Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story
Tags: fantasy

Plot synopsis:
In 2001, Jack Robinson (Matthew Modine) is the rich CEO of a large company. Throughout his family's past, no Robinson male has lived to be over 40, and Jack keeps having a dream about his father and an angry giant. He tries very hard to stay healthy with the help of his Albanian butler Dussan (Jonathan Hyde). The man who manages his business affairs, Siegfried "Siggy" Mannheim (Jon Voight), convinces him to turn down a project involving alternative food supplies of genetically-engineered plants to feed the Third World, and also to build a casino complex around his ancestral castle in a small town to which the locals greatly object.
During construction, the workers discover the skeleton of a giant. A strange young woman called Ondine (Mia Sara) then appears and accuses Jack of being "a thief and a murderer" before vanishing in a flash of light. That night, a man sneaks into Jack's house and takes him to see an old woman whom Jack recognizes as a great-aunt who he believed was dead. The old woman tells him the traditional version of the fairytale "Jack and the Beanstalk" in which the giant is portrayed as a selfish, gluttonous plot brute who cared for nothing and no one, subsequently giving him the last magic bean (the original Jack was given five beans but only four grew into the beanstalk, the fifth one landing on rock instead of earth), suggesting that the tale that she has told him may not be the truth, and that the answers he seeks about recent events may be found at the other end of the beanstalk.
Jack plants the bean in the forest near the location where the giant was discovered, and the bean grows into a huge beanstalk leading Jack into the world of the giants, a magical world where a single day passes for every year that passes on the ground below. Jack is left stranded in the giant world after the beanstalk dissolves, apparently cut down by someone back on Earth, and discovers that the giant Thunderdell (Bill Barretta) was an extremely benevolent person: kind, honest, and a loving friend and father who had also adopted Ondine and raised her as his own daughter. The protagonist of this film is portrayed as being "the fifteenth descendant of" the original Jack. In 1611, Jack obtained the beans, climbed the beanstalk, only to betray Thunderdell and Ondine's trust by stealing the singing Harp of Harmony and the golden Goose of Prosperity, and his mother killed Thunderdell. Jack's descendants grew rich, at the "truly horrible" cost of Thunderdell's world being subjected to a curse where "no crops will grow; we will never see spring again" as the giant world slowly dies over time. Only with the death of the Robinson family would the magic be restored, hence the Robinson family curse. Despite her doubts about Jack after what happened when she fell for his ancestor - due to the different flow of time between the worlds only around one year has passed in the Land of the Giants as opposed to centuries here - Ondine recognizes that Jack is not the man his ancestor was (all the other giants are aware of this, but they still want to kill him as only his death can break their curse), and transports him back to Earth to help her find the "sacred treasures".
When they arrived, Jack and Ondine find the beanstalk turned into an old and rotten stump. Jack asks, "How did it rot so fast?" Then they run towards the castle, now a casino complex. Jack asks, "How long were we gone?" Ondine says, "A week in our time". Then Jack realizes and says, "Seven years!" Meaning that seven years had passed on, and Jack and Ondine had arrived in the year 2008. During their search, Jack learns that his "great-aunt" Wilhelmina is hiding several secrets. "The poor, misguided boy who climbed the beanstalk in 1611 was my son. My crime was perhaps the greatest of them all," she tells the pair, and this immoral act is revealed to be her murder of Thunderdell, whom her son didn't want to kill with the giant having fallen many stories and suffering massive internal injuries and broken bones: "No, Mother. Not like this". Wilhelmina relates how the Robinson Curse "has many ugly tentacles. My curse was to see my son die before his time, and his son, and his son. One after another, they died. And I am alive".
Jack's manager is also revealed to have known the truth all along and was entrusted to tell Jack when "he was ready" by Jack's father but instead encouraged Jack to care about nothing but his work and never marry so that when he died, Siggy would inherit the company. He also admits to having cut down the beanstalk and leaving Jack stranded in the giant world. Siggy tries to kill Jack and Ondine, but some of the giants suddenly intervene - having teleported down from their kingdom, although the differing time flow means that what took them a few minutes took a few hours back on Earth- and knock him out.
With the return of the Goose and Harp, the Giants' world is restored, and the Giants thank Jack for undoing his ancestors' mistakes. After returning to his world, Jack saves the company's reputation by supporting the project of genetically-engineered plants that he previously rejected (after having discovered its effects during his stay in the Giants' prison), while Siggy is revealed in a newspaper headline to have been committed into an insane asylum due to the public's belief that he has gone insane for claiming that he is being hunted by giants. Finally, due to the curse being lifted, Wilhelmina Robinson (Siggy mentioned she's 450) dies peacefully, with Jack and Dussan by her side.
At the end of the film, Ondine requests Jack to stay in her world which Jack finally refuses as he says he has to "right the wrong" many things in his world. After the arrival of Jack to his own world he realizes that he truly loved Ondine (and she too) and decides to spend his money for the well being of children and the starving nations being the chairman of Robinson International (which is a business with 200 billion capital by this time). After three months (six giant hours) Ondine returns to Jack, where she is allowed to spend one Giant week (seven years in our world) with him, and it is hinted that at the end of this time, they may have children (as Jack says, "a whole bunch of little Robinsons") accompanying them back.

Review: Corporate head Jack Robinson is about to discover that fairytales are very real in this revisionist take on `Jack and the Beanstalk'.The film starts off well, with Jack (Matthew Modine) discovering that life isn't as straightforward as he thought.
A nice atmosphere is created as a mysterious woman, Ondine (Mia Sara looking very cute), appears dropping dire hints as to his family's secret.
Eventually Jack discovers the truth behind his wealth, and finds out that it is up to him to put things right.The `real world' segments of this movie tend to work best, as Jack struggles to come to terms with his discovery that fairy tales are true, with the `fantasy land' segments - mainly due to some variable effects - actually detracting from the sense of wonder.
While most of the performances are fine (though Modine occasionally seems to be playing Scott Bakula), the guy playing the original Jack is fairly dire.What really makes the story work is the idea that fairy tales are history dressed up to be palatable to us (and of course not necessarily reliably related history), and the way that we might exploit magic if it were available to us.Well worth a watch for fantasy/fairy tale fans, or if you liked the superior `The 10th Kingdom'..
Modine and Mia Sara's performances are excellent as are the rest.
Sara plays the girl from another world who comes to Modine to help him find the truth and help her bring welfare back to her people.
I never thought twice about the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, but this movie does answer some dangling plot points such as where the beans came from and a closer look into Jack's character.
Matthew Modine, Mia Sara, John Voight and all the class give wonderful performances highlighted by a believable story into the realm of beings who probably were the gods of ancient myth.
Wonderful and ironic casting choices abound; Mia Sara from the fantasy "Legend" turns up in this fantasy as does Darryl Hannah playing another sort of giant after doing the "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman" remake.
The whole fantasy has a charming and intelligent telling in it as modern day Jack learns the far-fetched truth of his ancestry and his connections to an ancient myth.
Someone obviously did their research searching the origins of this tale and linking it to believable characters and events.
It's also the story of a very productive goose that laid eggs of pure gold to the music of a magic harp.
The excavation of some giant bones at the beginning gave promise of a pretty exciting film, but I thought the pace was slow until we met the first Jack and his mother Mrs. Robinson outraged at her son's transaction - a half a dozen bean seeds for the family cow!
When Jack steals the harp and the goose and clambers down the beanstalk with the angry giant in close pursuit, tension rises.
Great fairy story stuff for the children!
The second half of the story explains how the curse can be removed if the goose and harp can be taken back to the land of the giants.
Modern day Jack undertakes the mission, but is caught, tried and found guilty in the giant's court.
We have plenty of time to do so.The film runs for 3 hours (not including advertisements).
a wonderful, imaginative retelling of the old fairy tale, that does a great job of imagining an alternate beginning and then adding a great storyline to help finish it out.
it was tied in very well with the modern world, and Matthew Modine made for a very likable Jack, who tries to make things right again.
Mia Sara as Ondine once again shows that she is best used in a longer premise where she has room to flesh out her character.
a great movie to see with the whole family.
Although it's a bit long this is a great movie.
Great actors, great effects and a good adaptation of the story.
Everybody knows the fairy tale but this is a very original modern-day spin off.
I think the story is a bit complex for the under age 8 group but they won't be bored with the effects.
Matthew Modine (one of my favorites ever since I've seen him in HBO's "and the and played on") really makes the most out of the character.
This is a great movie so far!
Shame really as it's a good idea for a film.
At one point the film goes so slowly it almost stops.The fairytale of Jack and The Beanstalk was a lie based on the truth.
The 15th generation son of Jack has to pay the price for the crimes of his distant relative 400 years ago who stole the goose that lays the golden eggs and the harp that plays for the goose to lay from the big FRIENDLY giant.The land of the giants has suffered terribly, crops have failed because the harp isn't there to play the special music and the climate has changed because the golden eggs where burned in a furnace to power the climate of the land.As I say, nice idea but tooooooooooooooooo looooooooooooooooong!.
For a family film, it certainly kept this adult in its spell for its entire length (3 hours).
Mostly solid acting (especially from the "intense" Mia Sara), very good special sets and effects considering it was made for TV and shot 10 years ago, the pace never slows even though it does allow itself some slower, more contemplative pauses from its break-neck pace, such as the beautiful scenes of Jack (the modern one) climbing the beanstalk through a sea of clouds.
I saw Jack and the Beanstalk:The Real Story on the SyFy Channel, and I wasn't expecting much.
But it was actually very entertaining, while a tad too long and Jon Voight did have an accent and mannerisms that did fall flat sometimes, it did have a lot of good points.
The pace is very brisk mostly with only the last thirty minutes or so feeling as though it was meandering, and the acting is mostly above decent with Jack being a likable hero and Vanessa Redgrave coming off best.
What you get is a re-telling of the story (an OK idea)that turns into a soppy, silly,clichéd Hollywood idea of Eco-giants, nice cuddly creatures who wouldn't hurt a fly.
James Corden is in this movie as a tender hearted giant named Ben. Why is he not listed in the cast?.
You just sit there hoping that there was a climax on the way and it never comes.Of course this was a family movie, too, so I know I shouldn't have expected black humor or scary thrills.In many places the script isn't transparent...
you kind of start to think of the writers' motives on including a twist in the plot which isn't good.
I know they were making a movie about a fairy tale but this was supposed to be the "real story" so a bit less overacting would've been good.
He was a nice touch, worth 1 point, 1 point comes for a good idea and 1 for the investment in fantasy..
When I saw the listing for this film I imagined that it would be another network fantasy movie crap fest.
The casting of Sara and Modine caused me to tape it and give it a look.
As expected the fantasy land  odd folk are bland, rather it is the "real world" segments that are magical (and literate).
Sara (as fantasy land emissary) and Modine are perfect together..
The Real Story is that Jack and the Beanstalk is still popular.
Jack and the Beanstalk is a movie which you can put in the same category as the 10th Kingdom.
Jack and the Beanstalk is a fairy tale, so normally you might think that this is only for children but the makers of this movie or actually TV-series prove that you can even interest adults with a fairy tale.
The special effects are very funny and the story does not bore you for any moment and keeps your attention for the full 3 hours it takes.
Jack and the Beanstalk is according to my opinion a masterpiece because it is great to make a movie which interests people from you until old and you can find all aspects in the movie like magic, adventure, humor and of course, how we could forget it Romantic.
One of the best movies I have ever seen.
Jack and the Beanstalk may have been a children's story....
I thought that Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story was a fantastic film.
In terms of editing and cinematography, Hallmark is fast becoming well - known as producers of quality films that revitalize the old classics.
Now, in terms of content, "Jack" was a film that I would take my 10-year-old to see in a theater.
Because despite one bed scene when Jack (the forbearer of modern Jack) abandons his beanstalk beauty, I think the film really does well at showing what could have happened after Jack cut down the beanstalk.I liked how he built an empire with the goose's eggs.
But I really like what the story teaches about morals and telling the truth; about compassion and doing what is right, for the sake of living a life of integrity and courage.I would say two thumbs up, but that might violate someone else's copyright.
but the great thing who defines this series is, obvious, the smart way to use the virtues of an old classic fairy tale for a seductive show .
the delicate and precise clash between worlds, the inspired choice for do the characters, the atmosphere and the drops of "The Legend" from the performance of Mia Sara.
Great movie, beautiful music.
Mia Sara is very good, the music is beautiful (especially the love theme and the one during the scene near the end when the Harp restores everything﻿).
It's got very interesting characters, excellent and enthralling story, great character development, very creative and artistic.
Awesome movie, it's one of my favorite film of all time...
When I saw "Jim Henson" on the cover I thought of Yoda and Kermit and expected a puppet movie, entertaining but a bit cheesy and very artificial.
Jack and The Beanstalk is a great fantasy movie.
Then you are told the tale from *their* point of view, and the movie just takes off from there.
It's a lovely mix of modern life and the classical fantasy world.No movie is perfect, and of course this one does have it's flaws, but they aren't big and as a family movie it is a great weekend treat.
starlet86 from edison NJ hit it on the nose...some not so consistent story telling...good movie but if you have the DVD - and watch over again - you will see the incosistencies...i'm not much for sappy endings...but even that was inconsistent...if they went back to giant land - she said they had 7 days which equaled 7 years in earth time - then he said there could be several new robinson's when they get back to earth - how could that be?
don't understand that...i also saw parallels to the movie Hook - which was much better told than this one...peter grows up and all...but in all - i am still a sucker for these types of twists on fairy tales...7 is good enough....
Great movie, a must addition to your collection..
I loved this movie....a must for young and old alike.
This movie is like verification for the fairy tale.
Purchase this movie and it will be loved and handed down for generations to come.
This is a great movie for family night in.
I can't imagine not seeing this movie and experiencing the remarkable way the story came together.
While watching this movie I couldn't help but think that it was an allegory for the experiences of native Americans upon being invaded.
Nobody else saw the movie that way?
The effects were great as expected but although the lineup of actors was stella, the script/movie could have been edited down and polished to about two thirds its length.
One thing that the movie does well is that it really makes you think: what if the fairy tale really did have a basis in fact?
A character doesn't have to be smiling all the time like a cross between a weird cult leader and a real estate agent to get across that he's a good guy.
This is an excellent version following the consequences of Jack's actions many generations ago.
This version of events brings in another perspective of the tale, making Jack the villain, the dishonest thief making a good living from the riches of the 'Giant Kingdom', and the Giant being a kind hearted man who was originally simply protecting the riches of the kingdom preventing it from destruction.
Does the author of the original tale intend the reader to interpret the story as such?
a great fairy tale.
This is an imaginative take on the Jack and the Beanstalk story.
Plus as a female, I appreciate the fact that it's one of the few stories where (possible spoiler) the damsel(who's in a different kind of distress than other fairy tale women) rescues Prince Charming.
I like the film but have to admit that it's not very good at establishing tension (more on that later).
And if you're a fan of romance, adventure, or just feel-good movies in general, those things shouldn't keep you from enjoying this film..
Like most if not all Henson productions, this TV movie has beautifully done puppetry work, SPFX, and music.
The harp's music will haunt listeners for years afterwards.To understand Henson's take on the story, it helps to know the original story.The original tale of Jack and the Beanstalk was first written down more than 250 years ago and is known to have existed in oral form long before then.
In the original English folktale, Jack stole the music of the gods in the form of a golden harp, stole food for his starving family or community in the form of a cooking pot that created a meal every day, and stole the equivalent of shining fire in the goose that laid shining gold eggs.
Jack also liberated his people from the god-giant's cannibalism, not unlike liberating his people from a plague that was devouring them.However, Henson has said that he hated the original story and chose to work on it only if he could alter it.
"It's a fairy tale that became part of British culture during a time when empire building and conquering other cultures was heroic" he stated (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_and_the_Beanstalk:_The_Real_Story in 2016).Henson's film vilifies the folktale's bold trickster hero into an avaricious cad who betrays an almost clownishly innocent giant.
"Surely in your world, if you benefit from the wrongdoings of your fathers, then you inherit the obligation to right the wrong" rationalizes a likable god-giant played with considerable charisma by Richard Attenborough as the unfortunately named character Magog.Henson's film has been accused of political correctness and a painfully naive interpretation of serious issues such as ecology, appropriation, and reparations, but these accusations remain in dispute.Nevertheless, after seeing what Henson did to Jack in the Beanstalk, one wonders what he would do to the myth of Prometheus or to any of the many Native American tales about this sort of theft.
Loved Matthew Modine and Mia Sara in this film....
I rented this movie on VHS in 2002 and watched it for the first time.
This film introduced me to the film acting of Matthew Modine and Mia Sara for the first time.
I liked the character that Matthew Modine portrayed in this film and Mia Sara was remarkably charming.
Matthew and Mia had great romantic chemistry on screen and the film had a smart plot from smart screen writing.
It's a real joy to watch and the bad-Jack-character caused me to be introspective about my life.The story parallels the Christian doctrine of the first Adam brought sin and spiritual death into the world and the second Adam, Christ, brought spiritual redemption, salvation and restoration to the World.
The chanting crowds wanting the last Jack to be executed reminded me of some Easter passion plays I have watched.It's been a wile since this movie was shipping new on DVD so, the prices for new and used copies are too high, at the time I'm writing this post but, once the DVD is re-released again, the DVD prices for this film will become friendly once again.I was able to borrow a copy from my public library and I also saw it for free legally, on the Internet.
So there are ways to sample this movie before you decide to buy the DVD.
It's a great movie..
One Of The Best Television Movies Ever Made.
i was really surprised at how good this Jim Henson production looked in comparison to most television epics.
it truly looked of theatrical quality and rivaled, if not better, than most movies made for the theater.i was equally surprised at the quality of it's story and how engrossing it was.
not only did the film contain a traditional telling of the story within it, it also embellished the legend quite effectively.
it actually gave the old fairy tale some dimension and turned it into something compelling and even touching.i also thought it had a interesting statement about wealth and how it isn't always honestly obtained.i always expect the very best from anything Jim Henson's production company and name are associated with.
i was hoping it was going to be good, but i was pleased to find it to be a minor family classic of sorts..
Vanessa Redgrave does a great job of setting the tone at the throughout the movie with her grave, atmospheric narration.
But generally, the movie was a good Sunday-evening fare.