Young Sherlock - The Mystery of the Manor House

Customer Reviews:

Amateurish and laughable.......2007-04-13

My family and I are huge Sherlock Holmes fans, so we rented this set to see if there was anything else out there besides Jeremy Brett's interpretation (breathtaking!), Basil Rathbone (not so good) and Peter Cushing (wish he had done more!). Bottom line--this set is a terrible disappointment.

The production has the look of a stage play. The story line is stiff and stilted, Sherlock's disguises are downright silly looking, and the acting itself seems more geared for a melodrama than a serious mystery. In some scenes, we marveled at the stupidity of the "bad guys" and laughed at the heavy clumping sounds as Sherlock and his doctor friend "sneak" around inside the manor house looking for clues. My daughter collapses into fits of laughter when we remember one particularly intense moment when Sherlock's friend says, "My God, the Queen!" It was actually anything but intense and mysterious--more comedic and amateurish, not put too fine a point on it. There is actually very little mystery about this story, but we watched it to the bitter end, nevertheless. Certainly, the genius of Sherlock Holmes is never revealed in this DVD.

I recommend the miniseries, "The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes", including "The Murder Rooms" for those who want more insight into Sherlock Holmes with a believable and engaging story line. Even if you're a Basil Rathbone fan, which I'm not, you'll be happier if you just leave "Young Sherlock" alone.

It's okay to rent, but I would not purchase it........2004-10-31

I rented this set of DVDs. It was okay. I viewed it mainly to see Christopher Villiers who played young Jasper Moran. Since I am a Sherlock Holmes fan I had to at least rent this to satisfy my curiosity. Now I have.

If you're a fan of Christopher Villiers then you might want to rent it just to get plenty of CV eye-candy. He is very easy on the eyes: a beautiful man in period costume of the Victorian age. I first saw Christopher Villiers in the 1982 made-for-TV movie "The Scarlet Pimpernel" where he played Lord Anthony Dewhurst. He's a fine actor.

Not at all what you'd expect.......2003-09-02

My younger cousins were enthralled with the Steven Spielberg-produced "Young Sherlock Holmes" movie from the mid-'80s. They kept wanting to see more Sherlock (during his younger years in particular) so naturally I was happy to find this mini-series that had been long out of print. With good reason, it seems. This production is rumored to have inspired the aforementioned Spielberg flick. The young actor who plays Sherlock isn't the same as the one who appeared on the big screen, but he isn't bad at all, acting wise. His appearance is rather odd, however, and doesn't exactly fit the bill--except for his appropriately lean build. Unfortunately, there is no junior Watson, but a prototype in an older friend whom Sherlock calls "John". Holmes's future landlady makes an appearance, though she is not called Mrs. Hudson yet. The plot itself revolves around a sinister plan to replace Queen Victoria with a look-alike; this sounds more interesting than it plays out. If the pace weren't so funeral, I don't see why this wouldn't be a more well-known effort. Curiously, this plot idea is echoed somewhat in Disney's "The Great Mouse Detective", but that version makes it much more entertaining.

Worst EVER.......2003-07-29

There is one quote from the movie that summarizes this entire production. It comes from chapter 9 and is a quote from Guy Henry, who plays S. Holmes (not too badly, if you leave out the sword play), "The dullest of my entire life." Imagine if you will all of those truly aweful high school drama performances you have ever seen. This is worse. A barrel of bad acting or overacting. Truly the worst DVD that I have ever seen. Avoid on penalty of being bored to death.

This youngster cannot be the child who turned into Holmes!.......2003-07-04

I was thoroughly dissappointed in this set. The plots were limp and dissapointing. This will be the first DVD that I will resell. I wish someone had steered me away from this one.

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