THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS

I think it is unfortunate that so many people came into this movie a bit blindly, thinking it would be sugary-sweet and a retelling of the tradition Nutcracker. Not so. It is another Disney twist, turning it into a dark fairy-tale and the gorgeous eye-candy settings are balanced out by a very dark story; one you don't expect. I lucked out and read the Disney book first and was ultimately prepared. Thus I enjoyed this fairly well, with some concerns. For me it was very much like Disney's latest production of Alice in Wonderland, but not quite as good.Pros~Lush scenery, gorgeous settings, beautiful costumes, loved Tchaikovsky's music in the background as soundtrack, especially engaging in the first half of the movie, loved the gift giving scene and mystique...before it slows down and goes dark. Excellent cast but...not used well.Cons~Too dark for kids, so watch beforehand. Actress playing Clara was too emotionless; brooding, depressed rather than sad, mediocre contentment in the end. In parts she comes across as a brat, which I did not like. Yes, she just lost her mother right before Christmas, but so did I, and this was part of why I though I would connect so much with the character. Not enough of the Godfather nor Mother Ginger. The adventure starts to drag midway and after a while you just don't care what happens to anyone, except the father who is trying to push through the sadness and embrace Christmas. But he too has a tiny part. Also too many scenes that were not original enough. Christmas Tree forest looked straight out of Narnia, battle too much like Alice in Wonderland and the Jabberwocky. They could have taken many other routes with this film and not copied others.All that being said, I do own the DVD now and will watch it both at Christmas and throughout the year. I seem to warm up to it more each time I watch it. Maybe because I know the storyline even better now and have not set my expectations too high. I do think reading the book beforehand was well worth it. Disney has just done better, IMO. Visually is is absolutely stunning.

I'm in the minority that actually enjoyed this movie. It's a loose adaption of the The Nutcracker and takes on a risky spin from the original story which, I liked. When it comes to Disney live actions, I'm a believer in going big or going home so the changes in this story did not bother me the way it did others. Mackenzie Foy does a great job portraying Clara Stahlbaum and her performance was lovely. I really felt for Clara and rooted for her as she journeys through the Realms to find not only an important artifact, but to figure what her higher purpose is. I also really loved The Nutcracker Soldier (Captain Philip Hoffman) who was played dashingly by Jayden Fowora-Knight. My one complaint was that I wished Clara and Philip's companionship could've bloomed into something more but that's just me being a romantic lol. And Misty Copeland's Dance of the Realms was just absolutely gorgeous, I didn't want her to stop dancing! Overall I was just very impressed with the visuals - how eveything looked as far as set design, graphics, and costuming. The music contains some of the original tunes from the Tchaikovsky score but in Disney fashion, they've added their own twist that makes the soundtrack quite epic. My main reason for giving this four stars is because I think there should've been more exploration of the realms. We're mostly introduced to them through Misty's dance but they practically served no purpose other than pretty visual aesthetics. If Disney ever takes the plunge in making a sequel, I believe exploring the four realms more would be a great starting point! The Nutcracker and The Four Realms has become a personal favorite and is my go to feel good film...even when it's summertime lol

I love the theme song sung by Matteo Bocelli. That’s why I wanted to see the movie. It’s literally the last song over credits so if you don’t watch credits, you’ll miss the song. I’m pretty sure this is a Disney movie and it’s the last Disney movie I will ever see. They have politicized their brand and I’m done!

The problem is that the translation of a story from book to opera or from book to movie limits the imagination because it casts a specific visual interpretation of what is left to each person's imagination in the book. I read somewhere that J. R. R.Tokein, while he was living, refused to let Disney release his "Lord of the Rings" as a movie precisely because it would replace the viewers own imagination with the static images produced by Disney. Tolkein observed that because of Disney, folks will forever more visualize dancing pink elephants when they hear the music of Fantasia.Hoffman's original story was rich and dark in places. Dumas rewrote the story in a more lightened narrative that lacked some of the richness and substance of the original. The various operatic interpretations mostly followed Dumas. Maurice Sendak, author of "Where the Wild Things Are" created an operatic version for the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company where he attempted to remain true to the original Hoffman version while still doing justice to the music of Tchaikovsky.This Disney version is delightfully done. The imagery is lush. the music of Tchaikovsky is rich, the actors are delightful. The story is generally light with just enough darkness to make it interesting, but hardly scary. The characters are delightful as well. It does justice to a child-like freedom of imagination. It is very much a Nut Cracker fantasy. If you forget about the "version" that you might have expected, it is a joy to watch.

It's Christmas Eve, the Stahlbaum family are preparing to go to a ball at Drosselmeyer's (Morgan Freeman) mansion,however Mr Stahlbaum acting on his dead wife's wishes hands out gifts she'd left for her three children, Clara (Mackenzie Foy) receives a handcrafted egg she finds to be locked, inside the box a note from her mother telling her that inside the egg she'll find everything she wants.At the ball her Godfather as he always does gives gifts for his guest's children, to find the gifts they have to follow a string which has their name attached to it...................Clara follows her string which takes her to a passage leading into a mysterious World.At the end of the string the missing key, she reaches for it, but a mouse whisks it away, Clara gives chase.The mouse ends up the other side of a frozen river, Clara cannot cross over but see's a bridge which is where she meets up with a guard Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight) who will not let her pass, however when she tells him her name things change, her mother was/is Queen of the lands beyond which means Clara is a princess.Phillip agrees to help Clara retrieve the key, however the forest holds many fears, she is unable to get the key at this point, but, Philip takes her to the Palace which lies beyond the forest, where she will meet The Sugar Plum Fairy (Keira Knightley) who seemingly welcomes Clara and shows her around, however, The Sugar Plum Fairy is not all sweetness and nice as Clara will find out.This a World Clara's mother created as a child.........Still needing the key Clara will with an escort return to the forest where she meets Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren) Regent of what is known as the Fourth Realm, who now holds the key.Returning to the Palace with the key Clara is confronted by the Sugar Plum Fairy who has craved the use of it for her own purposes.Clara will have to risk all to foil the evil intent 0f The Sugar Plum Fairy.The film which indeed has many critics does have moments that one could easily criticise, however overall the fantasy drama is an enjoyable watch with much in the way of impressive special-effects 7/10 a fair score

Enjoyed the film and being Disney you know it's going to be okay for all the family to watch it was an easy one to watch as the main character went on her quest to find the key for the keepsake her late mother had left her as she was the more scientific one out of her siblings. She did get the wrong villain of the piece as she believed the one that seemed to be bad was but in the end they joined forces to stop the bad one and to save the kingdoms as her mother had before her that was her mother's secret. She found her way back home. Will watch it again as there is always something you miss first time round and it made a good Christmas gift and enjoyment

Beautiful movie. I bought it for my4 yr old granddaughter and we both loved it, I loved the tradition that was still in the story with the beautiful mordern effects the characters were played perfectly and it maybe a Christmas film but we are watching it again and again because it makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Lovely adaptation of classic ballet tale. Fantastical set, costumes and makeup - true Disney! Acting a bit ‘wooden’ (albeit tin soldiers!) from all characters except Helen Mirren, but easy storyline, engaging chapters, with some suspense and thrill and exquisite ballet dancing woven into scenes, makes it a very easy to follow storyline and magical for children/young teens. Perfect tale for cosying up and getting into festive spirit with all the twinkling, glittering Disney Christmas sparkle you could want! 🤩

Appallingly Bad!!!!! What has this to do with The Nutcracker?? The traditional ballet is wonderful and a must for all ballet lovers at Christmas. This dreadful amateur film does not represent the ballet in any shape or form and the fact that it uses Tchaikovsky’s music is a total insult. Could not watch much of this, a complete let down and will in future watch only the ballet.