It's a shame you never even hear of this movie in the US, because it really deserves to be a Christmas classic.
By luck I happened to see it on PBS one Christmas Eve 20 odd years ago when my family went to midnight church services and Santa asked me to stay home and assemble my daughter's first bicycle. I tried to explain the movie to folks the next day, but no one had seen it and they just assumed I'd been drinking too much eggnog. (Well, of course I had, but that's not the point.)
I watched the TV listings for it in vain every year, until about 4 years ago when I finally wised up and bought a copy here on Amazon. (It was the "killer app" that got me to use Amazon in the first place). I had a little trepidation when the package came, wondering if it had built it up in my memory too much over the years and whether anyone else would enjoy it as much as I did. I needn't have worried. Watching it together every year immediately became a Christmas "tradition," and we quote lines from it year round.
Anyone who hasn't seen it is in for a treat. Just go ye, get a copy (do make sure it is compatable with an American (or UK, as applicable) DVD player) and make ye merry!
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Reviews with images
A Great Holiday Comedy-----But The DVD Sucks!
DO NOT BUY!! (There is an alternative...)(The Bad) I had worn out my old VHS edition of this delightful British Christmas comedy. So I was excited on receiving this "digitally re-mastered/enhanced audio" DVD to play. DISAPPOINTED!!This video is fuzzy and grainy as if it was done in 1950's kinescope. The audio track is deplorable by any reasonable standard. Since the dialog is sometimes hard to discern, many of the joke lines are lost and the music track sounds worse than my old AM radio.Even the cover was slapped together by persons who apparently did not bother to see the show. The house depicted on the front does not exist in the story. The pictures of "Bernard"- Alan Cumming and "The Genie"-Lenny Henry, looks they were merely captured off-screen the video. And where is the depiction of Rowan Atkinson of Black Adder and Mr. Bean fame? There is a photo of a cheap brass oil lamp, not the elegant one in the movie. In short, the production quality is practically nonexistent.(The Good)I discovered a link to purchase the show at a far better price and quality*. I went to- [...]. The cost was only £2.49 ($4.10 USD). I charged it thru PayPal and it easily downloaded to my hard drive, then burned my own DVD and voila!Now I can enjoy this masterpiece year after year with my family and friends. I hope you will as well.Merry Christmas!
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Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2010
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Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2012
(The Bad)
I had worn out my old VHS edition of this delightful British Christmas comedy. So I was excited on receiving this "digitally re-mastered/enhanced audio" DVD to play.
DISAPPOINTED!!
This video is fuzzy and grainy as if it was done in 1950's kinescope. The audio track is deplorable by any reasonable standard. Since the dialog is sometimes hard to discern, many of the joke lines are lost and the music track sounds worse than my old AM radio.
Even the cover was slapped together by persons who apparently did not bother to see the show. The house depicted on the front does not exist in the story. The pictures of "Bernard"- Alan Cumming and "The Genie"-Lenny Henry, looks they were merely captured off-screen the video. And where is the depiction of Rowan Atkinson of Black Adder and Mr. Bean fame? There is a photo of a cheap brass oil lamp, not the elegant one in the movie. In short, the production quality is practically nonexistent.
(The Good)
I discovered a link to purchase the show at a far better price and quality*. I went to- [...]. The cost was only £2.49 ($4.10 USD). I charged it thru PayPal and it easily downloaded to my hard drive, then burned my own DVD and voila!
Now I can enjoy this masterpiece year after year with my family and friends. I hope you will as well.
Merry Christmas!
A Great Holiday Comedy-----But The DVD Sucks!
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2012
DO NOT BUY!! (There is an alternative...)Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2012
(The Bad)
I had worn out my old VHS edition of this delightful British Christmas comedy. So I was excited on receiving this "digitally re-mastered/enhanced audio" DVD to play.
DISAPPOINTED!!
This video is fuzzy and grainy as if it was done in 1950's kinescope. The audio track is deplorable by any reasonable standard. Since the dialog is sometimes hard to discern, many of the joke lines are lost and the music track sounds worse than my old AM radio.
Even the cover was slapped together by persons who apparently did not bother to see the show. The house depicted on the front does not exist in the story. The pictures of "Bernard"- Alan Cumming and "The Genie"-Lenny Henry, looks they were merely captured off-screen the video. And where is the depiction of Rowan Atkinson of Black Adder and Mr. Bean fame? There is a photo of a cheap brass oil lamp, not the elegant one in the movie. In short, the production quality is practically nonexistent.
(The Good)
I discovered a link to purchase the show at a far better price and quality*. I went to- [...]. The cost was only £2.49 ($4.10 USD). I charged it thru PayPal and it easily downloaded to my hard drive, then burned my own DVD and voila!
Now I can enjoy this masterpiece year after year with my family and friends. I hope you will as well.
Merry Christmas!
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2004
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2021
Top reviews from other countries
"mart_man17"
It's really cold and tastes completely of strawberries!!!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 13, 2004LouiseK
A classic and hilarious christmas film
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2006