Snow White

Recall the fabulous 80s: Knight Rider, Wham!, Peewee's Playhouse. It was a time of artistic innocence, and as such it was the perfect era for fairytale adaptations. Cannon Movie Tales' "Snow White" falls squarely into that vibe, and if you watch it with the mind of a child (or literally with a child), you'll indeed be transported to a fantasy land much removed from our 21st century gritty reality & cynicism.

Scenes are bright, songs are bouncy, acting is delightfully melodramatic, and the story is simple yet engaging. I hated it. But that's because I was expecting something a little edgier like maybe "Willy Wonka" (made a decade prior). When I accepted that this was a true children's film, not an adult's film under the guise of a children's film like "Wonka", I had a great time.

This film adaptation, one of Cannon Movie Tales' 9 installments, is remarkably close to the Grimm's vision. For that reason, the story may seem a little drawn out & redundant, showing all 3 attempts by the Evil Queen to nix Snow White, unlike the famous Disney version which showed only the apple. But I think this worked because it showed the Evil Queen's growing frustration, obsession & Faustian descent into black magic, all leading to the frenzied climax. It might be fun for you to read the Grimm's version before seeing this movie so you can see the pages come to life visually, almost exactly as the story was meant (it's only 5 pages, on gutenberg.org). There is one small variation, the ending (which I won't ruin). I found it to be very symbolic, poetic & satisfying, much more than the original Grimm's ending which, in Grimm tradition, is rather sudden and extreme.

Special effects are minimal but effective. Obviously there's no digital cgi; instead the film relies on good old creative stunts, like you'd see in Jean Cocteau's timeless "Beauty and the Beast" (1950) or the obscure Russian fantasy horror "Viy" (1967). I was really impressed, and slightly creeped out, by the talking mirror which was played by the head of Julian Chagrin painted white with no eyeballs, partially thrust through the wall creating the simple yet convincing illusion that he's part of the frame.

The acting, as I said above, is delightfully melodramatic as a fairytale should be. I agree with everyone else that Diana Rigg (an ex-Bond girl from the 70s "Her Majesty's Secret Service") is well cast as the Evil Queen, cruel, intimidating and oddly funny when she sings my favorite song from the film, "More Beautiful Than Me", sort of a wicked tango in a minor key (check it out on Youtube).

Other songs range from fun to forgettable, but none are bad. Something I found interesting was the way the song styles were deliberately anachronistic and inappropriate for the setting (as with the aforementioned tango ...in 15th century Germany??).

As far as fairytale adaptations go, this one is worth the price of admission. The DVD is quite rare, but occasionally you'll see one pop up on ebay for surprisingly cheap. The 2005 DVD is non-anamorphic letterboxed, meaning it's made for standard 4:3 TV sets even though the film is widescreen, and on widescreen tvs it doesn't fill the entire set. It would be nice to see this with the HD Blu-ray treatment some day. But considering for 20 years there were only a few VHS copies floating around, it's great that this cute film is finally available on disc.

Although it isn't as endearing or charming as Disney's animated version I must say I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I think both Nicola Stapleton and Sarah Patterson (better known for her role as Rosaleen in Company of Wolves) did a good job playing Snow White. Best part was played by the evil queen (Mia Rig) who really was evil. At least she was pretty in comparison to the evil queen from Disney who looked like a ghost (and could never be the fairest of them all). The evil queen had so many costumes in which she could disguise and transform into a totally different person. She used her disguises 3 times to kill Snow White. That's right she needed 3 attempts for that. I'm glad they showed us in this version all of these attempts so people do know it was not only the poisonous apple. I knew about a poisonous comb in one the version I have read but never knew about the corset until I saw this one. The mirror was mostly the scary thing in the movie, having that foul laugh and face. The songs are nice not great but not over the top and fitting. I was a bit disappointed by the dwarfs however, they do lack some kind of personality and too bad they have all the same sounding names ending on "iddy". I think even after multiple viewings it will be impossible to say who is who. Nevertheless this is certainly one of the best adaptations of the fairy tale.

I've always loved fairy tales as a child, "Snow White" believe it or not isn't one of my favorates but that's just me, though I do really like the story. It really supprised me when I discovered how many live action versions of this tale there were, which shows how timeless this tale is. Yeah just like in an apple tree there are some bad apples/ bad adaptations of this tale but there are also good ones and this is one of them.

This film is kinda another one of my childhood gems, I mainly saw this on home video in my second grade class and I really liked it. Watching it as an adult I still like it, what can I say I really have a soft spot for this movie.

Supprising fact of this film it was from the Cannon film company which is one of my favorate movie companies as their famous for their series of action films. I honestly didn't expect them to try their hand in the fantasy genre, but most movie companies always try to branch out which I like showing that they can do more. This was a volume in this series of live action adaptions of fairy tales, this volume I honestly feel is the best one in my book.

Not much to say, production value is pretty good despite the limited budget Cannon as usual works with I felt they really did will with what they had, the set pieces and costumes are all up to par, even certain effects (though not many but Snow White was never an effects show) are on par because it's all practical no CGI bull crap.

Music is soild though not that memorable which is the weak point of the film, don't get me wrong the songs are fun but not exactly the kind I would play on my Ipod over and over, but that's me. Though I really did like the one song that Sarah Patterson sings, I was really supprised she could actually sing, and it's a beautiful voice.

But I think what really sticks out are in the performances. Diana Rigg is soild as the Evil Queen, and yes I have seen "The Avengers" really like that show. She's a villan you love to dislike or even plan dislike as she really presses that wrong button; as usual is vein, narsistic, self centered, she's kinda funny there are bits of dry humor.

The Dwarves are really good too, just like in the Disney version each of them have some distinctive personalities . Though what's interesting is each of them have all different names that rymme. It kinda makes sense they would all have different names than the one's from the Disney version since in the original fairy tale none of them had any names. Billy Barty is one of them whom is defiantly no stranger to the fantasy genere as he was also in "Willow" and the underrated "Masters of the Universe".

But my favorate of course is Sarah Paterson as Snow White. When I was a kid I had the biggest crush on this actress she just radiates gogiousness, she to me is one of my favorate live action versions of Snow, she just fits the role like a glove, not just in looks but in performance as she captures the persona which is sweet, kind, but also slightly naïve and inexperienced with the outside world as she's lived a sheltered life most of her life but has like any person coming of age to get outside their comfort zone and see the world and find love.

I do like from how the tale and performences are executed, despite predictable I actually found myself caring about what happens in the story and Snow herself hoping things will turn out right for her and get the life she deserves.

Overall, if your looking for some really good live action versions of the classic fairy tale, this vintage version is one to check out; just like the tale itself it's timeless.

Rating: 3 and a half stars

This story most closely depicts the origional Grimm Farie Tale as we know it. It has the apple, the corsett, and the comb! It has the seven little men, it has snow white, it has the hunter, it has the father... it's only missing one SINGLE tiny thing... the fact that Snow White's MOTHER, and not her STEP mother, is the one that wanted her dead. Then again, that's EVERY version that I've ever seen... unless the Disney version was the right way there. Don't remember. Anyhow, my favorite part of the movie is "Billy Barty". He is in SO MANY of my movies, I can pick out his voice like THAT. *Snaps*. Sure, he's only one of 7 adorable men, but still... and a couple of the songs are so precious. Not the absolutely best of the Cannon Films, but one of my long time favs.

Diana Rigg, is outstanding, Nicola Stapleton as young Snow white is...young Snow White..,and Sarah Patterson is the epitome of Snow White.Sarah Patterson is such a wonderful surprise...I couldn't have anticipated a truer character. It is no wonder the prince fell in love immediately. They all are talented actors, but I saw the characters, not actors.