Mio min Mio

I encountered this film in a very strange way...by catching the end credits of it while switching channels. The song, "Mio My Mio" by Gemini was playing and it immediately caught my ear. It's a wonderful song and I decided that I wanted to hear it again. I rented the movie and was pleasantly surprised to find Christian Bale in one of his early roles. Being a big ABBA fan, I was even more shocked to discover that the music was written by Benny Andersson and Anders Eljas, two former ABBA orchestrators. Being a visual effects fan, I was then stunned to see that famed James Bond EFX Artist Derek Meddings was responsible for the film's optical effects. I was quite thrilled to learn of this small film with big talent involved.

Overall, the film is above average. It has some nice fantasy moments, some good effects (and some not so good). Easily though, the film is worth viewing for Christian Bale and the musical score. And now I know that while I used to sing "Mio My Mio," to be truly accurate, I need to modify that to "Mio Min Mio!"

The only "uncomfortable" factor in this film is Timothy Bottoms. His performance, credited as "The King," would be more aptly classified as "The Queen."

Now, if only there was an original soundtrack release in the United States of this film's magical score!

As a 40 year-old man, childrens fantasy films usually aren't my first (or even second) choice of movies. I ran across this film on Disney years ago, and videotaped it. It is a good escape to childhood fantasies (especially from someone who had a rough childhood and who often wished something like this would have happened for real!) I loved the music also. If you have kids and see this one, grab it. If you had a childhood you longed to escape from, see it, too. The production values were excellent, also.

But I haven't been able to find it since I was about ten years old, which was eight years ago. Still, I remember that I was awed by the invisibility cloak, have the "Mio, my Mio" tune stuck in my head now in then - the one that gets played on the pipes sticks there too at times - and frightened by the ending battle scene. and children being turned to crows, and the bread, and...ok, I'm going to stop before I give away too many things. A great movie to see if you ever find it.

I saw this movie first in the early 90's when I was a kid and watched it again yesterday, 10+ years later. It was more impressive back then, I must admit. :)

The first part of the story reminded me of Harry Potter and the second of Lord of the Rings, however it solid on it's own and has enough unique features, so you wouldn't be bored.

A great fairytale for kids. Not too complex and doesn't have that much emotional tension. I only wish the acting was better, and the events would happen faster, but for an 1987 kids movie it's fine. Otherwise an enjoyable adventure.

When I saw this film when I was but a little girl, I loved it. I loved the music (and still do), I loved the characters, everything about it. I re-watched it yesterday (I'm now fourteen), and all I could say was "Meh."

It certainly isn't great, but it still has a feeling to it that I adore. The special effects are shabby, the script is a little off and trite and the lack of logic bothers me. But it's still a nice film that's worth watching. But if you can, watch the Swedish dub. It makes it more logical then.