1994 Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns (tv movie)
Click to viewI happened to come across this adaptation I was previously unaware of while searching through YouTube for something else entirely, and to say I was pleasantly surprised would be a grievous understatement. This was actually quite good, and I confess to having skipped through parts of the first few minutes until the deductions began - that scene convinced me this is possibly the single most underrated Holmes adaptation, ever.
It's an American made for tv movie from 1993 (no, I promise that is not a detriment), which I'd almost dismissed outright because the premise is a bit out there, and I am not impressed with distortions of Canon. This, however, turned out to be shockingly not uncanonical, despite the liberties it does take with elements such as timeline and the somewhat sci-fi explanation for Holmes's being transported to late 20th century San Fransisco. There were innumerable quotes and nods to Canon, and the writer truly must have been familiarized with the original stories, writing this out of love, not to cash in on Holmes's name. Furthermore, the actor combined with the scripting made me believe this was Sherlock Holmes incarnate.
The American setting was not at all detrimental, because unlike Elementary ugh, it does not attempt to change who Holmes and Watson were, or worse, genderswap them double ugh and the "substitute" Watson (Dr Winslow) is actually quite an excellent, likable character. Best of all, Holmes himself has not been Americanized triple ugh. Also, no romance \o/
So. The greatest Holmes film ever made? I wouldn't exactly go that far, but it is a pretty fair one, and far more enjoyable than I expected. *my 2 cents*