Voyage of the Unicorn

It's great to see a fun, entertaining fantasy story with a positive message of faith and hope. There are many kinds of faith shown in this movie, such as faith in one's self, faith in a higher power, and faith in the goodness of others. Our heroes show a willingness to help others and lift even their enemies to a better way of life.

The sets and costumes didn't quite reach the artistic standard of James Christiansen's beautiful artwork, but they certainly tried. The music and dance elements are nicely done, and the girls' kindness and purity are positively represented. Christiansen's Mormon heritage shows through in the message that "Faith precedes the miracle". Imagination and mythology are used as metaphors for spiritual things, and I loved the message about life after death.

I first saw this movie when I was a teen. This week I decided to give it a second go and review it.

A professor with a positive message is coping with the loss of his wife along with his two daughters. Suddenly they are transported into another fantasy realm on a magical ship where they have to fullfill this magical prophecy.

The props are well done for it's time and budget and especially the trolls and their war vessel are impressive. Only let down is that the (real) lower teeth of the main bad guy troll are clearly visible when he speaks. The ship is also well made, although I find the ship's role and the whole nautical voyage to be a given too little time in the movie, just like the Dawn Treader in Narnia, but hey, that's just me speaking a former seaman.

Unfortunately, there is also plenty of cheese. The glasses of Medusa for example, the fights where Malachi jumps around doing backflips that add nothing at all. Also the main characters are sometimes incredibly dumb. Why did Cassie walk into the Minotaurs lair on her won like that ? Why didn't Medusa use her ability to turn their enemies into stone ? Oh well, maybe I shouldn't overanalyze a TV fantasy film for kids.

So yeah, if you liked The voyage of the Dawn Treader you will enjoy this, but don't expect a hight budget movie for adults.

Although Beau Bridges is getting a little long in the tooth to play the father of teenagers, much less a swashbuckler, he once again provided us with good entertainment. Thank you Beau. The rest of the cast was up to the job as well. Some,(but not all) of the makeup was a little mask-like, but the overall effect was pretty good. The only low point was a sequence involving the older daughter which looked like a music video produced by a seventh grade drama class. Fortunately it didn't last long enough to make me go for the remote. All in all it is a good watch and a lot of good clean family entertainment. A few parts may be a little scary for the younger kids (Tho I've seen seven year olds play video games that scare ME) but if you explain to them ahead of time that its only a fairy tale they should be o.k.. Its well worth watching. I'll give it a score of eight.

I recently saw this when it premiered on Odyssey for two nights, and I have also been anxious to see it when I heard about it back in April of 2000.

Voyage of the Unicorn is originally based on the novel "Voyage of the Basset" by James C. Christensen and tells the story of Professor Alan Aisling (Beau Bridges) and his two daughters Cassie (Chantal Conlin) and Miranda (Heather McEwen), trying to overcome the death of their mother. They soon embark a mystical journey on the majestic ship called the Unicorn, assisted by two dwarfs (pardon me, one is an elf named Sebastian, played by extremely cute Kristian Ayre - I am a huge fan of his!!) with one named Malachi. They encounter different creatures such as the Minotaur and Medusa, and all trying to save the King and Queen of the Faeries from the evil troll Skotos.

This is a delight to watch full of adventure, fantasy, romance, and lots of family enjoyment. I really liked it and it will certainly bring a new meaning out the saying "Seeing is believing." And Sebastian is adorable too... as he always is.

A couple of years ago, I got a book from my parents call "Voyage of the Basset", which I fell in love with completely (as I'm a huge fan of mythology). Then, last summer, I came across this movie on my TiVO listing and decided to record it, recognizing it immediately as being based off one of my all-time favorite books. However, I was soon disappointed.

The original story takes place back in the 19th century, when a professor is fired for teaching mythology and preaching the use of imagination. Then, he and his two daughters board the Basset, which is run by multiple dwarfs (in the movie, there are only two). Many elements are still the same (including the minotaur and Medusa joining the voyage, though the sphinx joins early on as well, and

so does a manticore). Also, the plotline with Oberon and Titania is really bizarre and has nothing to do with the original story.

Overall, the movie isn't half bad, but if you're expecting it to be just like the story, it's really a waste of time and rather annoying.