Holes (Full Screen Edition)

Holes (Full Screen Edition)
by Andrew Davis

List Price: ~~$14.99~~
Our Price: $8.99
You Save: $6.00 (40%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $3.12 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases

Compare Prices for Holes (Full Screen Edition)

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Jon Voight, Khleo Thomas, Shia LaBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, Tim Blake Nelson
Director: Andrew Davis
Producer: Andrew Davis
Producer: Clark Henderson
Producer: Louis Phillips
Producer: Lowell D. Blank
Producer: Marty P. Ewing
Producer: Mike Medavoy
Writer: Louis Sachar
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; Spanish (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 117 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-09-23
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment

Movie Reviews of Holes (Full Screen Edition)

Movie Review: Not Exactly What I Expected???
Summary: 2 Stars

I read the novel "Holes" shortly after Louis Sachar published the novel. I really thought the novel was well written and interesting. Was it a Stephen King type of work? Well, no. But it was an interesting and different kind of story.

Now I realize it would be difficult to loyaly translate the book into film. However, the novel's mood could be (but was not) replicated in the film. Now, this was likely designed to "Disneyize" the film for young audiences (like three year olds). Yet, I think it ruins the seriousness of the work. For example, is there really fear is the film? Is there an accurate portrayal of poverty? In my opinion, the actors created too flowery an environment with too many smiling faces (of wealthy young Disney actors) and too little fear.

Furthermore, the bad-guys in this film are like most villains - stupid, incompetent, worthless, and always idiotic during the most inopportune times (because eight year old like the satisfaction of knowing they are smarted than the villains).

Some changes the film made that really annoyed me were:

1. The cliff-climbing scene - far too unrealistic and many teenage students I asked also noticed this scene as overexagerated.

2. While some of the flashback scenes were very interesting, others were lame and did not appeal to the intellect or the emotions. Of course, the music sequence probably did not help create a serious mood either.

3. The actor who placed Stanley Yelnats, Shia LaBouf, was not very effective. Now, the role was very difficult to play correctly for numerous reasons including that Stanley SHOULD HAVE lost a lot of weight at Camp Green Lake as the film progresses (and become much tanner). Therefore, you should have had an actor who actual DUG holes (for at least a few days). It would have allowed for a lot more sympathetic acting afterwards during the hole digging scenes.

Furthermore, the long hair just does not work. You are in the desert. It is hot. As much as the actors in the film probably did not want to lose their hair for fear of losing their girlfriends, it is difficult to place the right mood when the film does much to undervalue the imagination of the book reader.

4. If the film is for adults and teenagers, be honest. Show true hardships, true hatred, true cunning on the part of criminals. Do not make Mr. P into some kind of former criminal idiot who tries to play Dr. Phil and gets in trouble at the end of the film because he is not authorized to carry a firearm because of past criminal activity. It takes away from the story-line. It makes it seem that the government (and everyone in it) is completely incompetent.

When I read the novel, Isaw the Warden, Mr. Sir, Mr. P and everyone else put on an intelligent show (in my mind) - pretend (effectively) that the camp was not a labor camp. The film is non-sequitur in this regard.

5. Camp Green Lake is a large camp. It is not run by a Warden, Mr. Sir , and Mr. P. It is run by many other people also. Furthermore, there are many more teenage boys at the camp that then film portrays. Obviously, the idea is to simply the complex for children. Yet, since this is the case, "Does not the flashback scenes create some problems for young children to follow?"

In short, the major theme of the book (and film if you can understand it)is that the Zeroni and Yelnats familes come together again. The Yelnats wronged the Zeroni family many years prior and Stanley becomes the Yelnats who rights the wrong through his friendship with Zero Zeroni (Khleo Castro).

There are other subplots, also (some of which the film covers well and others the film does not cover effectively).

Therefore, as a whole, I was looking for more "Stand By Me" and less "Home Alone."

Write your own review

More Holes (Full Screen Edition) reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Summary of Holes (Full Screen Edition)

The award-winning bestseller comes to life in this phenomenally fun, adventure-filled movie starring Emmy Award-winner Shia LaBeouf (Outstanding Performer In A Children's Series, Disney Channel's EVEN STEVENS, 2000). Dogged by bad luck stemming from an ancient family curse, young Stanley Yelnats (LaBeouf) is sent to Camp Green Lake, a very weird place that's not green and doesn't have a lake. Once there, he's thrown headlong into the adventure of his life when he and his colorful campmates -- Squid, Armpit, Zigzag, Magnet, X-Ray, and Zero -- must dig a hole a day to keep the warden at bay. But why? Through it all, Stanley and company must forge fast friendships as they try to unearth the mystery of what's really going on in the middle of nowhere. Filled with humor and heartwarming messages of friendship and teamwork, HOLES is a treasure everyone will dig.

Fans of author Louis Sachar's book Holes will be delighted with this scrupulously faithful adaptation. After being wrongly found guilty of stealing a pair of sneakers, Stanley Yelnats (Shia LaBeouf) gets sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile correctional facility in the bed of a long-gone dry Texas lake. There--under the watchful eye of overseer Mr. Sir (a zesty Jon Voight), sneakily mean therapist Dr. Pendanski (Tim Blake Nelson, O Brother Where Art Thou?), and the cool and cruel Warden (Sigourney Weaver)--Stanley and dozens of other delinquents are forced to dig an endless series of holes that the Warden hopes will lead her to a precious secret left behind by a long-dead female outlaw (Patricia Arquette). Sachar's book is beloved for its vivid characters and suspenseful plot; by sticking close to its source, Holes has become a dynamic, exciting, and surprisingly touching movie. --Bret Fetzer

Action & Adventure DVD Video

Kids & Family

DVD Video

Movies most talked about in Great Young Star Movies

Flipper
Universal; Release date: 2004-01-20; DVD
Best price: $2.96
Price in other shops: ~~$5.98~~

Radio Flyer
Sony; Release date: 2004-10-12; DVD
Best price: $4.66
Price in other shops: ~~$9.95~~

The Good Son
Release date: 2004-02-03; DVD
Best price: $4.54
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

Oliver Twist (1997)
Release date: 2004-08-03; DVD
Best price: $6.73
Price in other shops: ~~$19.99~~

The Adventures of Huck Finn
WOOD,ELIJAH; Release date: 2002-01-15; DVD
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops: ~~$14.99~~

The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)
WOOD,ELIJAH; Release date: 2004-12-14; DVD
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops: ~~$24.98~~

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition) Image

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2003-11-18; DVD
Best price: $12.83
Price in other shops: ~~$24.98~~

The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Widescreen Edition)
Release date: 2002-08-06; DVD
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Sunshine
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-01-08; DVD
Best price: $6.40
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Not Another Teen Movie (Unrated Director's Cut)
Sony; Release date: 2005-07-26; DVD
Best price: $3.58
Price in other shops: ~~$14.94~~

Similar DVD Movies

Charlotte's Web (Widescreen Edition)
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2007-04-03; DVD
Best price: $7.77
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

A Guide for Using Holes in the Classroom
by BELINDA ZAMPINO
Teacher Creative Resource; Teacher Created Resources; Published: 2004-11-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.52
Price in other shops: ~~$8.99~~

Hook
Sony; Release date: 2000-03-21; DVD
Best price: $6.11
Price in other shops: ~~$14.94~~

How to Eat Fried Worms (New Line Platinum Series)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-12-05; DVD
Best price: $4.37
Price in other shops: ~~$12.98~~

Secondhand Lions (New Line Platinum Series)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2004-02-03; DVD
Best price: $3.69
Price in other shops: ~~$12.98~~

Because of Winn-Dixie
DANIELS/ROBB/MATTHEWS; Release date: 2005-08-09; DVD
Best price: $4.40
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Tuck Everlasting
Release date: 2003-02-25; DVD
Best price: $4.84
Price in other shops: ~~$14.99~~

Bridge to Terabithia (Widescreen Edition)
Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2007-06-19; DVD
Best price: $4.66
Price in other shops: ~~$14.99~~