The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (Two-Disc Special Edition)
by Jay Russell
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alex Etel, Ben Chaplin, Brian Cox, David Morrissey, Emily WatsonDirector: Jay Russell
Brand: Sony Pictures
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1 EX; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1 EX; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.40:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-04-08
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Movie Review: A well done fantasy that is much more than the Monster
Summary: 5 Stars
What is unusual about this story is that while it involves a magical monster, the movie is really about the family, the situation, and involves the monster - the Water Horse - almost incidentally. The story we see is a visualization of a story told in a pub by an older man in response to a young couple's comment about the famous picture of the Loch Ness Monster. The story begins during World War II in Scotland at and near Loch Ness. It is about a boy, Angus MacMorrow, who is terrified of the water and yet is drawn to it. He finds a strange egg and when it hatches into a strange creature much like a miniature sea dinosaur with funny looking horn like knobs on its head, he befriends and cares for it.
Angus lives on a huge estate because his mother, Anne, runs the staff of servants for the absent Lord. Her husband was lost at sea when his ship was torpedoed and while she realizes she is a widow, Angus keeps his father's workshop as a shrine and is determined he will return. The army comes to the estate and sets up camp ostensibly to protect Scotland from an invasion of the German Navy from the North Sea into the Loch. In reality, someone in power gave the commander this assignment to protect him and keep him out of the way. The commander seems to be the only one oblivious to the silly nature of his mission and he treats it with a dangerous seriousness. He also takes a shine to the widow Anne, and while she is flattered she has her son's troubles and running the estate on her mind.
Angus tries to keep the growing monster hidden and has to enlist his reluctant sister and the new handyman, the stranger Lewis Mowbray. Eventually, the Water Horse has to be put in the Loch and Angus says good-bye. But the connection between the two is too strong to be denied. This is where the magical adventure begins and has a big part in transforming and saving young Angus. However, the military inadvertently gets on the monster's last nerve and some very bad things ensue. Of course, no one in the military takes Angus seriously, but it is up to Angus to aid the Water Horse and open his mother's eyes.
I will let you find out what happens in the story, but it is all quite well done. Nothing that happens is too shocking, but is often quite touching. The movie's effects are also quite well done and even impressive. But I will point out again how impressed I was that they used the Water Horse well, but not as the consuming focus of the story.
While it is a family film, kids below eight may have trouble following the story unless they are quite bright. The story has a number of threads that you have to keep track of. Maybe little kids will get enough out of the effects and the slapstick with the dog and the military guys that they won't care that they aren't able to put everything together.
The acting is all quite well done and a cut about what we usually get in these kinds of fantasies.
Enjoy!
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
Summary of The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Features include:
?MPAA Rating: PG
?Format: DVD
?Runtime: 112 minutes
Based on a novel by Dick King-Smith, author of The Sheep Pig (from which Babe was adapted), the touching and often spectacular The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep ingeniously presumes to explain the truth behind "Nessie," i.e., the Loch Ness Monster. The story, told in present day to a couple of American tourists by a kindly gentleman (Brian Cox) in a pub, begins with a lonely boy, Angus (Alex Etel), pining for his father, who is serving in the Royal Navy during World War II. Angus, along with his sister (Priyanka Xi) and mother (Emily Watson), live on an estate that has been billeted by soldiers in the Scottish Highlands, near Loch Ness. The troop?s commander (David Morissey) has an eye for mom, suspicions about a mysterious handyman, Lewis (Ben Chaplin), who is also a war hero, and an absurd contention that the Highlands are the real frontline in the war against Germany.
Into this intriguing drama comes a completely different element, a fantastical creature of Celtic mythology that befriends Angus and is, in fact, the sea-beast who will eventually be known as the Loch Ness Monster. Trying to hide the dinosaur-like fellow, nicknamed Crusoe, Angus enlists Lewis to transfer it to the lake, where boy and serpent have extraordinary adventures together until human stupidity threatens Crusoe?s existence. A true family film, there is a lot for adults to like about the grownup story in The Water Horse. Meanwhile, the wistful relationship between Angus and Crusoe--each of whom helps the other move past obstacles toward their individual destinies--will leave children feeling both happy and melancholy in the best possible sense. Directed by Jay Russell (My Dog Skip), The Water Horse is the best of a mini-genre of films about or inspired by old Nessie. --Tom Keogh
Beyond The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
 On Blu-ray |  Paperback Novel |  CD Soundtrack |
Stills from The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (click for larger image)
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