Rating: Summary: Great Movie, Horrible Transfer Review: First off, this movie is excellent, you can see that from the 150 or so reviews. What really bugs me about this movie is that the DVD version has some serious flaws with the transfer from the original film. In the 'Escape from the Tavern' scene, there is a film scratch in the middle of the screen, from top to bottom, for about 30seconds. Elsewhere in the film you will find bubbles, hairs, and more of the scratching.It took more than ten years for this to come out of OOP, you think when it did they would have it perfect. I find it funny how it says it has been digitially remastered for superior audio and visual quality. If this is superior visual quality, I'd hate to see what the non-special edition version of this movie would look like.
Rating: Summary: Maybe not wholly original, but a wonderful film nonetheless! Review: Yes, a few themes might seem borrowed from LOTR, but so what? The great elements of fantasy have always remained constant and archetypal. As a matter of fact, the Harry Potter series has been much more blatant in its 'lifting' of LOTR elements. (Gandalf=Dumbledore; Gollum=Dobby; cave troll=mountain troll; Sauron=Voldemort; etc. etc.) Again, really, so what? A well-told tale is just that and the classics of fantasy have been shared and passed down since the epic of Gilgamesh. Although Willow is not the BEST representative of its kind, it is still great fun, lovingly and humorously told and suitable for younger viewers as well (though the evil queen can be frightening). An enjoyable family film, which supplements but does not replace Tolkien's and Lewis' classics. The DVD edition is crisp and clear, a lovely addition to a family library of fantasy classics.
Rating: Summary: A fun family treat Review: If your kids are fans of Tolkein and C.S. Lewis as much as mine, they will love this movie. While a little corny at times, and with cpecial effects that don't match up to 2003 standards, the story is engaging and keeps things moving, and its ideal for kids from 5-12 years old. Of course, I enjoy it, as well. But then I'm a sci-fi/fantasy geek.
Rating: Summary: GREAT MOVIE Review: Wells. There seems to be claiming of this ripping of the idea of Lord of The Rings. Now, I am sure Lord of the Rings is not the first and original creator of this type of storyline: An evil ruler of a kingdom has sensed a threat that might overthrow/destroy/defeat/banish them in the future. This threat comes in the form of something or someone seemingly harmless and small at first, I will call Joe. But Joe somehow evades detection. Somehow a short time later on, or many many years later, joe comes back either by himself or with friends. And somehow the group or joe alone manages to defeat/overthrow/banish/destroy the evil ruler. I mean come on...I am sure Lord of the Rings wasn't the first and only story to do something similar. Krull, The Dark Crystal, CONAN, Robin Hood, and even King Arthur for Gods Sake. History is littered with those type of stories. Anyhow, Willow was a GREAT film. Fun and enjoyable. Incredibly good special effects considering the time it was made. Wonderful characters, nice story (see above), great soundtrack, all-in-all, a great movie. All time classic.
Rating: Summary: DVD experience Review: Visually stunning along with some fantastic acting and a great soundtract, this one of favorite fantasy movies of all time. I had the pleasure of seeing it on the big screen 2 yrs ago at a film festival, and the DVD competed with the experience plus it has the advantage of the back ground extras on the movie. Suggest this to all who remember this movie fondly.
Rating: Summary: Lord of the Rings fans, calm down please..... Review: Willow borrows from a lot of sources, in many ways more heavily from the Bible than from Lord of the Rings. The story of the slaughter of babies, Elora's escape in a floating cradle, and discovery by Willow's family is drawn from Moses's story. Unoriginal? Maybe, but it's done in Fantasy all of the time. (Tolkien, by the way, peopled the Lord of the Rings with elements drawn from European and Christian mythology himself.) Tolkien may have written the definative fantasy epic, but he didn't invent the genre. Now all of you calm down. Willow is a good movie with fun charachters and one of the best scores I've ever heard. Not a great movie, but very watchable.
Rating: Summary: Fantasy at its best and most basic Review: our friend below seems to be a little biased toward Willow, so please disregard all that he said. Plus he/she/it is just flat out wrong. but anyway, Willow is a greatly entertaining movie for those that like magic and sword fights and incredible adventures. all in about 2 hours. great direction from Ron Howard, great score from James Horner, and great acting from Warrick Davis and Val Kilmer. and until Willow, there werent any major fantasy films of this type before either. so watch and enjoy this movie. and then buy it.
Rating: Summary: I wonder if the estate for Lord of the Rings is sueing? Review: This movie was very much like Lord of the Rings, when my friends and I were watching it we were relating Willows characters to Lord of the Rings characters. The story of Willow goes like this. And evil Queen (who my friends and I have related to the character Lord Sauron) finds out that a child born in her kingdom will someday over throw her (the child we dubbed "The Ring"). The child was rescued and was found by a dwarf like creature named Willow (This guy really looked like a Hobbit. Hence we dubbed him Frodo). The village sorceror (New name Gandalf) gives Willow the mission to return the child to her homeland (does the plot sound familiar yet). Willow gets a few members of his village to accompany him (Now Sam, Merry, and Pippin). On their quest they are being hunted down by wild boar like creatures who want to kill the child (now The Ringwaiths). This leads a few members to abandon the group. As they travel further they come across this human character played by Val Kilmer (Who surprisingly fits the character description for Aragon, both in image and personality). He says that he will help Willow in his quest. They continue traveling (picking up new characters, who are like Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli (not a dwarf, but personality really fits). They even have a female character who Val Kilmers character is in love with (She is now Arwen). They also run into a powerful fairy type spirit (who is like Galadriel). The characters battle a lot of soliders, ward off the boar things, and fight a big huge stone type creature (remember the stone creature in the mountains in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings). The ironic thing to this whole movie, is the baby doesn't even over throw the queen, like the prophecy says, well the child doesn't do it by her own devices. All in all, do not buy this movie, it is almost a softcore rip-off version of Lord of the Rings. (They even sacrifice the baby at the end, like the way they toss the ring in the volcano at the end of the last Lord of Rings book). True Lord of the Rings fans will find this movie insulting, while true fantasy movie goers will be dissappointed by the cheesy jokes, graphics, and attempts to create a fantasy movie. Even if Lord of the Rings had never been written or imagined, this would be a REALLY BAD FANTASY MOVIE. please people go see Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, or the Neverending story, at least those ideas are some what original.
Rating: Summary: great fun for all ages Review: Willow is BY FAR much better then the lord of the rings trilogy. for one reason it does not drag out in story like the lord of the rings does. As for the plot of willow its a lot like the hobbit. I would recommand this movie to all fans of the lord of the rings and fantasy movies.
Rating: Summary: Blah... Review: OK but just can't measure up to the classics...
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