David Copperfield (2000)

The works of Charles Dickens have remained perennial favorites since their initial publication almost 150 years ago.

Each new generation rediscovers the rich characterizations and sharp social observations which unfailingly grab our hearts.

These virtues are fully on display in this PBS miniseries based on David Copperfield. Shot on location in England, it's written by Adrian Hodges and directed by Simon Curtis.

The young David (Daniel Radcliffe) has it rough. After his father's death, his mother (Emilia Fox) marries the paranoid disciplinarian Murdstone (Trevor Eve), who sends him to a cruel boarding school run by Mr. Creakle (Ian McKellen) and then off to work in a London sweatshop. Only his old nanny, Peggotty (Pauline Quirk) and the profligate debtor, Mr. Micawber (Bob Hoskins), are kind to him.

As an adult, David (Ciaran McMenamin) is re-united with his eccentric Aunt Betsey (Maggie Smith) and must outwit the unctuous Uriah Heep (Nicholas Lyndhurst), who tries to swindle them.

This novel was Dickens' “favorite child” as the hero's coming-of-age adventures mirrored the author's. But you needn't be a Dickens fan to admire this video.

Midway (1976)

Many Hollywood war movies feel the need to improve on history (Pearl Harbor).

Midway sticks to the facts of real-life combat engagements.

Six months after the Japanese destroyed the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, the maverick Comdr. Joseph Rochefort (Hal Holbrook) cracks the enemy's code and learns that they're planning to seize our naval base at Midway Island, an excellent jumping-off point for an invasion of Hawaii.

Admiral Chester Nimitz (Henry Fonda), Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance (Glenn Ford) and the legendary Admiral William “Bull” Halsey (Robert Mitchum) lead the Americans to a surprise victory over the Japanese Navy, commanded by Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto (Toshiro Mifune), even though we're outnumbered four to one.

Director Jack Smight and screenwriter Donald Sanford recreate the mechanics of how military operations are put together better than almost any other filmmakers.

Actual combat footage is skillfully mixed with well-staged battle scenes.

Less compelling is the personal soap opera involving Capt. Matt Garth (Charlton Heston), who intercepted some of the first Japanese communications, and his son (Edward Albert).

Peter Pan (1953)

James Barrie's Peter Pan has been presented countless times on stage, screen and television. Walt Disney's animated, musical version is one of the best.

The stern Mr. Darling (voice of Hans Conreid) disapproves of the stories his daughter Wendy (Kathryn Beaumont) tells her two brothers about a mythical boy named Peter Pan. When the older Darlings take off one evening, Peter (Bobby Driscoll) magically materializes in Wendy's bedroom with his attendant, the fairy Tinker Bell.

Peter and Tinker Bell can fly. With a sprinkling of Pixie Dust, Wendy and her brothers soar with them across the evening sky to the wondrous Never Never Land, where Peter lives with the Lost Boys. Wendy and her companions are captured by the pirate Captain Hook (also Conreid), but Peter saves them before they're forced to walk the plank.

Hook is devoured by his long-time enemy, the crocodile who's swallowed a ticking clock. Wendy returns to London with a new understanding of the meaning of growing up. Both kids and adults will enjoy the movie.