Product Description

Mystical, magical and completely enchanting, this epic tale in the tradition of the Harry Potter series brings the beloved characters of prize-winning novelist Cornelia Funke to dazzling life. After their mother dies, two boys flee their mean aunt and head for Venice, Italy, where they meet Scipio, the mysterious "Thief Lord." Along with a small band of abandoned kids who call an old movie theater home, the boys join Scipio's world of robbing the rich to support themselves. Soon, they win the heart of the detective hired to track them, and begin an adventure that leads them to an old merry-go-round believed to have special powers. Featuring Vanessa Redgrave and a captivating supporting cast, The Thief Lord will steal your heart from beginning to end.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6457 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2006-03-14
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 98 minutes

Amazon.com
The Thief Lord is a blend of Dickensian adventure and Harry Potter magic, an exciting adaptation of a popular novel by Cornelia Funke. A pair of orphaned and separated brothers, Prosper (Aaron Johnson) and Bo (Jasper Harris), escape their dreary homes in England and flee to Venice, Italy. On their first, frightening night there, they find sanctuary with the Thief Lord (Rollo Weeks), a masked, 16-year-old boy who gives them, along with a gaggle of other orphans, shelter in a shuttered movie theater. Living on the spoils of the Thief Lord's nightly raids of the rich, the kids become a happy, self-sufficient family that only has to stay out of the clutches of police and a nosy private detective (Jim Carter). But things change when a strange, elderly pair ask the kids to steal a strange object--a hunk of wood carved into the shape of a wing--for a lot of cash. What follows is completely unexpected, wildly imaginative, mysterious, and a lot of fun. The story has a way of sticking with one long after the film is over. With a cameo by Vanessa Redgrave, and loads of gorgeous exteriors of sunny Venice. Directed by Richard Claus, producer of The Little Vampire. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

An Unsung Gem

Most films released with such little promotion are horrible, but "The Thief Lord" is actually quite good. One of its finest selling points is that it contains none of the gross adult humor that is so popular in modern children's movies. "The Thief Lord" is based on the German children's book with the same name by Cornelia Funke. Although the same complaint about adaptations applies: The movie is almost never as good as the book, this should not keep anyone from enjoying the film.

There are a few minor changes to the story mostly to make it better suited to the screen, but the movie follows the book fairly closely, and the plot moves a lot quicker than its literary counterpart. Orphans Prosper and his younger brother Bo run away to Venice, the city from their mother's fairy tales, because their aunt wants to separate them. Upon arriving in Venice, the boys come under the protection of an older boy known as the Thief Lord who shelters a group of homeless street kids. However, their aunt isn't about to give up that easily, and a detective is soon on hot Prosper's and Bo's trail. When the Thief Lord agrees to perform a special theft for a mysterious count, the children, the detective, a photographer, and a crooked antiques dealer are all drawn into something much larger than any of them could have guessed.

The children are well cast. The boys playing Prosper and Bo are the cutest kids since the boys picked to play Ron Weasley in the first Harry Potter movie and Colin Creevey in the second, and Riccio looks like a young Johnny Rotten right down to the teeth. The film itself is well shot. It is obvious that this was a low budget film when it comes to the special effects, but things don't always have to look like they cost millions of dollars. The makeup and effects could have been better for Scipio's transformation though. That's the only real disappointment.

Overall, this movie is better than much of what is out there.

Wonderful For The Whole Family
Up until the day that I saw "The Thief Lord" on the DVD shelf, I was entirely unfamiliar with it and the book it's based on. It was a wonderful surprise. It follows the lives of two young boys named Prosper and Boniface who trek off to Venice in order to remain together after losing their mother. She always told them how magical Venice was, and their expectations were high. Instead, they are left to fend for themselves on the street until they meet the Thief Lord. He's sort of a cross between Robin Hood and Peter Pan, though his intentions aren't to stay young forever.

The Thief Lord houses a small band of orphans in an old theater, and Prosper and Bo join them. They gain the trust of the group when Prosper haggles with a local antiques dealer and garners a large sum of money for the group. As the story rolls along, Bo and Prosper's relatives hire a private eye to seek them out. They also run into a nice photographer who ends up helping them quite a bit during their adventures. Eventually, the duo uncover some wild information about the Thief Lord, hunt for a magical wing, and help there fellow orphans along the way. It's all done in a wonderful and child-like fashion. The magic of Venice is slowly revealed and results in quite a grand climax. The antiques dealer adds a nice bit of comic relief, especially near the end of the film.

In closing, give "The Thief Lord" a chance. It doesn't have the same budget as many other modern "family friendly" films, but it is a much better film overall. It's getting a lot of comparison to the "Harry Potter" flicks, but I believe that it stands apart from that film and really doesn't have much in common with it other than the English accents. I highly recommend it, especially if you have children, but I even recommend it to adults who simply enjoy magical tales.

Geepers.
To tell you the truth, this is probably the best movie I've seen all year, and probably will be with in the top two or three. Plus, it's a movie the whole family can enjoy, since kids of all ages can watch it.

I rented this movie from blockbuster, and now I'm bugging my mother to buy me it so I can watch it over, and over, and over, and never have to return it.

Alright, so here's the deal, the movie's plot was based on 'The Thief Lord' a book that was written by Cornella Funke. As many say, the book is better then the movie. But darn, did this get close.

Both the movie and the book were full of action, adventure, secrets, and mysteries that had to be uncovered as the plot progressed.

Plot: Prosper (played by Aaron Johnson), age 15 , and his little brother Bo (played by Jasper Harris), age six and a quarter, ran away to Venice after their mother died to escape their aunt and uncle who weren't exactly the nicist people in the world. Once they step foot into Venice, misery seems to follow them everywhere. First off, they have little food and only a few cents left in money, and then Bo comes down with a cough, plus they have no shelter. But all of that changed when Scipio (Played by Rollo Weeks.), also known as the Thief Lord.
Sorry, I can't tell you anymore of the plot, ^_~ No need for me to spoil it for you.

Actors/Actresses: They casted the cast very well, Bo was adorable and did look like a little angel, while both Scipio and Prosper were very cute, while the dective did seem to always change faces with his numerous fake-hair peices, then Hornet and the others were equally good at their ability to act.

Music: The music was wonderful, it really did bring the movie to life. I really did enjoy the ending song, it really did fit the movie well.

Lighting: Wonderfully done, well thought out, and well planned. Of course, the majority of the movie took place at night, which is (I think) hard to do since it's usually pitch black, but even then you could still see the actor's and actress's faces with out putting a blinding spot light on them.

Animation/Special Affects: I think for the budget that this movie had, they did very well. Clearly, this wasn't like the Harry Potter movies where they had alot of cash to film it, but still it was well done.

Pros:
Good actors/actresses
Good animation for the budget
Intense plot that kept you wondering what would happen next.
Music was wonderful
The actors/actresses carried their roles well.
Kept close to the books original plot.

Cons:
Never going to be a second one. :(
I wish they had it a little bit longer to fit in a few mor thigns, but not everything can happen.

Over all: I give it five stars. ^_~

Oh, one last thing, I suggest that you rent the movie before you actually buy it maybe. For some people who like alot of violence, this movie doesn't have to much of it. But, if you enjoyed the book go ahead and get it, you won't be disappointed.

Hope you found this review helpful! ^_^
-De