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List Price: $14.99 | | Label: Questar
Salesrank: 55313
Released: July 25, 2000 |
| Our Price: $5.89 |
| Used Price: $3.54 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Facing adversity, poverty and disgrace, a family discovers that love, togetherness, and perseverance lead toreal success and joy. In a classic story by Edith Nesbit, one of England's most beloved authors, five motherless children struggle to save their inventor father from financial ruin. Their well-meaning efforts invariably end in disaster despite the watchful eye of their neighbor, a dashing explorer (James Wilby). Richard Bastable (Nicholas Farrell), the father, has only a few days to save his family home as creditors increase their demands while he struggles with his difficult yet promising invention. In spite of the family's gallant efforts and the sympathy and help of Dr. Mary Leslie (Gina McKee), the end looms nigh. This all-star family classic will be enjoyed over and over. Extra Features: Edith Nesbit: Biography of the Author; The Bastables' England: Historical Background; Thoughts To Be Shared with Family & Friends; Previews of Additional Questar Family Classic Films.
The Treasure Seekers Reviews:
Victorian family antics 
2008-06-20 - Five children in Victorian England attempt to rescue the family from financial ruin. Father is an inventor whose refrigeration machine has yet to make a profit. It's an enjoyable movie with authentic period detail, intereting sets and costumes.
The movie was a bit uneven with some very good parts, and some parts that are a tad boring. The movie would have been greatly improved if younger, more precocious actors had been chosen to play the five children. In fact, sometimes the children seemed a bit immature or stupid simply because the actors playing them were too old. The father was an eccentric inventor who was entertaining, but he came across as a rather irresponsible, letting his children nearly starve while he tinkered with his invention. Some of the smaller parts featured the best acting. Next door neighbor Albert was a perfectly played spoiled rich brat. Albert's uncle (James Wilby) a dashing explorer, was the best character in the movie. The no nonsense maid added a lot. Some of the villians could have been a lot more dasteredly, and the lady doctor was lackluster.
Still there is enough to please fans of period movies.
This was truly awful 
2008-06-18 - I love the books by E. Nesbit, including the Treasure Seeker series. This film bears no resemblence to the books. They have changed the plot so much - the book has stood well for over 100 years, so there was no reason to make so many changes. The father character is totally changed - he is an inventor instead of a businessman ripped off by his partner, he is rarely happy and always mad at the kids, the Indian uncle isn't in it at all, instead they turn the female writer into a doctor and make her a major character. They also make Dora older and suggest a romance between her and Albert's uncle. This movie is mostly dark and unhappy - there is none of the fun of the books. It was a chore to watch it all the way through.
E. Nesbit's Victorian England, a visual delight 
2007-11-14 - This charming film is loosely based on a classic story by E. Nesbit, a wonderful children's author whose English Victorian Age stories are still read today. As in many of her stories, 5 kids are left to their own amusement while a parent struggles to earn a living. In this case, their father is an inventor, who has been at work for 6 years in an effort to create a refrigerator. However he is in serious debt, and in risk of losing everything. He is also struggling with the loss of his wife. The kids are determined to help and take on several well-meaning attempts that usually create more trouble than help for their father.
The film is humerous and loaded with invention. While it is fairly difficult to adapt the book to film in any case, the film is very watrchable on its own. Great acting, accurate period costumes, cars and homes combine to give the viewer a nice immersive sense of the beautiful era of Victorian England. The film has wonderful values, and we all felt great after watching it. Other E. Nesbit stories that have been adapted to film are "5 Children and It", "The Phoenix and the Carpet", and "The Railway Children".
A Slight Shadow of the Book
2007-08-28 - It wasn't a terrible movie, in fact parts of it where amusing. But having read all three of the books in the Treasure Seekers' series (The Treasure Seekers, The Wouldbegoods, The Return of the Treasure Seekers) I can attest that the movie just isn't the same. The father is turned into an inventor, trying to sell his refrigeration device and save his family financially. Dick does not exist, neither does the Indian uncle. Dora is portrayed as being almost sixteen and even Oswald may have been cast to old. The three youngest siblings are alright though. Eliza, the made is simply huge and does a good job as well. One of things that made the books funny was the naration of Oswald, this element is also lost in the movie. So go ahead and watch it, but read the books to get the real E. Nesbit.
Nothing like the book!
2007-05-25 - Yet again, the film making industry has utterly demolished a great story! Read the book. It's a great family book about the Bastable family, and the children do have many adventures attempting to "restore the fallen fortunes of the House of Bastable", but they do not do it by lying or constantly fighting. They learn a lesson with each adventure instead.
This movie production, however, deviates so far from the book as to be ludicrous. Instead of the father being a businessman ruined by grief, he is an incompetent absent-minded inventor. The children lie. The children are disrespectful of authority. The oldest character, Dora shows teenage angst that never appeared in the book. The minor character of the authoress is turned into a feminist doctor. Why did they have to take the values of the Victorian family out and make a movie about today's societal problems?
