Just perfect...

Admirable film.

Absolutely Fantastic

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time, and even today I'm impressed that a movie a year older than myself was done this well. It really is just the way Alice in Wonderland should be! Fantastical, wonderful, confusing, dark, bright, crazy, and beautiful yet realistic ish XD They had a lovely cast too, couldn't believe Ringo Star was the Turtle. Sammy Davis Jr too! Some characters grow close to your heart, others freak you out, and the jaberwocky is creepy as it should be. I love that it has dark undertones and Alice is constantly fluctuating between good and bad and logical and confusing. I really love that it makes her face her fears right on. The lack of cgi also astounds me, they did a marvelous job with what little manipulation they did have. I really miss movies like this. Just lovely! A true classic.

a lovely film. for the impressive cast, for the music, for the mixture of fear and fascination, for the lead actress, for the preservation of book 's spirit who does it the wise measure. the adventure, the meetings, the joy, the moral lesson are parts from a splendid show about childhood and fundamental details of life. more than an adaptation, a delight, despite not high level special effects. because Alice is the child who grow-up, because the solutions for different characters are interesting, because Red Queen and White Queen are source of special moments. a film for inside children. that is the difference by other adaptations. and the secret for admire and enjoy by this seductive film.

Producer Allen was either the most amiable man in Hollywood or else paid the best salaries or else had major blackmail material on half the town in order to enable him to amass the incredible all-star casts that he put together in the 70's and early 80's. Here, taking a break from the fully exhausted disaster genre for which he was famous, he made this two-part telefilm based on the books of Lewis Carroll. Gregory plays a petulant little girl who dreams her way into the wacky and confounding world known as Wonderland, first through a rabbit hole and later through a mirror. While there, all the time striving to get home, she comes upon all manner of creature and a variety of royalty (based on cards and chess pieces) who make life difficult and/or confusing for her. Part one is the more familiar tale (immortalized on film many other times, but perhaps most notably in an animated Disney version) while part two has more characters and is darker in tone (thanks mostly to a dragon called The Jabberwock which, while creaky and obviously phony to sophisticated older viewers, may be quite terrifying to youngsters!) Though all mini-series of the era featured huge casts of name actors, Allen really outdid himself here with a roster of performers who range from legendary to popular to unjustly notable. Sadly, the nature of the material and the set up of this project meant that the majority of them would not be given a great deal to do. Winters, for example, barely appears at all and has no lines to speak of. O'Connor is basically the same, which is a heinous waste of talent. Meadows, however, whose husband (Steve) Allen wrote the songs for this, has a far more substantial role. While it's fun to play "Spot the Star" and see them all decked out in their often outrageous clothing and make-up, most of the time the film falls flat and the guest stars don't really shine so much as show up. Standouts in the production include Jillian and Channing who, fortunately, have very significant roles in the second half and who perform with gusto. Newley seems quite right for his blustery and veddy British character as well. It's nice to see Davis still going at it as well. Bridges injects some heart into his role. It doesn't get much campier than Lawrence and Gorme as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee! Apart from the script simply devoting more time to some really unmemorable songs (as compared to the unforgettable ditties "I'm Late" and "The Unbirthday Song" from the animated version) than to the acting scenes, the primary liability is Gregory. The entire project hinges on having just the right person as Alice and this little girl is agonizing. She's a pretty decent singer and quite a capable little dancer, but her acting is atrocious and her whiny, sing-song speaking voice is like daggers to the ear. Besides this, she's charmless when she should be ingratiating and she's snotty when she ought to be sympathetic. She's just not a likable persona in this role. The script sets her up for failure by having her constantly recap to herself everything that is transpiring and this gets old very fast. The costumes for this production are fairly extravagant, as is the make-up, but the sets are almost all Astroturf and silk flowers with a fake sky backdrop. Incidentally, this film reunites at least five cast-mates from "The Poseidon Adventure" and three from "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure", though most of them do not interact with one another. It's colorful and worth a look, especially for star-gazers, but a lot of it is tiresome and uninspired.

I saw this film when it first debuted on television. I have remembered it fondly over the years and was quite ecstatic to find it on DVD recently. I enjoy it even more now as an adult because I can pick up on the subtle messages of the film. Also, I can appreciate the all-star cast more, now that I am more familiar with them. Seeing such great actors like Sid Caesar, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Red Buttons is such a treat. The young actress who plays Alice is such a joy to watch. She often reminds me of Shirley Temple. I highly recommend this film for families and the young at heart. It is a classic film in every sense of the word.