Harockerce What a beautiful movie!

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Roedy Green The music was so corny I almost abandoned the video immediately. It was extremely bad and amateurish. It almost makes the film unwatchable, like something in a high school video project.The video is broken into 10-minute segments, each with opening and closing credits and a recap of the previous segment. This is tedious.The science is pretty shaky, but at one point went completely off the rails. They decide some stones point up permanently aligned with a star in Ursa Major. Vertical stones in England would never align so far north. Further, no English stones would be permanently aligned anywhere because the earth rotates and revolves around the sun.In general, the science is utterly embarrassing. It would be too silly even for an Austin Powers movie.I think the writer went to a math library and grabbed snippets and formulae at random to include in the script. Given that there is so much of this and that it is central to the plot, I think they could have hired a real (or at least student) mathematician to compose some plausible dialogue.The movie is carried by Matthew, a scientist's ten-year-old son. He is unusually intelligent, curious and spunky. He is a considerably better actor than any of the adults in the movie. The acting, in general, has a stagy feel with lots of contrived exposition.They show you something strange, then let you sit with it for a long time before giving their explanation. It does a good job that way of building suspense. The way they build unease is by showing you very ordinary things, but that just should not happen, like a giant stone appearing in a different place. There is almost nothing that would count as a special effect, other than possibly a dissolve.Despite all the negative things I said about the movie, it was engaging. I cared about the characters. It was creepy. The very last reel was high camp. I expected the villain to play Toccata and Fugue on an organ.

Prof-Hieronymos-Grost A scientist, Adam Brake(Gareth Thomas) has a 3 month opportunity to study and write a thesis on electromagnetivity in neolithic stones in the remote English village of Milbury. He brings along his young son Matthew, whom he enrols in the local school for the duration of their stay, Matthew is a budding scientist himself with lofty ideas for his future. Adam is keen to start as soon as possible and is delighted when Margaret, the curator of the local museum offers to show him something rather startling concerning the stones. Margaret asks him simply to touch the stones, this Adam does without any fear, but that soon changes as he hears ancient voices and sees strange visions just before a strong surge throws him feet into the air. Something else is at work here, but Adam doesn't know what. Margaret also warns him that he will soon feel very alone here as the residents are an odd bunch, with odd sayings and customs, in fact the village seems divided into regular people and what are known as "The Happy Ones" Matthew notices this in school right away, as the Happy children also show that lighter demeanor and are vastly more intelligent than the other kids.Matthew befriends Dai (Freddie Jones) a local tramp, whose social status belies his intelligence, for he has been spying on the residents and immediately knows Matthew is different, he warns that he will not be able to escape the boundaries of the village because of the power of the stones. The oddness seems to be being controlled by the town leader Rafael Hendrick (Iain Cutherbertson) a Lord Summerisle character and a former astro physicist of some renown, who on the outside seems friendly but he hides whats really going on very well. As the numbers of regular people begin to dwindle Adam and Matthew who has suddenly developed telepathic powers, begin a dangerous fight with unknown forces.Children of the Stones sure is an oddity, it was a 7 part series initially aimed at a school going audience, but there are some confounding themes at large here, some perhaps too dark, even the title sequence with its deeply unsettling choral vocalizations, while seeming perfect for the subject matter, does seem out of place for their target audience. It draws on many areas of Horror and Sci/FI, there's echoes of The Wicker Man, with the Hendrick character and the pagan pageantry, Village of the Damned, its odd and gifted kids, Invasion of the Snatchers, The Stepford Wives and perhaps most closely of all, The Quatermass Conclusion.For a children's TV program it does well to retain a sinister air and never dumbs down the plot. The cast is for the most part excellent, Thomas providing the assured hero figure with the gravitas and intelligence the role requires. Cutherbertson is his usual sinister self, he seems to revel in the Faustian roles and duly fulfills the task with gusto. Jones is also delightful as the eccentric tramp who knows everything. Overall its an enjoyable watch, it lacks some of the believability factor when it comes to the science and technology though, what a shame it wasn't written by Nigel Kneale, it would surely then have been considered a classic

Richard Phillips-Jones Many years ago, when ITV in the UK was an amalgamation of separate TV companies (like HTV, the makers of this show along with many other great series, serving the west of England and Wales), which used to make their own shows for local consumption, before submitting them to the network for a national screening, they used to come up with gems like this.It's a bizarre story of a kid and his dad entering a strange place in the west of england (the Dad is a Historian on a research trip, but his son finds out more than his Dad was expecting), only to find that everything is not as it seems. The locals are being drawn into a strange cult which revolves around an ancient stone monument in the locality (actually the ancient monument which still stands in Avebury, Wiltshire, UK)...I really couldn't tell you any more without spoiling things, but my description of this series would be: If that great cult movie "The Wicker Man" had been made as a children's programme, it might have looked something like this. It's a true hidden gem, which caught the imagination of kids across the UK upon its original transmission in the UK in early 1977.If any overseas viewers (who like something a bit out of the ordinary) want to check it out, then I certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend the UK DVD release by "Second Sight" - and if you ever find yourself in the UK, take the time out to visit the location used in the series... It's a truly mystical place, with a truly strange atmosphere which will stick in your mind long after your trip...ITV in the UK these days is a very different operation, and they just don't make shows like this anymore. If ITV made a show called "Children Of The Stones" today, it would probably be a reality show starring Jade Jagger and Theodora Richards.... Watch and enjoy what once was, in the days when we Brits were truly proud of the programming we produced, as opposed to these days, when we are frankly embarrassed by 95% of it... :-(

mark monroe I remember watching this series when it was first aired many years ago - In fact while I was still at school! I find it hard to believe its for kids, as the plot is a complex one that most young kids probably would not follow. The story is father & son visit milbury, (actually its Avebury, Wilts - Not far from Stonehedge), a village surrounded by a circle of stones. Once people enter the village they cant leave! Adam brake is the scientist who saves the day.The series was run mid 90's several times on the Childrens Channel. I managed to pick the entire series up on video a few years ago, now I want the DVD versions (somehow i dont think this will happen!!)Catch it if you can!