Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

venkman00 It is terrible, but I love this movie. Nothing really makes sense and you really have to stretch your suspension of disbelief. Nice to see a young Christian Bale on screen with Christopher Lee.Boy inexplicably is carried to the Land of Faraway by a giant floating head, meets his "missing" father and finds out he is royalty.He immediately takes it upon himself, like within a day, to defeat the local bad guy. With no training whatsoever and a huge sense of self importance, he and his best friend (who has a full bed in the middle of a garden for some reason) take off. And his dad allows it, for some reason.Somehow, he manages to survive this ordeal and best a knight who has YEARS of experience (people upset that Rey could hold her own against Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens should use this film to gain some perspective)Boy goes home a hero and adored by all. I think he does this all within two days of arriving in the land of faraway. Believe it or not, I do adore this film. Grew up with it. It has more logic holes than a slice of swiss cheese, but its fun.

TheLittleSongbird The 80s saw a decade of some really good fantasy films, films like NeverEnding Story, Princess Bride, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and Legend. Mio in the Land of Faraway is not one of the great fantasy films from a personal standpoint(there are some great ones from other decades too), however it does deserve better recognition than it does. The script can get stilted and childish, not all the special effects are great(for example the floating head is a memorable image, but you need to decide for yourself whether it's for the right reasons) and Timothy Bottoms doesn't have that much to do. It is a very beautiful-looking film though, the photography is simple but sweeping, the costumes are appropriate and there are some special effects that are quite good. But visually it is the lighting and sets that are the real revelations. The lighting is especially good in the darker moments, with the firelight and shadows as said already there is a real sense of creepiness, and the sets are so wondrously constructed with a striking contrast of lush and elegant for Faraway, dark and eerie for the dark moments and drab for Earth. Along with the visuals, the other big standout was the music, a score that is so beautifully soothing on the ears but it also haunts the mind, as any score for a good vs. evil film should do. The story sets itself up carefully and has all the right elements for fantasy and a tale of good vs. evil. There is the bullying angle that is easy to identify with, and the film is successful in drawing the inner child within you into the world that the characters inhabit. From an archetypal view, the characters are familiar to us but they are still engaging enough. The acting is fine, Nick Pickard and particularly Christian Bale are excellent in the lead roles and while one might wish that Christopher Lee were introduced into the film earlier, considering an actor of his calibre, he is an appropriately menacing villain of the piece. To conclude, very nice film, not without areas of improvement but should be better known. Once you look past the flaws and see the many merits there are, and judge the film on its own terms rather than a book vs. film comparison it might help to enjoy it more(mind you, there is emphasis on might to save the risk of ignorance), while it does help you don't necessarily have to be somebody who grew up perceiving it as a lifelong childhood favourite to like Mio in the Land of Faraway. 8/10 Bethany Cox

stouclaw The floating head is the funniest thing I've ever seen, also how the kid holds from the beard and then flies to far away in the floating head... the cheap steroids are amazing, i definitely recommend this part if you want to laugh really really hard, if you smoke weed, you must watch this with all your friends and have an amazing time. The floating head is the funniest thing I've ever seen, also how the kid holds from the beard and then flies to far away in the floating head... the cheap steroids are amazing, i definitely recommend this part if you want to laugh really really hard, if you smoke weed, you must watch this with all your friends and have an amazing time.

Mark Gonzales I was trying to compose a list of the ten worst films ever for my school newspaper. My list was composed of the usual films (i.e. Battle Field Earth, etc.). But it was when my friend gave me this film that I was forced to rethink my existance. This film is terrible. Never in my life have I ever heard such terrible dialogue as "Who did this...no...don't tell me. I know. I have known all along." This trite and painful story is not even worthy of the boys from MST3K! Avoid this film at all costs! So to answer the question, it was at number three.