Product Description

From the beloved best-selling series of books comes an extraordinary fantasy adventure revealing the unseen world that exists all around us. From the moment the Grace family moves into a secluded old house peculiar things start to happen. Unable to explain the accidents and strange disappearances the Grace children Jared Simon and Mallory start to investigate and find the unbelievable truth of the Spiderwick Estate and the amazing creatures that inhabit it.System Requirements:Running Time: 101 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: PG UPC: 097361326047 Manufacturer No: 132604

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3911 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT PICTURES
• Released on: 2008-06-24
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 101 minutes

Amazon.com
A very good adaptation of the popular series of books by Tony DiTerllizi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles is one of the few family films in recent years to seamlessly integrate magical elements with a potent drama that will strike a chord with many kids. An exceptionally talented Freddie Highmore (August Rush) plays twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, caught up in a sad shock from their parents' divorce and coping with a decision by their mother (Mary-Louise Parker) to uproot the boys and their sister, Mallory (Sarah Bolger), from New York City to a small town. There, the broken family moves into a spooky old mansion passed on to them by the kids' great-aunt, Lucinda (Joan Plowright), who is spending her twilight years in managed care and whose scientist father, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), disappeared some 80 years ago. Jared, angry, defiant, and determined to live with the father who seems to have abandoned him, investigates strange happenings and discovers Arthur's secret notations on fairies, ogres, and other mythical creatures that live both in and outside the house. Having no idea where his curiosity is leading, Jared soon finds that he and his family are under siege from goblins and a powerful ogre (Nick Nolte) who wants Arthur's notebook. Suddenly, the boy who is a lightning rod for a troubled family becomes a resourceful warrior intent on saving his loved ones from powerful forces. The Spiderwick Chronicles benefits enormously from a script (partially written by John Sayles) that treats, quite seriously, the emotional pain of its human characters and makes Jared's will to survive the very real engine of an otherwise fantastic story. It helps, too, that director Mark Waters, who brings a warm and knowing touch to outlandish material (Freaky Friday), has a way of making the spectacular elements of The Spiderwick Chronicles genuine enough to stir real excitement and suspense. This is one of the better film adaptations of best-selling fiction for kids in some years. --Tom Keogh

On the DVD
There are loads of extras on The Spiderwick Chronicles (Two-Disc Field Guide Edition), beginning with a charming overview of the film's supernatural species conducted by director Mark Waters. Waters leads viewers through a primer describing such magical creatures as brownies, ogres, and fairies, taking the whole matter very seriously in the event anyone watching should ever encounter their like. "It's a Spiderwick World!" introduces Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, creators of the The Spiderwick Chronicles book series. The authors discuss the strange inspiration for the story: a letter they received from three siblings who claimed to have gone through exactly what the characters in Spiderwick endure. "Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide" is a text- and illustration-based list of creatures in the film, with lots of fascinating factoids. "Field Guild In-Movie Mode" allows a viewer to enjoy the benefit of a pop-up guide that appears at times during the film and lets a viewer click onto helpful information.

"Spiderwick: Meet the Clan!" is an introduction to the film's cast, with a special emphasis on young star Freddie Highmore's precocious talent, a British child playing twin American brothers with unique speech patterns. "Making Spiderwick!" is a behind-the-scenes documentary on production of the film, focusing on production design, location, cinematography, and so on. Among the revelations is that everyone involved was looking for a place to film that could evoke a horror movie yet not be so scary as to turn off youngsters. "The Magic of Spiderwick" is a remarkable tour of the special-effects process that made this film work so well. Waters says his directing chores continued all the way through post-production, when he had to switch from directing actors to directing animators, often acting out the defining behaviors of the various mythic characters. "A Final Word of Advice!" brings Waters back in front of the camera, reminding us all how to deal with hobgoblins and other spooks (keep a lot of honey, crackers and red tomato sauce around). Finally, "Deleted Scenes" includes some material that didn't make the feature's final cut, but which is shown in context with scenes that were on screen. The result is a more satisfying and enriching experience of deleted scenes than is usually found on DVD special features. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

The Spiderwick Chronicles
I enjoyed the movie VERY much...I'm a 70 year old Harry Potter fan, and this film was not quite as complicated as all the Potter stories, but it was vertainly entertaining. I'm glad I purchased it.

"A Gift Only A Hobgoblin Can Bestow"
The '08 film `The Spiderwick Chronicles' is an exciting, exhilarating, enchanting and at times surprisingly eerie tale that absolutely bowled me over! There's nothing I enjoy more than a tale dealing with the denizens of the "Secret Commonweath" consisting of the elves, fairies, sylphs, goblins, trolls and the rest of the mythic creatures that move unseen behind every flower and stone, or on occasion a dusty book in the library for that matter.

There's not much in this movie that one could honestly point to as a totally original idea. Upon viewing `The Spiderwick Chronicles' one will immediately recognize the numerous bits and pieces of storyline borrowed from a rather broad spectrum of other well-known fantasy and horror films.

On the lighter side of the tale we see glimpses from such beloved family films as; `The Neverending Story' from '84, `Labyrinth from '86 and of course the immensely successful `Harry Potter' series.

However the plot of `The Spiderwick Chronicles' deals predominantly with the darker aspects of the Fairy Realm and this unexpected dark side of the film is what ultimately fascinates and beguiles its audience. The more children friendly films mentioned above are counterbalanced with cinematic aspects found in some surprisingly frightening adult films. You'll find overt correlations with such movies as; the legendary cult classic `Night of the Living Dead' from `68` and the '87 teen favorite `The Lost Boys'.

However the greatest source of inspiration for this storyline surely must have been an obscure little film from '03 titled `Inhabited'. In fact there are simply too many similarities for it to be a nothing more than a coincidence.

Having said all this let me also say that I don't share these similarities to dissuade you from viewing this film. I share it as an observation and nothing more. Afterall there's nothing new under the sun that hasn't been done before so the goal is to take what's already there and do it better and that's just what `The Spiderwick Chronicles' accomplishes. The film grabbed my rapt attention from the beginning and never let up. There's absolutely nothing I didn't enjoy about this film which is sure to become a classic in the years ahead.

Message to Parents: If you have small children who want to watch this please take the time to view it with them. The goblins and troll will appear quite frigntening to a young audience so be forewarned.

Postscript: Also remember to keep plenty of honey on hand and don't forget tomato sauce kills goblins.

Field Guide Edition
The field guide version of this film is a creative way to enhance the movie and gives it more depth. It should also encourage all to read the books. Spiderwick is clearly inspired by legendary field guide authors like John James Audubon, and Roger Tory Peterson. And should encourage all amateur naturalists to explore the outdoors around their home. As well, hone in on their creative skills. Recommended for single adults!

Creativity > 5 stars
Plot > 4 stars