Max Magician and the Legend of the Rings
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| Max Magician and the Legend of the Rings | |
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| Directed by | Kevin Summerfield |
| Produced by | Kevin Summerfield |
| Written by | Kimberly Gough |
| Starring | Timothy Stultz Ken Mitzkovitz Erika Ann Steven Barry Prince Greg Coale Lee Savage Kevin Curtis |
| Cinematography | Brendan Flynt |
| Editing by | Kevin Summerfield |
| Distributed by | Sterling Entertainment Group |
| Release date(s) | 2002 |
| Running time | 2 Hours And 10 Minutes |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Max Magician and the Legend of the Rings is a direct-to-video film that was produced and directed by Kevin Summerfield and written by Kimberly Gough. It is distributed by Sterling Entertainment Group and was released in 2002.
[edit] Plot
Max Magician and the Legend of the Rings is a magical tale about young Max, a shy, bullied boy. In order to escape a duo of troublesome schoolfellows, who are evidently jealous of Max but seek to deny it by reducing him to a weakling, Max takes refuge with a neighbor referred to only as Mister Tim. This Mister Tim, noting Max's interest in legerdemain, gives him "a book of real magic, used by wizards for thousands of years". Max accepts this gift and begins to study this book.
While Max is studying the magic book, he meets and befriends a talking mouse called Crimble. Crimble encourages Max to practice the magic spells outlined in the book; a pastime that soon opens for Max a door into a different worldline of our planet. In this worldline dwell the arboreal Sidhe, a race of elf-like spirits, and their counterparts, the underground Unseelie Tribe. These two factions, long at peace, now fight at every meeting due to the insults perpetrated by the Unseelie king Dagda. Into this conflict is Max introduced. Also shown to viewers is Fax, a crafty Unseelie who serves as advisor to Dagda and is often wordlessly frustrated by his king's stupidity.
Although Max initially flees from the scene of the trouble, he soon returns. In the Spirit World, he learns more of the strife that frightened him from the Sidhe princess Etain, who is acting in the position of a ruler in the absence of her parents. In the same world, he is befriended by a rhyming Sidhe named Tom Tit Tot and taken as apprentice by the wizard Fayoon, who introduces him to the various uses of magic. All this is reported to Lord Dagda by a much-bullied Unseelie called the Worm. From the Princess Etain, Max learns how to use a staff as a weapon. From the Worm, he learns that the Red Cap, an assassin, has been sent to kill him. Max eludes the Red Cap and attempts to introduce the turncoat Worm to the Princess, who will have nothing to do with him. The Unseelie army is marching on the Sidhe capital, and must be defeated.
Angered by the Princess' refusal, Max stalks off alone. He comes face to face with Lord Dagda, who attempts to destroy him. In the struggle that follows, the mouse Crimble is seemingly killed, provoking Max to use mice as the instrument of a spell that causes Dagda to vanish. Max then uses his magic to awaken a troupe of warriors who had remained in suspended animation for a year; these knights depart for the battleground, to turn the tide of battle in favor of the Sidhe. Max is greeted with honor by Etain's mother and father, who have been restored to the throne. Max ultimately returns to his own worldline, where he again confronts the bullies. Before they can do him any harm, a young male Sidhe appears, holding a mouse in his hand. Being that the bullies are afraid of mice, they flee. The newcomer reveals that he is Crimble, and that the mouse is Lord Dagda. Thereafter, Dagda is Max's prisoner, whereas Crimble, Worm, and Tom Tit Tot visit Max for the purposes of entertainment.
[edit] Criticism
- On the front of the DVD cover, the Science Fiction Chronicle gives it 3.5 stars and describes it as "A fantasy epic in the tradition of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings."
