BS: New Film ;The Water Horse'

Subject: RE: BS: New Film ;The Water Horse'
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 04:46 PM

Not sure where Liz saw the film but it came out here in the US last year and I recently saw it with the grandchildren a the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, NY.   

It is such a great and heartwarming film---and how they managed to make the monster appear so life-like (and the boy riding him) is beyond me.

By the way---what a great museum. If you are in the NY area it is worth the visit---great films, great film artifacts, and also the chance to see how the "green screen " works and also do voice overs on some famous films

Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: New Film ;The Water Horse'
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 05:59 PM

It is a CGI - Computer Generated Image - from the Weta Workshops in New Zealand. It's a damned good one too.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: New Film ;The Water Horse'
From: Don Firth
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 02:12 PM

Looks good! The critter looks very real on the trailer. Gotta be computer-generated (unless someone managed to work a surreptitious deal with Nessie and one of her offspring), but it sure doesn't look like it.

Definitely goes on our NetFlix list for when it's released on DVD.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: New Film ;The Water Horse'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 01:44 PM

An excellent set on DVD will be issued soon and can be pre-ordered. It will have extra features, about Nessie, making of the film, etc. About $20.

It was released for the Christmas season in Canada (U. S. also?), and in UK early this month.

Subject: RE: BS: New Film ;The Water Horse'
From: open mike
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 01:26 PM

written in 1954...
http://www.amazon.com/Water-Horse-Dick-King-Smith/dp/0517800276

Subject: BS: New Film ;The Water Horse'
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 07:12 AM

Limpit and I went to see 'The Water Horse' yesterday... and it's fab!

It's based on a book by Dick King-Smith (writer of what became 'Babe') and based in Scotland during WWII. A lonely boy whose father is away at sea finds a strange shaped rock on the shore. He takes it home, tries to clean it up and finds it's an egg. The egg hatches into a really cute little creature with a dragonish head, flippers for limbs and a forked fish tail - the water horse. The new handyman, invalided out of the war helps the boy and his sister hide the water horse until it becomes too big, whereupon they release it into the nearest large body of water. This is being patrolled for U-boats by an artillery batallion who are billeted in the house and grounds.

The Water Horse is beautifully made and an enchanting story. The 'monster' is totally believable (not like those lightweight, flat-looking things on the ITV programme 'Primeval'), the relationships formed are sweet and endearing and the end title music is by the Chieftans/Sinead O'Connor - worth listening to on it's own.

I'd recommend it to anyone who has children aged 8-12yrs, or just likes folk stories. It's another testament to just how good and sympathetic an author Mr King-Smith is, he's not afraid to deal with issues that others might fight shy of and treats them in a sympathetic and enlightening way. I think I may be off to the bookshop later to see if the original book is available.

LTS