Rating: 
Summary: The Best Animated Film
Review: Long before "The Little Mermaid" and progeny, there was "Watership Down." To give you an idea of how old "Watership Down" is, there is Art Garfunkel singing on the soundtrack. I first saw this movie when I was a child and was immediately drawn into the folkways and political philosophies of Richard Adam's rabbits as well as the environment they inhabited. Watching the film nowadays, I find myself just as powerfully affected.Perhaps my giving the award of best animated film to "Watership Down" is part of my backlash against Disney. Well then, so be it. Because I am simply tired of the same formula in just about every Disney film since Little Mermaid of a focus upon fast animation and witty dialogue. What happened to a good old-fashioned story such as "Watership Down?" Given the time period in which it came out, it is not nearly as flashy or as technologically advanced as the latest Disney feature. But for some reason, I actually find it soothing and therapeutic to see what looks like stuffed animals moving in front of an oil painting.
Rating:
Summary: Richard Adams famous novel comes to life!
Review: This is another great movie made by Richard Adams. This is the story of a band of rabbits that leave their old warren after a runt named Fiver warns them of upcoming danger. Once they arrive at their new warren, they realize they have no does, or female rabbits. So when they die, no warren. They locate another warren and help some of the prisoners and does escape back to their home. This is not for young children. It has A LOT of blood and gore and a little profanity,so be careful. The rabbits also speak a couple of words in their own language so you might be confused. Besides that it's a 70's movie so the animation is a little choppy. But it's a great movie anyway. Buy it today!
Rating:
Summary: one of my favorite movies (sorry for my bad english)
Review: this is truly a masterpiece in the world of animation movies. It's a great storie and the animation is fantastic. poeple think this is a movie for kids because of the rabits but the characters are clearly based on human beings. and another thing this isn't anything like a disney movie. this movie doesn't have a superhero. I would also like to mention the great soundtrack. definetely a musthave movie.
Rating: 
Summary: memories from a kid
Review: I first watched the video when i was a small child and had terrible nightmares about the Black Rabbit of Inle. My parents never understood why the movie scared me so much. Now that I am an adult, i read the book and fell in love with it, but i wanted to watch the video again to see what it was that scared me as a child. I still was spooked by the black rabbit and was suprised by the graphic violent scenes. I think its a refreshing change from Disney! I would not recommend letting younger children watch the movie, but i think that it leaves out a lot of important things from the book, but i understand that they are trying to cram a whole book into a movie sitting.
Rating:
Summary: Hmmm...I liked the book better...
Review: I liked the book better -- a popular complaint among books that are adapted into movies. My main issue with this movie is the target age. Clearly, it's not for adults and is adapted for children as the book is very much simplified. But it's not made for young children. I got this for my 2 kids -- age 5 and 3.5 -- because I was tired of watching Barney. But the storyline is too complex, and the violence too graphic for kids this age. Maybe we will watch it again in 7 or 10 years.
Rating:
Summary: Who the heck is Violet??
Review: I read the book not long ago and then found the movie. I was apalled that they left out Silverweed, Hawkbit, Speedwell, Bluebell, and some others. It's okay for people who haven't read the book, but if you have, it isn't like the book at all. In the book, they set out with NO does and did not lose ANYONE on the way to WSD. That means Violet did not exist in the book. Other than that, it is a great movie with wonderful animation, and I don't want to discourage you from watching the movie. Just, if you haven't read the book, READ IT. It is SO much better than the movie!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: A Story Through The Eyes of a Rabbit
Review: I first saw this animation when I was 5 years old, and I watched it every time it came on TV. The animation is really good, mysterious in its own way, and is based off of the novel "Watership Down", which is a book well worth reading. For those who are new to this story in animation, I recommend that you view this at least for a few minutes, as the animation artwork on some scenes and the actions and dialogues of the characters really makes it worth watching. This is the first time this has ever been released for public purchasing in its years of existence since 1978.
Rating:
Summary: Not particularly Impressive
Review: I read this book years ago and was really inspired by it. But this DVD is not so impressive. It's not bad, but not good. I had heard the animation was excellent. Not so.
It does nonetheless allow for some basic analysis of the story line, which like other animated animal films has political structures embedded throughout. This film allows for an introduction to analysis because it is so easy to see that Watership Down, when the finally get there is a democracy which moved forward from a lassez faire government that does not help the rabbits at all and only survives after fighting what is clearly a fascist rabbit government.
As an introduction to analysis, it's not bad.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't compare
Review: Watership Down is one of the most magical books ever written - it is difficult to describe the depth and wonder and amazing believability of the world Richard Adams has created. It seems the perfect book for a movie, and while this movie is a worthy effort, it does not come close to the book in any way. I watched this movie first as an 8-year-old child and adored it, then watched it again recently. The feeling I got was that they had taken the contents of the book and dumped them into a basin of water, letting everything of substance sink to the bottom while skimming off the top what remained. If that sounds harsh, I don't mean it to - it is simply that you can't capture that much depth in a short, animated feature. I hope that this movie (as it did in my case) whets the appetite and causes the viewer to read the book - whereupon the movie will be forgotten and the real magic discovered. I give it three stars for being the avenue by which I discovered the book, and for staying true to the story. Although greatly abbreviated, they did at least get it right with very few and very minor changes.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting and unforgetable. Hard to explain the feeling....
Review: This review based on DVD version.
Never has movie affected me to the extent that Watership Down did. Why? Several things but in particular the rabbit's quest for freedom and to escape an evil communist regime. The rabbits cared for each other and some paid the ultimate price in their quest for freedom. And Hazel, played by John Hurt,(I call him chest buster; think of a Sci-fi film from '79 and you'll know what I mean) gave of himself unselfishly to help his fellow lovers of freedom. They had so much against them but they never gave up. Perhaps some of this generation's children should see this movie to help them appreciate what our forefathers went through coming to to what is now the U.S.A.
The DVD transfer is extremely good. The audio (although has quite a bit of analog "tape hiss") has a lot of dynamic range. That along with the gorgeous score makes the DVD complete. The print wasn't flawless but most likely the best it's ever looked in a home video presentation. Maybe the production master was one also used for a laserdisc transfer. I doubt this was a special transfer for DVD.
I love the score so much that I edited down audio from the movie and burned a CD of it to play in my truck. I simply cannot get enough of the music. If the soundtrack CD ever comes out, I'll buy it.
You must see this movie. It will move you and probably inflict a little pain at the same time. Best of all, it's not politically correct. Also any child that's at least 7 or 8 should be able to handle this movie. This movie also made me start looking out for rabbits while driving.
| 
