Le Secret de la pyramide

What if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a story where Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson met as adolescents? What if he made it a very suspenseful mystery that explanied may of the great sleuth's character traits and stylistic characterisics? What if...well, he did not, but screenwriter Chris Columbus, director Barry Levinson, and producer Steven Spielberg do bring us a fine film that does these things called Young Sherlock Holmes. Young Sherlock Holmes is the meeting of fantasy film and classic literature, and it is a meeting that coexists very nicely. The great detective meets his future colleague and friend Dr. Watson in a London prep school amidst the mystery of what six men did many years ago in Egypt. Several of the men begin to die in horrible, inexplicable ways, and the young Holmes suspects mischief. The film is a veritable treasure trove of Sherlock Holmes allusions. The film is fast-paced, fun, fantastical, and creates insights into why Holmes developed emotionally the way he did. Nicholas Rowe does a superb job playing Holmes, bringing to the role intelligence as well as compassion. Alan Cox does an equally good job playing his young sidekick and doctor to be. The special effects are first-rate, yet in no way detract from the Victorian world of Doyle and Holmes and Watson. Start watching and it will not be long before you'll be saying, "The game is afoot!"

I feel one of the true tests of a good movie is how it holds up over time. Can't believe it has been 18 years since I first viewed this little gem, and it was as good today as in 1985! Among other reasons, the Holmes and Watson characters were obviously cast for their youthful likeness to the characters in the old Basil Rathbone series of movies. Take a good look! This a wonderful penning of the proposed early days of the two and a very original concept. Probably only true Holmes officiandos will see some obvious references to the adult Rathbone character, and these add to the cleverness of this version. Make certain to stay 'til the end of the credits; Sherlock Holmes fans will receive an ingenious clue to the his "future".

I love this movie. The young actor to me was a young Sherlock Holmes. Nicholas Rowe as Sherlock.He is 6 ft 4 inches and is left handed when sword fighting. He was human, respectful, humble, polite, wise and treated Watson like a brother not like the combative relationship in Sherlock Holmes 2009 and 2010.

This story took place at a school for boys called Brompton Academy.

A dart with hallucinogenic drug made victims see scary things when hit by this dart.Things come alive that attack the victim. A cooked chicken, statues of bats or bird and more. One victim jumps out a window one runs out of church and gets killed by a stage coach and one stabs himself thinking creatures are in his shirt harming him. The special affects in it were amazing. Holmes could not attend the funeral of one of the victims because of his expulsion from Brompton Academy.

Watson's experience after being shot with the drug was funny. A grave opened up at the cemetery that had all kinds of pastries on shelves. The pastries started jumping off the shelf,on to the ground & Watson talking to each other. They were all different sizes and shapes with big eyes and some pastries started shoving other pastries in to Watson mouth cherry cream and all. Really humorous.

Earlier in the movie Watson finds a dart blowpipe which belongs to an Egyptian cult worshiping Osiris god of the underworld. This cult sacrifices live people in a hot substance. Sherlock finds this temple and stops the sacrifice and escapes. Later he realizes there is a cult operating in this city which is causing the deaths of men that knew each other.

Sherlock was in love in this movie which at the end it said the writers did not know what young Sherlock would have been like and that they just respectably put some things in.

This film was very violent and tense. It is about 145 minutes long.

It was like one of the Indiana Jones movies with the cult members running for their life and the building falling down.

This is one movie that did not disappoint me but scared the pastry out of me.

The Temple of Doom-flavoured UK title for this Steven Spielberg-produced adventure—Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear—gives a pretty good idea of what can be expected: Sherlock Holmes hasn't got a whip to crack, and a deerstalker replaces the Fedora, but underneath all of the film's Conan Doyle trappings, this is essentially another in a long line of Indiana Jones-inspired movies, complete with a Thuggee-style Egyptian cult murdering people with hallucinogenic blow-darts and performing human sacrifices in their underground pyramid.

As such, Holmes' sleuthing abilities are more than matched by his derring-do, the young detective (ably played by Nicholas Rowe) swashbuckling his way through the film, accompanied by trusty sidekick Watson (Alan Cox) and love interest Elizabeth (Sophie Ward). This being a Spielberg production, Young Sherlock Holmes benefits from great production design (snowy Victorian London looks wonderful) and is heavy on the special effects, with impressive hallucinatory set-pieces involving stop-motion animation, animatronics, and even an early example of CGI (albeit very brief).

If you're a fan of both Sherlock Homes and Indiana Jones, this 'Indiana Holmes' adventure should provide more than enough escapist fun for the duration. 7/10.

Am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes and get a lot of enjoyment out of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. Also love Basil Rathbone's and especially Jeremy Brett's interpretations to death. So would naturally see any Sherlock Holmes adaptation that comes my way, regardless of its reception.

Moreover, interest in seeing early films based on Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and wanting to see as many adaptations of any Sherlock Holmes stories as possible sparked my interest in seeing 'Young Sherlock Holmes'. Thought that with such great talent on board in front of and behind the camera that it couldn't fail.

Fail 'Young Sherlock Holmes' does not. It is not perfect and is not quite great, but it is hugely entertaining and hard to dislike. It is not one of the all-time Holmes adaptations or one of the worst (nothing's worse than Peter Cook's/Dudley Moore's 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'), and of the Sherlock Holmes films seen recently it is along with 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' the best. It may not be Conan Doyle, and how Holmes and Watson meet here is contradictory to 'A Study in Scarlet', but as a standalone it delivers on the entertainment value.

'Young Sherlock Holmes' can get pretty silly at times, with the last act being over-the-top nonsense and in a way that is not in keeping with the rest of the story, which took a fun and light-hearted approach often but never to extremes. There are times where it does feel like it was trying to do too much.

Also found a few cast members to be on the hammy side, Freddie Jones goes overboard a bit.

Otherwise there is not an awful lot to dislike about 'Young Sherlock Holmes'. It still holds up as a great looking film, it is beautifully and atmospherically shot but the stars are the set design for Baker Street and the imaginative special effects (the knight is a standout). The direction is efficient and at ease with the material on the most part.

Bruce Broughton's music score is like a character of its own and adds so much character to the film. The writing is playful and witty while also intelligent and thought-provoking. The story throughout goes at a lively pace and is so much fun to watch, with a mystery that intrigues hugely. There are even some wonderfully strange moments, Watson's hallucination is one of the most bizarre on film but it's great fun to watch and imaginatively handled.

Nicholas Rowe displays much charisma as Holmes, with even in youth shades of the detective's iconic character traits. Alan Cox is a loyal and amusing Watson and the chemistry between them is charming. Sophie Ward exudes charm and class and Anthony Higgins has a whale of a time.

In summary, not great or perfect but a huge amount of fun. 7/10 Bethany Cox