Rating: Summary: This book took me beyond fantasy and back, not for kids Review: When I first saw the animated version of this story, I was about 8 years old. Now I am 18, and this book has held me spellbound for 3 nights this week alone. There is a certain vainess in the unicorn's character, that was missing in the animated version. Peter paints an intricate portrait of all of his characters from Molly the kitchen maid, to King haggard's men-at-arms. I enjoyed this book, I think Peter left me begging for more. A sequel would be great, but you can only write a masterpiece once END
Rating: Summary: An 80's Classic Review: Hunters traveling through a beautiful forest grow uneasy when one begins to talk of unicorns and magic. Little do they know that one such creature is listening in on their conversation. Upon hearing that she is the last of the unicorns, she grows worried and lonely. When a butterfly flutters into her midst and confirms her fears, she risks her immortality by leaving her home and questing to find others of her species, and to discover the evil that is the mysterious "Red Bull." Along her way she is captured by an evil witch called Mommy Fortuna, who makes the unicorn a part of her traveling magic show. But traveling with the old witch is a good-hearted, would-be wizard named Schmendrick who soon frees her. Together, they continue on the search for the lost unicorns. Joined by Molly Grue, a female member of a group of bandits, the heroes soon find the seaside castle of King Haggard who supposedly controls the Red Bull. After transforming the last unicorn into a beautiful young human girl they call Lady Amalthea in an effort to hide her identity from the Red Bull, the trio attempts to investigate the castle. Within, they discover an old king who is obsessed with finding true happiness by way of possession, and a young prince searching for true love. They take up residence at the castle and begin to learn the secrets of King Haggard, his Red Bull, and the missing unicorns, but Lady Amalthea is quickly forgetting her identity and her mission, and the young prince falls more in love with her each day. If the location of the missing unicorns isn't discovered in time and the Red Bull isn't defeated, Amalthea will be a human forever and unicorns will be gone from the world! The Last Unicorn is an American animated classic from the early 1980s. It features an all-star cast, haunting music, and animation from the renowned team of Rankin & Bass. The story is an original, emotional, and magical fairytale that speaks to all ages. However, this film is definitely not for everyone. It clearly finds its strongest fan-base among the Tolkien crowd. Fans of the Rankin/Bass Tolkien films will have the best idea of what to expect, though (if memory serves me) the animation is a tad better here. Rankin/Bass is famous for their marvelous Holiday offerings, however, stop-motion animation was always their strongpoint over the traditional style, so one shouldn't expect anything overwhelming as far as that goes. Still, some of the art and color is delightful, and the unicorn herself is quite lovely, especially as the beautiful Lady Amalthea. There are some moments when the story moves better than others, particularly during the first half, as the second half slows down quite a bit. Still, it's a satisfying watch for one who makes the effort to stick with it. The music and songs are dated, but rather haunting for probably that very reason, and the cast is impressive, featuring such stars as Christopher Lee, Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow, and Jeff Bridges. The DVD is a bit disappointing, being bare bones and a pretty awful transfer, but at least the film IS available on DVD format. Overall, I'd have to say that everyone should watch it at least once to give it a fair try. In general, I prefer Disney to most other forms of animation, but it's always nice to throw something different into the broth and shake things up. The Last Unicorn is a solid piece of animated story-telling, especially compared to a lot of the other fluff that's out there.
Rating: Summary: AVOID Review: This is a very good film that has yet had a decent video release here in the US. This DVD release is a disaster. This particular print has several major defects. First this movie suffers more than most when cutting it from widescreen to full screen. But the pan-and-scan job (the technique used to make a widescreen film fit on a regular television) was also totally botched leaving many scenes showing only half a face or character. There is also many color problems. The print is biased to red. Dark scenes, of which there are many, show a red tint. Related to this is that the greens are subdued. Many objects that should be green show as blue. The print is also grainy showing more video noise than normal. The soundtrack is extremely harsh sounding making it dificult to listen to. I'd recommend you seek out the widescreen version which has none of these problems.
Rating: Summary: The Last Unicorn Review: I have seen this movie over 100 times and I really believe it is one of the greatest films of our time. I loved it as a kid and I don't know that I fully understood it, because now as an adult I appreciate the heart that goes into this film. It is a beautiful love/life story about being true to who you are. I cry almost every time I watch this, it is definetly worth buying.
Rating: Summary: Majestically beautiful Review: I can remember going to see this movie in the theaters when it first came out, I was in 9th grade-LOVED IT!!! I am a diehard unicorn fan-collect them and pretty much watch every movie that has one in it. The movie is very cute and sweet. I would recommend it to kids who are 4 or older-any younger than that they won't be able to follow the storyline.
Rating: Summary: Story - 5 Stars, DVD - 2 Stars Review: This story is based on a book released in 1968. It is a wonderful story, with much undelying meaning about courage, inocence, beleiving in our dreams and a little magic in our lives. It is beautiful! I
The DVD is not what I would have liked. It is not widescreen, but I could handle that if the picture was a little better. They could have included some special features, such as interviews with the cast looking back at the making of the film. I once read an interesting trivia fact that Christopher Lee (voice of King Haggard, better known nowadays for his performance as Saruman in the LOTR movies) brought his own copy of the book to the taping to make sure certain parts he deemed important were not taken out of the script. Little things like that would have been great to see. do sometimes feel like they left things out from the book that would have been nice to see in order to understand the story better. But this was the time of short cartoon movies. Even full length movies weren't as long as the ones produced today.
It is true that the animation is not the same as Disney movies. Rankin Bass are better known for their TV cartoons such as Thundercats and Silverhawks. But it is not horrible. The music is not my favorite, but it is not bad. My daughter is 4 years old, and has seen just about every Disney movie out there as well as other kinds of animtion. She loves movies. And she loves this movie as well. She is captivated by the story and asks me questions about why the unicorn looks for the others and why the Red Bull is after her.
This is a good movie. The DVD leaves a lot to be desired, but if you are just looking for a copy of the movie it is worth the money (it's not too expensive). Dont expect Disney animation or music. This movie's merits are in the story.
Rating: Summary: Disney - animation - story - acting = The Last Unicorn Review: To everyone over the age of ten who likes this movie:
The next time you're talking to someone, observe how they move when you're talking to them. Are they constantly swaying back and forth, making dramatic swings of the head and body? If they're not, then I can't see a possible reason for you to be praising the animation of film.
I mean, it could be the obnoxious "humor" spouted out by our "comedian" butterfly in the second scene that makes our heroine dance around like a drunken clown, and sing like she has strep throat, and speak as though the actress is being forced into the job. But I doubt it.
It could be the three-breasted harpie, or the cliched "pretty creature turned into pretty naked girl", or the fact that the unicorn makes Mrs. Elton sound modest, but I can't stand this movie. Why are you subjecting your children to this movie? Watch some Disney, or at least some Ghibli.
Rating: Summary: A True Classic Review: I absolutely love this movie! The movie itself deserves five stars. For those of you who have not seen this movie it is a wonderful tale of a unicorn that is looking for others like her. Along the way she meets many new people and encounters many mishaps which include being turned into a human. But as with other reviewers I believe there are some flaws in the DVD. I was greatly hoping that with a DVD release there would be some extra futures and to my disappointment there are none. The scene selection is a minor plus. I like the fact that I can skip through at a whim and listen to the music from America. I believe picture quality is just as it was on the VHS but it may be a little crisper when the people are involved, but as a whole the screen still remains a little shaky while being played. Lastly a member of my family has some problems hearing and subtitles are unavailable on this DVD. It's not perfect but for the price it was well worth it.
Rating: Summary: Beautiful Movie But Poor DVD Quality Review: I just wanted to say that I have nothing aginst the movie itself. My problem with this is the DVD transfer. It is horrible! It really makes me sad, too, because I love The Last Unicorn. It's such a beautiful story and with an incredible ensemble. You would think they would have taken the time to make a nice package for the fans. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Even so, I am glad to see this movie at last on DVD. Again, this is a great storyline. It is the story of a Unicorn who goes off to find the other unicorns in the world. On her way she meets some friends and ends up being turned human by a wizard. It's colorful, imaginative, and very creative. I love the ending because it's daring and different.
Rating: Summary: I want to own this movie in its FULL glory! Review: What is wrong with people? "The movie is in fullscreen" does NOT have anything to do with the movie itself! What kind of comment is that?
Do you have any idea how much those stupid widescreen TV's cost? If you insist on every single solitary DVD that comes out from now until the end of time being widescreen only, then buy me the damn set from my Wish List, because some of us only have NORMAL TV's, not some home theater system!!
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