A Bug's Life

Rating:
Summary: Excellent special edition!
Review: In Short: So you're wondering, is this 2 DVD set worth $49.99? Read on...

The Movie:

Original Film Review, Written On The Film's Opening Weekend:

The second of the Fall's animated insect projects wasn't nearly as appealing to me as the first. "A Bug's Life" boasts outstanding animation, but a lackluster and predictable plot. Possibly I just felt that way as an adult and maybe it's just my cynical nature, but I doubt I wouldn't have found this film just as predictable when I was younger.

That said, all that's left is to sit back and marvel at the animation put together by the same group that put together "Toy Story" a couple of years ago, Pixar. There's definitely a sense of wonder, terror and awe in the animation in scenes like when a bird comes into the ant colony for an attack, or when one of the ants rides a dandelion spore across a great divide. There's one major difference here in the animation from "Antz", it's that the animation here is rounded and safe, much like the plot and story; in "Antz", structures had interesting shapes and edges; you never knew what to expect next from the film.

This film has great moments, like when the ants can't figure out how to get around a leaf that has fallen in front of them(although I didn't quite get that, since I would think the ants could see over the leaf, but I guess I was putting too much thought into it.) As many great visual moments as the film has, I just couldn't help feel that it's trapped by the Disney formula of one unlikely hero rising above "it all" to save the day. That's definitely nothing new to filmmaking, but there's a certain Disney plot line that makes everything that's about to happen fairly obvious to an adult before they set foot in the theater.

The story is set around Flik, a young inventor ant who is voiced by Dave Foley(TV's "Newsradio"). That's where the film loses bite; "Antz" had an edgy, funny lead in Z(Woody Allen), Foley doesn't bring any of the wit and cynicism that his television character holds. Julia Louis Dreyfuss, who voices Princess Atta, the ant, isn't nearly as funny or sassy as Sharon Stone's ant princess in "Antz". The one character who does turn out quite well is Hopper, the king of the Tyrant grasshoppers, who is voiced by Kevin Spacey, who provides a perfect dose of menace in his voice to make the character interesting.

The film starts out with the ant colony collecting food for the grasshoppers, like usual. In an unfortunate mistake, Flik spills all the food. The grasshoppers, led by Hopper, demand that the ants provide twice the food by the end of Summer; not content to walk away, Flik sets out to find bigger insects in the insect city to help the colony fight back against the grasshopper menace; who he finds are, unknown to him, a band of circus insects, who, in turn, don't know that they're being hired to fight in a war against the grasshoppers.

Again, the animation is wonderful and, to be honest, although it's more safe feeling than "Antz", "A Bug's Life" does do a better job at providing the scope of this miniature world, from the leaves and grass to the stones and ant tunnels. The only thing I didn't quite care for was the way the ants are animated here; they looked more real to me in "Antz", here they look meant to sell a thousand Disney toys. I did like the fact that the film is in the wide 2.35:1 ratio, making the wide spaces of the grassy colony and the insect city more fascinating to watch.

In conclusion, "A Bugs Life" will provide families with a good time for a few hours and actually, maybe I just didn't quite care for this film because I'm simply not its intended audience. The legions of kids seemed to like the film and, in reality, the majority of kids will likely enjoy this film; adults may find it just okay. I'm not sure if either will find it as enjoyable or as funny as Pixar's previous film, "Toy Story", though.

The DVD

VIDEO: Goregous 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer that is a direct-digital transfer and I really can't think of a disc that has more impressive image quality. As good as "Prince Of Egypt"is, this anamorphic transfer turns out to be just a touch better. Images are absolutely razor sharp throughout the presentation, and detail is absolutely outstanding. There is also a depth and dimension to this image that is remarkable. Don't get me started on the colors; you have to see them to believe how stunning they look. Colors are absolutely vibrant and even breathtaking during this movie. They also look a little bit stronger than one the image quality that was included with the previous, movie-only edition.

There are absolutely no flaws to speak of during this presentation. No shimmer, nothing in the way of artifacts like that at all. If you're looking for a disc that shows off the capabilities of DVD in terms of picture quality, there really isn't anything more perfect than this.

SOUND:Fascinating detail in the sounds of the ants creeping up the stalks of grass in the begining of the film. The sound is not only agressive and full of wonderful effects, but it has a playfulness about it that's incredibly fun to listen to. It's all in the details, though and there are plenty here. Like "Antz", the environment and ambient noise seems to be built with phenomenal attention to even the littlest of details. The sounds of little ants running about is rendered wonderfully and throughout all of it, there's even some nice touches of bass, especially when a bird attacks the insect colony. Dialogue is clear, clean and is integrated nicely. Randy Newman's score sounds wonderful as well. A very pleasing presentation by Disney. What's really amazing on this DVD is the additional sound tracks that you can listen to. On the full frame edition, you can listen to a seperate track that is an isolated effects track, where there is no dialogue or music, but you hear every single sound effect and where it's placed in the sound field. This additional effects track is in Dolby Digital 5.1 and included on the full screen version. On the widescreen version, the extra track is a 2.0 isolated score. I wish the FX track was with the widescreen and the score was with the full-screen, but oh well. What I'll also complain about is that the audio can't be changed with the remote.

MENUS:: Phenomenal animated menus during the disc for the film itself, but even more stunning animation greets you when you first turn on the 2nd DVD, as you're lead through the ant tunnels into the Pixar screening room where you're given an introduction by the director and three other members of the "Bug's Life" crew. Some of the sub-menus are not animated, but most of the main ones are, at least slightly.

EXTRAS:. Commentary: This is a commentary track from director John Lasseter, editor Lee Unkrich and co-director Andrew Stanton. The trio mainly talk about the inspirations behind the research that the crew did for how their film was going to take a look into the world of an insect. Like the commentary from "Antz", the filmmakers start talking a little bit about the science aspects of the world of bugs, but they cut that topic off and thankfully, focus more about the technical and story aspects of the movie. I didn't find it overall as informative or entertaining as the "Antz" commentary, but there are plenty of cool details and tidbits offered up throughout. I just felt that this commentary talked more about the story than the technical details.

The three are quite funny as well, talking about making the character of Flik a big geek, then going on to mention that "we didn't have to do too much research for that." The group talks a lot about the ideas for Flik and the concepts that they had not only for the character, but how he would interact with the rest of the characters in the story. In terms of story and plot talk, the more interesting details are about what we didn't see , as the animators talk about coming up with story details that didn't make it into the final picture or talking about the process of coming up with the story, as they talk quite a bit about how scenes were thought out and built. If the commentators are going to talk about the story more than the details, I'd rather hear about the meetings behind-the-scenes where the concepts were thought out or what didn't make it into the final plot rather than talking about just what is going on on-screen or what the characters are thinking. It's not a bad commentary by any means, but I lost interest through some parts of the discussion.

DVD TWO: THE EXTRA FEATURES The additional features on this disc are broken down into sections of the animation process. I'm going to go into detail about what each section contains. This second DVD has a running time of 107 minutes.

PRE-PRODUCTION: "Fleabie" Reel: There is an introduction to this additional feature, where the crew talks about how they came up with this film that showed a strage little character named Fleabie taking the tour of the animation stu

Rating:
Summary: Not Pixar's best, but still fun
Review: "A Bug's Life" is actually my least favorite movie from Pixar. However, Pixar's worst is (at least so far) better than the best many other studios can produce, and "Bug's Life" is still a fun movie to watch.

The story of "A Bug's Life" is mainly about an ant named Flik, who is trying to save his ant colony from the bullying rule of a group of grasshoppers. He enlists the aid of a few circus bugs to help the ants fight the grasshoppers, but eventually, it is Flik's ideas which provide the main inspiration for the colony, and the strongest possibility for their liberation.

There's lots of funny jokes and lots of drama in "A Bug's Life." It's a clever film, but in the end, not a very moving one. When I compare it to the "Toy Story" movies or "Finding Nemo" or (especially) "Monsters Inc," I find that all of those films made me laugh and cry, and most importantly, they made me feel for these digital characters they create. The characters in "A Bug's Life" seem not quite so well developed -- they seem clever, but shallow.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this movie. It's a fun film for my kids and I to watch together, and technically, the animation is pretty amazing. For me, it simply lacked some of the emotional depth of the other movies Pixar made, and so is a slight disappointment when compared to those other movies.

Make sure to watch through the end credits... the bloopers are priceless!

Rating:
Summary: CGI Bug Story Extraordinaire!
Review: "The Battle of the Bugs" is what the media labeled Dreamworks SKG's successful attempt to get their 3-D animated bug story released in theaters before Disney did, although the former began production several weeks after the latter. Whose film would be released first: The Company of Michael Eisner, or that of his former disgruntled employee Jeffrey Katzenberg? In retrospect, this behind-the-scenes drama seems more than a bit silly, because: 1) That a similarly-themed movie is released first does not necessarily guarantee bigger box office than its competition, and 2) The solidly-PG-rated ANTZ has less in common with the indisputably-G-rated A BUG'S LIFE than one might think, and 3) Therefore, each film attracted a different audience. As it turned out, both films were smash hits: ANTZ garnered better reviews; however, A BUG'S LIFE made a lot more money (as I'm sure it was destined to do).

Walt Disney Pictures' A BUG'S LIFE, co-directed by Andrew Stanton and John Lasseter, and released in October of 1998 (a full month after Dreamworks SKG's ANTZ), tells the very cute story of a not-so-bright worker ant simply named Flik, voiced by Canadian comedian Dave Foley. His constant bumbling attempts to help the ant colony drive the others to distraction, and to loathe him. I love the opening scene with Flik accidentally losing the yearly "offering" of food meant for the grasshoppers, who regularly exploit the ants for their own purposes. This leads to a very funny scene in which the grasshoppers angrily confront the ants, and demand satisfaction.

My advice is to see this film with an open mind; forget about "The Battle of the Bugs" as A BUG'S LIFE has really nothing whatsoever to do with ANTZ, with the only exception being that both films star a nerdy ant who attempts to win the affection of the ant colony princess. That's the only similarity! Otherwise, A BUG'S LIFE is a rather light story dealing with Flik's attempt to woo Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, brilliantly expressive in a superb comedic role) while he attempts to fix the aforementioned mess he made. Unfortunately for Flik, he is sent out of the ant colony all alone, and into the vast unknown, supposedly populated by big, scary bugs and other creatures. In his search for fierce warrior bugs to fight the grasshoppers, Flik unknowingly comes across a "bug circus" in which he is convinced that he has found the muscle that the ant colony needs. In what is one of the funniest scenes, Flik is welcomed back as the unlikely hero of the ant colony, impresses Princess Atta and then proceeds to find out the truth about these circus-performer bugs he has brought back with him. These bugs are hilarious, by the way. With Slim the walking stick (David Hyde Pierce), Heimlich the big fat German-accented caterpillar (Joe Ranft), the tough-talking male ladybug (Denis Leary), and Manny the old British-accented 'thespian bug' (Jonathan Harris--yep, Dr. Smith himself!), this is truly a motley crew of bugs if there ever was one. But the bug that really steals the show is the villain; the evil grasshopper leader Hopper (Kevin Spacey). Spacey's vocal performance is brilliant; so much so, in fact, that I had no idea it was Kevin Spacey until the first time I saw the end credits!

Spacey is hilariously deadpan while delivering lines like: "Do I look stupid to you? Do I? Do I...look...STUPID...to YOU? Let's just think about the logic for a second, shall we? If it [the offering] was UP THERE, why would I be DOWN HERE, LOOKING FOR IT??" Of course, as a typically self-referential Disney film, the screenwriters couldn't resist having fun with another Hopper line: "It's one of those Circle-of-Life things." Unfortunately, they gave some of the film's worst lines to The Queen (Phyllis Diller); for example, "It's our lot in life. It's not a lot, but it's our life! Ahahahaha!!" I'm sure Phyllis was paid enough to not care so much about the corniness of her lines, but still!

A BUG'S LIFE is an absolute triumph of 3-D CGI animation. It is a beautiful film to look at. The images are bright, sharp and colorful. This film offers a much better viewing experience than ANTZ, which has a more engaging storyline, but has mostly sepia-toned imagery that is neither as sharp or realistic-looking. Again, these are completely two different films: ANTS, with its mildly adult language, themes and occasional violence, is definitely PG-rated. Its humor is appreciated more by adults than kids. A BUG'S LIFE, however, is deservedly G-rated. You can let your 4-year-old watch it, and even though they probably won't be able to follow the storyline (as meager as it is), they will certainly be entertained by both the imagery and the funny voices over and over again. There may be a scene or two that may scare them a little; however, it says a lot that the scariest character in the film is a red robin.

The final verdict in my review: A BUG'S LIFE is a very entertaining combination of 3-D animation and excellent voice-over acting by excellent (and very well-cast) actors such as all who were previously named, plus Madeline Kahn, Bonnie Hunt, Michael McShane, John Ratzenberger and Brad Garrett. It is true that ANTZ has a better story; however, A BUG'S LIFE has superior animation. In addition, this was the Disney film that originated the idea of creating fake 'outtakes' to show over the end credits. Originally, I found this practice to be quite odd, but now I kind of like it. This Collector's Edition has even more bonus features than the original DVD. Now a two-DVD set, A BUG'S LIFE is really loaded; besides the behind-the-scenes featurette, there are interactive games that are sure to provide additional entertainment for your little ones, and maybe even for yourself.

RECOMMENDED
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR DISNEY/PIXAR FANS

Rating:
Summary: Toy Story Broke Ground, A Bug's Life Cracked You Up
Review: "Toy Story" will always be considered one of modern cinema's greatest achievements. Unfortunately, movies like "A Bug's Life" and "Monsters, Inc." will always be brushed by the wayside for the fact that they weren't first. That's a shame, because both movies had better plots and performances. "A Bug's Life" is funny. It has a great cast of characters that are more memorable than "Woody" or "Buzz" and the villain, "Hopper," is one of the best villains in Disney history. His fate is also right up there with greats like "Scar" from "Lion King" and "Hades" from "Hercules."

Dave Foley is fun as "Flik." He's kind of a geeky lookin' guy in real life, so that made this character more believable. As state before, "Hopper" is the ultimate bad guy, and Kevin Spacey plays him perfectly. Denis Leary is outstanding as "Francis" the ladybug. Overall, this is an ensemble cast that is rounded out by great support from actors like John Ratzenberger and Phyllis Diller.

The animation is wonderful. It is bright, bold, and downright terrifying when need be(ref. the bird attacking "Hopper.") The music is good, though not as utilized as in "Toy Story." That is beside the point since the story of "Bug's" is so much better than "Toy Story."

Why is it that a Disney flick that is seriously funny always seems to get lost behind dramas such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?" In Disney's storied history I've always felt that movies like "A Bug's Life" were overlooked because they don't have some great moral story to them. Granted, "Flik" realizing that he must never give up and the rest of the ants learning about strength in numbers is good, but these lessons just don't stick like in other films.

Watch this movie because it is funny. I used to give it a less than stellar rap until I watched it again. It really is funny and deserves to go down as one of Disney/Pixar's best films ever.

The DVD provides some great extras. There is literally something for everyone. For the kiddies there are games, for producer/director wannabes there are documentaries on the creation of the film. The best extras are the entire group of "bloopers" from the film, with personal favorites listed by members of the production team and, of course, "Geri's Game." This made me laugh out loud in the theater and at home.

If you want a funny, memorable movie that doesn't receive the attention it should, buy "A Bug's Life."

Rating:
Summary: A review from Mr. Entertainment Lover
Review: I defenitly recommend this picture for family viewing. It's not just a kids movie. Adults and teens will love it as well. Flik is a loser ant and sets out to prove himself and make the colony better. He messes up and the other ants get mad at him. Flik goes out to the city (a place made of boxes under a trailer) to find big and tough bugs to fight off the evil grasshoppers. My favorite characters are the catipillar, pill bugs, and the lady bug. One of the best scenes is the circus scene near the beginning. The animation in it is breath-taking and beautiful. This is what computers are all about. Mix computer animation with a good storyline and lovable characters you come out with a perfect movie. I also recommend the movie Antz.

Rating:
Summary: A Bugs Life
Review: I think that this movie was extremely creative and exciting. It was very unpredictable. The protaganist Flick was a character that has made a difference in my life because he had the courage to stand up to the antagonists, the grasshoppers. The main antagonist was Hopper who was head of the grasshoppers and was taking food from the little bugs and when Flick made the plan to fight them off he just showed a side of bravery and courage. If I were ever a bug, I would want to be just like Flick and if I wereever in a situation like that I could be just as brave as him.

Rating:
Summary: Not Pixar's best, but still fun
Review: "A Bug's Life" is actually my least favorite movie from Pixar. However, Pixar's worst is (at least so far) better than the best many other studios can produce, and "Bug's Life" is still a fun movie to watch.

The story of "A Bug's Life" is mainly about an ant named Flik, who is trying to save his ant colony from the bullying rule of a group of grasshoppers. He enlists the aid of a few circus bugs to help the ants fight the grasshoppers, but eventually, it is Flik's ideas which provide the main inspiration for the colony, and the strongest possibility for their liberation.

There's lots of funny jokes and lots of drama in "A Bug's Life." It's a clever film, but in the end, not a very moving one. When I compare it to the "Toy Story" movies or "Finding Nemo" or (especially) "Monsters Inc," I find that all of those films made me laugh and cry, and most importantly, they made me feel for these digital characters they create. The characters in "A Bug's Life" seem not quite so well developed -- they seem clever, but shallow.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this movie. It's a fun film for my kids and I to watch together, and technically, the animation is pretty amazing. For me, it simply lacked some of the emotional depth of the other movies Pixar made, and so is a slight disappointment when compared to those other movies.

Make sure to watch through the end credits... the bloopers are priceless!

Rating:
Summary: This earned 0 stars with me
Review: This movie is soooooo overly boring. I've watched it only two times (well, I couldn't even sit through it the second time.) It is actually painful to watch because it's so boring. If I could give this item 0 stars, then I would!!! I couldn't watch this movie again if you paid me to. I don't get why such a movie ever made into Hollywood. If you are looking for an interesting and fun movie, try the Spy Kids trilogy. Now that's something that I can watch through again and again. Bug's Life is not worth the money, even to rent it. It needs some serious re-doing, and if there ever is a Bug's Life 2, I will NOT be watching it because this movie was just too boring. I couldn't believe it if people were to call it a comedy. It isn't funny one bit. And instead of rating it G, it should be rated SB, for So Boring. This isn't on my recommendations list, and it could never make my top 10 list of hits. It could definitely make the top 10 list of the most boring movies ever made.

Rating:
Summary: CGI Bug Story Extraordinaire!
Review: "The Battle of the Bugs" is what the media labeled Dreamworks SKG's successful attempt to get their 3-D animated bug story released in theaters before Disney did, although the former began production several weeks after the latter. Whose film would be released first: The Company of Michael Eisner, or that of his former disgruntled employee Jeffrey Katzenberg? In retrospect, this behind-the-scenes drama seems more than a bit silly, because: 1) That a similarly-themed movie is released first does not necessarily guarantee bigger box office than its competition, and 2) The solidly-PG-rated ANTZ has less in common with the indisputably-G-rated A BUG'S LIFE than one might think, and 3) Therefore, each film attracted a different audience. As it turned out, both films were smash hits: ANTZ garnered better reviews; however, A BUG'S LIFE made a lot more money (as I'm sure it was destined to do).

Walt Disney Pictures' A BUG'S LIFE, co-directed by Andrew Stanton and John Lasseter, and released in October of 1998 (a full month after Dreamworks SKG's ANTZ), tells the very cute story of a not-so-bright worker ant simply named Flik, voiced by Canadian comedian Dave Foley. His constant bumbling attempts to help the ant colony drive the others to distraction, and to loathe him. I love the opening scene with Flik accidentally losing the yearly "offering" of food meant for the grasshoppers, who regularly exploit the ants for their own purposes. This leads to a very funny scene in which the grasshoppers angrily confront the ants, and demand satisfaction.

My advice is to see this film with an open mind; forget about "The Battle of the Bugs" as A BUG'S LIFE has really nothing whatsoever to do with ANTZ, with the only exception being that both films star a nerdy ant who attempts to win the affection of the ant colony princess. That's the only similarity! Otherwise, A BUG'S LIFE is a rather light story dealing with Flik's attempt to woo Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, brilliantly expressive in a superb comedic role) while he attempts to fix the aforementioned mess he made. Unfortunately for Flik, he is sent out of the ant colony all alone, and into the vast unknown, supposedly populated by big, scary bugs and other creatures. In his search for fierce warrior bugs to fight the grasshoppers, Flik unknowingly comes across a "bug circus" in which he is convinced that he has found the muscle that the ant colony needs. In what is one of the funniest scenes, Flik is welcomed back as the unlikely hero of the ant colony, impresses Princess Atta and then proceeds to find out the truth about these circus-performer bugs he has brought back with him. These bugs are hilarious, by the way. With Slim the walking stick (David Hyde Pierce), Heimlich the big fat German-accented caterpillar (Joe Ranft), the tough-talking male ladybug (Denis Leary), and Manny the old British-accented 'thespian bug' (Jonathan Harris--yep, Dr. Smith himself!), this is truly a motley crew of bugs if there ever was one. But the bug that really steals the show is the villain; the evil grasshopper leader Hopper (Kevin Spacey). Spacey's vocal performance is brilliant; so much so, in fact, that I had no idea it was Kevin Spacey until the first time I saw the end credits!

Spacey is hilariously deadpan while delivering lines like: "Do I look stupid to you? Do I? Do I...look...STUPID...to YOU? Let's just think about the logic for a second, shall we? If it [the offering] was UP THERE, why would I be DOWN HERE, LOOKING FOR IT??" Of course, as a typically self-referential Disney film, the screenwriters couldn't resist having fun with another Hopper line: "It's one of those Circle-of-Life things." Unfortunately, they gave some of the film's worst lines to The Queen (Phyllis Diller); for example, "It's our lot in life. It's not a lot, but it's our life! Ahahahaha!!" I'm sure Phyllis was paid enough to not care so much about the corniness of her lines, but still!

A BUG'S LIFE is an absolute triumph of 3-D CGI animation. It is a beautiful film to look at. The images are bright, sharp and colorful. This film offers a much better viewing experience than ANTZ, which has a more engaging storyline, but has mostly sepia-toned imagery that is neither as sharp or realistic-looking. Again, these are completely two different films: ANTS, with its mildly adult language, themes and occasional violence, is definitely PG-rated. Its humor is appreciated more by adults than kids. A BUG'S LIFE, however, is deservedly G-rated. You can let your 4-year-old watch it, and even though they probably won't be able to follow the storyline (as meager as it is), they will certainly be entertained by both the imagery and the funny voices over and over again. There may be a scene or two that may scare them a little; however, it says a lot that the scariest character in the film is a red robin.

The final verdict in my review: A BUG'S LIFE is a very entertaining combination of 3-D animation and excellent voice-over acting by excellent (and very well-cast) actors such as all who were previously named, plus Madeline Kahn, Bonnie Hunt, Michael McShane, John Ratzenberger and Brad Garrett. It is true that ANTZ has a better story; however, A BUG'S LIFE has superior animation. In addition, this was the Disney film that originated the idea of creating fake 'outtakes' to show over the end credits. Originally, I found this practice to be quite odd, but now I kind of like it. This Collector's Edition has even more bonus features than the original DVD. Now a two-DVD set, A BUG'S LIFE is really loaded; besides the behind-the-scenes featurette, there are interactive games that are sure to provide additional entertainment for your little ones, and maybe even for yourself.

RECOMMENDED
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR DISNEY/PIXAR FANS

Rating:
Summary: A very, very good movie
Review: I love "A Bug's Life"! It's one of my most favorite movies next to "The Lion King". The movie's about a hard-working bunch of ants that are being forced to feed and serve some very mean Grasshoppers. This life style lasted for a long time until, Flik, an adventurous young ant, who before, accidentally knocked the Grasshoppers food over a cliff, suggests that the ants get bigger bugs to come and fight. So he goes to look for some bugs and finds some so-called "warrior bugs" who are really a bunch of out-of-work circus bugs. Results aren't pretty when the other ants finally figure that out. So what happens to the grasshoppers and what becomes of Flik? That's for you to figure out!

I would recommend this film to anyone who liked Pixar's "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo". Just to warn you, a couple of the grasshopper scenes would be kind of intense for smaller children. But other than that the film is very funny and even has outtakes at the end credits! I hope you enjoy the movie as much as I did.