Moviecut—Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) Movie Review

source: Young Sherlock Holmes

Today, Chris Columbus is (what Harry Knowles astutely calls) an "almost director". He has never made a truly good movie, (what has he been doing since "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"?). But back in the mid 1980's, Columbus wrote 3 very entertaining (if unbelievable) movies, all for Steven Spielberg's Amblin company: "Gremlins" (1984), "The Goonies" (1985) and this film, "Young Sherlock Holmes" (1985). I don't blame Doyle followers for hating this movie, it isn't for them. This film is for those of us who know nothing of Sherlock Holmes franchise, but just love an fun movie. "Young Sherlock Holmes" is well-produced across the board, fun, fast and perfectly cast. Some other posters here have slammed both Rowe (Holmes) and Cox (Watson), but I found them just fine. The flagrant 80's effects (from the Spielberg/Lucas teams) are a distraction and the "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984) style plot is absolutely wrong, but those are my only real complaints. Director Barry Levinson, has of course, go on to much greater things, but this may be his most underrated film. Personally, I would have enjoyed this film even more had the three leads been even younger (say 11-14 years old). But then, there couldn't be a big sword duel between Holmes and Rathe. If your a fan of the Amblin Entertainment empire, and don't know anything about Sherlock Holmes I think you'll enjoy this film. It's a great shame (even tragedy) "Young Sherlock Holmes" was a complete box-office bomb and that the DVD has no special features whatsoever! Final rating: 7/10 "An enjoyable, entertaining movie. Not a classic, but it's not supposed to be."

The Temple of Doom-flavoured UK title for this Steven Spielberg-produced adventure—Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear—gives a pretty good idea of what can be expected: Sherlock Holmes hasn't got a whip to crack, and a deerstalker replaces the Fedora, but underneath all of the film's Conan Doyle trappings, this is essentially another in a long line of Indiana Jones-inspired movies, complete with a Thuggee-style Egyptian cult murdering people with hallucinogenic blow-darts and performing human sacrifices in their underground pyramid. As such, Holmes' sleuthing abilities are more than matched by his derring-do, the young detective (ably played by Nicholas Rowe) swashbuckling his way through the film, accompanied by trusty sidekick Watson (Alan Cox) and love interest Elizabeth (Sophie Ward). This being a Spielberg production, Young Sherlock Holmes benefits from great production design (snowy Victorian London looks wonderful) and is heavy on the special effects, with impressive hallucinatory set-pieces involving stop-motion animation, animatronics, and even an early example of CGI (albeit very brief). If you're a fan of both Sherlock Homes and Indiana Jones, this 'Indiana Holmes' adventure should provide more than enough escapist fun for the duration. 7/10.

This amusing movie set in a perfect Victorian atmosphere (1870, England) speculates about what might have happened if Sherlock Holmes (Nicholas Rowe) and Doctor Watson (Alex Cox) had met during their student times in London . Holmes falls in love with a beautiful youngster (Sophie Ward) , living with her uncle , a retired professor named Waxflatter (Nigel Stock) . Then , it happens several murders and Holmes helps Inspector Lestrade (Roger Ashton-Griffiths) to resolve it . Later on , young Sherlock performing feats of derring-do in London , including a spectacular flight and dangerous duels . Although Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did not write about the youthful years of Sherlock Holmes , as he established the initial meeting between Holmes and Watson as adults . This affectionate speculation on what might have happened has been made with respect and admiration , knowing references to Sherlock's later existence and in tribute to the author in his enduring Works . This stirring , fast-paced film is packed with noisy action , adventures , thrills , tension and results to be quite entertaining . It's a genuine ripping yarn with much suspense , intrigue and outstanding surprises . Nicholas Rowe is nice as obstinate and intelligent young Holmes as well as Alex Cox as timid and easy frightened John Watson . Some images are very creepy and eerie and developed in ¨Indiana Jones and the temple of Doom¨ style , for that reason is rated PG-13 for violence and crude scenes . Spectacular special effects by Kit West and Pixar Animation Studios making 'the glass man sequence' and puppets by David Allen . Furthermore visual effects supervisor by Dennis Muren with some of the firsts , images made by means of computer generator . As this one is considered to be the first feature film to have a completely CGI (computer graphics image) character : the knight coming out of the stained glass window . And intervention by Industrial Light & Magic (company run by George Lucas) animated the scene , overseen by John Lasseter in a very early film credit for Pixar . As the "Stained Glass Knight" took Industrial Light & Magic artists 4 months to create . Atmospheric score fitting to action by Bruce Broughton and London symphonic Orchestra . Well written by Chris Columbus and lavishly produced by Steven Spielberg with his usual collaborators , Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy . The picture was well directed by Barry Levinson . Youth and little boys are likely to enjoy this fun film.

The crime solving team of teenagers Sherlock Holmes (Rowe) and John H Watson (Cox), prep school students by day, but crime solving sleuths at night. When young John Watson starts mid term at a London Prep school, he is greeted first by a tall slender lad of about sixteen. Sherlock Holmes proceeds to tell Watson all about himself before they have exchanged hellos. The stunned Watson admires the older lad from that moment on. At first reluctant to involve himself in Holmes schemes, Watson finds himself up to his neck in a series of murders, as he trots beside the lanky Holmes. When they rescue a man from nearly killing himself to destroy an imagined attack, they are told a strange tale of betrayal and vengeance. When he attempts to get Sergeant Lestrade (Ashton-Griffiths) involved in solving the murders of several men, Lestrade calls them suicides and angrily orders Holmes out of his office. That is only the beginning of an adventure that takes the boys to the notorious Wapping district where a nefarious cult of murderous religious nuts, led by the cruel and mysterious Eh Tar (Higgins), is doing heinous things to young ladies, including - to his horror, Elizabeth Hardy (Ward) Sherlock's first love! The cast is excellent, the period London sets and costumes are great and the direction by Barry Levinson (The Natural, Rain Man) is commendable. All told, a satisfying entry into the Holmesian legend. Might be a bit intense for very young children but otherwise a fine family film. I Heartily recommend seeing this film.

This is an awesome movie. The only drawback was the absurd dealing with the "flying machine." Other than that, sit back and enjoy as Watson and Holmes embark on their alleged first adventure as Holmes tries to find the link between a rash of recent murders, hallucinations people have been having, and a cult. Not a bad way to spend a few hours of your time! ** 1/2 out of ****

"Young Sherlock Holmes" has the potential to be an interesting film but unfortunately seems to be marred in contrived cliches. I did not find any of the characters to be particularly interesting, nor did I appreciate its stereotypical and racist demonizing of middle Eastern culture - as if Egyptian women really behave or look like that! At times, I thought I was watching a series of bad Monty Python sketches. All in all, the acting was reasonably good (except for the scenery chewing villains) and the costumes were great, but I had a hard time staying awake while watching this film. The ending was particularly inane...obviously designed to lead into a sequel, which thankfully never came about. Strictly a movie for little kids or for people who like watching dated special effects.

Woeful, childish supposition of the early years of Arthur Conan Doyle's celebrated sleuth Sherlock Holmes, which finds the school boy detective and his new fond chum Watson hot on the heels of a sadistic Egyptian cult who have been kidnapping young girls for sacrifice, and killing off a group of elderly gentlemen against whom they hold a terrible grudge. Chris Columbus' story (writer of "A Night on the Town" and "Home Alone" - which were both much more fun) is naive, silly and borrows far too much from other Spielberg productions, "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" being one of them. The cast are unable to lift proceedings also, and one has to wonder how a director of Barry Levinson's class ever became involved in this. The only thing left to do is shake one's head and hope that Mr. Doyle isn't watching. Friday, August 12, 1994 - Video

For film buffs, there is only one reason to see Young Sherlock Holmes it has the first photo realistic CGI creature in film. A hallucinating priest sees a stained glass knight jump out of a church window and march towards him, sword raised and ready to swing. The knight only has about ten seconds of screen time but he is a major step forward in visual effects. I am certain that films geeks will appreciate this. For those who are not film geeks, Young Sherlock Holmes has some entertainment to offer, but not enough to make it a good movie. The first 30 minutes of Young Sherlock Holmes are fine. It gives us a charming and pleasant introduction to a teenage Holmes and how he meets John Watson. We are also introduced to Elisabeth, Holmes' love interest. There are some laughs to be and some shocks which are generated by an array fun-disgusting special effects. During this part of the movie, the filmmakers take time to set up the premise of the mystery that Holmes and his buddies must solve. When the journey gets underway however, Young Sherlock Holmes takes a nosedive. The story becomes silly and unrealistic, and it resort to clichés and badly choreographed action sequences. Holmes loses most of his charm and wit and he gets rather tiring. Watson ends up doing more complaining than he does thinking, and Elisabeth becomes almost literally brain dead. The climax is weak, and the ending is even weaker. A secondary problem with the movie, is how inaccurate its portrayal of Victorian England is. For the majority of people, this will probably go unnoticed, but for historians, Young Sherlock Holmes will be a pain to watch. The movie has a clever premise, as well as some quirky and charming moments, but it misses the mark in it's attempt to be what it tries to be, a enjoyable little adventure for a general audience. The only thing in Young Sherlock Holmes that cannot be found in any other movie is the knight.