The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns Funny Moments
Charming M4TV Faerie Tale.
Although this does begin slowly, it picks up nicely and proceeds at a fair pace.
This is basically set as a commentary on the idiocy of war, having set the Leprechauns against the Faeries over nothing more consequential than race. Although forbidden by the Grand Banshee (Whoopie Golodberg), the fighting continues, as the Troopoing Faeries are the "natural enemies" of the Solitary Faeries. They have no pause to battle one another, as Fae Folk cannot die. Having no consequence to war, war seems a trivial thing to these folks. It is discussed with great dramatics, for to these wee ones, it is but a game of acting and playing, regardless of the caustic cause of the war. Once war is taken seriously, they still engage one another to a surprising effect, via the Grand Banshee, who is attempting to teach them to value their lives via reward and punishment.
Too bad humans do not learn from such drastic consequences.
Actually, this was quite enjoyable; featuring some great performances, an interesting story, and decent execution. The story is fashioned after a Romeo and Juliet setting, with good contrast between the two opposing sides, and a clearly defined relationship between the involved couple. Additionally, there is a simultaneous romance involving the humans Jack (Randy Quaid) and Kathleen (Orla Brady).
Endearing characters, enchanting story with solid morals, and magical execution make this a near-classic.
If you like this, you should try Disney's "Darby O'Gill and the Little People," "FairyTale, A True Story," or "Legend: The Ultimate Edition."
This rates an 8.4/10 from...
the Fiend :.
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A nice story of Leprechauns and Fairies
A nice story of Leprechauns and Fairies. It stars Randy Quaid in probably his most subtle role to date, which is fitting and appreciated. Colm Meaney is excellent as the leprechaun, Seamus Muldoon. This movie falls a little short of being a classic in the fantasy genre, but it's a decent enough tale for the St. Patrick's Day season. It was made for television, so it lacks a little of the bigger production but the costumes are good and the special effects aren't bad. Probably the biggest fault of this movie is it's running time at nearly 3 hours. It has a fair bit of romance thrown in along with the battles in the forest, Irish song & dance, and other bits of merriment. I think the wee ones might be more patient with this epic length movie, while older folks may grow a bit weary waiting for it to play out.
**1/2 (Out of 4)
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Enchanting
It is the old story of a boy and a girl in love who are forbidden to love each other because they come from two different worlds who hate each other. Yes, it's "Romeo and Juliet", it's "West Side Story" and I even would go so far to say that there'S a little bit Rose and Jack in it but never before has this story been told in such a charming way.
Here, it's a story within the story. An American businessman comes to Ireland in order to check the location and prepare everything for his American company who wants to build a golf territory in Western Ireland. At his second day of Arrival, the businessman by chance saves the life of a Leperchaun which means that the Leperchaun is devoted to him for the rest of his life. Through this incident the businessman gets to know another, magical parallel world that exists in the real human world. The parallel world has mainly two groups of human-like beings in it, the Leperchauns and the Fairys. The Leperchauns are lazy, always playing tricks on somebody and always in trouble. The Fairys on the other hand, are royal, prissy and always trying to make the world beautiful - they are responsible for the appearance of flowers and trees, e.g. for the perfect shape of the leaves and so on. Now, the son of the Leperchaun whose life the businessman saved, Mickey, falls for Jessica, a fairy and the daughter of the Fairy king. Of course this leads to trouble and you can guess how the story will go on, but it's still a pleasure to watch.
The movie is a feast of colours, nature and music, always with a bit magic in the air. Besides, the cast is brilliant. We've got Colm Meany as the Leperchaun dad, Daniel Betts as his charming son Mickey, Caroline Carver as Princess Jessica and - watch out - Whoopie Goldberg as the Big Banshee, a goddesslike creature observing all that goes on in the magical work. The movie might not be a big piece of cinema, but is really charming and a pleasure to see. It is crowned by a great music score and the title song "Fly away" performed by Emma Townsend.
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Good, but could have been better
Daigh 19 December 1999
The scenery was gorgeous and Colm Meaney was a hoot as Seamus Muldoon. I did greatly enjoy the Romeo and Juliet story between Princess Jessica, and Mickey. The fairy half of the story was probably the best. The graphics were fair to poor considering this was a Hallmark production and I was very disappointed with them. Too much sterotyping with the oafish brothers, and Jack's 'mission' could have been more original. The humor was fairly consistent throughout and that was a big plus.
All in all it was a decent piece, but could have been far better. C+ rather than an A+.
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This movie was VERY entertaining
So there weren't very many big name movie stars in it, but who cares? Zoe Wanamaker was great and so were quite a few others. If you have no imagination and enjoy stunting the growth of creative minds, you probably won't like this movie. The storyline did have some throwbacks to classic themes, but it was done in such a way that it wasn't tiresome. The scenery was beautiful and anyone that loves Ireland will enjoy seeing the blue skies and rolling green hills. Whomever designed the costumes for the characters must have had fun. The were very pretty and fit the personalities of the respective wearers. Anyone that enjoys a little magic will enjoy this movie.
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Cheestastic guilty pleasure!
Warning: Spoilers
Be prepared when you are watching this movie, that you need to check your expectations at the door. As other reviews have said, this movie is full of "borrowed" story lines but it is still a classic. If you don't care about the characters, the movie won't matter to you. At first I found it to be so full of clichés and cheesiness that I couldn't believe I was watching it. Then I realized I had been drawn in and had to see where the characters ended up. Have to admit, big crush on Mickey Muldoon. His storyline with Princess Jessica to me was the heart of the movie. I wasn't as interested in the Jack and Kathleen storyline because I did not find Jack all that appealing. My apologies to Randy Quaid, he wasn't all that charming or anything, I am not sure why Kathleen fell in love with him. Roger Daltrey was laughable and Whoopi Goldberg seemed out of place as an American Grand Banshee. As an American enamored with Irish culture, I did not enjoy the American presence in the film. So as goofy as this movie was, I couldn't turn it off and it stuck with me. Just don't have super high expectations!
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Magic Fun
No doubt, Shakespeare is still alive - even in the dawning century. But, undoubtedly, "Romeo & Juliet" has seldom been so much fun - maybe the Bard should have set the play in Eire to begin with, so it could turn out to be rather funny than tragic. I mean, the mini-series is a fun throughout, with all the actors seeming to have had a very good time off the set and performing in great spirit (pardon the pun) as well. All in all, to me, it's an extremely entertaining mixture of the Leprechaun Legend and contemporary humour - and even that some of the Special Effects tend to be a bit behind par doesn't hinder the joy. But what astonished me the most was that Randy Quaid could actually be charming and - believe it or not - good looking. I mean, I always knew, that Quaid was a great and versatile actor, though somewhat tending to be a ham ("Independence Day" for example). But most of his previous roles were anything but "ordinary" and definitely far from "Romantic Hero". So it's not only a surprise but also good to see, that Randy Quaid can now claim that he can play any role and convincingly so. Dennis has finally found his match. And, by the way, Brad, watch your step...
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A little bit John Denver and a little bit William Shakespeare
Hmmmm...it's interesting that no one has even mentioned West Side Story while reviewing this film. You know West Side Story don't you? The play, the movie. Critical acclaim, awards (1961 Best Picture!), still making lots of money? Why do I bring that up? Because it was adapted from Shakespeare...you know...Romeo and Juliet? Oh yeah, there's been some recent, and just plain silly updates of R & J of late so it's on our minds now, but back when West Side Story was new no one minded the update and no one should mind it now. Why not? It's a classic story (and not even that original when Shakespeare did it, the Chinese beat him by a few hundred years) told in almost every language and culture. Also, for the record this film steals from two other films (though not as well known). First of all a third of the film borrows from "Leapin' Leprechauns!" a low budget direct-to-video kid flick made in 1994 (apparently with some success since there was a sequel a year later called "Spellbreaker: Secret of the Leprechauns"). LL was about a man who visits Ireland to build an amusement park on the land of the little people. A second third of the film borrows VERY heavily from the John Denver made-for-TV 1986 Christmas movie "The Christmas Gift," a very good movie about an architect who visits a small village to build a new planned community but falls in love with a women in the village. His relationship with her takes a turn for the worse when she finds out his original intentions but doesn't care to listen that he is trying to stop it, you see he has fallen in love with the little village, the woman, and the magic of the place. For those who don't know, that's also the plot of "Leprechauns." So we have a lot of borrowed plots here intertwined with a little razzle dazzle and some charming performances all around. But if we start playing that "it's not original game" every movie made past 1945 would fall into that category! Just because YOU never heard of it doesn't mean it's original! Now we get "Leprechauns", which for my money is more entertaining than the Bards story if not as toe tapping as West Side Story. This of course is a family picture which means suitable for kids and for adults in touch with their inner kids. Is it fun, yes. Randy Quaid is terrific for the role of Jack Woods...first of all he's tall...very tall...he seems like a growing Alice inside the magical little Irish cottage he rents for a business trip. The human folk look up at him like he's John Wayne American (they do share the same initials). When pretty Kathleen Fitzpatrick (Orla Brady) needs someone to ride her horse and cart in a trotting race (no women allowed), Jack Woods steps right up and obliges "how hard can it be?". A previous encounter with him stumbling across her bathing nude in a stream has made him a definite last choice on her list but she does accept because there is no one else. Jack Woods, American, never having ridden before (or has he, he never really let's us know) ends up winning the race and an invitation to a second chance with Kathleen. Why do some people see Leprechauns and others don't? Well, it's explained, a little, but the point here is that Jack and Kathleen see them. The little folk are feuding with the fairies that live in a floating castle in the sky. This feud is getting The Grand Banshee (Whoopi Goldberg) upset because the little folk (both varieties) are suppose to be tending to mother nature. Without their attention, nature is in for a bad eternity. This is where Romeo and Juliet come into the story. You see, Mickey Muldoon, the son of the Leprechaun Muldoons (they live in Jack Woods cottage...Jack sees them remember?) likes Jessica, the princess of the fairies. And she likes him. When they run away this causes both sides to go to war. And so we have it, some pretty neat plots, very lively for it's 2 1/2 hour run (though spread out on TV for four hours it must have been a little much). If I have one complaint it's that the producers bowed to popularity (as opposed to tradition) and staged a Riverdance scene instead of an Irish jig during a Leprechaun celebration. Hey, I like Riverdance as much as anyone but it just didn't fit. On the plus side Orla Brady (Kathleen Fitzpatrick), Zoe Wanamaker (Mrs. Leprechaun Mary Muldoone), Caroline Carver (Princess "Juliet" Jessica), and Daniel Betts (Mickey "Romeo" Muldoon) are quite pleasing in their respective roles and new to most American audiences. Colm Meaney and Whoopi Goldberg, both from the world of Star Trek, add their star power to the mix. And Kieran Culkin is wasted in a role that seems to have been left on the cutting room floor. Pop the film into your VCR or DVD player, and have some fun...but most of all lighten up. If you want Romeo and Juliet check out Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 classic.
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Fairies and Leprechauns Maybe Not So Different After All
I thought this movie was excellent. The acting, casting, script, direction, special effects and music were flawless. A warm-hearted visit to the land of Irish folk tradition and mythology, with adventure, romance and surprises at every turn.
The script and screenplay were so well done that it is the best movie I have seen this year. The movie shows us just how good of a dramatic actor Randy Quaid is. Whoopi Goldberg is on-screen for maybe four minutes altogether, and cudos to the director John Henderson for understanding that her intensity works best in small doses. Colm Meaney was brilliant as Seamus (King of the Kerry Leprechauns).
Roger Daltry was surprisingly good and did an inspired job as a somewhat receding and inept King of the Fairies. His acting job was particularly good in view of the fact that most of his fans remember him as leader of the dramatic and brash group The Who^.
Daniel Betts (as Mickey Muldoon ) and Caroline Carver as Princess Jessica are one of the most attractive couples I have ever seen on screen. Zoe Wanamaker was great (as always) as Seamus' wife, Mary. Orla Brady plays a powerful woman, and it is heart-warming to see her fall in love with Jack (Randy Quaid).
I could have easily issued nine stars to The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns. If some of the second and third battle scenes had been substituted with or altered (softened) by scenes of Irish magical spells confounding both sides, I would have. Certainly, Mickey and Jessica could have taught Jack and Kathleen these rituals and joined forces with the humans to thwart the aggression.
The love scene underneath the barren tree was beautiful. My review would be incomplete if I did not mention the vivid characters played by Tony Curran (as Sean Divine) and Frank Finlay (as General Bulstrode).
Obviously, everybody from hair and wardrobe on up was at the top of their game in this movie. A film with a great amount of kindness and imagination that missed a beat only during the later battles.
Also, it has a great ending. I am grateful to all involved for this movie, and it is going into my permanent collection. (It's been over a year since I've added a film to it).
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Could have been much better
This TV film suffers from being too long, and from playing quite heavily on certain stereotypes of the Irish. Leaving out the 'happy Irish leprechauns doing the Riverdance' scenes would have improved things immensely. The special effects are pretty good for a TV film, and the actors are mostly good in their roles, especially Colm Meaney as Seamus Muldoon. It's unfortunate that Irish legends are so twisted in the story, especially where the Banshee has been turned into some kind of benevolent spirit, played by a very bored-looking Whoopi Goldberg.
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Wonderful, magic, beautiful, touching,...
This is a great miniseries. Far better than Noah's Ark. Randy Quaid is good, Roger Daltrey is funny as King Boric, Whoopi Goldberg is funny too and very good, but the best actor in it is Colm Meaney. His performance deserves an award. He's the best part of the show.
This story is full of clichés, but I don't care because it's also a lot more imaginative than Noah's Ark. There's this "Romeo and Juliet" story, very touching, and it is presented with humour. It seems that the actors had a great time together, they really seem to have fun. The dance parts are good, although I don't like Lord of the Dance or Riverdance, but now, in this movie, it is accurate and it makes me want to dance too.
I loved that movie, I had fun watching it, and if you were deceived by that poor Noah's Ark (although Jon Voight was good), don't worry, this Leprechaun legend will help you forget all your doubts that a tv miniseries can be good and entertaining.
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Very good
A classic Romeo and Juliet story with a twist/different ending. A very good movie. Colm Meaney and Stephen Moore are very funny. This movie was acted well and dialogue was punctual. Whoopie Goldberg was well cast as a leader of mythical beings, with an attitude. A find indeed.
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Absolutely Awful
I bought this movie after seeing the 6.2 rating and almost never post comments, but this movie was so unbelievably bad that I have to warn others.
Acting was average, but the story (almost 3 hours long) was easily 2 hours too long. The relationships between the human characters was unbelievably thin, and after the first 90 minutes they seemed to show someone kissing every two minutes. The plot thoroughly stunk - I won't spoil anything for you if you decide not to head my warning - but think at the end of the movie WHO REALLY CAUSED THE PROBLEM! It seemed to me it was just some over exuberant fun that had continued for generations that should have been left alone.
The only good thing I can say about the movie is it put my kids to sleep.
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What Would Shakespeare Think?
Warning: Spoilers
Hallmark brings us Romeo and Juliet if Romeo was a Leprechaun (solitary fairy) and Juliet was a Fairy (trooping fairy). But it's not quite as simple as that, and they make sure to throw in a bunch of differences so that maybe the audience won't recognize it from the beginning. The biggest difference is Randy Quaid- the human who comes to Ireland on his vacation (or is it? From the beginning doubt is thrown on how much of a vacation this actually is) and falls in love with the girl who believes he's a Peeping Tom. Definitely the comic relief of the movie. Whoopi Goldberg plays an interesting Grand Banshee, which seems to be 1 of her favorite types of roles as she teaches us social mores about how we should all treat each other. Strangely enough, she begins to kill these immortal races when they fight with each other, which instead of fixing things or getting them to begin to prize their new mortality (which only affects them if they disobey her and fight) seems to get them more riled up eventually leading to an all-out war. There's a lot more involved in the war between the fairies and leprechauns than what we see in Shakespeare's story, we see a lot more behind the scenes, and a lot more goes on in "Romeo" and "Juliet's" relationship- which gives it more credence that they may actually be in love than 5 minutes at a party and now they're going to accidentally kill each other. Speaking of- there's slightly more intelligence going on here, too. Overall, it's a fun movie, probably something I'll be adding to my library just for convenience because it's one of the better St. Patrick's Day films I've been able to find.
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A total waste of time
gato 17 April 2003
This is one of the worst worst tv movie series I have ever seen, and worst of all bought. It's boring, badly directed, terribly acted and not amusing at all. Hallmark may be eager to produce this kind of movies, but they should be more careful with their content. A total waste of time.
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lovely
It is not The Film about fairies and leprechauns. But it is a beautiful meeting with a superb world, presented in the right light. A love story, the battle story, Woopy Goldberg and admirable job of Randy Quaid. And, off course, lovely special effects. It is the film for inner child but not exactly for him because it gives the seductive Irish fairy tale who you expect. And it does that in the best manner. Proposing poetic and honest and gentle and precise answer to many questions and challenges from the near reality. It does it more then well. And that could be the basic motif to see it time by time. As refuge, as charming film and as new lesson about profound significant things around yourself.
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Amazing movie for Fantasy lovers!
Such a wonderful love story with the brilliant message that love conquers all! This film will bring out the child in all and take you away to a wondrous world of leprechauns and fairies. I find anything with Robert Hamli Snr. involved in it is worth watching and this is no exception! A star studded cast including Randy Quiad, Whoopi Goldberg, Colm Meaney and Kieran Culkin plus a few fresh faces makes this movie a definite one to watch. The lovely scenery is inescapably one of the best features of this film next to the high class cast and crew! Fun for the whole family and fantasy lovers alike! Daniel Betts makes for the eye candy in this family friendly film! Absolutely fabulous!
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This is supposed to be good
So I really liked the other Hallmark/NBC presentations I've seen. This was a little erratic. But being a fairly optimistic person I'd rather concentrate on the good parts. Here's a big one: Daniel Betts, who played Mickey (a leprechaun) and is a sort of Irish Brad Pitt. Here's another one: Colm Meany, who played Mickey's father Seamus Muldoon (another leprechaun, duh) and was hilarious. Randy Quaid was stretching it. I like him when he's funny, but when he's attempting to do the Byronic hero I write him off--- luckily he doesn't do that very often. The human plot was definitely boring, especially when compared to that going on in faery-land, but that's okay. The dialogue was frequently bright and sharp, with some laugh-out-loud lines. And if you're planning to watch it--- look out for the Thorn Tree scene. For the romantic part of me, it was the greatest.
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Worth watching once.....to laugh at it
This is not a good film. The story follows romeo and juliet basically scene for scene.....with the capulets and montagues replaced by the leprechauns and fairies. you all know the story. the graphics are just plain horrid. and every time something is superimposed it is quite obvious. The only reason i rate this a 2 instead of a 1 is the fact that it is so bad it makes you laugh at it....every bad graphic, every obvious parallel to r&j become hilarious......dont watch this movie unless you are all wasted and want a bad film to make fun of.
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Excellent.
The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns is a all around great movie.It inspires the imagination to think of all supernatural phenomenon. This epic tale of the struggles and events others go through to stand up for what they believe in is extroidonary. A phenomenal portrayal of Romeo and Juliet with a twist. A must see movie.
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Family Movie
Warning: Spoilers
This is a family movie/war/love story that is quirky and as fun as they come. Kids over 10 will have a good time watching as well as adults (I think younger kids might get upset at one part or another in the movie and adult explaining would have to be brought out so I added an age limit). There are some drinking scenes so any squeamish about having their kids see that should skip this movie. Woopie Goldberg dishes out Morals as the Grand Banshee in this movie and some violent, semi-death, dark Leprechaun/Fairy war scenes to be had but the ending makes everything all bright and shiny again. Emma Townshend (Pete Townshend's Daughter) has a great song called Fly Away Over it All that plays at the end that my former girlfriend, daughter and I enjoyed and I had to get for us for out collection(amazingly enough it is NOT on the Movie Soundtrack).
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It could have been really good but turned out average
I love fantasy and fairy tales. I don't particularly like Romeo and Julia but I can stomach such a theme if the movie has something more to offer. With a fairy girl falling in love with a leprechaun boy that sounds good. I liked that particular story and the scenes that involved leprechauns and fairies were all nice to watch. The inclusion of humans as sub or main story (not really sure) who also become involved in the war between leprechauns and fairies was a bad idea in my opinion. The human characters were not likable and I couldn't care less about them but since they get involved into the fantasy world you simply cannot ignore them. I would have enjoyed it much more if they just concentrated on the fairies and leprechauns leaving the humans out completely. Second problem is the length. This story could have been easily be told in 2 hours or less. It's a pity as I loved it first time viewing but second time it dragged on and on.
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Great film Colm Meny at his best
This was a great movie I love Colm Meany he is one of the best character Actors around. Look to see him in more mainstream roles in the near feature. Whoopi Goldberg also deserves much credit for this role which is one of her best since Jumpin' Jack Flash.
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wonderful family film....beautiful pagan imagery
this was beautifully done, the costumes were magnificent and the actors were very good! the storyline was very romeo and juliet...with a twist to it. the trooping faeries were my favorite part of the film, along with the grand banshee. it had great lessons about love and the consequenses of war. totally worth it, though some others who have commented dont think so....a very magical movie :)
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