian Dewey (Christopher Lloyd), Richard is mysteriously transported to an animated parallel universe where some of the books are alive and well-known book characters are too.
Richard's search for the exit becomes a dangerous and sometimes exciting adventure. He's accompanied by three of the books: pirate book Adventure (voiced by Patrick Stewart), fairy book Fantasy (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg) and Gothic book Horror (voiced by recurring voice actor Frank Welker).
Richard also meets characters from various well-known books. These include: the giant squid (Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"), the Hound of the Baskervilles (from eponymous title from Arthur Conan Doyle), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Captain Achab (from "Moby Dick") and Long John Silver (from Stevenson's "Treasure Island").
There is one thing that I still don't understand. Richard is an educated boy (his statistics readings prove it), but he never put a single foot in a library? And where did that parallel universe come from? Is it simply because a water drop fell from Richard's coat? Or is it just because it's a question that I'm not supposed to ask?
There is also that obvious message provided by the movie. Books are a good thing. Books can give you courage. Books are life. But the pagemaster's voice make this statement balance between hypnotism and propaganda. And neither way is really suitable.
Don't ask me why, this movie isn't a disaster, although it's difficult to find good words. Maybe it's because magic finds his way into yourself and doesn't ask you if it can enter. It simply does. And at some moments, it is impossible to watch elsewhere. This is especially true during the climatic fight with the dragon.
If "The Pagemaster" was a book, there are a couple things that would be sure. First, it would never win the Nobel Prize, the Booker Prize, the Pulitzer Prize or any other award of any kind. But if it's found by anyone (however children would be a preference), these pages wouldn't be worthy of the fireplace. It's not necessarily thrilling, but it's not scrap, either.
And while Elliot met a friendly extraterrestrial, Richard Tyler (Macaulay Culkin, in his most memorable role after the first two "Home Alone" movies) became the main actor of a much more special and elaborate adventure.
Richard is presented as an ultra-nerdish young boy, who seems to know every statistic by heart. It's the necessary background for such a movie. It needs a kid whose characteristics make that he would not be able of doing anything in life. And add to the situation that almost everything known to him scares him, especially heights.
During a bicycle ride, Richard finds himself stuck in a thunderstorm (and also ridiculously pursued by blue lightning) and he finds a shelter in a library.
While he searches for the exit after he met eccentric librarian Dewey (Christopher Lloyd), Richard is mysteriously transported to an animated parallel universe where some of the books are alive and well-known book characters are too.
Richard's search for the exit becomes a dangerous and sometimes exciting adventure. He's accompanied by three of the books: pirate book Adventure (voiced by Patrick Stewart), fairy book Fantasy (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg) and Gothic book Horror (voiced by recurring voice actor Frank Welker).
Richard also meets characters from various well-known books. These include: the giant squid (Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"), the Hound of the Baskervilles (from eponymous title from Arthur Conan Doyle), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Captain Achab (from "Moby Dick") and Long John Silver (from Stevenson's "Treasure Island").
There is one thing that I still don't understand. Richard is an educated boy (his statistics readings prove it), but he never put a single foot in a library? And where did that parallel universe come from? Is it simply because a water drop fell from Richard's coat? Or is it just because it's a question that I'm not supposed to ask?
There is also that obvious message provided by the movie. Books are a good thing. Books can give you courage. Books are life. But the pagemaster's voice make this statement balance between hypnotism and propaganda. And neither way is really suitable.
Don't ask me why, this movie isn't a disaster, although it's difficult to find good words. Maybe it's because magic finds his way into yourself and doesn't ask you if it can enter. It simply does. And at some moments, it is impossible to watch elsewhere. This is especially true during the climatic fight with the dragon.
If "The Pagemaster" was a book, there are a couple things that would be sure. First, it would never win the Nobel Prize, the Booker Prize, the Pulitzer Prize or any other award of any kind. But if it's found by anyone (however children would be a preference), these pages wouldn't be worthy of the fireplace. It's not necessarily thrilling, but it's not scrap, either.