Gulliver’s Travels – Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

Why isn’t Jack Black’s name the same font size as the title? Why isn’t his name part of the title? This is Jack Black’s Travels. There’s no mistaking the fact that Black isn’t really playing a character named Lemuel Gulliver. He’s playing Jack Black in a movie that takes him into Gulliver’s Travels. This is like Snow White and The Three Stooges or Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd with a screen comic taking his persona into the book’s action. It feels like cheating to even call Black anything, but Jack Black in the movie. His character is all about Kiss, Star Wars and Guitar Hero. He does the same schtick he does whenever a camera is pointed at him. So excuse me for never referring to him as Gulliver.

Black has been working a decade in the mailroom of a magazine. He dresses like a schlub while wheeling his cart around to toss off the daily deliveries at the desks of writers and editors. He’s got a secret crush on Amanda Peet’s travel editor. He quickly learns that his life of leisure might be coming to an end since the new guy in the mailroom was promoted to his boss in less than a day. The new boss tells him to his face that he’s peaked and he’s a wimp for not hitting on Peet. Instead of going home and killing himself, Black gets Peet to give him a writing assignment. Turns out someone has found the Bermuda Triangle. Jack scoots down there and gets directions to the entry point. Well it’s not a myth. His tiny boat gets sucked into the strangeness and dumped on the beach of Lilliput.

Elements of the original story get touched upon. He’s tied down by the little people on the beach, but it’s given that Jack Black seasoning. He gets swept into the family issues by the Liliputians. He ends up in a dungeon with Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) where the odd couple become pals. Black eventually helps him woo the princess (Emily Blunt). After he gets his freedom, Black lies to him about his life back home including declaring Star Wars as his biography. Jack becomes a hero to them after putting out a castle fire and destroying a rival navy. Things go bad for him later on. Can he keep really be a leader of the little people? And will Peet ever come look for him?

The 84 minute running time makes so much of the film feel too rushed. You can almost hear a producer screaming in the editing room to just get to the action. Why would this guy go on a solo journey to the Bermuda Triangle? So much action doesn’t make much sense. Maybe too many people were caught up in the whirlwind that this would all work out based on Black’s man-child antics. Director Rob Letterman had done well with his 3-D CGI animated Monsters Vs. Aliens. But his work with live actors results in 2-D characters. None of the other actors challenge Black for screen time.

The movie suffers from the same issue as The Land of the Lost. Who is the intended audience? Is this for grown ups that think like kids or kids that think like grown ups? When the castle is on fire, Black puts out the flames by dropping his shorts and peeing. He ends up giving a golden shower to several Lilliputians afterwards. Even with a PG rating, do you want to show this to an 8 year old? Why do they keep playing Kiss’ “Rock N Roll All Nite?” It’s a 35 year old song. A big gag is turning Prince’s “Kiss” into a Cyrano love poem moment. That song is 25 years old. Is this film supposed to be a nostalgia piece for people in their 50s?

This is the movie made for anyone who said they’d watch a movie with Jack Black reading the telephone book. Now you get something close to it. If you like Jack Black, Gulliver’s Travels is your kinda film.

The video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The film looks good even with all the layers of special effects to make Jack Black the world’s biggest slacker. The audio is 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless surround. There’s nothing to outlandishly dynamic in the mix. There are 5.1 dub tracks in Spanish, French and Portuguese. The movie is subtitled in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Cantonese and Traditional Chinese.

I Don’t Know…With Lemuel Gulliver (5:15) is a fake TV show about his adventure.
Gag Reel (1:28) is Black losing his shorts.
Deleted Scenes (15:13) show how much was clipped to bring it down to four reels.
Little and Large (8:14) explains the methods used to make Black a giant amongst his co-stars.
Jack Black Thinks Big (5:59) deals with the production design.
Downtime (4:24) makes the set more entertaining than the movie
War Song Dance (5:45) gives us Jack Black big song and dance number.
In Character (11:22) lets Black admit the script was written for him. Segel plays up his co-starring small role.
Life After Film School (21:52) allows three college students talk with Letterman. He should have apologized to them for this cinematic road kill.
World Premiere (6:02) is the red carpet.
Trailer (2:22) makes the movie about Jack Black showing up in Lilliput.
DVD with the movie and the goofs
Digital Copy of the movie for your iPod.

Gulliver’s Travels should not be used by junior high students as a way to avoid reading the Cliffs Notes on the book. It’s basically 84 minutes of Jack Black acting with tiny co-stars. He does all his usual schtick. If you swear Jack Black can do no wrong, this is your movie.


Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment presents Gulliver’s Travels. Directed by: Rob Letterman. Starring: Jack Black, Amanda Peet and Jason Segel. Written by: Joe Stillman and Nicholas Stoller. Running time: 84 minutes. Rating: PG. Released on Blu-ray and DVD: April 19, 2011.


Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.