VHS : The Wind in the Willows [1996]

Rating: - A TRAVESTY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You will either love or hate this live action movie version of Kenneth Grahame's charming book.Personally i disliked it immensely,it captured known of the warmth & cameraderie of the book,and the main characters to me were completely miscast.

Out of the many versions of this enchanting story i have seen this is probably the worst by far.For an accurate adaptation of this brilliant book i would thoroughly recommend without hesitation "Cosgrove/Hall's" animated film of the story which is a true classic,featuring the vocal talents of David Jason, Sir Michael Horden & Ian Carmichael.

If ever i had the misfortune to be given Terry Jones's version as a present it would be placed straight into a charity collection bag 'unopened' or better still the dustbin!

If it had been possible to give this film no stars i would have gleefully done so!

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Rating: - A classic which shouldn't be forgotten
This is a so-called kid's movie that's way too good just for kids. It's based on the book The Wind in the Willows. Mr. Toad (Terry Jones) of Toad Hall loves fast cars, crazy inventions, and all the latest fads. He crashes his cars regularly and is spending more money that he has on his enthusiasms. And it seems the Chief Weasel (Antony Sher) and his cronies have been buying up the land Mr. Toad has had to sell. They're going to tear down Toad Hall and build a huge dog food factory in its place. The Chief Weasel plans that the first ingredients to be processed will be Toad and his friends, the meek but brave Mole (Steve Coogan), the picnic-loving, loyal Rat (Eric Idle), and the grumpy, advice-giving Badger (Nicol Williamson). The movie details with great humor their adventures to defeat the Chief Weasel and save Toad Hall.

What makes this movie so special is the loving care Jones took establishing the look of the place and the fullness of the characters. If you pay attention, you'll see some gentle takes on greed, the legal system (John Cleese is a defence attorney who makes an impassioned case in court that his client should receive the maximum sentence), 1984, the protection of our environment, taking responsibility for our actions, and friendship. And the movie is not ponderous or preachy at all. It's great fun.

Disney, which had U.S. rights to the film, did nothing with it. When they finally put it in U. S. theaters, after insisting the name be changed from The Wind in the Willows to the name of one of their park rides, they spent almost no marketing money on promotion. Not suprisingly, the movie tanked faster than Mr. Toad's tongue catching a fly.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride should be considered a classic. Little kids would probably like the characters, the color and the action, but my target audience would start with slightly alienated and smart teenagers. They'll get it. And then move on to those adults who like adult things.

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Rating: - Minor warning, incorrect advertising
I live in the US, and ordered this version from Amazon UK because the PAL Region 2 version was advertised here as anamorphic widescreen (I have an all region DVD player with a HD TV). It is NOT anamorphic, just letterboxed widescreen, thus the picture quality is compromised on a HD TV. It is a good quality transfer to DVD, but I was disappointed as I expected much better.

Great movie, great story, just incorrectly advertised on this website.

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Rating: - The best Wind in the Willows yet
We have three different versions of this classic story. We read the book to our children first and then showed them the film. The script is witty, intelligent and reflects the book beautifully. The story is true to the book up to a point but there are some lovely Jonesian touches which are so funny and well done that you can completely forgive him altering part of the story. "Is it really such a nasty world?" "Oh yes,a very nasty world!" has become a family catch phrase. My husband would like one of the Weasels' coats.

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Rating: - Wind in the Willows - delightful film
I found the film very entertaining for both adults and children. There are lots of clever and interesting things to observe and it's quite delightful. The acting is superb and it's great to see the Wind in the Willows acted by real actors. There are so many famous faces in this film - all excellent comedians - and many from Monty Python days. What a pity it didn't actually go on general release to cinemas - a treat the general public missed.