The Water Horse Legend of the Deep Two-Disc Special Edition DVD

A Heartwarming and imaginitive Tale for the whole Family
Review by J. Larsen

As a big fan of the legend of the Loch Ness Monster, the new film "Water horse" brings the spirit as well as the excitement of the time honored legend to life like never before. Set in the era of World War II, the story takes place in the highlands of Scotland where a lonely young boy named Angus discovers a mysterious egg that turns out to hatch into a spunky and mischievous waterborne dinosaur known as the ancient Water horse named Crusoe. With his beloved father gone at sea fighting the German U-Boats and his mother and older sister not paying any particular attention to him Angus takes the orphaned Crusoe in and raising him as his pet. But Angus quickly realizes very early on that doing so and trying his best to keep the little creature a secret brings with it some rather unusual problems as well as, some comically outrageous misadventures along the way. For example, when baby Crusoe escapes from his water filled bathtub and encounters an aggressive Royal Army bulldog named, "Churchill" who chases him around the house and then eventually ends up wrecking a lavish evening dinner party hosted by the lady of the house and some promptly dressed British soldiers. However, the film is not without its tender moments and adventurous scenes of peril as the cold realities of a bitter war come to prey on the people and the isolated beauty of such a spectacular place.

Inspired by the children's book by Author Dick King Smith, the film's director Jay Russell whose past credits include such films as, "Ladder 49 and Tuck Everlasting" goes to great lengths to bring this wonderfully imaginative story to life. The DVD comes with some impressive behind the scenes documentaries and one of the things that I found most interesting was that Russell actually visited Loch Ness in order to get an idea of where to shoot the film. At first glance he didn't think too much about the famous legend but as he got closer to the water's edge he found himself looking at the pristine water with an opened mind that just maybe there could be something big and mysterious swimming the depths of the Scottish lake. The film and DVD features are definitely worth checking out. If you're a fan of fantasy films or just like a story that let's you're imagination run wild, this movie is for you.