Hansel and Gretel Blu Ray Review (Capelight Pictures)

Hansel and Gretel is a 1987 fantasy film co-written and directed by Len Talan (Statue of Liberty: Building of a Colossus). It’s written by Nancy Weems. It’s based on the legendary story from The Grimm brothers. It’s produced by Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan (Death Wish franchise, American Ninja franchise, New Year’s Evil, Ninja franchise, The Last American Virgin, 10 to Midnight, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Lifeforce, Missing in Action franchise, Superman IV, Masters of the Universe, Captain America, Cyborg, and Cobra) for the Cannon Group. One of the “Cannon Movie Tales” series that included 8 other films. It was shot at the same time as Sleeping Beauty. Hansel (played by: Hugh Pollard from Simon and the Witch) and Gretel (played by: Nicola Stapelton from EastEnders and Bad Girls) are the children of a hard working woodcutter (played by: David Warner from The Omen, In the Mouth of Madness, Tron, Titanic, Scream 2, Ice Cream Man, Body Bags, and Twin Peaks) and his busy wife (played by; Emily Richard from Empire of the Sun and Enemy at the Door). After getting into it with their mother. They leave their home.and they decide to get some food in the wild for their family that’s been struggling. Hansel and Gretel accidentally walk into the dangerous North woods where they discover a huge delicious gingerbread house. The ambitious kids don’t realize who lives in this sweet paradise. The evil witch Griselda (played by: Cloris Leachman from Young Frankenstein, Spanglish, The Facts of Life, My Boyfriend’s Back, The Longest Yard, Beerfest, Lake Placid 2, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Justice League Action) is waiting for her next victims. Can they survive this living nightmare???? The 1987 version of Hansel and Gretel is probably the best and most accurate adaptation of the iconic fairy tale. Cannon films put together 9 different movies based on legendary fairy tales and put them all out pretty close to each other back in the day. This is one of the highest quality ones from those productions. This is director Len Talan’s only full length feature film, he did a documentary besides Hansel and Gretel. Both Hugh Pollard and Nicola Stapelton are solid especially for being so young as the leads here. David Warner is great as the father, I thought he made the family chemistry so much better with his presence. Emily Richard is good as the mother that drives her children away from their safe home to pure evil. Cloris Leachman steals the show and she’s top notch as Griselda the witch. It’s one of her greatest performances and she makes the younger actors better when they share the screen with her. The special fx were great here for being in the late 80’s. The script has excellent character development and it takes a twisted turn in the 2nd act. It’s definitely kid friendly but it still had it’s dark moments. I haven’t seen this one in forever, it has nice replay value. It’s very fun and entertaining, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Capelight Pictures! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer from the MGM vaults. This restoration blows away the previous DVD release in the states. It’s the best it’s ever looked anywhere. It has a few different audio options which includes English: LPCM 2.0 and German: LPCM 2.0 tracks. Hansel and Gretel sounds great here on home video. All of the dialogue is crisp, the drama is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English and German subtitles. It doesn’t have any extras on the disc. Hansel and Gretel has very impressive packaging with this awesome Mediabook. It’s loaded with all kinds of pictures and information. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!