Animal Farm

Rating:
Summary: Animal Farm movie = Dissapointing.
Review: I missed the debut of this movie on TNT, and had been wanting to see it ever since but the local video stores never bothered to stock it. So I ordered the DVD. Animal Farm was one of my favorite books from years ago in school and I was excited about this movie, being produced with a decent budget and an great voiceover cast (Patrick Stewart, Kelsey Grammer..). After seeing it, all I can say is that the movie fails to deliver. I was very dissapointed. It feels like te movie is made for a very young audience - it got too "cartoony" throughout the movie. The human actors seem like they were taken out of a bad slapstick-comedy. Some of the animatronics were OK, but others (like in the closups of Old Major & the other pigs), wern't remotely believable and just didn't fit in among the live animals. The story was reasonably close the book as I remember it. But the movie wasn't able to get me emotionally attached to the "good" animals, so by the end of the movie, I really didn't care what happened. And as far as the ending goes, it's totally abrupt. There is a scene where Napolian appears to be in his greatest moment of power, and then the movie cuts away to "several seasons later, the system was breaking down, and we would be free again..." The ending like that made me think they had simply run out of production money! The picture and sound quality itself was decent, a little above average. There were some extra goodies on the DVD but after watching the movie I really didn't bother with them. I guess I was hoping they would steer this movie more towards an adult audience. For my $.02, I would suggest you skip this movie and read this wonderful book again.

Rating:
Summary: A great movie but not one to see with kids!
Review: This movie supposedly was supposed to be based on the book Animal Farm. It's parallel to the Russian Revolution and the idea of Communism being practiced in Russia, only that instead of Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky, etc., we get animals who, influenced by a speech given to them by a Berkshire boar named Old Major before his death, overthrow the humans on the farm, and set up a government called "Anamalism". However, just as Communism didn't work out, Anamalism didn't either, instead being dictated by a "superior" pig named Napoleon. At times during this movie, you feel like you want to punch the screen because it is so upseting and frusterating. Sometimes you want to laugh, other times, like when the hard working horse named Boxer dies or the massacure in which Napoleon executes many animals, you want to cry. An all in all great movie if you're over 10.

Rating:
Summary: Stark, well-done adaptation - Not for the Kiddies
Review: A very stark and powerful adaptation of the Orwell classic...a true surprise considering it premiered on TNT. Although the ending may have been sightly "lightened", the film as a whole is very adult and may be too intense for young children expecting another "Babe" movie. Definitely way above-average for a tv-movie...PLUS, the DVD version is actually in WIDESCREEN although the keepcase and every other listing indicates it's in it's TV "full-frame" version! So you get that definite bonus plus lots of kind of worthless extras...but it's definitely worth the very reasonable price. Image quality is excellent as well...I noticed no pixelization at all.

Rating:
Summary: Great effects
Review: A good adaptation with excellent voice acting. BTW, the digital effects are predominantly by London effects house Cinesite Europe; Henson's Creature Shop made the animatronics. Unfortunately, the "Making Of" specials don't seem to cover this distinction...

Rating:
Summary: Not like the book.
Review: Everyone is subjected to their own opinion. In my opinion, I truely dislike this movie. The book is highly more interesting. The characters only make noises and grunt. I NEVER fall asleep and enjoy almost every movie that I see, but this particular one... is terrible. I never had the best sleep in my life until that movie came along. The conclusion is slightly off of the book too. The writer omited a lot of stuff from the book.

Rating:
Summary: George Orwell meets Hollywood ending
Review: This film was pretty much inevitable after the success of Babe, and the overall look is simply wonderful. Up until the last 5 minutes, I would say it approaches perfection, for a telefilm. However I had to cringe when I saw the new, Hollywood ending, which is the only major departure from Orwells short novel. These two screenwriters, were they to get their hands on Orwell's 1984, would have Winston single handedly defeating Big Brother, followed by a group hug. If they had adapted Moby Dick, the viewer would have seen Ahab and the white whale embracing and brushing back tears, followed by a jaunt down to the pub for a pint. The only possible justification for the sunshine and flowers ending, is that these two gentlemen interpreted Orwell's allegory strictly in terms of Communism ( the inclusion of the line about the wall coming down is certainly no accident). However, this justification doesn't hold up, because we as citizens must always be on guard against the traits exhibited by the people (and animals) in the book. Certainly that is what Orwell intended, and it's a shame that a film so beautiful to look at , with such an amazing abundance of voice talents, should be ruined by a system that generally lacks the courage to exhibit truthfulness over pasteboard sentimentality.

Rating:
Summary: An important film.
Review: Animal Farm is an important story written by Goerge Orwell, and presented here by the Jim Henson Company. A great film done very well

Rating:
Summary: A very POWERFUL adaptation of Orwell's Book
Review: I saw this movie on TNT for the first time on October 3rd, 1999. I really enjoyed the animatronics and computer special effects done by the Jim Henson Creature Workshop. I have never read the book, but nonetheless the movie's message was very powerful. Many shocking allusions and mock-references to Nazism and Communism throughout--the kind of stuff that sends a little shiver down your spine. Excellent movie! Be sure to read the book as well; I have no doubt it is equally entertaining!

Rating:
Summary: "O.K., 'Babe', time to make you ham again!"
Review: Orwell's bleak fable about revolution betrayed gets the full sunny "family-entertainment" Hallmark treatment and the result, as you can imagine, is abominable! Pity, for it has a great cast and several scenes worth looking at, but, as a whole, this movie -as all TNT "adaptations"- is completely off the mark! 'Animal Farm' ...for kiddies? With a happy ending? So the entire family can "squeal with delight"? Just who the hell thought that out?! No one, it seems, and it shows. The film is too tame for adult viewers who'd like to see the grim little novel on screen, and too violent for children who certainly won't expect to witness a cutesy Babe-like talking piggie executing his brothers-in-arms legs. My guess is they'll both be horrified at the end, its patched-up "happy" conclusion notwithstanding: Kids, because they're not stupid and sure realize it's back to the chopping block for their furry & feathered friends the moment the "new owners" step in, and adults, not only for the outrageous "liberties" taken from the book, but because -come to think of it- the sugarcoated finale holds a new ominous moral in itself: No, don't worry, the future won't be a Communist dictatorship after all; the future will be one big, happy, postcard-looking Americana, owned by cool Ken and Barbie, whose kinder, gentler slaughterhouse still awaits for your neck! "Hey! Whaddaya expectWe're running a FARM here!"

Rating:
Summary: Duh? Communism
Review: Orwell's novel was about taking spectacular ideas about life and co-operation and morphing it to fit your own greedy desires, losing all purpose and ultimately ending in a futile, corrupt dictatorship. It made fun of dictators then and still makes fun of dictators today, and though an easy read it went deep in speaking politically about man's actions against man.

Sadly, none of that is in this film. In fact, this movie is a travesty to the original novel.

One major problem is that it renders Orwell's novel cute, probably due to the release of all the animal films during this time ("Babe", "Gordy", what have you). Old Major's speech is a great speech, and who better to perform it than Peter Ustinov? Unfortunately, this speech is ruined by being talked over by Julia Louise Dreyfus as the horse complaining that she will lose her ribbons if man is overthrown, among other animals and their minor problems. Imagine Katie Couric talking over Winston Churchill's "We Will Fight on the Beaches" speech and you'll understand how I feel.

It gets worst later on. The main character is not the farm entire, but instead a female dog that annoyingly whines and complains the whole time and tries to narrate what is going on. Does this sound bad? It gets worst. In the end she leads the animals out of the farm, and then tells us everything lived happily ever after. Napoleon's animalism fails (we're never told how or see it happen, they basically throw it at us and say "Take our word for it!") and then a white, middle-class family of four moves in and takes over the farm. The End.

Did Orwell's point just fly past these people or what? Orwell was always a master of the closing line to me, and "Animal Farm" is no exception. Even the British animated film managed to sneak in Orwell's metaphor before closing with a happy ending.

This was such a waste. Peter Ustinov as Old Major, Ian Holm as Squeeler, Patrick Stewart as Napoleon...all these talented names being wasted sounds horrible, but it is true. Such a great book with serious representation being treated in an amatuerish fashion may not bother some, but for others it is a big deal.

If you like Orwell, if you loved the novel, if you enjoy great stories, and if you enjoy good films...don't watch this movie.

<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 >>