I adore The Secret Garden, it is one of my favourite movies ever. Back to the Secret Garden is not as good, but much better than I thought it would be, considering I was expecting an atrocity in all honesty. True, some of the dialogue is trite, some of the characters are underused(Colin for instance) and while Joan Plowright plays older Martha very well with a sweet sincerity I wasn't entirely convinced by how Martha was written some of it was on the contradictory side. That said, it is beautifully filmed, the soundtrack is soothing and the story is interesting with cute scenarios. The cast are excellent, particularly Florence Hoath and Camilla Belle, but the performances of David Warner, George Baker and Cherie Lunghi aren't to be disputed either. All in all, not as good as the original but worth watching. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is the third time over a few years that I have seen this film, it is always hard to follow an excellent film such as the original. Back to the Secret Garden does an excellent 'job' in my opinion. The storyline flows well.I have the original DVD of the original film, but for the moment have the sequel above as a TV recording. It is my intention, as with the Railway Children, and other films in our collection to have the original DVD 'set' to add to our growing collection of classic films.If you have not seen this sequel for fear of it not being as good as the original, then rest assured, if you liked the original, you'll like this version too.

In 1946, after her husband becomes British ambassador to the United States, Lady Mary Craven must leave the Misslethwaite orphanage in England. She puts Martha in charge, although Martha doesn't feel quite ready. Part of Martha's duty will be to keep the key that opens the door to the secret garden Martha's late husband started. The garden is not in the best of shape, and Martha cannot see how Mary found the door when Mary opens it for her.When Mary leaves, she announces that Penelope will be able to go the United States to have an operation she can only get there, and that an orphan from the United States will be chosen to take Penelope's place while she is gone.Once in the United States, Mary visits an orphanage outside Washington, D.C. and finds several children interested in going to England. But Mary chooses Lizzie, a loner who loves taking care of the garden.After Martha is on her own, she looks and looks and can only see ivy covering the stone wall. So she has an opening made for a new door.Lizzie arrives at Misslethwaite and immediately learns to break the rules. She loves the secret garden and sneaks in, and she discovers that door Martha can't find from the outside. The animals in the garden love Lizzie and gather around her. Martha soon realizes Lizzie was meant to care for the garden and puts her in charge of the key.There is the usual boy-girl romance and love-triangle story one might expect here, and more breaking of rules, with appropriate consequences.The big question: will Lizzie be able to make the garden what it once was?I probably watched a movie called "The Secret Garden" but don't have any memory of it. Whether it was one of the great classics I can't say, but that's what I recall. This sequel wouldn't rank that high, but it is still very good. and if I can't remember the original, I have no problems with anything that might not be consistent with that movie.Joan Plowright gives her usual wonderful performance. There are many other very good performances here. Camilla Belle starts off slow but eventually shows talent matching that of the others.This is a movie kids can watch, but it has plenty of adult content (the good kind, meaning intelligent writing) which their parents can enjoy too. In fact, one doesn't even need to have kids to watch this.I am curious as to whether some of the expressions used by the kids were actually in people's vocabularies back in 1946. Nevertheless, today's kids will like hearing them.It's a good family film.

Michael Tuchner's follow-up to The Secret Garden is a far less inspired outing than it's 1993 predecessor, but never the less still passes muster thanks to some cutesy performances and even cuter scenarios, courtesy cast and filmmaker. As with most low-key sequels, Back to the Secret Garden follows the path of a new bunch of characters, all, of course, experiencing the joy of the titular garden. Lizzie, orphaned American lass, finds herself laying her bed in the same manor where the events of the first film occurred. Miss Sowerby (Joan Plowright), is the be all and end all of the said garden, but under her watchful eye, Lizzie discovers the said place, a place of faith, courage and determination. Back to The Secret Garden, like the first film, has some lovely messages in there for the littlies. While at the same time, giving Mum's a break from that well worn VHS of the original to put something else in the machine for a while. Follow this path for further inspiration.