Zathura / Jumanji (DVD)

A double bill of family adventure films, based on novels by Chris Van Allsburg. Zathura (Dir. Jon Favreau, 2005): Actor-turned-director Jon Favreau (Elf) delivers another work of intelligent, charming family fare with this space adventure. Older brother Walter (Josh Hutcherson) and the younger Danny (Jonah Bobo) are constantly at war with one another, bickering over the mediating voice of their long-suffering father (Tim Robbins). When he has to go to the office to replace some papers the boys destroyed in their crossfire, he leaves them in the dubious care of older sister Lisa (Kristen Stewart), who is sleeping upstairs. When Danny discovers an old board game called Zathura stored in the basement, his excitement is lost on Walter, who has no time for such old, boring toys. Soon, however, the game becomes impossible to ignore, as the boys are transported into space, and one of them must win in order to make it home again. Each turn brings a new, often dangerous, surprise, and the boys are faced with a murderous robot, an explosive meteor shower, and lizard-like aliens, while poor Lisa is cryogenically frozen early in the game. Jumanji (Dir. Joe Johnston, 1995): When young Alan Parrish and his friend Sarah (Bonnie Hunt) begin to play a mysterious board game, they don't realise its unimaginable powers until Alan is magically transported into the untamed jungles of Jumanji. Twenty-six years later, Judy (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter (Bradley Pierce) discover the dusty board and reawaken the game as they begin to play. Instantly the forces of Jumanji release a fully-grown, bewildered Alan Parrish (Robin Williams) into their world. With each roll of the dice they must face the increasingly terrifying consequences until the game is finished and the victor had uttered the word Jumanji...