Rating: 
Summary: THE BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!!!
Review: I WENT TO SEE THIS MOVIE FIVE TIMES IN THE THEATERS AND I JUST WANT TO SAY THIS MOVIE IS THE BEST EVER! DAVE FOLEY GIVES A STAND OUT VOICE FOR fLICK (OUR HERO IN THE MOVIE). THIS MOVIE IS GREAT FOR ANY AGE!
Rating: 
Summary: Great DVD but...
Review: A Bug's Life. What can you say but...wow! Great script, simple plot (Though acusidly "overused" but who cares) and all-star cast. It's a very creative cross of the "The Grasshopper & The Ant" fable and "The Seven Samuari". A great family film even when not watched by the whole family.The picture detail on this DVD is absolutely flawless. Since this is the world's first digital to digital transfer. Congratulations to PIXAR for another great innovation! Too bad the only put a anamorphic transfer on the Collector's Edition DVD for those of you with widescreen TVs. The sound on this is great too. I can't really say much since my sound system is a puny 2.0 channel plain sterieo. But I'm sure it would be good. The extras on this disc are unbelievably low. Nothing that you couldn't see at the theater. They didn't even include a trailer. That's why I would prefer the Collector's Edition DVD to this anyday. But other than that, the movie itself is something to cherish altogether. I can't give this DVD a 5 star rating because of the lack of extras and lack of anamorphic transfer. But if you don't have a widescreen tv and don't care about the extras, this ones for you. For those others like me, check into the Collector's Editon DVD. I'm going to pay my respects for Madenline Kahn since this was her last filmography (or second to last) before her untimely death. I will not elaborate since I have only seen her in two roles. She was just right for the role of Gypsy. Perfect voice. That's all I'll say. Anyway, great picture & sound, awesome movie, a family feature must-have.
Rating:
Summary: Gotta love them bugs
Review: Those Pixar folk are amazing. Not only do they make an excellent movie, but they complement it with a first rate package of extras, especially the outtakes and the movie short "Geri's Game". The two-disc Collector's Editions are worth waiting for, and you will find yourself playing the second disc as often as the first. This innovative take on the old fable "The Ant and the Grasshopper" teaches us a few important lessons: 1. There's a clumsy nerd who wants to be a hero in every colony
2. Phyllis Diller is an old queen
3. David Hyde Pierce is stiff
4. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is neurotic and can't dance
5. Grasshoppers live it up in Mexican joints during the Summer
6. German caterpillars are funny, and so are pill-bugs.
7. Ladybirds may not be ladies
8. Birds can be flammable
9. An ant may look at a queen
10. Don't stir up an ants nest To maintain good family relations, you should allow your kids to watch this movie too. Amanda Richards July 13, 2004
Rating:
Summary: A Fun New Classic From Disney
Review: As always, Pixar delivered a breath taking experience when they brought us A Bug's Life. While not overly realistic, the animation is bright and rich and incredibly detailed. The colours and textures suck you into their world.
The movie features a nice mix of humor and excitement. Some moments are full of suspense and tension.
The voice actors do a great job, particularly Kevin Spacey as the villain Hopper. He's truly menacing! When the voice talents are combined with Pixar's fabulous job of giving natural movements and mannerisms to each different species of insect the mix creates very believable characters.
As per usual Disney style there is a great moral to be learned through the story, about the importance of standing up for yourself, and how one small person truly can change the world.
The only drawback of the movie is that the characters are relatively shallow and underdeveloped when compared to Disney's usual level of complexity. However, when you consider that this film is based off of the fable "The Ant and the Grasshopper" it puts things into perspective and you appreciate how much imagination and creativity actually went into this project. The end result is highly entertaining and sure to be a classic in generations to come.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT MOVIE...BUT HAVEN'T WE SEEN THIS BEFORE?
Review: "A Bug's Life" is a fantastic movie, full of comedy, drama, and charm. You feel for those poor ants and you can't help but cheer them on. But, wait a minute...the Disney plagiarism machine is at work yet again! After all the flak that Disney endured because its movie "The Lion King" was so similar to the Japanese animation classic "Leo The Lion", you'd think they'd have learned their lesson. Well, they haven't. This time, Disney & Friends have decided to rip off ANOTHER Japanese classic movie, albeit a rather obscure one to the average modern American movie audience. Their plagiaristic target? The 1957 classic "Seven Samurai" --later remade into the American film "The Magnificent Seven". In this movie, a village of farmers (Disney's ants) is under threat of pillage from the countryside-roaming bandits (Disney's grasshoppers). So the village dispatches a few of its residents (Disney's Flik) to the nearest town to enlist the help of brave samurai (Disney's big bugs). Although there are a few plot changes, probably just so Disney can stay one step ahead of a copyright infringement lawsuit, the big bugs eventually help defend the village from the attackers and all ends well. Despite all the story-stealing, Disney has managed to produce a visually stunning movie. The DVD image is unbelievably clear, crisp, and super sharp. With a large screen TV, you will swear you're there with the ants sharing in their adventure. The audio is excellent, with neither the dialog nor the music being too soft nor too loud (DVD producers, take note: there's nothing more irritating than having to crank up the volume because the dialog's barely audible, only to have the house rattle when the music or sound effects kick in!). I have the standard edition of the DVD, so there aren't many extras. There is an alternate French audio track. AND there are the much-loved outtakes during the end credits, both sets in fact! These are hilarious and, in my opinion, are actually funnier than the movie. I'd pay to watch a whole DVD of such outtakes. If there's ever the possibility of a DVD wearing out, mine will be at the outtakes, for I often pop the DVD in the player just to watch those. They are truly funny. So, despite my beef about the plagiarism, I must give Disney kudos for cranking out a top-quality product. But you still owe it to yourself to check out the original film from which this was taken, the Japanese classic "Seven Samurai". It's a wonderful movie that's suitable for the whole family.
Rating:
Summary: Superior filmmaking
Review: A BUG'S LIFE is Disney/Pixar's second full-length computer animated film after their charming TOY STORY. And what a film it is. While the screenplay is not as "human" as TOY STORY, it is more than compensated for with great animation, humor and creativity. This type of family film carries an unfair label, "Kid's Movie". There is nothing childish about the intricate and sophisticated humor... it's just 'clean.' The story follows FLIK, an Ant that tries too hard and always fails. While trying to benefit the entire Ant Village, he accidentally puts everyone under the wing of evil old HOPPER (Kevin Spacey) and his "Wild One" Gang. The evil grasshopper gives the ants a deadline for his demands to be met in full. But, Flik has another idea... So, he heads off to the (hysterical) "City" where he hires a group of heroes to save his hometown. Soon, the heroes are revealed to him as circus performers. They all must join forces to save the village. The characters throughout are extremely endearing and each one is given a nice pay-off at the end of the story. Especially entertaining are twin acrobatic bugs with only a limited grasp on the english language. A BUG'S LIFE is a wondeful film for kids and adults alike. It also includes what I consider the funniest couple minutes in the past 30 years of cinema... Bug Outtakes during the closing credits. They alone were worth the price of admission. The Special Edition DVD set make the film a workshop in itself including documentaries, commentaries, and other mini-attractions. The Disney organization has often used their characters in many of their other ventures. Watch for Flik and Hopper in IT'S TOUGH TO BE A BUG, a 3-D attraction showing in DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM in Florida and DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE in, you guessed it... California. A BUG'S LIFE is a big movie from some of the smallest of creatures. Released the same year as the other computer animated bug film, Dreamwork's less charming ANTZ.
Rating:
Summary: No less than 5 stars!!
Review: There is no possible way anyone who watched "Bugs Life" could give it any less than a 5 star review. Flik is hysterical and Princess Atta is comical with how she keeps getting caught up in Flik's clutzy situations. Hopper is such a great bad guy(bug) that ya just gotta love him! This movie is a total keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Best Pixar Movie of All Time
Review: You can not go wrong with this movie. It is the greatest Pixar film ever made. The story, the characters, the quality of work is tops. I can watch this movie over and over and never get tired of it.
Rating:
Summary: A classic comedy of errors in a bug-eat-bug world
Review: This is one of very few computer-animated movies that I have seen that makes the genre one truly to rank alongside cartoons as a way of telling stories that do not require the time, trials, tribulations and, yes, money to make live-action movies. Yet the cartoon medium, especially when Disney has anything to do with it, has always been one designed principally to make otherwise unlovable creatures lovable with human characteristics and a sense (or lack) of morality.
This Pixar Animations movie focuses on a lovable, yet flawed character, who wants to make himself better in the eyes of his fellows, but ends up being shunned and even exiled before circumstances dictate that he should return as the hero. The difference here is that the main character is not human, rather it is an ant named Flik (voiced with conviction by Dave Foley), who ends up being the (very) unlikely hero when his colony is threatened with being "squished" by the evil Hopper (voiced with chilling excellence by Kevin Spacey), unless they accede to his demands for food - the ant/grasshopper equivalent of "protection money".
The straw that broke the proverbial camel's back for the colony is when Flik's harvesting machine goes out of control just at the wrong place at the wrong time, resulting in all the food for the grasshoppers ending up in the river just as Hopper and his cronies are arriving. Hopper is enraged as he confronts Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and demands an explanation for this apparent lack of obedience. Hopper seizes Atta's younger sister, Dot (Hayden Panettiere), but Flik, for whom Dot has a soft spot, throws caution to the wind and tries to stop Hopper, much to the astonishment of all the ants. Hopper nonetheless takes full control of the situation, ordering all the ants to prepare another offering, even if food supplies are running low.
The colony is clearly unwilling to stand up to these bullies in spite of their own overwhelming numerical superiority (something that Hopper directly refers to later on), yet the hierarchy allows Flik to leave the island on what they perceive to be a suicide mission, that is, to bring back "bigger bugs [...] to rid [the colony] of Hopper and his gang" - even if the real reason is so that Flik cannot possibly ruin their chances of preparing the new offering.
What follows is a classic comedy of errors when Flik mistakenly assumes that a trio of assorted insects are warrior bugs when, in a "city bar", he witnesses three of them challenging some other insects sporting for a fight. He pleads with them to accompany him back to the colony, but his new acquaintances mistake him for a "talent scout". To his horror, before an audience of ants, relieved at seeing these "warriors", Rosie the black widow spider (Bonnie Hunt) reveals (very discreetly) what she and her friends really are - circus performers. Hurriedly removing the "warriors", Flik is angry at what he perceives to be their deception, yet Manny the mantis (Jonathan Harris) accuses him of precisely the same thing. Not surprisingly, Atta becomes suspicious and distrusts him. Everything thus seems on the verge of disaster when an event involving Dot sees the "warriors" playing along with the deception - until their former boss, P.T. Flea (John Ratzenberger), comes looking for them and, because of his almost incessant babbling, the ants realize what the "warriors" actually are.
Atta immediately exiles Flik, yet the grasshoppers soon return and force the ants to prepare food. Dot manages to escape and (inexplicably) finds her absent friend and the circus troupe. The insects try and convince Flik to return yet he, in turn, is unwilling owing his shockingly low self-esteem: "The colony's right - I just make things worse." However, the colony's need is greater than that of just one individual (a theme explored in "Antz"), so they return to carry out their original plan to get rid of Hopper, using a facsimile of the one thing that the bully is most afraid of. It almost works, except that, once again, P.T., not realizing what is really going on, scuppers this in a somewhat "inflammatory" fashion. An enraged Hopper tries to assert his dominance when he tells the ants that they are "mindless, soil-shoving losers". Despite being "dealt with", Flik shows his true mettle and openly confronts the bully: "We're a lot stronger than you say we are!" What happens next is predictable. As with all good guy/bad guy stories, the bad guy somehow has to get his comeuppance - and, since it is, as Hopper puts it to Atta, "a bug-eat-bug world out there", one can guess how it all ends.
The chemistry between the cast members is all too evident, as the characters interact with vigor and vitality, thus helping to make this flick (no pun intended!) and the morality tale within it a highly enjoyable and entertaining experience for all the family, not just the little ones. What is even more enjoyable, in case the little ones are sad at what happens to one character in particular, are the deliberately made out-takes, so that the animated characters now become animated actors.
This is a true gem, and it gets my five stars.
Rating:
Summary: Funny
Review: This movie was hilarious and a Pixar for all ages! It is enjoyable and the "pure art" computer animation will just blow you away.
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