Brilliant and touching

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I am not entirely sure whether this version is the best version of the book, as I grew up on the Disney film. The book is a real delight, it is admittedly oddball, but it is charming and visionary with memorable colourful characters. That is the same for Through the Looking Glass, I do prefer Alice in Wonderland as a book, but Through the Looking Glass does have a nice narrative and the characters still have their appeal.Back on target, this TV version is not bad at all. Actually it is decent. The length is rather excessive though making some scenes drag on a bit, and as sweet as it was the subplot about Alice being asked to sing at a party I had mixed feelings about. While it meant that Alice goes on a sort of journey in the film character-wise, it felt somewhat unnecessary. Plus in terms of performances, while I enjoyed the acting on the whole, Whoopi Goldberg as the Cheshire Cat disappointed me. She has the grin and her costume was wonderful, but she should have had more screen time.However, there is lots to enjoy here. For a TV movie, the visuals are pretty amazing. The sets are really colourful, the landscapes are vivid, the special effects are fairly impressive and the costumes are visionary. And I found the music surprisingly memorable, quite sweet really. I know people have complained of the screenplay being poor, personally I didn't find that. I enjoyed spotting the quotes lifted from the books and the actors seemed to having fun with it. Some of the added lines didn't quite work as well, but they were entertaining. Likewise with the merging of the two books, I for one didn't find that a problem. The director also does a good job making Wonderland as magical, as odd and as dreamlike as it should be, and some scenes were very well directed, especially the Mock Turtle sequence, the Caccus race, the Hatter's tea party, the Walrus and the Carpenter and of course the courtroom scene.The acting is also very enjoyable. Like Goldberg, Christopher Lloyd as the White Knight could've done with more screen time, but he does a very good job with what he has. Ben Kingsley is entertaining as Major Caterpillar, even if he did have some of the film's weakest dialogue, he delivers very well. Shiela Hancock, while she has been better, was fun as the Cook, a lot of shouting but hey she was fun. Tina Majorino I had no problem with as Alice, I sometimes find Alice in film adaptations bland but Majorino isn't bland, she is appealing and likable. Peter Ustinov is a perfect Walrus, likewise with Pete Postlethwaite as the Carpenter. Gene Wilder does fine also as the melancholy mock turtle, he started off a tad uncomfortable, no wonder with his costume as they are horrible to wear, but once he gets into the role he starts enjoying himself more. My favourite performances though were Miranda Richardson as a suitably shrill Queen of Hearts, Simon Russell Beale in a amusing turn as the King of Hearts and Martin Short as the somewhat eccentric Mad Hatter. Jason Flemying was also a riot as the Knave of Hearts as were Robbie Coltrane and George Wendt as Tweedledee and Tweedledum.Overall, flawed but perfectly decent made for TV adaptation. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This may be one of the great unknown or under-appreciated films. I am a big fan of Lewis Carrol's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There", and for near perfect translation of the former, this is the only live-action film to compete with Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" and to do so more faithfully to the book without glaring omissions and amalgamations between the two works. The cast is marvelous featuring Tina Majorino as the titular character (you may know her most famously from Napoleon Dynamite) with perhaps the film's best performance from a perfect Mad Hatter played by Martin Short. The special effects are impressive for a 1999 TV movie and the imaginative sets and costumes are clearly inspired by the original Sir John Tenniel sketches, going as far as including the heads-to-large-for-their-bodies proportions. I would be remiss to neglect mentioning the astounding work of Jim Henson's Puppet Studio to masterfully bring Carrol's creatures to life, from the White Rabbit to the Gryphon. I give a ten without a hint of hyperbole, for as far as a live action film adaption of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland goes, I eagerly await Tim Burton's attempt to see if this can be topped.

When I was 17, even though I was already reading Harrold Robbins, William Burroughs, Iceberg Slim, I also had developed a fascination for the Alice books. Couldn't quite put my finger on it. Course, when I turned 24, I discovered a take on Lewis Carroll that I would have never guessed in a million years, something that justified my re-reading the books with this new knowledge. It was mostly the revelations of his metaphores. The garden Alice was trying to get into, the unexplained growing up and growing down, the idea of the oppressors being "nothing but a pack of cards"...I won't mention what they represent as I am under a restrictive mandate to maintain the secret but it definitely changes the whole picture.This movie followed the book to a certain extent...I'm not crazy about the blending of both stories into one, to tell you the truth. It loses it's thematic thread. That is, one story is essentially about a card game, the other is about a chess game. Who plays chess and poker at the same time? Many of the scenes were surprisingly hilarious. Robbie Coltrane and George Wendt's part as Tweedledee and Tweedledum was a standout. Martin Short literally SHONE in his big courtroom scene. And the scene where Alice comes across the Duchess and her cook for the first time was excellent.However, what was particularly odd was that on the DVD, there were short bios for the main actors...and they said NOTHING about Tina being in Napolean Dynamite, they didn't breathe a WORD about Robbie Coltrane's recurring role in the Harry Potter movies...was this some kind of weird English idiosyncrasy? Then I noticed that this movie was made in 1999, way before those movies I mentioned were ever done. Still, the DVD was made AFTER them, right? You'd think they'd give a backstory.

It's brilliant, all the characters are beautiful and you will never forget them, once you'll see the movie. Miranda Richardson has made an excellent Queen, she's just adorable when she plays hysterical, and I'm upset that my English it's not enough developed, so I could tell you more about it. And Alice is at the right age and look to be perfect, naive and willing to learn but not to be pushed too hard into it, I will associate her face and looks with Lewis Carroll's Alice forever. The images in the movie, it's a complete fairy tale, but exiting enough for adult's too. If you forget about the childhood and the your playground this movie will remind you the days when every one of us could be an Alice in Wonderland .I can draw a million pictures from this movie, it's full of frames which you just had to frame it and put it onto your wall, and obtain a perfect painting