Jack the Giant Killer (2013 Asylum film)
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''Jack the Giant Killer'' is a 2013 American
fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction ...
produced by
The Asylum The Asylum is an American independent film company and distributor that focuses on producing low-budget, direct-to-video films. It is notorious for producing titles that capitalize on productions by major studios, often using film titles and s ...
and directed by Mark Atkins. A modern take of the fairy tales "
Jack the Giant Killer "Jack the Giant Killer" is a Cornish fairy tale and legend about a young adult who slays a number of bad giants during King Arthur's reign. The tale is characterised by violence, gore and blood-letting. Giants are prominent in Cornish folklor ...
" and "
Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition On Commons and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Co ...
", the film stars
Ben Cross Harry Bernard Cross (16 December 1947 – 18 August 2020) was an English stage and film actor. He was best known for playing Billy Flynn in the original West End production of the musical ''Chicago'', and his portrayal of the British Ol ...
and Jane March. It is a
mockbuster A mockbuster (also known as knockbuster or a drafting opportunity) is a film created to exploit the publicity of another major motion picture with a similar title or subject. Mockbusters are often made with a low budget and quick production to max ...
of ''
Jack the Giant Slayer ''Jack the Giant Slayer'' (previously titled ''Jack the Giant Killer'') is a 2013 American fantasy adventure film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie and Dan Studney, from a story by Lemke and David Dobki ...
''. It was released on DVD in the UK as ''The Giant Killer''.


Plot

A man who appears crazy shows up at Jack's eighteenth birthday party claiming to have a gift from Jack's missing father, Newald Krutchens. The stranger, Jess Walters, tells Jack that he never forgets a promise. Jack's mother, Sharon, believes Jess is "clinically insane" and wants Jack to forget about the ordeal. After opening the gift and discovering it contains only beans, Jack tosses them into an empty field. Discovering the beanstalk the next morning, Jack is trapped by a bean tendril, and carried up into the clouds to find a strange land. He is chased by a dinosaur-like monster and takes refuge in a nearby floating mechanical castle, which is revealed to be operated by his father. For Jack, his father has been missing since birth, but Newald swears he has only been gone a few days. He is surprised that his son is now a legal adult but accepts that it must be true. He further deduces that the following must be true: one day in this land is equivalent to one year on Earth. Newald is still only twenty-nine. Jack explains to his father that Jess gave him the beans, and Newald fondly recalls that his friend never forgets a promise. Jack then suggests they go back down the beanstalk together, but Newald points out that "only he who plants the bean can travel the stalk". Jack and his father explore the Land of the Clouds and visit the mysterious sorceress Selina in hope of finding a solution to their problem. Newald confronts Selina as she is taking a bath in the middle of an empty room. Meanwhile, Jack's girlfriend Lisa plants another beanstalk to rescue Jack, but Selina uses this beanstalk to take the beasts down to Earth so she can become its ruler. It is eventually revealed that Selina's mother, Mildred, became a local legend for claiming her daughter was stolen by giants. Selina is coming to Earth to find her. The British Army steps in (dressed in the uniforms of World War II soldiers). They declare the beanstalk as a public menace, but their military weapons - including rifles, tranquilizer bullets and rubber bullets - are ineffective against the beasts. Lisa, Newald and Jack drive the floating castle off the edge of the world and Newald admits that he has no idea what is going to happen. Luckily, the castle seems to be holding up quite well. The castle spins off the edge of the world and they land safely on a creature. General O'Shauncey has seen many things in his army career, but he exclaims that this "takes the biscuit". Meanwhile, Jess pretends to be the prime minister. Newald nabs Selina's necklace as he believes it will stop her control over the giants. He cites the law that "they will become peaceful beasts of the fields". Unfortunately, the giants do not become peaceful beasts of the fields and become evil, attacking everyone in sight. Newald takes Selina into a car and introduces her to his friends. The driver is squashed by a giant. The British Army defeats most of the monsters but one remains. Jess sacrifices himself to distract the beast with his motorcycle, and is tragically squashed underfoot. Jack saves the day in a mechanical metal suit and Selina hugs Newald, undecided about her plans for retribution.


Cast


Release

The film was released
direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...
and on video-on-demand on March 12, 2013. In the tradition of The Asylum's catalog, ''Jack the Giant Killer'' is a
mockbuster A mockbuster (also known as knockbuster or a drafting opportunity) is a film created to exploit the publicity of another major motion picture with a similar title or subject. Mockbusters are often made with a low budget and quick production to max ...
of the
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
/
Legendary Pictures Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC ( doing business as Legendary Entertainment or simply Legendary) is an American film production and mass media company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull in 2000. The company has collaborate ...
film ''
Jack the Giant Slayer ''Jack the Giant Slayer'' (previously titled ''Jack the Giant Killer'') is a 2013 American fantasy adventure film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie and Dan Studney, from a story by Lemke and David Dobki ...
''.


Reception

Influx Magazine rated it "D" and called it "pretty bad". Moira gave the movie one star, finding the movie to have a good premise and that the first half has some promise, but that the last part of the movie fails to live up to this.


References


External links

* * {{Jack The Asylum films Mockbuster films 2013 direct-to-video films 2010s fantasy adventure films 2013 independent films 2013 films American fantasy adventure films Films based on Jack and the Beanstalk Films shot in Los Angeles American independent films Jack the Giant Killer 2010s exploitation films Films directed by Mark Atkins 2010s English-language films 2010s American films