THE 10TH KINGDOM -- David Carson & Herbert Wise, dirs

©2000
studio: Hallmark
production company: Babelsberg Film und Fernsehen, Carnival Films, Hallmark Entertainment, National Broadcasting Company (NBC), Production Line
dir: David Carson & Herbert Wise
cast: Kimberly Williams, Scott Cohen, John Larroquette, Dianne Wiest, Camryn Manheim, Ann-Margret, Ed O'Neill, Rutger Hauer, Dawnn Lewis, Hugh O'Gorman, Daniel Lapaine, Jeremiah Birkett, Warwick Davis, Kim Thompson, Lucy Whybrow
teleplay: Simon Moore
10 hour television mini-series

A father and daughter are caught in a parallel universe where the great queens Snow White, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood have had their kingdoms fragmented by warring trolls, giants and goblins. (Description lifted directly from Amazon.com.)

I remember catching bits of this when it was aired on television and thinking that it seemed like an neat idea but not particularly well done. Not having seen the whole thing, however, I thought it only fair to check it out. Unfortunately, I was right in the first place.

It amazes me that the reviews and ratings (both IMDb and Netflix) are so favorable for this. Perhaps the all-star cast make people afraid to say that it drones?

This ten hour epic moves along on such a single note that when you've experienced the highs and lows of the first twenty minutes, you've experienced the highs and lows for the entire series. Whether this was intentional (so as not to frighten the younger children perhaps?) or not is not clear, but the effect is a persistent buzz that you just can't wait to be gone.

The writing for this is unbelievably bad. It comes across as though no one was sure if they should do this seriously with some humor, or as a farce with some drama. The result comes across as simply "bad acting choices." Is John Larroquette trying to be funny, or is his character just supposed to be a bit on the stupid side? What's up with Ed O'Neill and the Trolls? They are strong and forceful enough to take over an entire kingdom, but they are stupid enough to look like a bad imitation of the Keystone Cops? "Wolf" and the "Prince" (as inhabited by a dog) were cute the first time you saw them make canine motions as humans, but the trick got very tired after ten hours.

There were some gems in this series (pun intended) -- the mine of the Dwarfs was rather nifty (although there were some GLARING inconsistencies here ... first the dwarfs were ready to kill the humans for intruding, but when they see the reflection of the dog in the magic mirror and discover that the dog is the real Prince, they recall that this was a prophecy long fortold. But then one human [who is under a curse] accidentally breaks some mirrors and it seems that the whole prophecy is completely ignored as the dwarfs try to kill the humans).

Rutger Hauer is great as the "Huntsman" and Dianne Wiest does well in her leading role as the evil queen. And ... okay ... Camryn Manheim is a very good actress, and I have nothing against a performer who is over-weight, but as "Snow White?" And not just "Snow White," but a "Snow White" who has been asleep for a hundred years?

Don't waste even an hour of your time on this dreck.