Rating: 
Summary: Excellent DVD edition of a so-so film
Review: _Jonah_ was my introduction to the "Veggietales" universe. Alas, it's not one of the little legumes' best efforts. Bible stories tend to be very short, and children's adaptations of these stories are best when they keep to an hour or less (as most "Veggietales" videos do).At 83 minutes, this retelling of "Jonah and the Whale" is thoroughly padded. The pacing is sporadic at best, with lots of puerile sermonizing, and most adults will be bored to tears. The target audience of children may also be confused at the strange ending -- though, to be fair, even the Veggies admit they don't much like it. (As someone who takes a more sympathetic view of Jonah, I think Veggietales is unfair to the most successful Biblical prophet on record, but their interpretation is very much in keeping with the mainstream of contemporary evangelical-Christian interpretations.) The film itself is best suited to children ages 4-8 from evangelical households. If you're not Christian, you'll find _Jonah_ deeply offensive -- one musical number (in gospel style!) features enough crosses to line the Appian Way. (As Robin Williams remarked in _The Birdcage_, "Are we crucifying someone tonight?") The DVD's numerous extras run the gamut from kid-friendly karaoke to extensive technical commentaries. It's an excellent edition of a so-so film. Warning to parents: This film contains many ethnic stereotypes.
Rating: 
Summary: A whale of a DVD
Review: My family and I are Veggie Tale nuts. These guys have produced some great family programming. This particular DVD is just astounding. VIDEO: Picture is sharp, colorful, and clear. The animation was just a delight. SOUND: Special effects were well done along with great voice acting. EXTRAS: This is where the disk shines. This DVD packs a lot of special features that are interesting and, most of the time, downright, gut-wrenchingly funny. Check out Digital Dailies. Too much. Don't do what Jonah did. Go the right way and buy this DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: DVD Extras make it worth it all
Review: The first Veggie Tales movie is out on DVD! If there's ever been a reason to finally go with a DVD player, this is it. The movie by itself is okay, but tends to drag. Most movies from 30 minute shows do this, and Veggie Tales does better than most - retaining it's humor and silliness throughout most of the film (even if one or two of the songs could have been cut). The final song under the credits -about most movie songs having nothing to do with the movie- is worth listening to a few times. If you like the OAV-video releases, you'll love this. As an added bonus, the movie commentary by Larry and Mr. Lunt adds icing to the cake -it makes the movie hundreds of times funnier. However, the extras on the DVD-set are almost better than the movie. The bits are short and silly. The outtakes are hilarious, and the hidden Easter Eggs include an interview with Bob and Larry, as well as the French Peas getting kicked out of the theather for taping the movie with a camcorder. Even more, if you let the video run, you'll hear some of the strangest random dialogue between the characters ever. They took a page from Pixar and did their own outtakes section, which is really fun. Overall if you Love the Veggies, this is a must. If you have never seen them, so rent a video (King George and the Ducky, or Joshua and the Big Wall are good starters) to get a feel for what is going on. Hopefully with their next big project, they'll take a page from their Bonus Disc, and go all out on the silly and strange humor. This is great for kids, but adults will catch a lot of the humor the kids don't.
Rating:
Summary: Great Family Entertainment
Review: Jonah is an exellent example of good family entertainment. The focus is on mercy, compassion and second chances. The animation is top notch and as with all the Veggie Tales title, there is absolutely nothing offensive or distasteful. Even those who think they may not be comfortable with religious content should give it a try. It is a well made, entertaining film that has an emphasis on positive values.
Rating:
Summary: Not So Big An Idea
Review: Being one of the world's biggest teenage/adult Veggie Tale fans, I've been waiting so expectantly for Jonah to hit DVD! That's also why I was so disappointed when it wasn't up to par. The movie was over stuffed with effects and under scripted, heavy on the Sunday morning values and light on the Saturday morning fun. It seemed like Big Idea was just rushing to get out their feature film and forgetting what makes a feature film feature-to the whale with quality control! Veggie Tales had always been bouncy and happy; but this was slow and in some places (I'm sorry to confess:) it was boring. The camera was slow; the music was slow; and the jokes were gone. They missed so many opportunities for a laugh; if it wasn't so sad, it'd almost be funny-disappointing.
I thought I'd never give Veggie Tales a three star review; I believed in Big Idea; and actually, I still believe in them! (I watched the movie; it was about giving second chances;) And I believe they can do better than this I hope they learn from their mistakes like with Easter, move on, and write another movie better than ever.
Go Veggie Tales just not Jonah.
Rating:
Summary: The Veggies are terrific!
Review: Jonah will make you laugh it will make you well it won't make you cry but it's a movie for kids and they'll have a terrific time watching it and you'll love it because they are getting a great message out of it. You'll probably even be singing the Veggie Tale theme with the kids before it's over with and enjoying contemporary Christian music (gasp!)about becoming fish food in the belly of a whale (Trust me, I never thought I'd be listening to contemporary Christian music! Which I don't but I had fun with this with my son) The characters are great fun - it's made more fun because each of these characters are portrayed by Veggie regulars who have characteristics that shine through the role. It's kind of like John Wayne playing a role as a politician. Even though he might have been able to go through all the actions and do a decent job acting out the part, he still would have been The Duke. Well Jonah is still Archibald the Asparagus, and the pirates are still Larry the Cucumber, Pa Grape, and Mr. Lundt. The only exception is Khalil who is new and isn't even a plant, but we can forgive him for the fun he brings to the show. The most important aspect of the show as a parent though is that the movie brings a great message to your child. It is definitely Bible based but brings the basic message that people need to forgive and accept each other. This is a message that any child can hear regardless of your religious affiliation. I'm trying to bring my son up on this kind of thing. He couldn't tell you who the Road Runner or Wile E. Coyote is but hopefully he can share some of the messages he has learned from watching the fine entertainment that Big Idea has brought us. My son loves watching these videos he'll laugh, sing, and dance while they play and instead of getting the idea that it is fun to blow each other up with dynamite or other ridiculousness like that, he is learning valuable lessons. Kudos to Phil Vischer and everybody at Big Idea. Watch the movie!
Rating:
Summary: "God" is not a four-letter word
Review: This movie is clearly for believers only. What I'm about to say is for the non-believers who found objection to the theme of this movie. Religion is a choice. So is the type of movie you go to. With all the vulgar language in movies today, I don't understand why "God" is so objectionable even to you.I also don't understand why people go to a movie knowing that they are probably not going to like it (if they learned anything about the movie first) just so they can put it down and try to convince everyone there's something "wrong" with it. In my opinion, there is much "right" with it. It shows the virtues of kindness and compassion. How can any moral person find fault with that? And despite others opinions, it's not in the least "preachy". It's light and fun and very entertaining. My husband and I took our 3year old daughter to it and she LOVED every minute of it. Also, someone mentioned that a person can have morals and values without believing in God. I beleive this is true, but I also beleive, as many do, that without God, there wouldn't be morals and values, and these concepts originated not only in Christianity, but many other religions. This is a wonderful family movie. Bigidea should change it's name to "Great"idea. After all, God is great.
Rating:
Summary: Solid Experience - Buying the DVD upon release
Review: OK, some folks reviewing here didn't like the basic Bible story. That's their own issue to deal with. I grew up with it and am raising my kids that way so it didn't bring it down for me. We (my wife, two young girls, and me) saw it right after it opened in our area. This was the first time I've had my girls (then 3 & 5) in a theater, so I wasn't sure they would sit through the whole thing. They did great and loved the movie. When I told my oldest it was on DVD next Tuesday, she wanted to be sure we were going to buy it and watch it that night. I was very pleased with the quality and animation. I've got multiple VeggieTales and 3-2-1 Penquins videos/DVD's and find them to be of very high quality. I wasn't sure Phil & Mike could pull off the "big screen" bit, but they did very well, made money, and now know where they can improve. 8 big thumbs up from this family. Keep them coming on the big and small screen alike.
Rating:
Summary: Veggies at their best
Review: This movie was great! The plot is good, and as always the imagination of big idea productions is amazing. If you want a good family film this is the best that is out there! If you are an avid veggie's fan then you will love this film. The only thing that I noticed is that overall it seems like a longer version of a 30 minute veggie video, but it doesn't start with the song like the videos do. In the future i hope that big ideas is able to get past that and make it seem more like a movie. Overall though, I feel that they did an excellent job at their first attempt at a movie and I am definately going to buy it.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked it @ the theater you're going to LOVE it @ home
Review: This two DVD set has so many extra features: outtakes, a tour of the Big Idea office, auditions, audio commentaries -- including one with Larry and Mr. Lunt that had my eight-year-old laughing so hard I was afraid she was going to hurt herself. If I could only buy one DVD for the family this year, this is the one I'd buy. We all love it!
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