The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Stephen Sommers

Writers (WGA):

Mark Twain (novel)
Stephen Sommers (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 April 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

They set off in search for freedom and discovered the adventure of a lifetime!

Plot:

Huckleberry Finn, the half-literate son of a drunk, runs away from home and follows the Mississippi River with an escaped slave named Jim...

Plot Keywords:

River | Con | Slave | Mississippi River | Orphan

Cast

Elijah Wood	...	Huck Finn
Courtney B. Vance	...	Jim
Robbie Coltrane	...	The Duke
Jason Robards	...	The King
Ron Perlman	...	Pap Finn
Dana Ivey	...	Widow Douglas
Anne Heche	...	Mary Jane Wilks
James Gammon	...	Deputy Hines
Paxton Whitehead	...	Harvey Wilks
Tom Aldredge	...	Dr. Robinson
Laura Bell Bundy	...	Susan Wilks (as Laura Bundy)
Curtis Armstrong	...	Country Jake
Mary Louise Wilson	...	Miss Watson
Frances Conroy	...	Scrawny Shanty Lady
Danny Tamberelli	...	Ben Rodgers (as Daniel Tamberelli)

Also Known As:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
As Aventuras de Huck Finn (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Las aventuras de Huckleberry Finn (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Die Abenteuer von Huck Finn (Germany) [de]
Huckleberry Finnin seikkailut (Finland) [fi]
Huckleberry Finns äventyr (Sweden) [sv]
Le avventure di Huck Finn (Italy) [it]
Les aventures de Huckleberry Finn (France) (video title) [fr]
Oi peripeteies tou Huck Finn (Greece) [el]
Przygody Hucka Finna (Poland) [pl]

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild violence and language.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10/7 | Germany:6 | Iceland:L | Peru:PT | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Jefferson Military College - Highway 61, Washington, Mississippi, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

Tom Sawyer has just one shot in this version of the film where he yells "Go for the glory!", even though he is a major character in Mark Twain's book. The actor who says "Go for the glory, Huck!" at 03:43 on the DVD is Danny Tamberelli who is listed in the end credits as playing "Ben Rodgers". At 03:45, another boy says "Ya, go for the glory", but Tom Sawyer, who has a large roll in the ending of the book that is not in the film, does not appear in the end credits.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Pap Finn is carrying Huck over his shoulder, down the stairs, we see (at 12:05) looking down from the second floor that the stair landing has a 2-candle sconce on its right wall and its left wall. At 12:11 looking up from the first floor there is no sconce on the right wall of the landing.

Quotes:

[to Huck]
Pap Finn: But I'm... I'm your next of kin... and you're my little angel.

Movie Connections:

Version of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1985) (TV)

Soundtrack:

String Quartet No.17 'Jagd' in B-Flat major, K.458

Not as good as Tom and Huck, but good

Disney's 1993 adaptation of Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a fun-spirited adventure. Elijah Wood stars as the title character, and his charm and charisma serves the film well, as it did the other good films of his youth ("North", "Radio Flyer" and others). Courtney Vance does a fine job as Huck's friend Jim, the runaway slave.

Stephen Sommers ("The Mummy", "The Mummy Returns") wrote the screenplay and directed this version, and he does a good job at capturing the spirit of the South. The cinematography is first-rate, too, as it is in "Tom and Huck." It's slightly too long (as is Twain's novel), and as a result loses a bit of steam in the final act, but there is enough power and charm to keep you engaged and caring for these colorful characters.

Two years later, Disney would adapt Twain's "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" in "Tom and Huck" and that was an all-around classy production. Many of Tom and Huck's good qualities are present here in this movie, including powerful performances, wonderful photography and music, and plenty of spirit and charm.