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List Price: $39.99 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 14658
Released: June 24, 2008 |
| Our Price: $7.89 |
| Used Price: $4.78 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
From the beloved best-selling series of books comes an extraordinary fantasy adventure revealing the unseen world that exists all around us. From the moment the Grace family moves into a secluded old house peculiar things start to happen. Unable to explain the accidents and strange disappearances the Grace children Jared Simon and Mallory start to investigate and find the unbelievable truth of the Spiderwick Estate and the amazing creatures that inhabit it.System Requirements:Running Time: 101 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: PG UPC: 097361326047 Manufacturer No: 132604
Description of The Spiderwick Chronicles (Two-Disc Special Edition):
A very good adaptation of the popular series of books by Tony DiTerllizi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles is one of the few family films in recent years to seamlessly integrate magical elements with a potent drama that will strike a chord with many kids. An exceptionally talented Freddie Highmore (August Rush) plays twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, caught up in a sad shock from their parents' divorce and coping with a decision by their mother (Mary-Louise Parker) to uproot the boys and their sister, Mallory (Sarah Bolger), from New York City to a small town. There, the broken family moves into a spooky old mansion passed on to them by the kids' great-aunt, Lucinda (Joan Plowright), who is spending her twilight years in managed care and whose scientist father, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), disappeared some 80 years ago. Jared, angry, defiant, and determined to live with the father who seems to have abandoned him, investigates strange happenings and discovers Arthur's secret notations on fairies, ogres, and other mythical creatures that live both in and outside the house. Having no idea where his curiosity is leading, Jared soon finds that he and his family are under siege from goblins and a powerful ogre (Nick Nolte) who wants Arthur's notebook. Suddenly, the boy who is a lightning rod for a troubled family becomes a resourceful warrior intent on saving his loved ones from powerful forces. The Spiderwick Chronicles benefits enormously from a script (partially written by John Sayles) that treats, quite seriously, the emotional pain of its human characters and makes Jared's will to survive the very real engine of an otherwise fantastic story. It helps, too, that director Mark Waters, who brings a warm and knowing touch to outlandish material (Freaky Friday), has a way of making the spectacular elements of The Spiderwick Chronicles genuine enough to stir real excitement and suspense. This is one of the better film adaptations of best-selling fiction for kids in some years. --Tom Keogh
The Spiderwick Chronicles (Two-Disc Special Edition) Reviews:
VERY IMPRESSED 
2009-11-02 - I PURCHASED THIS MOVIE AS A REPLACEMENT FOR ONE MY CHILDREN DAMAGED, SO I KNEW WHAT I WAS GETTING. I REALLY LOVE THIS MOVIE. IT'S GOT SUSPENSE, IT'A FUNNY IN SPOTS & OF COURSE FANTASY. I AM HOPING SOMEDAY MY GRANDSONS WILL ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS I DO. I WAS IMPRESSED W/ THE FAST SHIPPING ALSO.
Blu-ray: I have not read the books but for this film alone, I had a fun time watching it! 
2009-10-27 - Before writers Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi worked on the book "The Field Guide" (2003) and way before they created their eight books based on "The Spiderwick Chronicles", both writers have said that the story is based on an actual events that were told to them by a family in Maine.
After receiving letters from three young children about their experiences of discovering these magical creatures, it became an inspiration to write about their experiences and create a magical story based on their experiences via "The Spiderwick Chronicles".
With the popularity of the children's books, the first five books ("The Field Guide, "The Seeing Stone", "Lucinda's Secret", "The Ironwood Tree" and "The Wrath of Mulgarath") were then adapted into a film released in theaters in 2008 and has grossed over $162 million worldwide and for the most part, receiving favorable reviews from reviewers.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"The Spiderwick Chronicles" is a film presented in 1080p High Definition and with many of the scenes featured during the day and night, one thing that is constantly emphasized throughout the film are its blacks. Blacks are well done and outdoor scenes are quite vibrant and colorful. We see the scenes of Fall with the leaves on the ground but for the most part, the film utilizes a lot of CG. And overall, the CG is where most of the detail can be seen. But in some ways, the film has its share of darkness and for the most part, I think it was the cinematographer's goal to capture the home being surrounded by darkness and light during indoor scenes are kept minimal. But overall, I felt that "The Spiderwick Chronicles" dark nature was fitting for the film and definitely looked much better than its DVD counterpart.
As for the audio, the film is presented in English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and in French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. I felt the film was quite immersive as dialogue and music was quite clear during the front and center channels. But the roars of the monsters and the overall sounds being carried through the surround channels as it pans from left to right or right to left was pretty awesome. Great use of the subwoofer producing really nice LFE during the monstrous sounds as a troll going after Jared and Mallory or the action sequences towards the end of the film. There are plenty of action sequences in "The Spiderwick Chronicles" and for the most part, audio quality is top notch!
Subtitles are in English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
SPECIAL FEATURES
"The Spiderwick Chronicles" feature the following special features:
* Spiderwick: It's All True! - (7:02) - Director Mark Waters introduces us to the creatures of Spiderwick.
* It's a Spiderwick World - (8:44) Writers Holly Black and Toni DiTerlizzi explain how the Spiderwick Chronicles came to be and also seeing their books being turned into a movie. Also, crew talk about their involvement in the film.
* Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide - Using your remote, you can view the Field Guide and learn more about the creatures featured in the film.
* Field Guide In-Movie Mode - While watching the film, you can see some interesting information shown on the bottom in regards to the characters in the film.
* Spiderwick: Meet the Clan! - (13:54) Director Mark Waters talks about casting of the talent in the film and the talents talk about being part of the film. Also, how the talents Freddie Highmore is from England and Sarah Bolger is from Ireland. So, despite being an American made film, the two were cast for the part and speaking without their accents.
* The Magic of Spiderwick! - (20:53) We learn about the set and production design of the film. From the creation of the house, the trees, the tunnels and more.
* A Final Word of Advice! - (1:51) - Director Mark Waters final message.
* Deleted Scenes: Four deleted scenes which include: Mom & Jared, Boys in Bedroom, Messy Kitchen and Meet Lucinda.
* Nickelodeon TV Spots - (5:04) A Total of nine TV spots which include: A Guide to Seeing The Spiderwick Chronicles, Cinema Spy, Confessional - Jared, Confessional - Mallory, Field Guide - Tomato Sauce, Field Guide - Seeing Stone, Field Guide - Creatures, What if you had a seeing stone? and The Split Spot.
* Theatrical Trailer - (2:04 each) Featuring two trailers Good vs. Evil and Secrets.
JUDGMENT CALL:
I have to admit that I had no knowledge of "The Spiderwick Chronicles" previously to watching the films and having watched the film, I truly enjoyed the magical aspects of the film and how the film was actually quite dark considering it was based on a children's book. I actually tried to watch this film with my six-year-old son who insisted that since it was Nickelodeon movie, he wanted to watch it. And 15-minutes into the film, he was literally scared and couldn't watch anymore.
But for me, I had a fun time and partly it's because of the Blu-ray's immersive soundtrack. This film did a great job making you hear the monsters all around you and creating that dark atmosphere throughout the film. "The Spiderwick Chronicles" definitely does a great job in utilizing sound and those with a good home theater setup will enjoy this film's lossless soundtrack.
And for the film, it was great to see so many talent involved. Seeing Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, Andrew McCarthy, Joan Plowright, David Strathairn in the film and also knowing that Seth Rogen and Martin Short providing the voices was pretty cool. But you also have to give credit to English actor Freddie Highmore and Irish actress Sarah Bolger who did a great job in playing American kids. Highmore especially did a fantastic job in having us believe that perhaps Jared and Simon were actually twins. He managed to pull of two different characters, despite the two being twin brothers.
If I had any negatives with the film, it's when the film tried to use Jared's anger towards his parent's split and you suddenly go back and forth from the action to his family woes. In just seemed a bit unusual to see things disrupted in that manner but fortunately, it happens only once or twice in the film. And since the film is based on five books, one can only imagine how much storyline was left out from the actual film and how different or how faithful the film's adaptation was to the original books.
But overall, being a guy who has no knowledge of the books, it was pretty fun to have a film that was adventurous and dark. Sure, there are a lot of these adventure/magical type of films that are being adapted into a film these days but I definitely found "The Spiderwick Chronicles" to be quite entertaining and fun. And you do get quite a number of special features included in the Blu-ray as well.
If you are looking for an adventure film to add to your Blu-ray collection and you enjoyed films such as "The Chronicles of Narnia" or even the Harry Potter films, definitely give "The Spiderwick Chronicles" a chance.
Great Movie
2009-10-11 - Hadn't had the pleasure of reading the books but after seeing this movie I definitely want to now. Anyway, the movie is fast paced and scary to boot!!!
Highly recommend this movie to anyone over the age of 10 because it may be a bit too scary for anyone younger plus an older child would grasp the other lesson in the film which is the importance of family....
Good family movie.
2009-09-12 - This movie is good to watch with the entire family. The kids and adults will both enjoy this family movie.
Cute, but changes from the book weaken the movie 
2009-06-10 - I enjoyed the original Spiderwick Chronicles books quite a bit -- although I find the whole "chapter book" format to be a little problematic -- and was looking forward to the movie version.
The film has nice production values and Freddie Highmore does a good job of carrying much of the movie, ably abetted by a solid supporting cast.
But while some changes made to the books were necessary -- the digression with the dwarves would have only served to slow the whole thing down, and elves don't seem nearly as magical as the sylphs in the film -- shifting the focus from all three Grace children to one was a mistake, in my mind, especially since the producers clearly were hoping for a Harry Potter-style film franchise.
Instead of each child getting their moment to shine and contribute to saving the family (and the community), Jared's tale as an angry child in the wake of a confusing divorce takes center stage instead. While this isn't bad, it turns the other children into sidekicks, whose lines mostly consist of "what should we do, Jared?" It's particularly frustrating that the book authors gave children an active, athletic female character -- instead of the bookish Hermione Granger types who are more common -- and the producers took her away, for the most part.
Still, it's an enjoyable film, particularly for elementary school aged children. Viewers who enjoy the film should pick up the books, where they'll get to see all three Grace children as heroes, rather than as sidekicks.
