A Masterpiece!

This is without a doubt one of Walt Disney's greatest live action films. Originally released in 1961 and feauturing a stellar cast including John Mills. A New Guinea-bound family is shipwrecked by pirates and manages to transport the goods from the stranded ship to an island where they create their own paradise. There they build their own breathtaking treehouse and have to find a way to survive using only what nature provides. With some wonderful cinematography (especially in the dramatic opening of the shipwreck and then the journey on raft by the Robinson family to exotic shores and yet. They begin to enjoy life in this 'paradise' carelessly on the island with a variety of wild animals and inevitably they begin to have run ins with some dangerous creatures. Along the way they encounter many threats including pirates, but will their island paradise prove toi be a paradise or a prison?
It's a high quality production and I rate it highly.

Wonderful!

This is one of my favourite Disney films. The Dragon (played by Eddie Murphy) is hilarious, paired together with Mulan's emotional journey makes this movie a fantasic watch. It'll make the younger kids laugh and keep the older ones gripped. A must see for every Disney lover!

toy story 1995

I absolutely love toy story 1 as much as toy story 2. this movie after a while has grown on me a lot and i watch this a lot now because at first i didnt like it. this is as great as the second one and my favorite character in both movies is rex the dinosaur. the best part of the movie is in the end where the family is moving and the toys are in the moving truck and woody and buzz are on the chase. the opening theme song you've got a friend in me by randy newman is one of my favorite tracks. this movie is as great as toy story 2, monsters inc, and ice age. get all four of these great movies.

Great film but the picture quality needs serious improvement

Movies like The Rescuers are simply not made anymore. Nowadays, it's all CGI with retarded, unfunny jokes, with no real seriousness or conflict to be found. The Rescuers has all that it says in the tagline - Mystery, Fun and Intrigue! Despite what others say, this truly deserves to be called a masterpiece.

The very idea of two little mice saving an orphan girl sounds very juvenile and slushy - but here, it isn't. The Rescuers combines dark themes such as child exploitation to light refreshing comedy which does not detract from the seriousness of the whole film. Benard and Bianca are very admirable characters, and the swamp creatures are hilarious. Madame Medusa is an excellent villainness. She's intimidating and funny at the same time. There are plenty of colourful characters, Brutus and Nero, the two crocodiles, Orville the albatross and Penny, the sweet yet strong spirited little girl.

The animation is typical scratchy 70s style, but the backgrounds are really top-notch, especially in the swamp scenes. They portray a foreboding atmosphere that works well in the appropriate scenes. The paintings shown in the opening credits were inspirational. There are not many songs in The Rescuers, which is probably one of the reasons why it's such a serious film. The soundtrack is fits in well, and nobody bursts into song. 'Someone's waiting for You' is one of the fews songs that moves me to tears. It is just so touching and beautiful.

Sure, it's not entirely loyal to Magery Sharp's books, but who cares? You might as well just get mad at 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,' because that doesn't stay loyal to the original Arthurian legend.
So in short, I love this film.

However, I only rate this four stars because of the DVD.
The extras are quite good - the highlights being a True Life Adventure about aquatic birds and a funny little short called 'The Three Blind Mouseketeers.' There's also a featurette about Disney villains and some concept art, which are also quite good. The only real letdown is a pointless, low-tech two minute game that failed to keep my interest (and I'm usually a real sucker for DVD games). But all in all, the bonuses are a nice addition to the film.
As for the film itself, this is the reason for the deducted star. The picture quality is terrible. Not only is it dirty and grainy, but Disney seem to have 're-mastered' the film by making the image darker. The colours seem washed out and dull, with not enough attention to detail. In one scene, Madame Medusa's skin appeared to be grey! The Rescuers would look stunning if the colours were allowed to show there full potential, but, as it is, the picture is worse than my old video tape.

I'm ashamed at how Disney has treated this film. I find this so much more fun and enjoyable than the likes of Tarzan, The Jungle Book or Finding Nemo. This is one of my Mum's favourites, this is one of my favourites, and it is beloved by many fans who are eagerly awaiting a Platinum Edition with superior sound and picture quality. But if you can't wait that long, you might as well pick this up now.

"hey buzz can you kick my ass for me?" oh sorry... HE ALREADY HAS!

dear deer me what is this Cods wallop? bought it for my old son this christmas and he was not impressed. what whos happening he said! i had to agree with him i cud not beleev it! if i cud say 3 words about this film they would be absoloot TOSH!

it is an Interesting film I will sell you that BUT it does not tickle my taste buds becoz their was no chicken man. ALOS, the graphics just arent good enough. i have a playstation 3 that was good and produced better graphics but i can play it no more cos i ate the airial wire

Review

Review: The Nightmare Before Christmas

Tim Burton, the maker of"Beetlejuice" and"Edward Scissorhands", brings another classic film, for old and young alike."The Nightmare Before Christmas" is an enchantingly unique film.
Pumpkin King Jack Skeleton (voiced by Danny Elfman, who also wrote the songs), bored with horror, stumbles on Christmas Town, a charming place where everyone is happy.
Jack, enthralled by this, plans to kidnap"Sandy Claws", steal Christmas, and give children everywhere a better Christmas than ever, with a taste of Halloweentown...
But allowing for the"Boogieman" and his evil dancing, can Santa and Sally stop Jack before he ruins Christmas for everyone?

Great for Nostalgia and for new kids on the block

Unlike other reviewers, who seem to be die hard fans and have an encyclopaedic knowledge of whether you will get the episodes in the right order etc, which is all good stuff to know if you want that kind of thing, all I remember is that when I was a child I used to sit in front of the television on a Sunday night desperate for the muppets to start. It was a lifesaver of a show set amongst things like The Money Programme and Songs of Praise. I loved it. It was funny, the characters were great, and my parents liked it because it had that classic quality of a great kids television show, in that the humour worked on many levels.

My children are now of an age to enjoy the muppets and I ordered this with great trepidation thinking like many other things from my childhood, it might not live up to expectation. Thankfully it does. It really does. I still love it, and now my kids love it too. Our particular favourite sketch has got to be the classic Mnah, Mnah, which still had me falling about after all these years. It is still fresh, still original and still highly entertaining. The kids and I have a lasting fondness for the wonderful figure of Gonzo, who gets perpetually blown up, and as an adult I now realise that Kermit isn't as boring as I used to think he was!

Great extras, lots of episodes to enjoy. A real treasure.

Remember, Its NOT REAL

I am a teenage girl aged 13, the other night my younger brother put on Sky High while i was doing my homework. I looked up and thought 'oh, another of those pointless films he always watches' when actually after 5 minutes i was intrigued! It was funny, entertaining, and a good 'hero V villain' kind of movie. In reply to 'L.Streader', whats wrong with the baby gun?! The plot of the film is obviously not real, with them being superheroes and all, so why not have a fictional gun?
Overall, a great film, and although it was 'love' side of the plot was a bit obvious, I'd recommend this to anyone. =]

Excellent Film - But Disney have messed up the blu-ray

Tihs is an amazing movie but Disney have made a frustrating disc.

There are about ten different commercials at the beginning of the disc, thankfully you can skip them with the next button but you have to do each one individually, so you're sitting pushing next for about five minutes before you get to the main menu (you can't just press the menu button). very annoying. if i've paid £20 on a disc i deserve to be allowed to watch it.

more annoying is that disney have made the disc bypass one of the recent playstation 3 features. the playstation 3 remembers the playback position of dvds and blurays after you stop watching and resumes from that point, even if you take out the disc and put in another one. this even works on old dvds. however disney's enchanted blu-ray always starts from the beginning, meaning you get the adverts again.

thank you to the makers of this movie and to disney for making a movie that openly mocks its own legacy in an entertaining way. but disney's over-zealous advertising department needs to think about the consumer a bit more.

great picture, great film

Great stuff amazing picture in hd1080 you can even see the metal flake in ramones paint!! upon watching it again with my new hd setup i saw things and parts of the film i never saw before highly recomended especially to show the full hd experience to friends and family, bonus features are poor but you'r buying the movie not the bonus features and the movie is great.

Good, fun film, with great actors and actresses

I enjoyed watching this, and have to admit that I bought it because I did enjoy parts of it, but I think that even though this film starts off well, from the slumber party on-wards, it becomes a bit wishy-washy and silly.

I do recommend it only as a fun film to watch when you need a some amusement. Once again Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway are wonderful actresses, and the settings are lovely. You just wish you could be Princess Mia with that great bedroom, and all those clothes!!

So, yes I would make the most of that wonderful price and buy it, but don't expect the boys to want to watch it with you!

excellent

These are great family movies, easy to watch, funny, and makes you laugh and cry. In my opinion it is a worthwile buy. Great value on amazon too!

This film is good but the book is still WAY better

the film the princess diaries would be an excellent film and rate five stars in my opinoin if it was`nt based on the book.The book is miles better.Mabey because I have a picture of Michael Moscovitz in my head and Robert Schawartzman mabey the best choice but did`nt match my interpretation.Though some actors were the best chocie like Heather Matarazzo (Lilly Moscovitz ,Caroline Goodall (Helen Thermopolis),Sandra Oh(Principal Gupta).What is this Mr.O'Connell business he is Mr.Gianini and he teaches Algebra not Debate and History (God,get with the programme)and and in the book Grandmere (Julie Andrews) is mean and unsympathic to Mia and has a"hairless poodle that resmbles a rat" and she lives in The Plaza not some random house in San Fransico.And Genovia is princalptly not a monchary and would`nt become Queen but stay a princess (its is like Monaco) and when the beach party caused a riot Clarrise would of been happy because she is a princess and princess never shy way from bad publictly.Why is Mia`s dad dead? O.K mabey she could become Queen and she would of never of found out about her being a princess and all but she manged to find out in the book and her dad is royalty?Why can`t she marry Michael Moscovitz (because if can convince loads of politicans that dose`nt need to marry to become Queen why can`t she marry Michael because everyone knows they are mean`t to be together).Depiste all the little things I still really like this film and it one of my favorite films but the book is miles better(I reccomed the books to anybody how likes the film)

Very entertaining

I didn't expect much accuracy from Disney, and in this I wasn't disappointed: they do indeed play fast and loose with the Greek myths (this has its good side - sent me back to my books to do some checking). However, this film has a great deal of charm. It's your basic coming-of-age, finding your place through love sort of story, told with the usual Disney verve and humour. The characters seem to have a definite New York accent and character (forgive me if I'm wrong - I'm British) which gives them a sort of savvy carapace which - inevitably - cracks to show the real emotion underneath, and also makes for some smart dialogue. Character highlights are James Woods' Hades, sinister and sarcastic, and an instantly-recognisable Danny de Vito as Phil the Trainer of Heroes. What gives this film its real character and appeal, however, are the songs. Most of these are performed by the Muses, here transformed into gospel singers, and they have some WONDERFUL numbers, and the heroine's own"I'm not in love" song deserves special mention. Without the songs the film would be less than mediocre; with them, it borders on good. And believe me, for in the company of my five-year-old daughter I have watched it at least twenty times - I always take my nose out of my book for the Muses.

Me and my little daughter we both had a lot of fun watching it

I really liked this movie, and, what is even more important, my 6-years old daughter liked it too. It is a really sweet history about a little guy (Chicken Little), half-orphaned, being raised by a very caring and loving but just a little overhelmed dad (Buck Cluck). Being little and wearing big glasses he is of course the dreamed target of class bullies, but - as it is usual with the nerds - he has a bunch of friends between other oucasts: a really ugly duck girl (Ugly Duckling), a really obese, asthma ridden pig (Runt of the Litter) and a foreign exchange student, totally fearless, always happy, but just a little... odd (Fish out of Water). And let it be said - this is one of the most likeable and bravest bunch of"losers" I ever saw.
The life of the little town and the life of a little town school are described in a great way. The mayor, the local newsman (emh, in fact a newsdog), the coach, the class bully and her sidekick - a great gallery of hilarious personages. The baseball match is one of the greatest moments in kids movies I ever saw. And once the aliens appear.... it is a delight. And once the REAL aliens appear - the movie gets even better. Me and my daughter saw it in cinema, we got it on DVD and we almost finished the game on Game Cube. And we both wait for the (possible) sequel.

Saved by a support cast

Collaborations with Pixar aside,"Brother Bear" represents a kind-of stalemate in the quality of Disney animations. In fact, had it not been for 2 supporting cast members, the film would be barely watchable.

Disney, as the front-runner of family entertainment, always seem to aim for universal appeal. To me, that's not necessarily a good thing -"Brother Bear" suffers from a very cutesy storyline with a standard, predictable and"heartwarming" ending with the usual Disney"magic" coming from unnecessary production values that gloss over the flaws.



Had it not been for some light relief from Rutt and Tuke, superbly played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas (reprising the hilarious Canadian-parody style they employed as"Bob & Doug McKenzie")
, the film's motifs and strong messages would make the film far too serious, preachy and heavy-going for a family animation. As far as the story goes, its tale of friendship-despite-adversity is a well-worn path that almost every animation company has been treading for decades and stoicly refuses to move from.

If more proof was needed, they even bring back Phil Collins, an artist who hasn't really strayed off-centre for almost 30 years, to write some more contemporary pop songs for the movie's soundtrack. Yet, sadly, these songs pale even in comparison to even the worst of Collins' output.
At best, they're on par with his work on"Tarzan".

In the end, it's a decent enough film to park your kids infront of and keep them entertained for an hour - but as all-round family entertainment, it's only just above par. Adult viewers will end up growing impatient until Rutt & Tuke re-appear.

Collectible Sequel

Things have calmed down in the world of Andy's room. Woody the cowboy doll (Tom Hanks) and space ranger Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) have learned to get along and are in fact great friends. Even the addition of a puppy hasn't changed things much.

Andy is getting ready to go to cowboy camp for the weekend, and Woody can't wait. This is the highlight of the year because of the one on one time they spend together. Unfortunately, right before Andy leaves, he accidentally rips one of Woody's arms. Andy decides to leave a dejected Woody behind so nothing more happens to him.

The next morning, Woody is horrified to see Andy's mom is having a yard sale. Trying to rescue another toy, Woody accidentally gets discovered by Al, a greedy collector, and toy napped.

Seems Woody isn't any ordinary toy. He's a valuable collectible based on a popular TV show from the 50's. In Al's apartment, Woody meets the rest of the action figured based on his TV show and learns just how valuable he really is.

Buzz, meanwhile, is trying to track down his friend. He leads a rescue party that includes Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex the dinosaur, and Hamm the piggy bank. But will Woody want to be rescued if they find him?

This is a rarity in Hollywood, a sequel that is better then the original. While Toy Story entertains, Toy Story 2 surpasses it. There is a very simple reason for this, too. This movie takes the characters we love and builds on them while giving us a completely new story. Too many sequels feel like retreats of the original, but, while this movie has lots of nods to the original, it doesn't restrict itself to things we have already seen.

This is shown right from the start by showing that Woody and Buzz are still friends. While in the first movie, Andy had Buzz fighting Woody, now Andy has them teamed up to save Bo Peep. Once Woody is toy napped, which happens pretty quickly, the action leave Andy's room and only return for the final scene, a departure from the original.

Plus the story they tell is extremely entertaining. I don't know now many times I've seen the movie since it first came out, but I always get completely caught up in events just like the first time. The pace is quick and humor is plentiful, with several parodies of famous movies and jokes about American culture. They even find a way to bring back delusional Buzz, and he's still a riot. The story does take time to give us several tender moments as well. And, in the grand Pixar tradition, the climax just keeps going and going.

While story make be king with Pixar, character is queen. We care for these characters, which makes us invested in the story. The returning characters are still fully developed, but time is made to help us get to know the characters from Woody's TV show: Jessie the Cowgirl, Bullseye the horse, and Stinky Pete the prospector. Plus this movie introduces Barbie into the mix. While her scenes are short, they are some of my favorites.

Computer animation had really improved in the four years since the original. The humans look better, although they still aren't perfect. There are a couple shots that are truly amazing, however. The dust used in several scenes is great. The highlight is watching Woody get cleaned up. The attention to detail in that scene is amazing.

Pixar is also known for their great DVD releases, and the new two-disc set for this movie is another great example. The picture and sound, taken directly from their computer files, is absolutely outstanding. Most of the extras appeared in the three disc"Toy Box" set released years ago. There's a fascinating audio commentary, abandoned scenes, storyboards, and two behind the scenes documentaries, including a new one. For the kids, there's a"Which toy are you?" game. And of course, the outtakes are included as well.

This was Pixar's third film, but it is still one of my favorites. It's a great film that will appeal to kids of all age.

Lacking sequel, uninteresting and bland...

Following the adventures of Bernard and Miss Bianca from Disney's 1977 classic, hit film, The Rescuers is"The Rescuers Down Under" an absolute disgrace to the original film, mainly because it lacks the heart and warmth of the original. Characters like Madame Medusa, Penny and Evinrude are hard to replace, that's why I didn't expect this sequel to be anywhere as good, and really, I got less than what I expected.

The film is bland, it doesn't offer the sweet moments of purity and innocence that"The Rescuers" offered, it doesn't offer those beautiful lines of hope and faith that Rufus the cat told us about. What it does offer, is a remake of the original's plot, with new, less interesting characters and different, more modern settings, which automatically takes away the 'classic' appeal."The Rescuers Down Under" flies the two stars from the original film in the wings of Albatross Wilbur to Australia, where they must rescue a young boy kidnapped by evil McLeach and his lizard companion Joahnna. Percival McLeach wants to use the young boy, Cody to retrieve the rare golden eagle Marahute and make money out of her. The storyline resembles too much the original one, in which evil Madame Medusa is using a young orphan girl Penny to retrieve a valuable diamond, the Devil's Eye hidden in a scary underground cave where pirates had left it long ago.

It's hard to even call this a sequel, it's really just a remake. Even so, it's expected this film to have some new gags and new themes, however, we don't really get any new themes and the gags include gags from the original film. One of them is a wild and carefree albatross named Wilbur, although this time the character is more in the film and really having such an annoying character for too long isn't enjoyable. Besides this, the film has too many cases of illogical non-reality, are we expected to believe that Cody was able to climb such a cliff, or that Bernard, such a small mouse could pull Cody and save him from the speeding waters, I don't know about this last one, but I think the size of Marahute was exaggerated, which is quite a shame since this last one was the best the film had to offer. Other faults include, rushed scenes and pointless characters. For instance, Cody is at one point locked up with a bunch of animals, clearly there just to make a scene. The worst thing is that they never even get rescued from their cages, no, the film ends in a rushed way, the ending tied up everything in a quick and weird way.

The film has a lot of faults, doesn't live up to the original masterpiece and is pretty bland, however, it does offer a few scenes with pretty animation that should entertain children and grown ups. The kids may like it, but as a film, The Rescuers (1977) is a better choice."The Rescuers Down Under" fails as both a film and a sequel.