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This film is more faithful to the original Washington Irving story that the Tim Burton movie, but this doesn't make it necessarily more entertaining. In fact, this movie is pretty dull. The unknown actor portraying Ichabod Crane doesn't help a lot, either. (Other actors in the movie are more appealing). Still, if you have read the book, you might be interested to watch this version.

Fairly close adaptation of the Irving story, except for giving Katrina a personality, and Brom a sense of wanderlust, so if you liked the cartoon version or the Tim Burton movie, this one may not be for you. The cast is a bunch of people I've never heard of, but they're not bad, and the guy playing Crane is actually quite good-you're not SUPPOSED to like the character, so his annoying ways are true to the tale. I do wish that the actor playing Brom Bones was a bit more of a hellion-this guy is a bit too much the young, handsome, and high school jock type. The pacing is a bit slow, the costumes rather much like a high school drama club production (ladies of that time would not have worn pinner aprons everywhere, especially not to church-people then would have reacted to that the same way people now would react to you attending church in your bedroom slippers), and everything is a bit too anachronistic in its cleanliness and shinyness, but it's not terrible. One for the whole family, even the littles. A cut above ordinary due to the actors playing Crane and Mynheer Van Tassel, so six stars.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1999): Not to be confused with the marvelous Tim Burton film that was released the same year, this version (produced for Canadian television) is, at best, a tepid adaptation of Washington Irving's classic story. Unlike the Burton and little-seen Jeff Goldblum versions, which both utilized different takes on the plot, this small-budget translation literally goes by the book, yet it suffers greatly from trying to stretch out the short source material to feature length. The results are incredibly slow pacing and lack of zest throughout, right up to the unspectacular representation of the Headless Horseman. Brent Carver and Rachelle Lefevre deliver as Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel, respectively, but babyfaced Paul Lemelin is miscast in the role of roughneck Brom Bones. The film's erroneous opinion of itself states that it "captures the mystery and romance that have eluded other screen efforts." Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. 5/10

I'll warn you that, in some cases, when motion pictures tread into the territory of faithful adaptations, the modern day audience will find the result slow, but in this case, not altogether ponderous. In order to enjoy this film fully, I would recommend that you go back to the original novel, and read it's wonderfully descriptive characters and carefully crafted New England world of spooky surroundings. Washington Irving's masterful work has been carefully reproduced here, but in doing so, the producers have painted a very rich and colorful world that lacks that ever so intangible spark that gives a motion picture good pacing and story appeal. I'll give it an eight simply because they made such an energetic effort to remain true to Irving's vision. Despite its strictly bookish feel, this film is worth an evening with the kids curled around Mom, Dad, the TV, and an explanation of why this version doesn't bleed all over the couch.

This version wasn't any too good. There was just nothing special about it. And what I couldn't stnad was that Ichobad was not likeable. Although Brent Carver did a good job with the acting, the character was not that of a loveable teacher, but of a snobby educated man, who looks down on people who aren't. The problem I think that a lot of people run into when they are making this film is that they are trying to expand a short story into a full length movie. I still prefer the Disney version the best. Tim Burton's version comes second.