The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and The Mark Gordon Company. The film is based on a short story named The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by Marius Petipa.
How to Stream or Download The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
The movie is available as a download or pre-order on iTunes. It comes in several languages with subtitles. Check if your favorite one (for example Hindi, Tamil, Polish or Spanish is present). To start your download or stream click on the link below the movie review. If you like movies based on famous fairy tales check out also Into the Woods which relates the stories of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel which were written by the Grimm Brothers: Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859).
The Film Review
Released on 29th October 2018, the film is directed by Lasse Hallstrom and Joe Johnston and features a cast consisting of Keira Knightley, Mackenzie Foy, Eugenio Derbez, Matthew Macfadyen, Richard E. Grant, and Misty Copeland.
The Plot
The film focuses on a young girl named Clara Stahlbaum who receives a gift as part of her mother’s dying wish. Clara discovers it to be a handcrafted egg-shaped box which seems to be locked.
Clara, along with the rest of her family head to Christmas Eve ball where she learns of the key as it takes her to a parallel universe.
The key gets stolen by a mouse as Clara chases it over the frozen lake thanks to Captain Philip Hoffman, a friend she meets in this mysterious universe. Unable to attain the key, she then goes on to meet the Sugar Plum Fairy where she explains how there are four realms and each of them is at war with the fourth one called the Land of Amusements.
Sugarplum further explains how she requires a key – matching the one Clara is searching for – to fit into a machine that can be used to take down Mother Ginger, the leader of the fourth realm. Clara then heads out and steals the key from Mother Ginger’s palace.
She gives it to Sugarplum who turns out to be evil as she plans on using the machine to turn everyone, in this world, into dolls. Sugarplum captures Clara and puts her in prison. She opens the box to find out that it is a mirror and that the gift meant that Clara only needed herself as she was special. She escapes from prison and tweaks Sugarplum’s machine into making sure that it hits her instead of Mother Ginger.
Meanwhile, Sugarplum activates the machine only to turn herself into a porcelain doll. The film ends with Clara saying goodbye to everyone and going back into her own world where she apologizes to her for being disrespectful, as the two then begin to dance together.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: the Movie Production
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a unique film on its own. Not only does it perfectly define the original short story, but also makes use of modern effects to make sure that all the children and adults enjoy this film to its fullest.
Lead by VFX supervisor Max Wood, the film reportedly created up to 1000 VFX shots. According to VFX artists, the main focus of everyone was to work on building the characters, the palace, and the forest.
The official soundtrack of the film was composed by James Newton Howard and was adapted from The Nutcracker Suite from 1892. It was officially released on 26th October 2018.
The Bottom Line
Overall, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is the perfect Christmas film to watch with the family. It is set up in a cold and cozy environment, allowing viewers to imagine that they are involved in the story as well. The film was a moderate success and is around the top 50 movies as far 2018 box office is concerned.
