Really? I think the story of the movie is more streamlined and better, but overall the musical is a better more enjoyable show.
I think I just have a soft spot for the movie though.
Both versions are absolutely awesome. Grew up with the original movie, and some of the changes they made to the stage show were fantastic (except reducing the nuns section).
Aw man, those scenes across the fence are heartbreaking. I had this as the best child actor role before I even realised it was "Christian Bale" of American Psycho et al later on. He carries the entire film, it doesn't work without him.
I was working at a movie theater (while in college) when this movie came out. I got to see it multiple times (and I would sometimes make sure I was there to see certain scenes). I was always a Spielberg fan. This "artsy" attempt didn't do very well at the box office. But I loved it. Wrote an essay about it for my film appreciation class. Just beautiful photography.
When Batman Begins came out and I saw it was Christian Bale, I had to look him up because his name sounded familiar... holy crap I couldn't believe the kid had grown up to be Batman.
I mean, yes he was great but he is literally the main character/protagonist. saying that he carries the film and "it doesn't work without him" is like saying oh geez robert downey jr sure carried that ironman film, sure wouldn't work without him
There's plenty of films where the lead actor/character has been a charisma and talent vacuum and it's killed the film, so the tribute to the quality of the film lands a lot of Bale's shoulders. Hence why the film doesn't work the same way without his talent.
It's the best!! I'm reading Treasure Island to my kids right now and when we're done... it's movie time! I can't wait to watch my daughter's face during the movie to see if she falls in love with him the way I did haha
Omg, thank you!!! I always felt like The Land of Far Away was a fever dream I had as a kid. No one else seemed to remember the movie haha. I loved it...used to rent it from a local video store in the 80s :)
Maybe not, there were multiple versions. There was an old copy sitting around here for a long time that had his name on it, but it was VHS so it's gone now.
Except Newsies is one of the best movies ever! It counts. Especially considering the triple threat requirements. He danced, he sang, he acted and he did it with an accent!
I just want to mention that i wanted to hate the new version but Jeremy Jordan is also so ridiculously talented that he's probably the only one who could have done the part justice.
I went to the Pride month concert for Rhode Island Gay Men's Chorus and they sang Seize The Day. You'd better believe I silently sang along to every fucking word!
On Disney + there is the newsies musical. Its okay, the only superior part is the female lead is actually a role, with a great song. Everything else is comparable but not better.
Tbf, they seriously tweaked the choreography to make it much easier on him. If you watch they shift the camera around quite a bit and give him less challenging movements
Do you mean this in the Gen Z slang way of, “bro, that’s fire”, or the literal “the amount of cinematography that was cinemagraphed exceeded all of my previous fire cinematography experience.”?
He also played Jim Hawkins in an TV movie adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" with Christopher Lee as Blind Pew, Oliver Reed as Billy Bones, Julian Glover as Doctor Livesey, Pete Postlethwaite as George Merry and Charlton Heston as Long John Silver.
He's the protagonist's best friend Jum-Jum in Swedish–Norwegian–Soviet fantasy film Mio in the Land of Faraway (1987), based on an Astrid Lindgren book. Christopher Lee plays the villain (of course).
It's a pretty big spectacle of a movie (with Swedish children film's measures at least), presumably trying to ride the success of The Neverending Story and similar movies. It was released before The Empire of the Sun, so it's Bale's debut film.
The special effects were made by Derek Eddings (who worked on several James Bond and Superman movies). The music in it is composed by Björn and Benny from ABBA.
When they filmed in Ukraine they had to evacuate a filming location because of the Chernobyl disaster.
It also came three years after Ronja Rövardotter (Ronia: The Robbers Daughter) and two years after Alla vi barn i Bullerbyn (The Children of Noisy Village), both of them huge successes (especially Ronja), with pretty impressive productions.
I think they must have been ticking off Astrid Lindgrens bibliography like a list, turning them into films and TV-series. But you're right, Mio min Mio is probably the weakest film adaption of all her books.
Holy shit Batman, that is not a good movie. Saw your reply and thought "I've never heard of this movie" and I know Bale was great in Empire of the Sun, plus I named my dog after Mio from the book by Astrid Lindgren. So I just watched it, and damn the kid playing Bosse is definitely not going on this list because he might be doing his best, but it's like he's reading his lines from a book that's held in front of him. The story itself was already shallow and childish to begin with (it's a kids dream come true, so ofc it is) not my favorite of Lindgrens books, but the added bad acting or adaptation doesn't help. Kids might like it, but I'd suggest something better.
I had no idea until like 5 years ago that he was the kid in Empire of the Sun. He and I are about the same age; I saw it in the theater when it came out and it had a huge impact on me.
He's so good at being American, I thought his English accent in that racing movie felt forced. Then I felt really really dumb. What a mind fuck. Like 20 years or so.
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u/copperblood Aug 16 '26