Sarah Sutton plays Alice in this
adaptation of ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, a sequel to ALICE IN WONDERLAND. She
doesn’t get on my nerves as much as Kate Dorning as Alice, but the background
special effects are a downgrade from the superior CSO effects in the later ALICE IN WONDERLANDTV version in 1986 directed
by Barry Letts. Sarah Sutton went on to play Nyssa on DOCTOR WHO and I think
that character is a better performance than she did as Alice (although still she
does better than Kate Dorning). Alice
travels through the mirror to an alternate world where everything is backwards as she must travel across a giant chessboard
to become a queen. She meets various characters and hears various stories.
The DVD cover art is still better than
the TV version itself. It does have a low budget charm to it, but
DOCTOR WHO did much more on its low budget than this production ever did. The acting is better from many characters
involved and less singing. It is also a shorter story which is a mercy if you’re
not a fan of the sequel written by Lewis Carroll.
I
do applaud the BBC making ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS and the Barry Letts directed ALCIE IN WONDERLAND to DVD, but neither
meets the greatness of the 1966 fever dream adaptation of ALICE IN WONDERLAND (my best and favorite BBC adaptation and one
of my favorite takes on ALICE IN WONDERLAND).
SPECIAL FEATURES:
nothing included except trailers leading
up to the main menu. It would have been interesting to see some TV spots or a feauturette on this one or an audio commentary.
This DVD review is (c)3-20-2013 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com
