Originally aired on the NBC network as a two-part miniseries, this all-star adventure is perhaps one of the most complete and faithful retellings of 18th-century author Jonathan Swift's epic social satire on film. Nine years after he set sail from England, a bedraggled, disoriented Dr. Lemuel Gulliver (
Ted Danson) returns to his home. His faithful wife (
Mary Steenburgen) is delighted to see him, but also troubled, for in Gulliver's absence the conniving Dr. Bates (
James Fox) has taken over Gulliver's home and practice and is also trying to force Gulliver's wife to marry him. During his recovery, Gulliver raves and acts out his fantastic adventures at sea wherein he encountered the diminutive but contentious Lilliputians, the gigantic Brobdingnag's and their egalitarian society, the Laputas, who live upon a flying island, and the Houyhnhnmland, intelligent talking horses living in a land populated by wild humans. Scenes of his adventures are deftly interspersed with Gulliver's present predicament in which Dr. Bates, wanting Lemuel's wife and son, has placed the traveller in Bedlam, London's famous insane asylum where he awaits a hearing to determine his sanity. Gulliver's young son holds the key to his release. Filmed on location in Portugal and England, this miniseries is set apart by a top-notch cast and exceptional special effects. In addition to the aforementioned actors, the cast includes
Peter O'Toole,
Geraldine Chaplin, Sir John Gielgud,
Omar Sharif and
Alfre Woodard. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide