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Young Sherlock Holmes

  • 1985
  • PG-13
  • 1h 49m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
24K
YOUR RATING
Sophie Ward, Alan Cox, and Nicholas Rowe in Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
Teen AdventureAdventureFantasyMysteryThriller

When assorted people start having inexplicable delusions that lead to their deaths, a teenage Sherlock Holmes decides to investigate.When assorted people start having inexplicable delusions that lead to their deaths, a teenage Sherlock Holmes decides to investigate.When assorted people start having inexplicable delusions that lead to their deaths, a teenage Sherlock Holmes decides to investigate.

  • Director
    • Barry Levinson
  • Writers
    • Arthur Conan Doyle
    • Chris Columbus
  • Stars
    • Nicholas Rowe
    • Alan Cox
    • Sophie Ward
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.8/10
    24K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Barry Levinson
    • Writers
      • Arthur Conan Doyle
      • Chris Columbus
    • Stars
      • Nicholas Rowe
      • Alan Cox
      • Sophie Ward
    • 121User reviews
    • 90Critic reviews
    • 65Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 1 win & 5 nominations total

    Photos155

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    Top cast38

    Edit
    Nicholas Rowe
    Nicholas Rowe
    • Sherlock Holmes
    Alan Cox
    Alan Cox
    • John Watson
    Sophie Ward
    Sophie Ward
    • Elizabeth Hardy
    Anthony Higgins
    Anthony Higgins
    • Professor Rathe
    Susan Fleetwood
    Susan Fleetwood
    • Mrs. Dribb
    Freddie Jones
    Freddie Jones
    • Chester Cragwitch
    Nigel Stock
    Nigel Stock
    • Rupert T. Waxflatter
    Roger Ashton-Griffiths
    Roger Ashton-Griffiths
    • Det. Sgt. Lestrade
    Earl Rhodes
    Earl Rhodes
    • Dudley
    Brian Oulton
    Brian Oulton
    • Master Snelgrove
    Patrick Newell
    Patrick Newell
    • Bentley Bobster
    Donald Eccles
    Donald Eccles
    • The Reverend Duncan Nesbitt
    Matthew Ryan
    • Dudley's Friend
    Matthew Blakstad
    • Dudley's Friend
    Jonathan Lacey
    • Dudley's Friend
    Walter Sparrow
    Walter Sparrow
    • Ethan Engel
    Nadim Sawalha
    Nadim Sawalha
    • Khasek - Lower Nile Tavern Owner
    Roger Brierley
    • Mr. Holmes
    • Director
      • Barry Levinson
    • Writers
      • Arthur Conan Doyle
      • Chris Columbus
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews121

    6.824.4K
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    Featured reviews

    ctyankee1

    Wonderful Movie

    I love this movie. The young actor to me was a young Sherlock Holmes. Nicholas Rowe as Sherlock.He is 6 ft 4 inches and is left handed when sword fighting. He was human, respectful, humble, polite, wise and treated Watson like a brother not like the combative relationship in Sherlock Holmes 2009 and 2010.

    This story took place at a school for boys called Brompton Academy.

    A dart with hallucinogenic drug made victims see scary things when hit by this dart.Things come alive that attack the victim. A cooked chicken, statues of bats or bird and more. One victim jumps out a window one runs out of church and gets killed by a stage coach and one stabs himself thinking creatures are in his shirt harming him. The special affects in it were amazing. Holmes could not attend the funeral of one of the victims because of his expulsion from Brompton Academy.

    Watson's experience after being shot with the drug was funny. A grave opened up at the cemetery that had all kinds of pastries on shelves. The pastries started jumping off the shelf,on to the ground & Watson talking to each other. They were all different sizes and shapes with big eyes and some pastries started shoving other pastries in to Watson mouth cherry cream and all. Really humorous.

    Earlier in the movie Watson finds a dart blowpipe which belongs to an Egyptian cult worshiping Osiris god of the underworld. This cult sacrifices live people in a hot substance. Sherlock finds this temple and stops the sacrifice and escapes. Later he realizes there is a cult operating in this city which is causing the deaths of men that knew each other.

    Sherlock was in love in this movie which at the end it said the writers did not know what young Sherlock would have been like and that they just respectably put some things in.

    This film was very violent and tense. It is about 145 minutes long.

    It was like one of the Indiana Jones movies with the cult members running for their life and the building falling down.

    This is one movie that did not disappoint me but scared the pastry out of me.
    8kittiwake-1

    great for teens

    My son turned 12 in August. We purchased this movie at a drugstore while on vacation because I remembered watching it a loving it when I was younger. My son has a love of mysteries and "spies", so I thought that this would be a good movie for him to enjoy. He watched it twice the first day and has seen it several times over the last couple of weeks. It really appeals to younger mystery fans, even though it is rated PG-13, for violence. I would recommend any parent see this movie before they let their kids see it. Some of the violence is hallucinatory, and therefore quite "scary". I think the way it begins Holmes's and Watson's friendship is fun and creative. I think the script and characterizations are well done (especially in light of more current movies, which are just to draw viewers to the theater and have no substance.) The casting was inspired, and I don't see how they could have improved upon it. The cinematography was great and the special effects very good for the time of this movie. Some people might find Holmes's character a bit smug, but that is accurate to the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I recommend this movie to mystery fans, fans of Sherlock Holmes (but NOT "perfectionist" fans), and anyone who enjoys a young fellow showing up his elders.
    9equipage

    Stands the test of time...

    I feel one of the true tests of a good movie is how it holds up over time. Can't believe it has been 18 years since I first viewed this little gem, and it was as good today as in 1985! Among other reasons, the Holmes and Watson characters were obviously cast for their youthful likeness to the characters in the old Basil Rathbone series of movies. Take a good look! This a wonderful penning of the proposed early days of the two and a very original concept. Probably only true Holmes officiandos will see some obvious references to the adult Rathbone character, and these add to the cleverness of this version. Make certain to stay 'til the end of the credits; Sherlock Holmes fans will receive an ingenious clue to the his "future".
    Coxer99

    Young Sherlock Holmes

    Intriguing story, not based on a Doyle idea, about the meeting of Sherlock Holmes and his good friend Watson. Even as youngsters, they unravel mysteries together and find themselves in constant mayhem and peril. Rowe is an outstanding young Sherlock, while Cox is an exceptional younger Watson. Barry Levinson directed this fun look at the master detective in his younger years.
    6barnabyrudge

    Unusual and fairly entertaining.

    In the mid 80s, audiences were hungry for heroes in the mould of Indiana Jones. Films featuring Sherlock Holmes were quite out-of-fashion. People expected a hero with a bit of dash and a penchant for action; not a meticulous, stuffy, ultra-intelligent sleuth. Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear is an unusual hybrid, because it takes the period trappings of a Holmes mystery and dresses them up with Indy-style action and mysticism.

    The story has young student doctor John Watson arriving at a boarding school in Victorian London. He meets, for the very first time, a brilliant young student named Sherlock Holmes and they rapidly become friends. At the same time, a series of bizarre murders have been going on close to the school. In each case, people have had terrible hallucinations and in desperate states of panic have inadvertently killed themselves. Holmes and Watson investigate, and uncover an ancient cult which is responsible for the killings.

    The film has its share of problems. For one thing, purists will know that the very first meeting of Holmes and Watson was described at the start of the book A Study in Scarlet, and didn't take place in a school. Some of the performances are overly hammy, particularly Freddie Jones in yet another of his wild-eyed characterisations. The idea of a huge pyramid being ingeniously concealed beneath a London warehouse is hard to swallow (surely someone would have noticed them building a construction of this size in such a tightly-packed city). However, the problems can be forgiven because the film moves at a lively pace and is invested with lots of clever dialogue and stirring action. There's even a touch of humour (something lacking from the original Conan Doyle novels). One scene in particular is most amusing, when young Watson is shot with an hallucinatory dart and imagines an army of living cream buns jumping into his mouth! The climactic duel on the ice is very excitingly staged too. There's also a surprisingly downbeat event at the end which thankfully strips the film of the typical 80s sentimentality. This is agreeable and entertaining stuff.

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    Related interests

    Anna Popplewell in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
    Teen Adventure
    Still frame
    Adventure
    Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
    Fantasy
    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery
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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      (At around twenty-three minutes in) This is the first theatrical movie to have a completely CGI (computer-generated image) character: the knight emerging from the stained glass window to attack the priest. Industrial Light & Magic animated the scene, overseen by John Lasseter in a very early movie credit for Pixar.
    • Goofs
      (at around 15 mins) Just before the flying machine crashes into the tree on its first flight, cables that the machine is hanging from are visible.
    • Quotes

      Sherlock Holmes: A great detective relies on perception, intelligence, and imagination.

      Lestrade: [amused] Where'd you get that rubbish from?

      Sherlock Holmes: It's framed on the wall behind you.

    • Crazy credits
      Throughout the end credits, the action follows a horsedrawn sleigh en route to an unknown destination. In last shot, the audience becomes privy to the surprise identity of the passenger, a key figure in Sherlockiana.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Young Sherlock Holmes/Fool for Love/Rocky IV/The Official Story (1985)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 4, 1985 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Amblin Entertainment (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • El secreto de la pirámide
    • Filming locations
      • Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Paramount Pictures
      • Amblin Entertainment
      • Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $18,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $19,739,575
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $2,538,234
      • Dec 8, 1985
    • Gross worldwide
      • $19,739,575
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 49m(109 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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