Kidnapped (1995)
When Scottish young gentleman David Balfour's father dies, he leaves school to collect his inheritance from uncle Ebenezer, who in turn sells the boy as a future slave to a pirate ship. When staunch Stuart dynasty supporter Alan Breck Stewart accidentally boards the ship, he takes David along on his escape back to Edinburgh. They part and meet again repeatedly, mutually helpful against the Redcoats and respectful, although David is loyal to the English crown, but learns about its cruel oppression. Both ultimately face their adversaries.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
This newer adaptation is charmless, unappealing, it lacks brio, energy and gusto, the desired Scottish accent sucks, Assante is no match for Finch, nothing recommended the director for the job of adapting a Scottish swashbuckler, the women, few as they are in Stevenson's chaste universe, are banal, yet the subject and the storyline are far too strong and the dynamism of the plot is delightful; my mother called it a Scottish 'Musketeers', a thorough swashbuckler. The action scenes are exciting and dynamic, the few duels are well shot. And it can be granted to dear Assante that he does a pretty good Stewart Breck. Some actors (such as the shipmen) are well—chosen, or at least the makeup did the job.Davie Balfour of Shaws steps into a world of murderers and bandits, dreadful hieroglyphs of evil. His story has been awesomely adapted for cinema some almost 50 yrs ago, as a movie with Finch.
Well, to start with, this version of kidnapped hasn't got much in common at all with the book.That being said, it is a masterpiece in its own right. Unlike most movies, this one is not made to gratify cravings for thrilling immature romance, gory fight scenes, or political ax-grinding.And it is not dull.What drives this movie is its content. The real running theme throughout the movie is what men give their lives for.It's odd, but it has the most peculiarly uplifting execution scene. Very strange.
This is an excellent movie in its own right and seems to be quite faithful to the book. There are elements of the movie that do not show up in RLS's Kidnapped, but there is a sequel, entitled David Balfour, which I have yet to read. I imagine that some of ragmop's complaints of inaccuracy may be answered by this book. My one suggestion would be for the viewer to do a little studying of the this period of Scottish history, as this will help make the movie flow better.As others have mentioned, this movie is made even better by the fact that it is even suitable for young children to watch. It would be nice if filmmakers followed this movie's example and made more action and adventure movies that are really safe for the entire family.
Armand Assante turned in a superb performance as a Scottish loyalist in Robert Louis Stevenson's "Kidnapped." Mr. Assante was totally credible in his role as a man who would stick to the principles of truth, justice, and loyalty that the author highlighted in the novel. Any fan of Robert Louis Stevenson must definitely see this outstanding motion picture.