Around the World in 80 Days is a 1989 three-part television Eastmancolor miniseries originally broadcast on NBC. The production garnered three nominations for Emmy awards that year. Starring Pierce Brosnan as Phileas Fogg, Eric Idle as Passepartout, Julia Nickson as Princess Aouda, and Peter Ustinov as Detective Fix, the miniseries featured multiple cameo appearances, including Patrick Macnee, Simon Ward, and Christopher Lee as members of the Reform Club, and Robert Morley, who had a cameo in the 1956 film adaptation, and Roddy McDowall appear as officials of the Bank of England. The heroes travel a slightly different route than in the book, and the script makes several contemporary celebrities part of the story who were not mentioned in the book, such as Sarah Bernhardt, Louis Pasteur, Jesse James, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Queen Victoria.
Reviews
everything you have heard about this movie is true.
best movie i've ever seen.
A lot of fun.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
There are three major versions of the Verne book available on DVD; this version took me by surprise, not only because it is literate and more faithful to the original than the other two versions, but because Pierce Brosnan makes of Phileas Fogg a complex, believable Victorian man who learns that perhaps Empire and all it represents is not everything. David Niven was a brilliant caricature of Fogg, all style and quips, and whoever plays him in the Jackie Chan version is completely and innocuously forgettable--Brosnan plays Fogg for reality, and in doing so, invests the entire epic voyage with an exciting reality the other two versions do not have.This version, originally shown on television is long, and unfortunately, the two discs are filled with blackouts where commercials were once inserted, and with extra title sequences--no matter; while this is not filled with flash and amazingly comprehensive cameos as is the first version, it is also not stupidly infantile and filled with potty humor ( as is the most recent Coogan-Chan version). For a television version, this is quite compelling, full of good scenery, several beguiling and beautiful female leads, and a good amount of suspenseful narrative--it's old fashioned, but rewardingly so.
*Potential spoilers*I guess I'm echoing what others have written. This is truly a 'classic' adaption of the book. The characters are, of course, a little over-painted, but that's supposed to be so. It doesn't rely on slap-stick gags or the like but is extremely funny nevertheless. The key story, namely that of Mr. Fogg finally getting out of his corset of punctuality and distance, facilitated by the unconditional devotion of Passepartout and love of the Princess is being put to the audience in a remarkably unpretentious and delicate way. Excellent!
The general opinion if you read a book which later become´s a movie, or vice versa, is that the one you experienced first is the best or true story of what "actually" happend, this one is the exeption that confirms the rule, becuse this is in my opinion a perfect translation from book to movie, it thousn´t differ to much on the original manuscript by Jules Verne, and besides Pierce Character as a arrogant, timesaving snob fits him whery well.
In my opinion this mini-series is far superior to the much praised 1956 movie starring David Niven. Pierce Brosnan is excellent as the unflappable Phileas Fogg, and Eric Idle is superb as Passepartout. The action moves from one cliff-hanger to the next, much in the fashion of a old-time Saturday matinee serial, and the story is always entertaining. The developing love interest between Fogg and the princess (Julia Nickson) is also handled well.
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