A Masterpiece!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

TV miniseries rendition with all-star cat , it finds Victorian gentleman wagering that he can circle the globe in 80 days . New adaptation classic Jules Verne with a marvelous duo , Pierce Brosnan and his faithful butler well played by Eric Idle who confront much excitement and many trials along the way . The film provides ample amusement and entertainment , it concerns about a Victorian English gentleman named Phileas Fogg (Pierce Brosnan) and his manservant named Passapart (Eric Idle) . He takes a wager with three gentlemen (Simon Ward , Patrick MacNee , Christopher Lee) from 'The Reform Club' that he can circle the globe around the world in 80 days . At the beginning they are accompanied by an enticing , likable French woman (Arielle Dombasle) and later on a gorgeous Indian girl (Julia Nickson ) . Just before the time they leave , a valuable lot of money is robbed and the authorities and president of Bank of England believe that unflappable Fogg is the guilty and they set out after him . Using various means of transport as balloons, trains , steamer , flying machine and following a way , Fogg along with Passepartout go to Dover , Paris (during the revolutionary commune), Brindisi , Florence , Rome , Suez ,Calcuta , Burma jungle , Yokohama , Forbidden city of Pekin , San Francisco , Omaha and New York , as they are trying back to London . Meanwhile , they are chased by an Inspector named Fix (Ustinov) who suspects him of a daring bank theft . In the traveling they meet historical personages as Sara Bernhardt (Lee Remick) , Louis Pasteur (Vernier) ,Jesse James (Stephen Nichols) and even the Queen Victoria (Anna Massey). This funny picture is plenty of adventures , humor, action , rip-roaring and spectacular outdoors . From the start to the final the entertainment and amusement is continued . Appears a variety of cameos , the star-gazers will particularly enjoy several known actors by many Hollywood's biggest names and TV stars as John Mills , Roddy McDowall, Jack Klugman, Robert Wagner , Jill St.John , Darren McGavin , John Hillerman , Pernell Roberts , among others . The colorfully cinematography is well showed on sensational landscapes and lively music by Billy Goldberg .The film is compellingly by Buzz Kulik but in television style . Buzz is an usual TV filmmaker (Woman of valor , The Lindbergh kidnapping case , From here to eternity , Riot , Code name : dancer, Sergeant Ryker , Pioneer woman, Rage of angels) and occasionally for cinema ( Villa rides , Shamus , The hunter) . The motion picture will appeal to Pierce Brosnan fans and adventure enthusiasts . Other version about the Jules Verne novel are : the classic ¨Mike Todd's Around the world in 80 days¨ that hasn't lost its charm over the years , directed by Michael Anderson with David Niven , Cantinflas , Shirley McLaine and more than thirty cameo appearances for buffs as Marlene Dietrich , Trevor Howard , Robert Newton , John Carradine , Noel Coward and Robert Morley who repeats in this 1989 TV version . Furthermore , Australian retelling titled ¨Around the world in 89 days (1986)¨ by Stephen MacLean and recent adaptation (2004) offering full of entertainment directed by Frank Coraci with Jackie Chan ,Steve Coogan,Cecile De France , Mark Addy , Owen Wilson , Luke Wilson and many others .

This is the 1989 miniseries with Pierce Brosnan and Eric Idle that retold the story of the 1872 Jules Verne novel that was the subject of the 1956 Mike Todd film that won the Oscar for Best Picture that year. The 1956 film is a little better than this because of Todd's showmanship and the work of Cantaflas and Robert Newton (and David Niven and Shirley Maclaine). But the 1956 film is not as great as it seemed in 1956 - the cameo performances which helped bring many people to see that film now seem a curiosity to modern film audiences who may not know who A.E. Matthews or Col. Tim McCoy were.This version has it's weaknesses too. Although Brosnan and Idle are quite good, the best is Ustinov as a fat-headed Detective Fix (even in his final moments in the film his last revelation of "genius" is like an annoying gift of a migraine headache). But the mini - series tried to up-date (or back-date) the film a little with dollops of reality. So Louis Pasteur, Sarah Bernhardt, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Jessie and Frank James pop up in the film. Verne would not have liked that - he prided himself on his ability to invent characters (as all novelists do). None of the changes were necessary. Still it has some rewarding aspects. Robert Morley (who was in the 1956 film as an official of the Bank of England, and a member of the Reform Club) reappears here as a more eccentric looking head of the Bank of England (abetted by Roddy MacDowell as his assistant). In the novel's plot, Fogg is suspected of being a man who robbed the Bank of England. In the end Morley and MacDowell meet this gentleman (he does not appear in the 1956 film) and finds he is a very weird thief indeed. Also, there is a choice moment when (while traveling across the U.S. by train) Fogg/Brosnan starts giving his low opinion of America's treatment of it's Native American tribes as organized theft, degradation, and destruction. Unfortunately, in talking about the American Indians, he raises the interest of Princess Aouda, a genuine Indian from India. And she starts bringing up some pointed comments about another Anglo-Saxon country's treatment of Indians. This was not in the novel or in the 1956 film, but it was nice to see that Aouda for a change had a mind of her own - and could be critical and even a little icy toward Phileas (Brosnan's embarrassment and apologizing is priceless).For all it's defects, the television version was well worth watching too.

While it's not high cinema, it's watchable, and certainly passes the time on a rainy afternoon. It could be said that Phileas' constant do-si-do with the Princess (as Passepartout puts it, "l'affaire du coeur") does drag a bit, but I can't find any reasons to be truly unhappy with it. It's more authentic than the Jackie Chan version (which I don't hate, either).I don't see this portrayal of Fixx as a bumbler, either...efficient Fixx may be, but he was never a Nobel prize nominee, and Ustinov does well enough with what's provided. The Princess may have some anachronistic attitudes, but no historical movie has ever failed to cast the characters in at least a semi-modern mindset--it makes the characters more accessible to modern viewers. Of Eric Idle I'll say no more--I enjoy his work, and I don't care if the accent is ludicrous or not.It's entirely possible that the novel simply can't be filmed. It wouldn't be the first one to have that happen. ("Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" comes to mind, for example.)

This is a great miniseries for the whole entire family. Pierce Brosnan doing a Bond/Remington Steele as Fogg from a kind of cold-hearted but then caring Englishman making the legendary journey. Rambo and Babylon Five's Julia Nickson beautiful as the princess. The great and late Peter Ustinov in one of his fine performances. But the person to steal the show is Eric Idle of Monty Python as the caring and resourceful as well as comic relief Jean Passepartout. He played Passepartout as a frenchman and also was really the star but gave way to Pierce/Fogg. Idle is the real, real star. And the mini series is like the book. Unlike the Jackie Chan movie and David Niven. More like follows and stick closely to the Jules Verne novel!